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CONTENTS ΟF BOOK Ι
The first book of the Ecclesiastical History contains the following :
I. What are the presuppositions of the Promise.
II. Α summary account of the pre-existence of, and attribution of divinity to, our Saviour and Lord, the Christ of God.
III. How both the name of Jesus and even that of Christ itself were known from the first and honoured by the inspired prophets.
ΙV. How there was nothing revolutionary or strange in the character of the religion announced by him to all the nations.
V. Concerning the time of his appearance to men.
VI. How in his time in agreement with prophecy the previous line of ancestral rulers of the Jewish nation died out, and Herod, the first foreigner, were their king.
VII. Concerning the supposed discrepancy in the Gospels on the genealogy as to Christ.
VIII. Concerning the plot of Herod against the
IX. Concerning the times of Pilate.
X. Concerning the high priests among the Jews in whose time the Christ gave his teaching.
XI. The evidence relating to John the Baptist and the Christ.
XII. Concerning the disciples of our Saviour.
XIII. Α narrative concerning the ruler of the Edessenes.1
THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF EUSEBIUS
BOOK I
I. I. HAVE purposed to record in writing the successions
οf the sacred apostles, covering the period stretching
from our Saviour to ourselves ; the number add
character of the transactions recorded in the history
οf the Church ; the number of those who were distinguished
in her government and leadership in the
provinces οf greatest fame ; the number of those
who in each generation were the ambassadors of
the word of God either by speech οr pen ; the names,
the number and the age of those who, driven by
the desire of innovation to an extremity of error,
have heralded themselves as the introducers of
Knowledge, falsely so-called, ravaging the flock of
Christ unsparingly, like grim wolves. To this I
will add the fate which has beset the whole nation
οf the Jews from the moment of their plot against
οur saviour ; moreover, the number and nature
and times οf the wars waged by the heathen against
the divine word 1 and the character οf those who,
for its sake, passed from time to time through
the contest οf blood and torture ; furthermore the
Ι will begin with what, apprehended in relation to Christ, is beyond man in its height and greatness, — the dispensation of God, and the ascription of divinity.2 For he who plans to hand on in writing the history of Christian origins is forced to begin from the first dispensation concerning the Christ himself, which is more divine than it seems to most, seeing that from him we claim to derive our very name.
II. Now his nature was twofold ; on the one hand like the head of the body, in that he is recognized as God, on the other comparable to the feet, in that he put on for the sake of our own salvation, man of like passions with us. Therefore to make our description of what follows complete we should start the whole narrative concerning him by the most capital and dominant points of the discussion. By this means, moreover, the real antiquity and divine character of Christianity will be equally demonstrated to those who suppose that it iS recent and foreign, appearing no earlier than yesterday.
No treatise, indeed, could be sufficient for a statement
of the origin and dignity, the very bei
nature of the Christ : as indeed the divine spirit
says in prophecies, “ who will declare his generation
? ’’ seeing that neither does any know the
Father save the son, neither did any ever know the
son properly, save οnly the Father who begat him.
nd who except the Father would ever clearly
conceive the ante-mundane light, and that wisdom
which was intellectual and real 1 before the ages,
the living Logos who was, in the beginning, God
by the side of the Father, the first and only offspring
οf God, before all creation and fabrication,2 both
visible and invisible, the captain of the spiritual and
immortal host of heaven, the angel of great counsel,
the minister οf the ineffable plan of the Father,
the fabricator οf all things along with the Father,
the true and only begotten child of God, the Lord
and God and King of all begotten, Who has received
lordship and might together with deity itself, and
power and honour from the Father, according to the
mysterious ascription of divinity to him in the Scriptures,
“ In the beginning was the Logos and the
Logos was with God and the Logos was God, all
things were through him, and without him was no
single thing ’’ ? This, indeed, is also the teaching
of the great Moses, as the most ancient of all prophets,
when by divine inspiration he described the
coming into being, and the ordering of the universe,
that the creator and fabricator of all things gave
up to the Chirst himself, and to no other than his
It must now be demonstrated why this announcement
was not formerly made, long ago, to all men
and all nations, as it is now. The life of men in the
past was not capable οf receiving the complete
wisdom and virtue of the teaching of Christ. For
at the beginning, after the first life in blessedness,
the first man, despising the command of God, fell
at once to this mortal and perishable life, and
exchanged the former divine delights for this earth
But when the seeds of true religion had been
strewn by them among a multitude of men, and a
whole nation, sprung from the Hebrews, existed on
earth, cleaving to true religion, he handed on to them,
through the prophet Moses, images and symbols
οf a certain mysterious sabbath and of circum.
cision and instruction in οther spiritual principles,
but not unveiled initiation itself, for many of them
had still been brought up in the old practices. Their
Law became famous and spread among all men like
a fragrant breeze. Beginning with them the minds
of most οf the heathen were softened by the law
givers and philosophers who arose everywhere.
Savage and unbridled brutality was changed to mild,
ness, so that deep peace, friendship, and mutual
intercourse obtained. Then, at last, when all men,
even the heathen throughout the world, were now
fitted for the benefits perpared for them beforehand,
for the reception of knowledge of the Father,
then again that same divine and heavenly Logos of
God, the teacher of virtues, the minister of the
Father in all good things, appeared at the beginning
οf the Roman Εmpire through man. In nothing
did he change our nature as touching bodily substance;
his acts and sufferings were such as were
consistent with the prophecies which foretell that
man and God shall live together to do marvellous
III. It is now time to demonstrate that the very
es “Jesus, ” and especially “Christ, ”
honour by the ancient God-loving prophets themelves.
Moses was himself the first to recognize
w peculiarly august and glorious is the name of
hrist, when he delivered the tradition of the types
d symbols of heavenly things, and the mysterious
ages, in accordance with the oracle which said
him, “ See thou shalt make all thins according
the type which was shown thee in the mount ’’ ;
r in describing the Ηigh Ρriest οf God as a man
supreme power, he calls him Christ, and, as a
mark of honour and glory, surrounds with the name
Christ this rank οf the High Priesthood, which
with him surpassed all pre-eminence among men.
us then he knew the divine character of “Christ.
e himself also was inspired very clearly to foresee
e title “Jesus, ” and it again he endued with
rivilege. Though before it was made known to
oses it had never been previously pronounced
men, Moses gave the title, Jesus, to him first,
d to him alone, who, once more typically and
bolically, he knew would receive the rule οver
after his death. His successor, at any rate, had
οt previously used the title “Jesus, ” but was
y another name, “ Αuses,’’ which his parents had
iven him, and Moses calls him Jesus, as a precious
ivilege greater than any royal crown, giving to
IV. Let these observations suffice me, as needed before beginning the history, that no one might think or our Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ, as a novelty because of the date of his ministry in the either was new and strange, inasmuch as it was put together by a youth no better than the rest of men, come, let us discuss this point briefly. For when the advcnt of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, reeently shone forth on all men, it was confessedly a new race which has thus appeared in such numbers, in accordance with the ineffable prophecies of the date, and is honoured by all by the name of Christ, but it is not little nor weak, nor founded in some obscure corner οf the earth, earth, but the most populous of all and invincible in that it ever finds help from God.
It was at this that one of the prophets was amazed
when, by the eye of the divine spirit, he foresaw the
future which was to be, so that he exclaimed, “Who
heard these things and who spoke thus? Did the
earth travail in one day, and was a nation born at
once ?” Αnd the same writer also indicates in one
place its future title, saying, “Αnd a new name shall
be called on those who serve me, which shall be blessed
on the earth.” But even if we are clearly new,
and this really fresh name of Christians is recently
known among all nations, nevertheless our life and
method of conduet, in accordanee with the precepts
of religion, has not been recently invented by us,
but from the first creation of man, so to speak, has
been upheld by the natural concepts of the men
of old who were the friends of God, as we will here
demonstrate. The race of the Hebrews is not new
and is itself well known to all. Now, stories and
documents belonging to it concern ancient men,
few and scarce in number, yet remarkable for piety
and righteousness and for all other virtues. Divers
οf them, indeed, were before the flood, and after it
were others, and, (to say nothing of the children
and descendants of Νoah), especially Αbraham,
whom the children of the Hebrews boast as their
οwn originator and ancestor. If the line be traced
back from Αbraham to the first man, anyone who
should describe those who have obtained a good
testimony for righteousness, as Christians in fact,
from certain foods nor the distinction between others
(such as Moses afterwards first began to hand down
their successors) nor for symbolic ceremony any
more than christians care for such things now, but
they clearly knew him as the Christ of God, seeing
at it has aheady been demonstrated that he
peared to Αbraham, addressed Isaac, spoke to
srael, and conversed with Moses and the later
prophets. Whence you would find that those Godlving
men obtained even the name οf Christ accordto
the word spoken concerning them, “ Touch
not my Christs and act not wickedly among my prophets.”
So that it must cleariy be held that the
announcement to all the Gentiles, recently made
through the teaching of Christ, is the very first
and most aneient and antique discovery of true
religion by Αbraham and those lovers of God who
followed him. Αnd even if they say that Αbraham
it has been related that, before this command, he
received a good testimony for righteousness through
faith, as the divine word says, “Αnd Αbraham be-
v. So then, after the neeessary preliminaries to
the history of the Church proposed by us, let us
begin, as if starting a journey, with the appearanee
οf our Saviour in the flesh, after invoking God, the
Father of the Logos, and Jesus Christ himself, our
Saviour and Lord, the heavenly Logos of God, to
give us help and assistance to truth in the narra-
(??)ive. It was, then, the forty-second year of the
reign of Augustus, Augustus,1 and the twenty-eighth year after
the submission of Egypt and the death of Αntony
and Cleopatra (and with her the Egyptian dynasty
of the Ptolemies came to an end), when our Saviour
and Lord Jesus Christ, in aecordance with the
prophecies concerning him, was born in Bethlehem
of Judaea at the time of the census which then hrst
took place, while Quirinus was Governor of Syria.
This census in the time of Quirinius,2 Flavius
Josephus, the most famous of the historians among
the Hebrews, also mentions, and joins to the narrative
another coneerning the seet of the Galileans which
arose at the same time. Our own Luke has also
mentioned this in one place in the Acts, saying
“ Αfter this man arose Judas the Galilean, in the
VI. Νow at this time, when Ηerod was the first
foreigner to hold the sovereignty of the Jewish
nation, the prophecy made through Moses that “ A
rule shall not fail from Judah nor a leader from his
loins until he come for whom it is reserved ’’ 1 began
be fulmled. Moses also shows that this one will
the “ expectation of the ” Obviously
the terms of the prediction were unfulfilled so long
VII. since Marthew and Luke, having given us
different traditions in their gospels concerning the
genealogy οf Christ, are eonsidered by many to
disargee; ; and since each of the faithful in ignoranee
of the truth has been Ζealous in making guesses
on these passages, come, let us set out the
story that has reached us concerning them, whieh
the Africanus mentioned by uS a short time ago
narrated in a letter which he wrpte to Aristides on
the harmony of the genealogies in the Gospels,
confuting the opinions of others as forced and
fictitious and setting out his own traditions in the
following words : “ Since the names of the families
in Israel were numbered either by nature or by law;
VIII. Νow when Christ was born, in accordanee
with the prophecy, at Bethlehem of Judaea at the
time mentioned, Ηerod was asked by the Μagi
from the East where might he be who μ’ born
king of the jews, for they had seen his star, and
this had been the eause of their long journey in
their zeal to worship the infant as God. The
request caused him to be not a lttle disturbed at
the situation for, as he thought, his sovereignty
was in danger. Ηe therefore inquired from the
teaehers of the Law among the people where they
expeeted the Christ to be born, and when he learnt
the propheey of Micah, foretelling that it should be
in Bethlehem, he gave a comprehensive order to
put to death all the infants which were being nursed
in Bethlehem and the whole neighbourhood, of two
years old and less, aeeording to the time indicated
The writer mentioned above gives this account in the treatise quotedI and in the seeond book of the Jeruish Wars he gives a similar traffition, writing as follows :
“Then the ffisease spread through his Whole body,
and attacked each part with divers sufferings.
The fever rose, there was intolerable itching of the
whole surtace, incessant pain in the colon, his feet
were swollen as though with dropsy, there was inflammation
of the bladder, and gangrene of the genitals,
breeffing worms. In addition to this, hiS breathing
was ffiffieult and impossible if he lay down, and
there Were spasms in every limb, so that the divines
said that his illness was a punishment. Yet though
he was struggling with such great suffering he still
elung to life hoping for health and thinking of
cure. So he crossed the Jordan and took the warm
baths at ë which flow out into the Dead
IX. The historian already mentioned corroborates thc aceession to power of Archelaus after Herod, describing both the way in which he succeeded to the kingdom of the jews by the testaments of Ηerod his father and the deeision of Caesar Augustus, and how, when he fell from power after ten years, his οthers Philip and the younger Ηerod, together with Lysanias, administered their own tetrarchies.
In the eighteenth book of the Antiquities the Same Josephus explains how Pontius Pilate was given the administration οf Judaea in the twelfth year of Tiberius (for he had succeeded to universal sovereignty after Αugustus had held the government for fifty-seven years), and for ten whole years he remained in office, almost until the death Tiberius.
So that there is clear proof of the forgery of those who recently or formerly have issued a series of Pilate's Reports 1 about our Savious; for in them the dates mentioned convict the forgers of untruth. They relate that the crime of the Saviour's death fell in the fourth consulship of Tiberius, which as the seventh year of his reign, but at that time it has been shown that Pilate was not yet in charge of Judaea, if Josephus may be used as a witness, for he clearly shows, in the writing quoted from him above, that it was aetually in the twelfth year of the reign of Tiberius that Pilate was appointed procurator of Judaea by Tiberius.
X. In the time of these rulers them, according to
the evangelist, when Tiberius Caesar was in the
fifteenth year of his reign and Pontius Pilate the
fourth of his governorship, and Herod, Lysanias, and
Philip were tetrarchs of the rest of Judaea, our Saviour
and Lord, Jesus the Christ of Good, “ beginning to
be about thirty years old” came to the baptism of
John and there began the proclamation of the gospel.
The divine Scripture says that he completed
the whole time of his teaching while Annas and
Caiaphas were high priest, 3 showing that the
“Valerius Gratus, having deprived Ananus of the
priesthood, as as high Ρriest Ishmael the
son of Phabi. Ηim, too, he removes shortly and
nominates as high priest Eliezer thc son or Ananus
the high priest. But when a year vas past he
removes him also and hands over the high priesthood
to Simon the son of Kamithus. But neither
did his tenure of office last for more than a year,
and Josephus, who is also called Caiaphas, was his
” Thus the whole time of the teaching of
our saviour is shown to be not even a full four years ;
sinee from Αnnas to the appointment of Caiaphas
in four years four high priests held the yearly office.
Naturally, then, the scripture of the gospel has indicated
cated eaiaphas as high priert of the year in which the
Saviours's pasrion was completed, and from this also
the time of the teaching of Christ is shown to be not
οut in advance of him, two by two, to every place
and city where he was to come himself.
XI. The divene scripture of the gospels relates that
not long afterwards John the Baptist was beheaded
hy. Herod the younger, and Josephus confirms the
narrative, mentioning Herodias by name, and telling
how, though she was his brother's wife, Ηerod took her
in marriage, by putting aside her who had formerly
been legally married to him (and she was the
daughter οf Αretas the king οf the Ρetraeans) and
separating Herodias from her husband who was alive.
For her sake, too, after killing John, he waged war
with Aretas for the dishonour done his daughter ; and
Josephus says that in a battle in this war the whole
army of Ηerod was destroyed, and that he suffered
this because οf the plot against John. The same
osephus admits that John was peculiarly righteous,
and a baptits, confirming the testimony recorded in
he text of the gospels concerning Hhlm. Ηe also
elates that Ηerod Was deprived of his kingdom for
the sake οf the same Herodias, and was exiled with
“Νow to some ofthe Jews it seemed that the army of Ηerod had been destroyed by OOd and that he was paying a very just penalty for John who was called the Baptist. For Ηerod killed him, a good man and one who commanded the Jews, training themselves in virtue, to pracrise righteousness towards one another and piety towards God, and to come together for baptism. For he said that baptism would prove acceptable to him only in those who used it not to escape from any sins but for bodily purity, on condition that the soul also had been previously cleansed thoroughly by righteousness. Αnd when the rest collected, for they were greariy eXeited at hearing his vords, Herod feared hiS great persuasiveness with men lest it should lead to some rising, for they appeared ready to do everything under his advice. Ηe therefore eonsidered it mUeh better, beffire a revolt should spring from John, to put him to death in anticipation, rather than be involved in difficulties through the actual revolution and then regret it. Αnd John, through Herod's suspicion, was sent a prisoner to Macherus, the prison mentioned already, and was there put to death.”
Αfter narrating these things about John in the
“At this time arose Jesus, a wise man, if indeed he must be called a man, for he Was a doer of marvellous deeds, a teacher of men who received the uth with pleasure, and he led after him many of the Jews and many also of the Oentile population. This was the Christ ; and when Pilate had eondemned him o the cross at the instigation of the leaffing men among us, those who had nrst loved him did not to do so, ror he appeared to them when three days dead restored to life, and the divine prophets had told these and ten thousand other wonders concerning him. Αnd up till now the tribe of Christians which me named after him has not died οut.”
When a writer sprung from the Hebrews themselves handed οn in his οwn writing these details concerning John the Baptist and our Saviour, what altemative is there but to convict of shamelessness those who have concocted the Reports about them ? 1 But let this suffice.
XII. Νow the names of the apostles of our saviour
are plain to everyone form the gospels, but no list
of the Seventy is anywhere extant. It is said,
however, that one of them was Bamabas, and of him
the Acts of the Αpostles has also made special
mention, and so also has Ρaul when writing to the
Galatians. Αnd they say that sosthenes too, who
wrote with Paul to the Corinthians, was one of them.
And there is the story in clement, in the Rfth book
the Hypotyposes, in which he says that Cephas,
concerning whom Ρaul says “ and when Cephas
XIII. The manner of the narrative concerning
Thaddaeus is as follows. The divinity of our Lord
and saviour Jesus Christ beeame famous among all
men because of his wonder-working power, and led
to him myriads even of those who in foreign lands
were far remote from Judaea, in the hope of healing
from diseases and from ah kinds of sufferings. In
this way King Αbgar, the celebrated monarch of the
A copy of a letter ruritten by Abgar the Toparch to Jesus and sent to him Jerusalem by courier Ananias.
“Αbgar Uchama, the Toparhc, to Jesus the good aviour who has appeared in the district of Jerusalem, eeting. I have heard. . concerning you and your ures, how they are accomprlshed by you without ugs and herbs. For, as the story goes, you make he blind recover their sight, the lame walk, and hu cleanse lepers, and cast out unclean sspirits and emons, and you cure those who are tortured by long isease and you raise dead men. Αnd when 1 heard these things concerning you I decided that it is one the two, either that you are God, and came down οm heaven to do these things, or are a son of God οr doing these things. For this reason I write to beg ou to hasten to me and to heal the suffering which Ι have. Moreover I heard that the Jews are mocking you, and wish to ill-great you. Now I have a city very small and venerable which is enough for both.” 1
The reply from Jesus to Abgar, the Toparch, by the courier Ananias.
“Blessed art thou who didst believe in me not
haring seen me, for it is written concerning me that
ose who have seen me will not believe on me,
nd that those who have not seen me will believe
nd live. Now concerning what you you wrote me,
To theSe letters the following is further appended in the Syriac :
“Νow after the aseension of Jesus, Judas, who
is also Thomas, Sent ThaddaeuS to him aS an apoStle,
being οne of the seventy, and he came and
stayed with Tobias, the son of Tobias. Νow
when news of him was heard, 1 it was reported
to Αbgar that an Αpostle of Jesus has come here,
as he wrote to you. so ThaddaeuS began in the power
of Ood to heal every disease and WeakneSs So that
all marvelled Αnd when Αbgar heard the great
and wonderful deeds which he was doing, and how
he was working cures, he began to suWct that
this was he of whom Jesus had written saying,
‘ When Ι have been taken up, I will send you one
of my discipleS who will heal your ’ so he
Summoned Tobias, with whom ThaddaeuS was staying,
and said, ‘ I hear that a certain man of power haS
come and is staying in your houSe. Bring him to
me.' 2 Αnd Tobias came to Thaddaeus and said to him,
‘ The Toparch. Αbgar, summoned me and bade me
bring you to him in order to heal ’ Αnd Thad-
Let thiS valuable and literal tranSlation from the syriae Suffiee me for the present.
CΟΝTEΝTS ΟF BΟΟΚ IΙ
Τhe contents of the second book of the History of the Church is as follows :
I. On the life of the Apostles after the Ascension of Christ.
ΙΙ. On the emotion of Tiberius at learning from Pilate the story of Christ.
III. How in a short time the message concerning Christ ran through the whole world.
IV. How after Tiberhb Caius appointed Agrippa as King of the Jews and punished Herod with perpetual banishment.
V. How Philo was sent on an embassy to Caius on behalf Of the Jews.
VI. ΑlΙ the evils which accumulated on the Jews after their crime against Christ.
VII. How Pilate, too, committed suicide.
VIII. Concerning the famine in the the of Claudius.
IX. The martyrdOm οf James the Apostle.
X. How Agrippa, who was also called Herod, perecuted the Apostles and at once felt the punishment of God.
XI. On Theudas the magician.
XII. On Helena the Queen of the Adiabeni.
XIII. On Simon Magus.
XIV. Οn the preaching of Peter the Apostle at Rome.
XV.On the Gospel according to Mark.
XVI. How Mark was the first to preach the knowledge of Christ to those in Egypt.
XVII. The narrative of Philo on the Ascetics in Egypt.
XVIII. The treatise of Philo which have come down to us.
XIX. The misfortunes which overtook the Jews in Jerusalem on the day of the Passover.
XX. What was done at Jerusalem under Nero.
XXI. On the Egyptian whom the Acts of the Apostles also mentioned.
XXII. How Paul was sent a prisoner to Rome from Judaea and after defending himself was acquitted of all guilt.
XXIII. How Jame who was called tbe brother of the Lord suffered martyrdom.
XXIV. How after Μark Αnnianus was the first to be appointed bishop of the chureh of the Alexandrians.
XXV. On the persecution under Nero in which Ρaul and Peter at Rome were adorned with martyrdom for religion's sake.
XXVI. How the Jews were pursued by countless evils and how they began the final war against the Romans.
Our book was compiled from those of Clement, Tertullian, Josephus, and Philo.
BΟΟK II
ΑLL that needed stating by way of preface in the history of the Church-the proof of the divinity of the saving Logos, the ancient history οf our teaching, and the antiquity of the dogmas of the Christian life according to the Gospel, particularly all the points concerning his reeently fuffilled advent, the events before his Passion, and the story of the choice of the Apostles—all this We traeed in preceding book, summarizing the demonstration. Let us now consider in the present book what folloWed his Αscension, nothing some things from the divine writings, and adding what is taken from other sources from treatises which We will quote from time to rime.
I. Matthias was the first to be chosen to the Apostolate
instead of the traitor Judas. As has been shown,
he had himself been one οf the Lord's disciples,
For the administration of the common fund tried
men, seven in number, by Stephen, stephelb were appointed
to the ministry by prayer and the
on Of the Apostles' hands. And Stephen was first
after his Lord not only in ordination, but, as though
he had been put forward for this very purpose,
also in that he was stoned to dearil by the Lord's
murderers, and so vas the first to carry off the crown,
Αt that mme time alSo James, who was called the brother of the Lord. inasmuch as the latter too was styled the child of Joseph, and Joseph was called the father of Christ, for the Virgin Va betrOthed to him when, before lhey came together, she was discovered to have eoncebed by the Holy Spirit, as the Sacred writing of the Gospels teaches — this same James, to whom the men Of old had also giVen the surname of Just fOr his excellence of Virtue, is ’ated to haVe been the first elected to the throne of the bishoprie of the Chureh in Jerusalem. Clement in the sixth book of the hypotyposes adduces the following: “ ” he says, “ Peter and James and John after the Ascension OF the Saviour did not struggle for glory, beCause they had previously been given honour by the saViOur, but ehOe James the Just as bishop of ” The same Writer in the seventh book of the same work says in additiOn thiS about him, “ Αfter the Resurrection the Lord gaVe the tradition of knowledge to James the Just and John and Ρeter, these gaVe it to the other Apostles and the other Apostles to the seventy, of whom Barnabas also was one. Now there Were tWo Jameses, one James the Just, who a throwm down from the pinnacle of the temple and beaten to death with a fuller's club, and the other he who Was ” Ρaul also mentions the same. James the Jurt when he writes, “ Αnd I saw none other of the Apostles save James the brother of the Lord.”
Αt this time too the terms of Our saViOur ’s promise
to the king of the Osrhoense were receiving fulfil
On the martyrdom οf stephen there arose the
Rrst and greatest persecution of the Church in
Jerusalem by the Jews. Αll the diSeiples, with the
single exception of the Twelve, were scattered
throughout Judaea and Samaria; some, as the
divine scripture sayS, traverSed as far aS Ρhoenice,
Cyprus and Αntioch, but they were not yet in a
position to venture to transmit the word of faith
to Gentiles, and announced it only to Jews. Αt
that time Ρaul also was still ravaging the Church,
entering into the houses of the faithful, dragging
out men and women, and handing them over to
prison. Philiop, however, οne of those who with
Stephen had been already ordained to the diaconate,
was among those who were seattered abroad, and
went down to samaria, where, nlled with divine
II. The wonderful resurrection and ascension into
heavcn of our Saviour was now already generally
famous, and in accordance with an ancient eustom
that those who were ruling οver the nations should
report to him who held the imperial office any new
movement among them, in οrder that no event
might escape his notiee, Pilate communicated to the
Εmperor Tiberius the story of the resurrection from
the dead of our Saviour Jesus as already famous
aInong all throughout all Palestine, together with the
information he had gained of his οther wonders and
how he was aheady believed by many to be a God,
in that after death he had risen from the deasd.1
They say that Tiberius referred the report to the
senate, which rejected it ostensibly because it had
not preriously tested the matter, for an ancient law
prevailed that no οne should be held as a God by
the Romans exeept by a vote and decree of the
senate, but in truth because the saving teaching of
the divine message needed no ratification and commendation
from men. In this way the council of
Tertullian, who had an accurate knowledge of Roman law, a man espeeially famous among those most distinguished in Rome, has noted this in the Apology for the christians which was written by him in Latin but translated into the oreek language; he tells the story as follows: “ But, in order that we may ffiscuss sueh laws from their origin, there an an ancient decree that none should be con- secrated as a god by an Εmperor before being approved by the senate. Marcus Aemilius has acted thus conceming a certain idol Αlbumus. Αnd this supports our argument that among you godship has been given by human approval. If a god does not Ρlease man, he does not hecome god, so that, according to this, man must be gracious to Ood. Tiberius, therefore, in whose time the name of Christian came into the World, when this doctrine was reported to him from Ρalestine, where it Rrst began, communh cated it to the Senate, and made it plain to them that he favoured the doctrine, but the senate, because it had not itself tested it, rejected it; but he continued in his own opinion and threatened death to the accusers of the ”1 For heavenly providence had designed putting this in his mind in order that the word of the Oospel might have an unimpeded beginning, and traverse the earth in all directions.
III. Thus by the power and assistance of Ηeaven
IV. Tiberius ffied after reigning about twenty-two years.1 Αfter him Caius received the sovereignty and at once gave to Αgrippa 2 the crown of the rule of the Jews. Ηe made him king of the tetrarchies οf Philip and LysaniaS, and after a short time added to them the tetrarchy of Ηerod, Sentencing Ηerod (he was the Ηerοd of the Ρassion of the saviour) for many offences to perpetual banishment, together with his wife Herodias. Οf tffihls too Josephus is witness.
In his reign Ρhilo beeame generally known as a man of the greatest distiction, not only among our own people but also among those of heathen educa- tion. Ηe was a Ηebrew by racial descent but in- ferior to none οf the magnates in authority in Alexandria. The extent and quality οf the labour he bestowed οn the theologieal learning of hiS raee is in fact patent to all, and it is not necessary to say anything of his position in philosophy and the liberal stuffies of the heathen world since he is related to have surpassed all his contemporaries, especially in his zeal for the study οf Ρlato and Ρythagoras.
V. Νοw
this wTiter has narrated in Rve books what happened
to the Jews ìn the time of Caius; he has in this
work combined the Stories or the insanity of Caius,
Josephus also relates these facts and writes as
follows in the eighteenth book of the Antiquities;
“ Now When a disturbance took place in Alexandria
between the Jews who lived there and the Greeks,
three of each side were chosen to to as representative
to Caius. Οne of the Alexandrian representatives
was Αpion, Who uttered many calumnies
against the Jews, saying especially that they neglected
to give honour to Caesar, and that while all
who are subject to tbe rule of the Romans build
altars and temples ot Caius, and in other respects
reeeive hinl tb they do the gods, these men alone
think it improper to honour him with statues or to
swear by his name. Now thought Apion had made
many serious charges by whieh he naturally hoped that
Caiu, would be roued, Philo, the chief of the embassy
of the Jew, a man of high reputation in every
respect for he was the brother of Alexander the
Alabarch and a philosopher of no little skill, was
able in his reply to deal with the accusations but
Caius cut him short, bade him get out of the way,
and was so enraged that he clearly was on the point
or serious measures against them. So Philo went
So far Josephus. Philo himself in the Embassy which he Wrote gives an accurate and detailed aecount of what he did at the time Ι shall Ρass over the greater Ρart and eite Only those points whieh plainly demonstrate to students the misfortunes whieh eame upon the Jews, all at once and after a rilort time, in consequenee Of their crimes against Christ. In the ffist Ρlace he relate that, in the time Of Tiberius, in the city ofthe Romans, Sejanus, the most influential of the Emperor's court at the time, took measures eompletely to destroy the whole race, and in Judaea Ρilate, under whom the crime against the saviour was perpetrated, made an attempt on the temple, still standing in Jerusalem, contrary to the privileges granted to the JeWs, and harassed them tO the utmost,
(VI.) whhe arter the death Of Tiberius
Caius reeeived the sovereignty and inffieted many
injuries on many, but more than all did the greatest
harm to the vhole nation of the Jews. This may
be learned shOrtly from his own word, in which he
writes exactly as follows: “ Now the eharaeter of Caius
vas extremely capricious towards all, but particularly
towards the raee of Jews. Ηe hated them bitteriy bitterly:
in other cities, beginning with Alexandria, he seized
the synagogues and ffiled them vith images and
statues of his own form (for by giving permission to
The same writer narrates in a second treaties entitled Οn the Virtues1 innumerable other atrocities, beyond all description, perpectrated on Jews in Alexandria in the same reign, and Josephus comfirms him, showing in the same Way that rile universal misfortunes of the nation began with the time οf Pilate and the crimes against the Saviour. Listen then to the actural words of his statement in the second book of the Jewish War. “ Now Pilate. sent as procurator to Judaea by Tiberius, brought into Jerusalem at night and covered up the images of Caesar which are called ensigns. When day came this roused the greatest commotion among the Jews, for they were horrified at what they saw close by since their laws had been trampled om, for they do not permit any image to be set up in the city.”
Now comparing this with the writing of the Gospels
you will see that it was not long before they Were overtaken
by the ery vhieh they uttered in the presence of
Pilate himself, with Which they rilOuted Out that they
had no other king than Caesar only. The same writer
The same writer shoWs that besides this innumerable other revolts were started in Jerusalem itseK, affirming that from that time risngs and war and the mutual contrivance of eril never ceased in the city and throughout Judaea, until the time when the siege under vespasian came upon them as the last scene of all. Thus the penalty of Ood pursued the Jews for their crimes against Christ.
VII. it is also worthy of notice that tradition relates
that that same pilate, he οf the Saviour's time, in
the days of Caius, whose Ρeriοd we have described,
fell into such great calamity that he was forced to
become his own slayer and to punish himself with
his οwn hand, for the Ρenalty of God, as it seems,
VIII. caius had not completed four years οf sovereignty when Clauffius suceeeded him as Emperor.2 In his time famine seized the world (and this also writers 3 with a purpose quite other than ours have reeorded in their histories), and so what the prophet Αgabus had foretold, aceorffing to the Acts οf the Apostles, that a famine would be over the whole wold, received fuffihnent. Luke in the Αcts describes the famine in the time οf clauffius and narrates how the Chrirtians at Antioch sent to those in Judaea, eaeh accorffidlng to his ability, by Ρaul and Barnabas, and he goes οn to say,
(IX.) “ Νοw at that ” — obviously that οf Claudius, — “ Ηerοd the king put forth his hand to vex certain οf the church and killed James the brother of John with the ” Concerning this James, clement adds in the seventh book οf the Hypotyposes a story worth mentioning, apparently from the tradition of his predecessors, to the effect that he who brought him to the court was so moved at seeing him testify as to eonfess that he also was himself a Christian. “ so they Were both led away ” he says, “ and on the way he asked for forgivensess for himself from James. Αnd James looked at him for a moment and said, ‘ Ρeace be to ’ and kissed him. so both were beheaded at the same time.”
Αt that time, as the divinde scripture says, Herod, Seeing that his action in the murder of Jame had given pleasure to the Jews, turned to Ρeter also, put him in prison, and would have perpetrated his murder alsO had it not been for Divine intervention at the last moment, for an angel appeared to him by night and he Was miraculously released from lris bonds and set free for the ministry of preaching. such Was the dispensation of heaven for Peter.
X. Αs the king's attempt on the Apostles there
was no more delay, but the avenging minister of the
sentenee Of God OvertoOk him at once, immediatedly
after his plot against the Apostles, as the Scripture
relates in the Acts. Ηe had gone to Caesarea, and
there on the set day of the feast,1 adorned with
splendid and royal robes, he addressed the
standing on high before his judgement-seat. The
whole people applauded his address, as though at the
voice Of a god and not of a man, and tbe story 2 relates
that an angel of the Lord smote him at once, and
he was eaten of worms and expired. Ιt is worthy
or wonder how in this marvel also the narrative of
Josephus agrees with the diVine seripture. He
clearly testffies to the truth in the nineteenth book
or the Antiquities where the wonder in related in the
following words: “ Now the third year of his reign
over ah Judaea had been ffirished when he came to
the eity of Caesarea, wbiCh was formerly called the
But after a little looking up he saw an angel
seated above hiS head.1 ThiS he at once Ρerceived to
be the harbinger of evil, as it had formerly been of
good ; 1 he had in his hiS heart, and agony rapidly
beginning Spread increasingly through hiS stomach.
So he looked up to hiS friendS and said, ἴ’ I, Who am
your god, am now commanded to give up my life,
for fate has immediately reproved the lying wordS
just urtered about me. I, whom you called im-
mortal, am now being taken off to ffie. Fate
muSt be accepted aS Ood haS willed, yet I have
XI. Since Luke in the Αcts introduceS Gamaliel as
saying at the inquiry about the Apostles that at the
time indicated Theudas aroSe, saying that he WaS
Somebody, and that he was destroyed and all who
After this he mentions mentions as follOWs the famine Whieh took Ρlace in the time of Claudius:
XII. “ Αt
the Same time it happened that the great famine tOOk
plaee in Judaea, in Whieh Queen Ηelena bought
corn from Egypt at great expense and distributed
it to those who were in ” You would find
that this too agrees ẁ̀ith the writing of the Acts οf
the Αpostles, whieh reeords hoW the disciples in
Αntioch, each aceording to his several ability, deter-
mined to send to the relier of the dwellers in Judaea,
which they did, sending it to the eldem by the hand
of Barnabas and Ρaul. Splendid monuments of the
Ηelena whom the historian has COmmemOrated are
Theudas eannot really have been rererred to by Gamaliel,
who was speaking many years before the time of Fadus.
Μοst modern writers on Αcts think that nevertheless the
Helena whom the historian has commemorated are
XIII. Seeing that the faith in our sariour and
Lord Jesus Christ was already being given to all men,
the enemy of men's salvation planned to capture rile
capital in advanee, and sent there simon, who was
mentioned above, and by aiding the ’s trieky
soreery won over to error many Of the inhabitants
of Rome. This is told by Jurtin, Who was an
ornament of our farth not Ιong after the Apostles,
and I will set out the necessary infoimation about
him in due eourse. Ιn his first Apology to Antoninus
for our opinions he writes as follows: “ Αnd after
the ascensiOn of the Lord intO heaven the demOns
Ρut forward men Vho said that they were gOds,
and they not only escaped perseeution by you
but were eVen Vouehsafed honours. There Was a
certain simon, a Samaritan, from a Village callcd
Gittho, vho in the time of Claudius Caesar worked
miracles by magie through the art of the demOns
possessing him ;he Was reekoned as a god in Rome,
your capital city, and honoured as a god among you
by a statue οn the river Tiber between the two
bridges, with this inscription in Latin — SIMONI DEO
SANCTO, 2” that is to Simon a holy god. “ and almost
all Samaritans and a few in other nations a well,
recognize him as the chief god and worship him, and
This is what Justin says, and Irenaeus agrees
with him in the first book against heresies where he
collects the stories about Simon and his unholy and
foul teaching. It would be superfluous to relate this
in the present work since those who desire it can
study in detail the origin and life and the false
doctrinal principles of the heresiarchs who followed
him and the customs introduced by them all, for
they are carefully preserved in the above-mentioned
book of Irenaeus. Thus we have received the tradition
that Simon was the first author of all heresy.
From him, and down to the present time, those who
have followed, feigning the Christian philosophy,
with its sobriety and universal fame for purity of
life, have in no way improved on the idolatrous
superstition from which they thought to be set free,
for they prostrate themselves before pictures and
images of Simon himself and of Helena, who was
mentioned with him, and undertake to worship them
with incense and sacrifices and libations. Their more
secret rites, at which they say that he who first hears
them will be astonished, and according to a scripture
current among them will be “ thrown into marvel,”
truly are full of marvel and frenzy and madness ;
for they are of such a kind that they not merely
XIV. of such evil was Simon
the father and fabricator, and the Evil Power,
which hates that which is good and plots against the
salvation of men, raised him up at that time as a
great antagonist for the great and inspired Apostles
of our Saviour. Nevertheless the grace of God
which is from heaven helped its ministers and
quickly extinguished the flames of the Evil One by
their advent and presence, and through them
humbled and cast down “ every high thing that
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God.”
Wherefore no conspiracy, either of Simon, or of any
other of those who arose at that time, succeeded in
those Apostolic days ; for the light of the truth and
the divine Logos himelf, which had shone from God
upon men by growing up on the earth and dwelling
among his own Apostles, was overcoming all things
in the might of victory. The aforesaid sorcerer, as
though the eyes of his mind had been smitten by
the marvellous effulgence of God when he had
formerly been detected in his crimes in Judaea by
the Apostle Peter, at once undertook a great journey
across the sea, and went off in flight from east to
west, thinking that only in this way could he live
as he wished. He came to the city of the Romans,
XV. Thus when the divine word made its home among them the power of Simon was extinguished and perished immediately. together with the fellow himself.
But a great light of religion shone on the minds
of the hearers of Peter, so that they were not satisfied
with a single hearing or with the unwritten teaching
of the divine proclamation, but with every kind of
exhortation besought Mark, whose Gospel is extant,
seeing that he was Ρeter’s follower, to leave them
a written statement of the teaching given them
verbally, nor did they cease until they had persuaded
him, and so became the cause of the Scripture called
the Gospel according to Mark. And they say that
the Apostle, knowing by the revelation of the spirit
to him what had been done, was pleased at their
XVI. They Say that this Μark was the first to be sent to preach in Egypt the Gospel which he had also put into writing, and was the first to establish churches in Alexandria itself. The number of men and women who were there converted at the first attempt was so great, and their asceticism was so extraordinarily philosophic, that Philo thought it right to describe their conduct and assemblies and meals and all the rest of their manner of life.
XVII.
Tradition says that he came to Rome in the time
of Claudius to speak to Peter, who was at that time
preaching to those there. This would, indeed, be
not improbable since the treatise to which we refer,
composed by him many years later, obviously contains
the rules of the Church which are still observed
in our own time. Moreover, from his very accurate
description of the life of our ascetics it will be plain
that he not only knew but welcomed, reverenced,
and recognized the divine mission of the apostolic
men of his day, who were, it appears, of Hebrew
origin, and thus still preserved most of the ancient
To practices like those which have been related
Philo bears witness and continues in the following
words : “ The race is found in many places in
the world, for it was right that both Greece and
barbarism should share in perfect good, but it
abounds in Εgypt in each of the so-ealled nomes and
especially around Αlexandria. The noblest from
every region send a colony to a district well suited
for their purpose, as though it were the land of the
Therapeutae. This distriet is situated above Lake
Mareia 1 on a low hill, very convenient for its safety
and the temperateness οf the climate." Ηe then
goes on to describe the nature οf their dwellings,
and says this about the churches in various districts :
“ In eaeh house there is a sacred dwelling whieh is
called ‘ a sanctuaq and , ' whieh they
celebrate in seclusion the mysteries of the sacred
life, and bring nothing into it, either drink or food
or any of the other things necessary for bodily needs,
but law and inspired oraeles given by the prophets
and hymns and other things by which knowledge
and religion are increased and perfected." Αnd
further on he says : The whole period from dawn
This seems to have been said by a man who had listened to their expositions of the sacred scriptures, and it is perhaps probable that the writings of men of old, whieh he says were found among them, were the Gospels, the writings of the Apostles, and some expositinos οf prophets after the manner of the ancients, sueh as are in the Εpistle to the Ηebrews and many οther of the epistles of Ρaul. Ηe then goes on to write thus about their composition οf new psahns : “ So that they not οnly contemplate but make songs and hymns to God in all kinds of metres and melodies, though they perforce arrange them in the more sacred measures."
Ηe discusses many οther points as well in the
same book, but it seemed necessary to enumerate
those by whieh the charaeteristics of the life of the
Church are exhibited; but if anyone doubt that what
has been said is peculiar to life according to the
gospel, and think that it can be applied to others
besides those indicated, let him be persuaded by the
following words of Philo in which he will find, if he
be fair, indisputable testimony on this point. Ηe
we think that these words of Ρhilo are elear and
indisputably refer to our communion. But if after
this anyone obstinately deny it let him be converted
from his scepticism and be persuaded by
clearer indications which cannot be found among
any, save only in the worship of Christians according
to the Gospel. For Ρhilo says that women belong
aho to those under discussion and that most οf them
are aged virgins who kept their chastity from no
compulsion, like some of the priestesses among the
Greeks, but rather from voluntary opinion, from zeal
and yearning for wisdom, with which they desired
to live, and paid no attention to bdily pleasures,
longing not for mortal but for immortal children,
which only the soul that loves God is eapable of
bearing of itself. Ηe then proceeds to expound
this more elearly. “ But the interpretations of the
What need is there to add to this a description of
their meetings, and of how the men live separately
and the women separately in the same place, and of
the customary exercises which are still celebrated
among us, particularly those which we are accutomed
to celebrate at the feast of the Passion of
the Saviour by abstinellce from food and vigils and
attention to the word οf God ? The writer referred
to has given in his own writing a description οf
this, which exactly agrees with the manner which is
still observed by us and by us alone ; he relates
the vigils for the entire night of the great feast,
and the exercises during them, and the hymns which
we are aecustomed to recite, and how while one
sings regularly with cadenee, the rest listen in
silence and join in singing only the refrain of the
hymns, and how οn stated days they sleep on the
ground οn straw, how they completely refrain from
wine, as he expressly states, and from all kinds of
Resh, drinking only water and using salt and hyssop
to season their bread. In adffition to this he writes
of the order of preeedence οf those who have been
appointed to the service of the Church, both to the
diaconate and to the supremacy of the episcopate
XVIII. Philo vas rich in language and broad in
thought, sublime and elevated in his views of the
divine writings, and had made various and diverse his
exposition of the sacred words. Ηe rirst went through
the subject of the events in Genesis in connected
sequence, in the book which he entitled “ The
Allegories of the sacred ’’ Ηe then made
detailed arrangement into chapters of the difficulties
in the Scriptures and gave their statement and
solution in the books to which he gave the suitable
title οf “ The Problems and Solutions in Genesis
and in Exodus." There are, besides this, some
specially elaborated treatises of his on certain problems,
such as the two books “ On Agriculture," and
as many “ Οn Drunkenness," and others with various
appropriate titles, such as “ The Things which the
Sober Μind desires and exercrates," “ On the confusion
of Tongues," “ Οn flight and Discovery,"
“ Οn Assembly for Instruction," and “ On the Question
who is Heir of the Divine Things," or “ On the
Distinction between Οdd and Even," and further
“ Οn the three Virtues which Moses describes with
’’ in additon to this, “ On those whose names
have been changed and why they where," in which
he says that he has also composed Books I. and
II. “ Οn the Covenants." There is also a book of
his “ Οn Migration and the wise life of the Man
Αt this time, while Ρaul was finishing his journey from Jerusalem and round about unto Illyricum, Claudius banished the Jews from Rome, and Aquila and Priscilla, with the other Jews, left Rome and came into Αsia, and lived there with Ρaul the Apostle, while he was strengthening the foundations of the churches there which had reeently been laid by him. The sacred Scripture of the Acts teaches this also.
XIX. Νow while Claudius was still administering the Εmpire there was a riot and confusion in Jerusalem at the feast οf the Ρassover so great that, merely among those who were violently crowded together at the ways leading οut οf the temple, thirty thousand Jews perished by tramplinlg οn each other, and the feast was turned into mourning for the whole nation and into lamentation in each house. This too Josephus relates in So many words. Claudius appointed Agrippa, the child οf Αgrippa, as king of the Jews, and sent out as Ρrocurator of the whole district or samaria and Galilee, together with that called Peraea. Ηe had administered the government for thirteen years and eight months when he died and left Νero his successor in the sovereignty.
XX. In the time of Νerο, while Felix was Ρrocurator
of Judaea, Josephus again relateS the quarrel of the
priests with one another in the following words in
a passage in the twentieth book οf the Antiquities :
“ Νow a quarrel arose between the Ηigh Ρriests and
the priests and leaders of the people of Jerusalem.
The same writer again relates that at the same time a certain kind of bandits arose in Jerusalem, who, as he says, murdered daily those whom they met, even in the midst of the city. In particular at the feasts they used to mingle with the crowd and concealing short daggers in their clothes used to Stab distinguished people with them ; then, when they had fallen, the murderers themselves shared in the indignation. In this way they evaded discovery through the conhdence generally plaeed in them. Jonathan the Ηigh Priest was the first to be slain by them, but after him many were murdered daily, and fear was worse than the disasters, for as if in war every man was hourly expecting death.
XXI. Ηe continues his narrative after οther details
as follows: : “ The Εgyprian false prophet affiicted the
Jews with a worse scourge than this, for this man
appeared in the country as a sorcerer and secured
for himself the faith due to a prophet. Ηe assembled
about thirty thousand who had been deceived and
Josepohus relates this in the second book of the Wars, but it is worth nothing what is said about the Egyptian there and in the Acts or the Apostles, where, in the time of Felix, the centurion at Jerusalem said to Ρaul, when the mob of the Jews was rioting against him, “ Αrt thou not that Egyptian who before these days made an uprorar and led out in the wilderness four thousand men of the Sicarii 1 ? ’’ Such was the course of events under Felix.
XXII. Festus was sent as his successor by Νero, and
Ρaul was tried before him and taken as a prisoner to
Rome ; Αristarchus was with him, and he naturally
called him his fellow-prisoner in a passage in tlle
Epistles. Luke also, who committed the Acts of
the Apostles to writing, finished his narrative at this
point by the statement that Ρaul spent two whole
years in Rome in freedom, and preached the word
of God without hindrance. Trdition has it that
after derending himelf the Apostle was again sent
XIII. When Ρaul appealed to eaesar and was sent
over to Rome by Festus the Jews were disappointed
of the hope in which they had laid their plot against
him and turned against James, the brother of the
Lord, to whom the throne of the bishopric in Jerisalem
had been allotted by the Apostles. The crim
which they committed was as follows. They brought
him into the midst and demanded a denial of the
faith in Christ before all the people, but When he,
contrary to the expectation of all of them, with a
loud voice and with more courage than they had
expected, confessed before all the people that our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the son of God.
they could no longer endure his testimony, since he
was by all men believed to be most righteous beeause
of the height which he had reached in a life of
philosophy and religion, and killed him, using anarchy
as an opportunity for power since at that moment
Festus had died in Judaea, leaving the district without
government or procurator. The manner of
This account is given at length by Hegesippus, but in agreement with Clement. Thus it seems that James was indeed a remarkable man and ramous among all for righteousness, so that the wise even οf the Jews thought that this was the cause of the siege of Jemsalem immediately after his martyrdom, and that it happened for no other reason than the crime which they had committed against him.
of course Josephus did not shrink from giving
written testimonyp to this, as follows : “ And theSe
things happened to the Jews to avenge JameS the
Just, who was the brother of Jesus the so-called
christ, for the Jews killed him in spite of his great
righteousness." 1 The same writer also narrates his
death in the twentieth book of the Antiquities as
follows : “ Νow when Caesar heard οf the death of
Festus he sent Albinus as governor to Judaea, but
the younger Αnanus, who, as we said, had received
the Ηigh Priesthood, was bold in temperament
and remarkably daring. Ηe followed the Seet of
the sadducees, who are cruel in their judgements
beyond all the Jews, as we have already explained.
nus his eharacter led Αnanus to think that he had
a suitable opportunity through the faet that Festus
was dead and Albinus still on his way. Ηe sum-
moned a council of judges, brought before it the
brother of Jesus, the so-ealled Christ, whose name
was James, and some otherS, on the accusation of
breaking the law and delivered them to be stoned.
But all who were reputed the most reasonable of
the citizens and strict observers of the law were
begging him to write to Αnanus to give up doing
such things, for they said that he had not aeted
rightly from the very beginning. Αnd some of
them also went to meet Albinus as he journeyed
from Alexandria, and explriaIned that it was illegal
for Αnanus to assemble the council without his
permission. Albinus was influenced by what was said
and wrote angrily to Αnanus threatening him with
penalties, and for this reason King Agrippa deprived
him of the Ηigh Ρriesthood when he had held it
for three months, and appointed Jesus the son of
Dammaeus." Such is the story of James, whose is
said to be the first of the Εpistles ealled Catholic.
It is to he observed that its authenticity is denied,
since few of the ancients quote it, as is also the case
with the Epistle ealled ’s, which is itseK one of
the seven called Catholie ; nevertheless we know
that these letters have been used publicly with the
rest in most churehes.
XXIV. In the eighth year of the reign οf Νero Αnnianus was the nrst after Mark the Evangelist to receive charge of the ffiocese 2 of Alexandria.
XXV. When the rule of Νero was now gathering
strenght for unholy objects he began to take up arms
against the worship of the Good οf the universe. Ιt is
not part of the present work to describe his depravity :
many indeed have related his story in accurate
nauative, and from them he who wishes can study
In this way then was he the Rrst to be heralded
as above all a fighter against God, and raised up to
slaughter against the Apostles. It is related that in
his time Ρaul was beheaded in Rome itselr, and that
Ρeter likewise was crucified, and the title οf “ Ρeter
and Ρaul,’’ which is still given to the cemeteries
there, confirms the story, no less than does a writer
οf the Church named caius, who lived when Zefyrinus
was bishop οf Rome. Caius in a written discussion
Αnd that they both were martyred at the same time
Dionysius, bishop οf Corinth, affirms in this passage
of his correspondenee wtih the Romans : “ By so
great an admonition you bound together the foundations
of the Romans and Corinthians by Ρeter and
Ρaul, for both of them taught together in our
corinth and were our founders, and together also
taught in Italy in the Same place and were mart yred
at the same ’’ Αnd this may serve to conRrm
still further the facts narrated.
XXVI. Josephus in the courSe of hiS extremely detailed
description of the cataStrophe which overcame
the whole Jewish raee, in addition to many other things
explains exactly how many thousand Jews οf high
rank in Jerusalem itself were outraged, Seourged,
and crucified by FloruS, and that he was procurator
of Judaea when it happened that the beginning of
the war blamd up in the twelfth year of the
reign of Νero. Ηe next says that throughout syria
terrible disturbances followed the revolt οf the
Jews. Εverywhere the Gentiles mercilessly attaeked
CONTENTS OF BOOK III
The contents of the third book of the History of the Church is as follows :
I. The parts of the world in which the apostles preached Christ.
II. Who was the first ruler of the church οf the Romans.
III. on the letters of the Ρostles.
IV, on the first successors of the aportles.
V. on the last siege of the Jews after Christ.
VI. On the famine that οppressed them.
VII. On the Ρrοphecies οf Crhist.
VIII. On the signs before the war.
IX. On Josephus and the writings which he left.
X. Ηow he quotes the sacred books.
XI. Ηow after James Simeon ruled the church at Jerusalem.
XII. Ηοw vespasian ordered the family of Darivld to be sought out.
XIII. Ηow Abilius was the seeond ruler of the Alexandrians.
XIV. Ηow Anencletus was the second bishop of the Romans.
XV. How, after him, clement was the third.
XVI. On the epistle of Clement. XVII.p On the Ρersecution under Domitian.
XVIII. On John the Apostle and the Apocalypse.
XIX. How domitian commanded the family of David to be destroyed.
XX. On family family of our Saviour.
XXI. How Cerdo was the third to rule the church of the Alexandrians.
XXII. How Ignatius was the second of the Antiochians.
XXIII. Α narrative about John the Apostle.
XXIV. Οn the order of the Gospels.
XXV. Οn the writings acknowledged as sacred and Οn those which are not.
XXVI. Οn Μenander the Sorcerer.
XXVII. Οn the heresy of the Ebionites.
XXVII. On Cerinthus the Heresiarch.
XXIX. On Nicholas and those called after him.
XXX. Οn the apostles who were tested by marriage.
XXXO/ On the death of John and Philip.
XXXII. How Simeon, the bishop in Jerusalem, was martyred.
XXXIII. How Trajan forbade the Christians to be sought out.
XXXIV. How Evarestus was the fourth to rule the church of the Romans.
XXXV. How Justus was the third ruler of the church in jerusalem.
XXXVI. Οn Ignatius and his letters.
XXXVII. On the evangelists who were still flourishing.
XXXVIII. On the letter of Clement and the writings fabely attributed to him.
XXXIX. On the writings of Papias.
BOOK III
I. Such was the condition of things among the Jews, but the holy Apostles and disciples of our Saviour were seattered throughout the whole world. Thomas, as tradition relates, obtained by lot Parthia, Andrew Scythia, John Asia (and he stayed there and died in Ephesus), but Ρeter Seems to have preached to the Jews of the Dispersion in Pontus and Galatia and Bithynia, Cappadocia, and Asia, and at the end he came to Rome and was crueffied head downwards, for so he had demanded to suffer. What need be said of Ρaul, who fulffiled the gospel of Christ from Jerusalem to Illyria and afterward was martyred in Rome under Νerο ? This is stated exactly by Οrigen in the third volume of his commentary on Genesis.
II. Αfter the martyrdom of Paul and Ρeter, Linus was the first appointed to the bishopric of the church of Rome. Ρaul mentions him when writing from Rome to Timothy in the salutation at the end of the Εpistle.
III. Οf Ρeter, one epistle, that which is called his
first, is admitted, and the aneient presbyters used
IV. Νοw it would be clear from Paul's own words
and from the narrative of Luke in the Acts that Ρaul,
in his preaching to the Gentiles, laid the foundations
of the churches from Jerusalem round about unto
Illyricum. Αnd from the Epistle which we have
spoken of as indisputably Peter's, in which he writes
to those of the Hebrews in the Dispersion of Pontus
and Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, it
would be clear from his own words in how many
provinces he delivered the word οf the Νew Testament
by preaching the Gospel of Christ to those of
the eireumcision. But it is not easy to say how
many οf these and which of them were genuinely
zealous and proved their ability to be the pastors of
the churches founded by the Apostles, except by
making a list of those mentioned by raul. For
there were many thousands of his fellow-workers and,
as he called them himself, fellow - soldiers, of whom the
most were granted by him memorial past forgetting,
for he recounts his testimony to them unceasingly in
his own letters, and, moreover, Luke also in the Acts
gives a list of those known to him and mentions them
by name. Thus Timothy is related to have been the
first appointed bishop of the diocese of Ephesus, as
V. Αfter Νero had held the sovereignty for thirteen
years 1 the affairs of Galba and Otho 2 occupied a
year and six months, and then Vespasian, who had distinguished
himself in the operations against the Jews,
was proclaimed Imperator by the army there and
appointed Emperor in Judaea itself. Ηe at once
set off for Rome and entrusted the war against the
Jews to his son Titus. Now after the ascension of
our Saviour in addition to their crime against him
the Jews at onee contrived numberless plots against
his disciples. Stephen was first stoned to death by
them and next after him James, the son of Zebedee
and brother of John, was beheaded.3 In addition to
all, James, who was the first after the ascension οf
our Saviour to be appointed to the throne of the
bishopric in Jerusalem, paried away in the manner
deseribed above and the other Apostles were driven
from the land of Judaea by thousands of deadly
Ρlots. They went on their way to all the heathen
teaching their mesage in the power of Christ for
he had said to them, “ Go and make disciples of all
the heathen in my ” 4 On the other hand, the
Omitting then the details of their misfortunes from the sword and otherwise, Ι think it necessary to adduce only their sufferings from famine in order that those who study this work may have some partial knowledge of how the punishment of God follOWed close after them for their crime against the Christ of God.
VI. Come then, take up again
the fifth book of the history of Josephus and go
through the tragedy of what was then done. “For
the ’’he says, “ to remain was equal to destruction,
since for the sake of their property they were
murdered on the charge of intended desertion. But
the madneb of the rebels grew with the famine, and
the terror of both blazed more fiercely day by day.
No corn was visible anywhere, but they burst into
houses and searched them. Then, if they found
any, they tormented the inmates for their denying;
if not they tortured then for having hidden it too
earefully. The bodies of the miserable creatures
were evidence whether they had it or not. Those
who were still in health seemed to be provided with
food, while those who were already wasted away
were passed by, and it seemed unreasonable to kill
Αfter a little more he goes on : “Ι cannot refrain
from stating what emotion bids me. Ι think that
had the Roman delayed their attack on the scoundrels
the city would haVe been engulfed by the earth
opening or overwhelmed by a flood or shared the
In the sixth book he writes thus : “Οf those who perished in the city from the famine the number which fell was countless and their sufferings indescribable. For in each house if there appeared the very shadow οf food there was fighting, and the dearest friends wrestled together for it, snatching the miserable sustenance of life. Νor were even the dying believed to be destitute, but while they were still breathing the robbers searched them, lest any should feign death while having food on his person. others, gaping from lack of food, stumbled and hurried along like mad dogs, beating at the doors like drunken men, and rushing two or three times in a single hour into the same houses from sheer incompetence. Necessity brought all things to men's teeth and they endured eating a collection of scraps unnt for the ffithieSt of brute beasts. Αt the last they abstained not even from belts and shoes and gnawed the hides stripped off their shieldS. Some fed on wisps of old straw, others collected Stubble and sold a tiny portion for four Attic drachmae.1
“But what need is there to Speak of the shamelessness
οf the famine towards inanimate things? I
purpose to relate a consequenee of it such as has been
narrated neither by the Greeks nor by the barbarians,
horrible to tell, ineredible to hear. I myself
would have gladly omitted the tragedy to avoid
VII. Such was the reward of the iniquity of the
Jews and of their impiety against the ChriSt of God,
but it is worth appending to it the infallible foreeast
of our saviour in which he prophetically expounded
these very — “ woe unto them that are with
child and give suek in those days, but pray that your
ffight be not in the winter nor on a sabbath day, for
there Shall then be great affliction such as was not
from the beginning of the world until now, nor shall
be.” Αnd the historian, estimating the whole
These things happened in this Way in the second
year of the reign of Vespasian in accordance with
the prophetic utterances of Our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, who foreseeing them by divine power as
though already present, shed tears at them and
mourned according to the writing of the saered
evangelist, who appends his actual words. For once
he said to Jerusalem herself, “ If thou hadst known,
even thou, in this day the thing which belong to
thy peaee : but now they are hid from thine eyes,
for the days will come upon thee When thine enemy
Shall cart a trench around thee and compass thee
round and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay
thee and thy children even with the ground.”
at another time, as if concerning the ”For
there shall be great distress On the earth and wrath
upon this people, and they shall fall by the edge
of the sword, and be sold into slavery to all the
Gentiles, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down
by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles
There is no necessity to add to the narratives of what happened to the whole nation after the passion of the Saviour and those words in which the multitude of the Jews begged off from death the robber and murderer and besought that the author of Life should be taken from them ; but it would be right to add a possible connnnation οf the kindliness οf beneficent Providence. For forty whole years it suspended their dertruction, after their crime against the Christ, and during all of them many ofthe apostles and disciples, and James himself, who is called the Lord's brother, the first bishop of the city, still survived in this world. By their dwelling in Jerusalem, they afforded, as it were, a strong proteetion to the place; for the govemment of God had still patience, if haply they might at last by repenting of their deeds, be able to obtain pardon and salvation; and in addition to such great long—suffering it wonderful tokens from God οf what would happen to them if they did not repent. These things have been thought worthy of mention by the historian already quoted, and there is nothing better than to append them for the readers of this work.
VIII. Take, then, and read what is related in the
sixth book of the Jervish War. “ Now at that time
impostors and lying prophets perverted the miserable
people, but they gaVe neither attention nor
credence to the clear marvels which foretold approaching
desolation, but as though they had been thunderstruck
and had neither eyes nor soul, they neglected
the declarations of God. Αt One time a star stood
over the city like a sword, and a comet which lasted
for a year. Αt another tlme, before the insurrection,
and the disturbance which led to the war, when the
people were assembled for the Feast of Unleavened
Bread, on the eighth of April, at the ninth hour of
the night, a light shone on the alter and on the
temple so brightly that it seemed to be full day, and
this lasted for half an hour. TO the inexperienced
this seemed a good sign, but was at once interpreted
by the seribes before the events which actually
followed. Αnd at thc same feast a cow, which had
been led by the —priest for the sacrifice, gave
birth to a lamb in the middle of the tempIe, And
the eastern gate of the inner building, which was of
bronze and very massive and was closed at evening
time with difficulty by twenty men, and rested on
beams bound with iron and had bars sunk deep, was
seen at night at the sixth hour to have opened of
itself. Αnd after the feast, not many days later, on
the twenty—first of May, a demonic phantom
of increffible size, and what will be related would
have seemed a fairy-tale had it not been told by
those who saw it, and been attended by suffering
The same writer has a still more remarkable account in Which he alleges that an oracle was found in “ sacred seript ” to the effect that at that time one from their country should rule the world and he himself considered that this was fulfilled by Vespasian. Yet he did not reign over the whole world, but only such part as was subject to the Romans, and it would be more justly referred to Christ, to whom it was said by the Father, “ Αk of me and Ι will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the ends οf the earth for thy possession.” was of his holy apostles at that Very time that “ the sound went forth into all tbe earth and their words unto the end of the earth.”
IX. In addition to all this, it is right not to ignore
X. “ We have no myriads of discordant and contradictory
books, but only two and twenty, containing
the narrative of all time, which have been justly
believed to be divine. Οf thee five are those of
Another work which is not without merit was
produced by him on The Supremacy of Reason, which
some entitled Maccabees 3 because it contains the
conflicts of those Hebrews mentioned in the so-called
books of the Maccabees, who strove valiantly for the
worship of God. Αt the end of the twentieth book
οf the Antiquities the same writer announces that he
had planned to compose four books on the aneestral
belief of the Jews concerning God and his nature and
Κings, 1 and 2 Chron., Ezra and Νeh., Esther, Isaiah, Jer.
and Lam., Ezek., Dan., the minor prophets, Job. The
“ remaining four books” would be Pss., Ρrov., Feel.,
the Song of Songs.
XI. Αfter the martyrdom of James and the capture
of Jemsalem which immeffidlately followed, the story
goes that those οf the Apostles and of the disciples
οf the Lord who were still alive came together from
(XII.) and in addition that Vespasian, after the capture of Jerusalem, ordered a seareh to be made for all who were of the family of David, that there might be left among the Jews no one of the royal family and, for this reason, a very great persecution was again infficted οn the Jews.
XIII. when Vespasian had reigned for ten years, his son Titus succeeded him as emperor, 1 and in the second year of his reign, Linus, bishop οf the church οf the Romans, after holding his office for twelve years, handed it οn to Anencletus. Αfter Titus had reigned for two years and as many months Domitian, his brother, suceeeded him. 2
XIV. Νow in the fourth year of Domitian, Annianus, the hrst of the see of Alexandria, died after completing twenty-two years, and Abilius succeeded him as the second.
XV.
Αnd in the twelfth year of the same reign, Clement
sueeeeded Anencletus after he had been bishop of the
church of the Romans for twelve years. The apostle
states that he had been his –worker in his
epistle to the Philippians saying, “ With Clement and
XVI. There is one recognized epistle of Clement, Ιong and wonderful, Which he drew up for the church of the Corinthians in the name of the church of the Romans when there had been dissension in Corinth. We have ascertained that this letter was pubhely read in the common assembly in many churches both in the days of old and in our own time ; and that the affairs οf Corinth were disturbed by dissension in his day is adequately testffied to by Hegesippus.
XVII. When Domitian had given many proofs of his great cruelty and had put to death without any reasonable trial no small number of men distinguished at Rome by family and career, and had punished without a cause myriads of other notable men by banishment and confiscation of their property, he finally showed himself the successor of Nero's campaign of hostility to God. Ηe was the second to promote persecution against uS, though his father, Vespasian, had planned no evil against us.
XVIII. Αt this time, the story goes, the Apostle
and Evangelist John was still alive, and was condemned
to live in the island of Patmos for his witness to the
divine word. Αt any rate Irenaeus, Writing about the
number of the name ascribed to the anti-Christ
the so-called Apocalypse of John, states this about
John in so many words in the fifth book against
Heresies. “But if it had been neceSSary to announce
his name plainly at the present time, it would have
The teaching of our faith shone so brilliantly in the days described that even writers foreign to our belief did not hesitate to commit to their narratives the persecutions and the martyrdoms in it, and they even indicated the time accurately, relating that in the fifeenth year 1 of Domitian, Flavia Domitilla, who was the niece of Flavius Clemens, one of the consuls at Rome at that time, was banished with many others to the island of Pontia as testimony to Christ.
ΧΙΧ. The samc Domitian gave orders for the execution of those of the family of David and an ancient story goes that some hererics accused the grandsons of Judas (who is said to have been the brother, according to the flesh, of the Saviour) saying that they were of the family of David and related to the Christ himself. Hegesippus this exactly as follows.
XX. “ Now there still survived of the
family of the Lord grandsons of Judas, who was
said to have been his brother according to the flesh,
and they were delated as being of the family of
David. These tlle officer 2 brought to Domitian
Caesar, for, like Herod, he was afraid of the coming
of the Christ. Ηe asked them if they were of the
house of David and they admitted it. Then he
asked them how much property they had, or how
them, the half belonging to each, and they stated
that they did not possess this in money but that
it was the valuation of only thirty-nine plethra
of ground on which they paid taxes and lived on
it by their own ” They then showed him
their hands, adducing as testimony of their labour
the hardness of their bodies, and the tough skin
which had been embossed on their hands from
their incessant work. They were asked concerning
the Christ and his kingdom, its nature, origin,
and time of appearance, and explained that it
was neither of the world nor earthly, but heavenly
and angelic, and it would be at the end of the world,
when he would come in glory to judge the living and
the dead and to reward every man according to his
deeds. At this Domitian did not condemn them at
all, but despised them as simple folk, released them,
and decreed an end to the persecution against the
church. But when they were released they were the
leaders of the churches, both for their testimony
and for their relation to the Lord, and remained
alive in the peace which ensued until Trajan.
Hegesippus tells this ; moreover, Tertullian also has
made similar mention of Domitian. “ Domitian
also once tried to do the same as he, for he was a
Nero in cruelty, but, Ι helieve, inasmuch as he
had some sense, he stopped at once and recalled
those whom he had banished.”
Αfter Domitian had reigned fifteen years, Nerva succeeded. 1 The sentences οf Domitian were annulled, and the Roman Senate decreed the return οf those who had been unjustly banished and the restoration of their property. Those who committed the story οf those times to writing relate it. Αt that time, too, the story of the ancient Christians relates that the Apostle John, after his banishment to the island, took up his abode at Ephesus.
XXI. After Νerva had reigned a little more than a year he was suceeeded by Trajan,2 in whose first year Abilius, after leading the diocese οf Alexandria for thirteen years, was sueceeded by Cerdo ; he was the third in charge οf that see after the first, Annianus. Αt this time Clement was still governing the Romans and he, also, occupied the third Ρlace in the list οf bishops in Rome after Ρaul and Ρeter ; Linus was the first and after him Anencletus.
XXII. Moreover, at the time mentioned, Ignatius was famous as the second bishop at Antioch where Evodius had been the first. Likewise at this time, Simeon was second after the brother οf our Saviour to hold the ministry of the church in Jerusalem.
XXIII. Αt this time that very disciple whom Jesus
loved, John, at οnce Apostle and Evangelist, still
remained alive in Asia and administered the churches
there, for after the death of Domitian, he had returned
from his banishment οn the island. Αnd that
he remained alive until this time may fully be confirmed
by two witnesses, and these ought to be
trustworthy for they represent the orthodoxy of the
Clement indicates the same time, and in the
treatise to which he gave the title Who is the rich
man that is saved, adds a narrative most acceptable
to those who enjoy hearing what is fine and edifying.
Take and read here what he wrote. “ Listen to a
story which is not a story but a true tradition οf
John the Apostle Ρreserved in memory. For after
the death of the tyrant he passed from the island of
Ρatmos to Εphesus, and used also to go, when he
was asked, to the neighbouring districts of the
heathen,1 in some places to appoint bishops, in others
to reconcile whole churches, and in others to ordain
some οne of those pointed out by the spirit. Ηe
came to one οf the cities which were near by (and
some tell cven its name),2 and gave rest in general
to the brethren ; then, while looking before them
all at the bishop who had been appointed, he saw a
young man οf strong body, beautiful appearance,
and wann heart. ῾I commend this ᾿ he siad,
XXIV. But come, let us indicate the undoubted
writings οf this Apostle. 1 Let the Gospel according
to him be first recognized, for it is read in all the
churches under heaven. Moreover, that it was
reasonable for the aneients to reckon it in the fourth
place after the other three may be explained thus.
Those inspired and venerable ancients, I mean Christ's
Apostles, had completely purified their life and
adorned their souls with every virtue, yet were but
simple men in speech. Though they were indeed
bold in the divine and wonder-working power given
them by the saviour, they had neither the knowledge
or the desire to represent the teachings of the
Master in persuasive or artiStic language, but they
used only the proof of the spirit of God which worked
with them, and the wonder-working power of Christ
which was consummated through them. Thus they
announced the knowledge οf the Kingdom of Ηeaven
The above must suffice us concerning the writing of the Gospel according to John, and the cause for that according to Μark has been explained above. Luke himself at the beginning of his treatise prefixed an account οf the cause for which he had made his compilation, explaining that while many others had somewhat rashly attempted to make a narrative of the things οf which he had himself full knowledge, 1 he felt obliged to release us from the doubtful propositions of the others and related in his own gospel the accurate account of the things οf which he had shimself firmly learnt the truth from his profitable intercourse and life with Ρaul and his conversation with the other apostles. This must suffice us for the present, but at the proper time we will endeavour to explain by citation from the ancients what has been said on the point by others.
Of the writings of John in addition to the gospel
the first of his epistles has been accepted without
controversy by ancients and moderns alike but the
οther two are disputed, and as to the Revelation there
XXV. Αt this point it seems reasonable to summarize
the writings of the Νew Testament which
have been quoted. Ιn the first place should be
put the holy tetrad of the Gospels. To them follows
the writing οf the Αcts of the Apostles. Αfter this
should be reckoned the Epsitles of Ρaul. Following
them the Epistle of John called the first, and in the
same way should be recognized the Epistle of Ρeter.
In addition to these should be put, if it Seem desirable,
the Revelation of John, the arguments concerning
which we will expound at the proper time.
These belong to the Recognized Books. Of the
Disputed Books which are nevertheless known to
most are the Epistle called of James, that of Jude,
the second Epistle of Ρeter, and the so-called second
and third Εpistles of John which may be the work
οf the evangelist or of some other with the same
name. Among the books which are not genuine
must be reckoned the Acts of Ρaul, the work entitled
the Shepherd, the Apocalypse or Ρeter, and in
addition to them the letter called of Barnabas and the
so-called Teachings of the Apostles. Αnd in addition,
as I said, the Revelation of John, if this view prevaial.
For, as I said, some reject it, but others count it
among the Recognized Books. Some have also
counted the Gospel according to the Hebrews in
which those of the Hebrews who have aceepted Christ
take a special pleasure. These would all belong to
the disputed books, but we have nevertheleSs been
obliged to make a list of them, distinguishing between
those writings which, according to the tradition of
XXVI. Let us now continue the narrative. Menander
succeeded Simon Magus and showed himself
as a weapon of the devil's power not inferior to his
predecessor. He, too, was a Samaritan, progressed
to the highest point οf sorcery not less than his
master, and abounded in greater wonders. Ηe said
of himself that he was the saviour who had been sent
from above for the salvation of men from invisible
aeons 1 and taught that no one, not even οf the
angels who made the world, could survive unless
they were first rescued through the magic art which
was transmitted by him and through the bapiam
It was assuredly at the instigation of the devil that the name οf Christian was adopted by such sorcerers to calumniate by magic the great mystery of religion and through them to destroy the teaching of the Chureh on the immortality οf the soul and the resurrection of the dead. Those who termed these Saviours fell from the true hope.
XXVII. But others
the wiched demon, when he could not aliienate them
from God's plan in Christ, made his own, when he
found them by a different snare. The first Christians
gave these the suitablename of Ebionites because they
had poor and mean opinions concerning Christ. They
held him to be a plain and ordinary man who had
achieved righteousness merely by the progress of his
characcter and had been born naturally from Mary and
her busband. They insisted on the complete observation
of the Law, and did not think that they would be
saved by faith in Christ alone and by a life in accordance
with it. But there were others besides these
XXVIII. We have received the tradrtion that at
the time under discussion Cerinthus founded another
heresy. Gaius, whose words 1 have quoted before, in
the inquiry attributed to him writes as follows about
Cerinthus. “ Moreover, Cerinthus, who through
revelations attributed to the writing of a great
apostle, lyingly introduees portents to us as though
shown him by angels, and says that after the resurrection
the kingdom of Christ will be on earth and that
Dionysius said this and Irenaeus in his first book
Agianst Heresies quoted some οf his more abominable
errors, and in the third book has committed to writing
a narrative, which deserves not to be forgotten,
stating how aecorffing to the traffidltion of Polycarp,
the apostle John once went into a bath-house to
wash, but when he knew that Cerinthus was within
leapt out of the place and Red from the door, for he
did not endure to be even under the same roof with
him, and enjoined οn those who were with him to do
the same, saying, “ Let us flee, lest the bath-house
XXIX. Αt this time, too, there existed for a short
time the heresy of the Nicolaïtans of which the
of John also makes mention. These elaimed
Nicolas, one of the deacons in the company of Stephen
who were appointed by the Apostles for the serviee
of the poor. Clement or Αlexandria in the third book
of the Stromata gives the following account of him.
“ Ηe had, they say, a beautiful wife ; but after the
ascension of the saviour he was accused of jealousy
by the apostles, and brought her forward and
commanded her to be mated to anyone who wished.
They say that this aetion was in consequenee of the
injunction ‘ it is necessary to abuse the ’ and
that by following up what had been done and said
with simplicity and without perversion those who
follow his heresy lead a life of unrestrained license.
But Ι have learned that Nicolas had nothing to do
with any other woman beside her whom he married,
and that of his children the daughters reaehed old
age as virgins, and that the son remained uncorrupted.
Since this is the case it is clear that
the exposure of the wife of whom he was jealous
in the midst of the disciples was the abandonment of
passion, and that teaching the abuse of the flesh
was continence from the pleasures which he had
sought. For I think that according to the command
οf the Saviour he did not whish to serve two masters
— pleasure and the Lord. They also say that this
was the teaching of Matthias, to slight the flesh and
abuse it, yielding nothing to it for pleasure, but to
make the soul grow through faith and knowledge.”
XXX. Clement, whose words we cited recently in the context οf the previous quotation, enumerates, on aeeount of those who reject marriage, those of the Apostles who were married, saying, “ Or will they disapprove even of the Apostles ? For Ρeter and Philip begat children, and Philip even gave his daughters to husbands, while Ρaul himself does not hesitate in one of his letters to address 1 his wife whom he did not take about with him in order to facilitate his ” Since we have made these quotations there is no harm in adducing another memorable narrative of Clement whleh he wrote down in the seventh book of the Stromata, and narrates as follows: “ They say that the blessed Ρeter when he saw his own wife led out to death rejoiced at her ealrmg and at her return home, and called out to her in true warning and comfort, addressing her by her name, ‘ Remember the ’ Such was the marriage of the blessed and the perfeet disposition of those dearest to ” Let this, cognate to the present subject, suffice for the moment.
XXXI. The time and manner of the death of Ρaul
and οf Ρeter, and the plaee where their corpses were
laid after their departure from this life, have been
already described by us. The date of the death οf
We have now described the facts which have come to our knowledge concerning the Apostles and their times, the sacred writings which they have left us, those books which are disputed yet nevertheless are used openly by many in most churches, and those which are altogether fictitious and foreign to our historic orthodoxy. Let us now continue the narrative.
XXXII. Αfter Νero and Domitian tradition says
that under the Emperor whose times we are now describing
persecution was raised against us sporadically,
in some cities, from pupular risings. We have
learnt that in it Symeon, the son οf Clopas, whom
we showed to have been the second hishop of the
church at Jerusalem, ended his life in martyrdom.
The witness for this is that same Hegesippus, of
whom we have already quoted several passages.
Αfter speaking of certain hereties he goes on to
explain how Symeon was at this time accused by
them and for many days was tortured in various
manners for being a Christain, to the great astonishment
of the judge and those with him, until he
suffered an end like that of the Lord. But there is
nothing better than to listen to the historian who
tells these facts as follows. “ some οf these (that
The same writer says that other grandsons of
one of the so-called brethren of the saviour named
Judas survived to the same reign after they had
given in the time of Domitian the testimony already
recorded of them in behalf of the faith in Christ.
Ηe writes thus: “ They came therefore and presided
over every chureh as witnesses belonging to the
Lord's family, and when there was complete peace
in every cherch they survived until the reign of
the Emperor Trajan, until the time when the son
of the Lord's uncle, 2 the aforesaid Simon the son of
Clopas, was similarly accused by the sects on the
same charge before Atticus the Consular. Ηe was
tortured for many days and gave hiS witness, so that
all, even the consular, were extremely surprised
how, at the age of one hundred and twenty, he endured,
and he was eommanded to be ”
Besides this the Same writer, explaining the events
XXXIII. The persecution which at that time was
extended against us in many places was so great that
Plinius secundus, one of the most distinguished
governors, was disturbed at the number of the martyrs,
and reported to the Emperor the number of those being
put to death for the faith, and in the same document
mentioned that he understood them to do nothing
wicked or illegal except that they rose at dawn to
sing to Christ as though a God, and that they themselves
forbade adultery, murder and similar terrible
crimes, and that they did eVerything in obedienee
to the law. In answer to this Trajan issued a decree
to the effect that the tribe of Christians should not
be sought for but punished when it was met with.
By this means the imminent threat of persecution
was extinguished to some extent, but none the less
opportunities remained to those who wished to harm
XXXIV. In the third year of the afore-mentioned emperor, Clement handed over the ministry of the bishops of Rome to Evarestos and departed this life, having been in charge of the teaching of the diving word for nine years.
XXXV. Μoreover, when Symeon suffered martyrdom
in the manner already deseribed a certian Jew
named Justus, who was one of the many thousands
of the circumcision who by that time had belived on
XXXVI. Αt this time there flourished in Asia Polycarp,
the companion of the Apostles, who had been
appointed to the bishopric of the church in Smyrna
by The eyewitnesses and ministers of the Lord.
Distinguished men at the same time were Papias,
who was himself bishop of the diocese of Hierapolis,
and Ignatius, still a name of note to most men, the
second after Ρeter to succeed to the bishopric of
Antioch. The story goes that he was sent from Syria
to Rome to be eaten by beasts in testimony to Christ.
Ηe was taken through Asia under most careful guard,
and strengthened by his speech and exhortation
the diocese of eaeh city in which he stayed. Ηe
particularly warned them to be on their guard
against the heresies which then for the first time
were beginning to obtain, and exhorted them to
hold fast to the tradition of the Apostles, to which
he thought necessary, for safety's sake, to give the
form of written testimony. Thus while he was in
Smyrna where Polycarp was, he wrote one letter
to the church at Ephesus, mentioning their pastor
Onesimus, and another to the church at Mangnessia
on the Meander (and here, too, he mentioned the
bishop Damas), and another to the church in Tralles,
of which he relates that Polybius was then the ruler.
In addition to these he also wrote to the churcb at
Rome, and to it he extended the request that they
should not deprive him of the hope for which he
longed by begging him off from his martyrdom. It
This he put into words from the city mentioned to
the churehes named. When he had already passed
beyond Smyrna he also again conversed in writing
from Troas with those in Philadelphia and with the
church of the Smyrnaeans, and especially with Polycarp
who was then the head of this church. Ηe
knew well that Polycarp was an apostolic man and
like a true and good shepherd commends the flock
at Antioch to him, asking him to be zealous in his
care for it. Ηe also wrote to the Smyranaeans quoting
words from I know not what source and discoursing
thus about Christ: “ For I know and believe that
Ιrenaeus also knew of his martyrdom and quotes his letters saying thus : “ Αs one of the Christians said when he was condemned to the beaSts as testimony for God, ‘ Ι am the wheat of God and Ι am ground by the teeth of beasts that I may be found pure bread.’”
Ρolycarp, too, mentions these same things in the
letter to the Philippians bearing his name and
says: “ Νow I beseech you all to obey the word of
righteousness, and to practise all the endurance
which you also saw before your eyes, not only in the
blessed Ignatius, and Zosimus, and Rufus, but also
in others among yourselves, and in Pual himself,
and in the other Apostles; being persuaded that
all of these ‘ ran not in vain, ’ but in faith and
righteousness, and that they are with the Lord in
the ‘ place whieh is their ’ with whom they also
suffered. For they did not ‘ love this present world ’
but him who died on our behalf, and was raised by
God for our ” Αnd he continues later, “ Both
you and Ignatius wrote to me that if anyone was
going to Syria he shovld also take your letters Ι
will do this if Ι have a convenient opportunity, either
myself or the man whom Ι am sending as a representative
for you and me. We send you, as you asked,
the letters of Ιgnatius, which were sent to us by him,
and others which we had by us These are subjoined
XXXVII. Among those who were famous at this
time was also Quadratus, of whom traffition says that
he shared vith the daughters of Philip the ffistinc-
tion of a prophetic gift. Αnd many others besides
them were well known at this time and take the
first rank in the Apostolic succession. These pious
foundations οf the churches laid by the Apostles.
They spread the preaching and scattered the saving
seeds of the kingdom of Heaven, sowing them broad-
cast through the whole world. Many of those then
disciples, smitten in the soul by the divine Logos
with an ardent passion for the love of wisdom,1
first fulfilled the Saviour's command and distributed
their property to the needy, then, starting on their
ourney, took up the work of evangelists and were
zealous to preach to all who had not yet heard the
word of the faith, and to transmit the writhing of the
divine Gospels. Αs soon as they had no more than
laid the foundations of the faith in some strange
place, they appointed others as shepherds and
had been just brought in, but they themselves
passed on again to other lands and peoples, helped
by the grace and co-operation of God, seeing that
It is impossible for us to give the number and the names of all who first succeeded the Apostles, and were shepherds or evangelists in the churches throughout the world. It was, therefore, natural for us to recorded by name the memory only of those of whom the tradition still surviveS to our time by their treatises on the Apostolic teaching.
XXXVIII. such writings, of course, were the letters of Ignatius of which we gave the list, and the Εpistle of Clement which is recognized by all, which he wrote in the name of the church of the Romans to that οf the Corinthians. In this he has many thoughts parallel to the Εpistle to the Ηebrews, and aetuahy makes some verbal quotations from it showing elearly that it was not a recent production, and for this reason, too, it has seemed natural to include it among the οther writings of the Apostle. For Ρaul had Spoken in writing to the Ηebrews in their native language, and some say that the evangelist Luke, others that this same Clement translated the writing. Αnd the truth οf this would be supported by the similarity of style preserved by the Epistle of Clement and that to the Hebrewss, and by the little difference between the thoughts in both writings.
It must be known that there is also a second
XXXIX. Thus the recognized writing of Clement
is well known and the works of Ignatius and Polycarp
have been spoken οf, and of Papias five treatises are
extant which have also the title of “ Interpretation οf
the oracles of the ” These are also mentioned
by Irenaeus as though his οnly writing, for he says
in οne place, “ “To these things also Ρapias, the hearer
of John, who was a comanion of Ροlycarp and one
of the ancients, 2 bears witness in writing in the
fourth of his books, for five books were composed
by ” so says Irenaeus. Yet Ρapias himself,
according to the preface of his treatises, makes
plain that he had in no way been a hearer and eyewitness
of the sacred Αpostles, but teaches that he
had received the articles of the faith from those
who had known them, for he speaks as follows :
“ Αnd I shall not hesitate to append to the interpretations
all that I ever learnt well from the presbyters
and remember well, for of their truth I am conndent.
For unlike most I did not rejoice in them who say
much, but in them who teach the truth, nor in
It is here worth nothing that he twiee counts the
name of John, and reckons the first John with Ρeter
and James and Matthew and the other Αpostles,
clearly the the evangelist, but by changing
his statement Ρlaces the seeond with the others
outside the number of the Αpostles, putting Αristion
Before him and clearly calling him a presbyter.
This confirms the truth οf the story of those who
have said that there were twp of the same name in
Αsia, and that there are two tombs at Εphesus both
still called John's. This calls for attention: for
it is probable that the second (unless anyone prefer
the fonner) saw the revelation which passes under
the name οf John The Papias whom we are now
treating confesses that he had received the words
of the Αpostles from their followers, but says that
he had aetually heard Αristion and the presbyter
John. Ηe often quotes them by name and gives
In the same writing he also quotes other interpretations of the words οf the Lord given by the Aristion mentioned above and traditions of John the presbyter. To them we may dismiss the studious; but we are now obliged to append to the words already quoted from him a tradtion about the Mark who wrote the Gospel, which he expounds as follows. “ Αnd the Presbyter used to say tffihls, Mark became Ρeter’s interpreter and wrote accurately all that he remembered, not, indeed, in order, of the things said or done by the Lord. For he had not heard the Lord, nor had he followed him, but later on, as I said, followed Ρeter, who used to give teaching as necessity demanded but not making, as it were, an auangement of the Lord's oracles, so that Mark did nothing wrong in thus writing down single Ρoints as he remembered them. For to one tHhIng he gave attention, to leave out nothing of what he had heard and to make no false statements in them.' " This is related by Ρapias about Mark, and about Matthew this was said, “ Matthew collected the oracles in the Ηebrew language, and eaeh interpreted them as best he could.”
The same writer used quotations from the rirrt Epistle οf John, and likewise also from that or Ρeter, and has expounded another Story about a woman who was accused before the Lord of many sins, which the Gospel according to the Ηebrews contains. Let this suffice us in addition to the extracts made.
CΟΝTEΝTS OF BΟΟΚ IV
The contents of the fourth book of the History of the Church is as follows:
Ι. Who were the bishops of Rome and Alexandria in the reign of Trajan.
II. What the Jews suffered in his time.
III. The apologistes for Christianity in the time of Ηadrian.
ΙV. The bishops of Rome and Alexandria in his time.
V. The bishops of Jerusalem, beginning from the Saviour down to the time mentioned.
VI. The last siege of the Jews under Hadrian.
VII. Who were the leaders of knowlege, falsely so-called, at that rime.
VIII. Who are the writers fo the church.
IX. Αletter of Hadrian to the effect that we must not be persecuted without being tried.
X. Who were thc bishops of Rome and Alexandria in the reign of Antoninus.
XI. Oh the leaders οf heresy in their times.
XII. On the apology of Justin to Antoninus.
XIII. Α letter of Antoninus to the Council of Asia On Our religion.
XIV. The story of Polycarp who had known the apostle.
XV. How in the time of Verus Polycarp with others was martyred in the city os Smyrna.
XVI. How Justin the philosopher was martyred in the city of Rome as an ambassador for the word of Christ.
XVII. On the martyrs whom Justin mentions in his own writings.
XVIII. What writings of Justin have come down to us.
XIX. Who were the leaders of the churcbes of Rome and Alexandria in the reign of Verus.
XX. Who were the bishops Of Antioch.
XXI. Οn tbe ecclesiastical writers who were famous in their time.
XXII. On Hegesippus and vbat he relates.
XXIII. Οn Dionysius, the bishop of Corinth, and the letters which he wrote.
XXIV. Οn Theophilus, hishop of Antioch.
XXV. Οn Philip and Modestus.
XXVI. Οn Melito and the statements which he makes.
XXVII. Οn Apolinarius.
XXVIII. On Musanus.
XXIX. Οn the heresy of Tatian.
XXX. Οn Bardesanes the Syrian and his extant books.
BOOK IV
I. ABOUT the tweKth y ear of the reign of Trajan 1 the bishop 2 of the ffiocese of Alexandria, whom we men- tioned a little earlier, passed away, and Primus, the fourth from the Apostles, received the charge of those in that place. Αt this time, too, at Rome Alexander, when Evarestus had completed his eighth year, was the Rfth to succeed Feter and Paul, and took up the bishopric.
II. While the teaching of our Saviour and the
church were nourishing daily and moving on to
further progress the tragedy of the Jews was reaching
the climax of successive woes. Ιn the course of the
eighteenth year 3 οf the reign of the Emperor a
rebellion of the Jews again broke out and destroyed
a great multitude of them. For both in Alexandria
and in the rest of Egypt and especially in Cyrene,
as though they had been seized by some terrible
spirit of rebellion, they rushed into sedition against
their Greek fellow clblens, and increasing the seope
of the rebellion in the following year started a great
war while Lupus was governor of all Egypt. 4 In
the nrst engagement they happened to overcome
III. When Trajan had reigned for nineteen and a
half years Aelius Hadrian succeeded 3 to the sovereignty
To him Quadratus addressed a treatise,
composing a defence for our religion because some
wicked men were trying to trouble the Christians.
It is still extant among many of the brethren and
we have a copy ourselves. From it can be seen the
clear proof οf his intellect and apostle orthodoxy.
Ηe shows his early date by what he says as follows
IV. In the tffihlrd year οf the same reign 2 Alexander, the bishop of the Romans, ffied after eompleting the tenth year of his ministry; Xystus was his successor. Αnd at the same time, in the diocese of the Alexandrians, Justus succeeded Primus, who died in the twelfth year of his rule.
v. 1 have not found any written statement of the
dates of the bishops in Jerusalem, for tradition says
that they were extremely short-lived, but 1 have
gathered from documents this much —that up to
the siege of the Jews by Ηadrian the successions οf
bishops were fifteen in number. It is said that they
were all Ηebrews by origin who had nobly accepted
the knowledge of Christ, so that they were counted
worthy even of the episcopal ministry by those who
had the power to judge such questions. For their
whole church at that time consisted of Ηebrews who
VI. The rebellion of the Jews 1 once more progressed
in character and extent, and Rufus, the
governor of Judaea, when military aid had been sent
him by the Emperor, moved out against them, treating
their madness without mercy. He destroyed in
heaps thousands of men, women, and children, and,
under the law of war, enslaved their land. The
Jews were at rilat time led by a certain Bar
Chochebas, 2 which means “star,” a man who was
VII. Like brilliant lamps the churches were noW
shining throughout the World, and Faith in our
saViour and Lord Jesus Christ was flourishing among
all mankind, when the devil who hates what is good,
as the enemy of truth, ever most hostile to man's
salvation, turned all his devices against the church.
has reached us from Agrippa Castor, a most famous
Nevertheless, at the time spoken of, the truth again brought forward for itself more champions Who campaigned against the godless heresies not only by unwritten arguments but also in written demonstrations.
VIII. Among these Hegesippus was famous and of
his words we have already made much use, for from his
traffition we have quoted details as to the apostolic
age. Ηe collected his material 1 in hve books, giving
in the simplest style of writing the unerring tradition
of the apostolic preaching. Ηe indicates the time
in which he flourished by writing thus about those
who had made idols : “To them they made cenotaphs
and shrines until now, and among them is
Antinous, a slave of the Emperor Hadrian, in whose
honour the Antinoian games are held, though he was
our contemporary. For he also built a city called
after Antious, and instituted prophets for ”
Αt the same time too, Justm; a genuine lover of
true philosophy, was still continuing to practise the
learning of the Greeks. And he also himself indicates
this period in his Apology to Antoninus by
writing thus, “And we thought it not out of place
to mention at this point Antinous of the present
day whom all were intimidated to worship as a
god, though they knew his nature and origin.”
The same writer mentions the war of that time against the Jews and makes this observation, “For in the present Jewish war it was only Christians whom nar Chocheba, the leader of the rebellion of the Jews, commanded to be punished severely, if they did not deny Jesus as the Messiah and blaspheme him.”
In the same book he shows that his conversion from Greek philosophy to true religion did not take place irrationally, but as an act of deliberate judgment; for he writes thus : “For I myself, while I was rejoicing in the teaching of Plato, heard the Christians abused. But 1 saw that they were afraid neither of death, nor οf anything usually thought feadul, and I considered it was impossible that they were living in wickedness and liberinism. For what libertine or incontinent person, or οne who ands good in the eating of human flesh, could greet death, that it might take away all his lusts, and would not try to prolong by all means his present life and to avoid the notice οf the rulers, and not give himself up to be murdered ?”
Moreover, the same writer relates that Hadrian
received a dispatch in favour of the Christians from
Serennius Graninaus, a most distinguished governor,
to the effect that it was not just to put them to
death, without accusation or trial, to appease popular
clamour, and that he wrote an answer to Minucius
Fundanus, proconsul of Asia, οrdering him to try no
one without inffictment and reasonable accusation,
and Justin appends a copy of the letter, preserring
the original Latin 1 as he had it, and prefixing these
The author quoted then appends the Latin rescript itself, but we have translated it to the best of our power into Greek as follows :
ΙX. “To Minucius Fundanus. I reeeived a letter written to me from his Excellency Serennius Granianus, your predeeessor. 1 think that the matter ought not to remain without inquiry, to prevent men from being harassed or helping the rascality of informers. If then the provincials can make out a clear case οn these lines against the Christians so as to plead it in open court, let them be influenced by this alone and not by opinions or mere outeries. For it is far more correct if anyone wishes to make an accusation for you to examine this point. If then anyone accuses them, and shows that they are acting illegally, deeide the point according to the nature of the offence, but by Hercules, if anyone brings the matter forward for the purpose of blackmail, investigate gate strenuously and be careful to inffict penalties adequate to the ” 1 Such was the rescript of Hadrian.
X. After twenty-one years Hadrian paid the debt of nature, aud Antoninus, called Pius, received the sovereignty of ROnle. In his first year Telesphorus passed away in the eleventh year of his ministry, and Hyginus received the lot of the bishopric of the Romans. Irenaeus relates that Telesphorus gained renown in his death by martyrdom, and states in the same place that in the time of Hyginus, the aforementioned bishop of Rome, Valentinus, the founder of a special heresy, and Cerdo, the founder of the Marcionite error, were both famous in Rome Ηe writes thus thus:
XI. “Valentinus came to Rome in the time of
Hyginus, but he flourished under pius, and remained
until Anicetus, and Cerdo, who before the time of
Marcion, in the days of Hyginus, the ninth bishop,
had cOme tO the church and confessed, went on in
the same way, sometimes teaching heresy, sometimes
confesslng again, and somerimes convicted by
his evil teaching and separated from the assembly
of the ” This he says in the third book
against the heresies. Moreover, in the first book he
makes the following statement about Cerdo: “Α
certain Cerdo had come originally from the circle of
Simon and settled in Rome in the time of Hyginus,
who held the ninth plaee in the apostolic succession
from the apostles. Ηe tauglrt that the God preached
by the Law and the Prophets was not the father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, for the one was known, the
other unknown, the one vas righteous and the other
The same Irenaues powerfully exposed the bottomless pit οf the system of Valentinus with its many errors, and unbared his secret and latent wickedness while he was lurking like a reptile. Furthermore he says that there was in their time 1 another named Mareus, most experieneed in the magie arts, and he writes of his initiations, whieh could not initiate, and of his foul mysteriesp expounffing them in these words : “Some of them conStruct a bride-ehamber, and celebrate a mystery with certain invocations on their initiate, and say that what they do is a spiritual marriage, according to the likeness of the unions above ; others bring them to water and baptize them with this invocation, ‘To the name of the unknown Father of the universe, to Truth, the mother of all things, to him who descended into ’ and others invoke Ηebrew words in order more fully to amaze the initiate.”
Αfter the fourth year of his episeopate Hyginus
died and Ρius undertook the ministry of Rome. Ιn
Αlexandria Marcus was appointed after Εumenes
had completed thirteen years, and when Μarcus
rerted from the ministry after ten years, Celadion
received the ministry of the ehurch of the Alexandria.
In the city of the Romans Ρius paSSed
away in the Rfteenth year of his ministry and
Anicetus presided over those there. In his time
The same Justin laboured powerfully against the Oentiles, and addressed other arguments, affording a defence for our faith, to the Emperor Antoninus, called Ρius, and to the senate of the Romans, for he was living in Rome. In his Apology he explains his position and origin as follows:
XII. “To the Emperor
Titus Aelius Hadrian Antoninus Ρius. Caesar
Augustus, and to Verissimus, his son the philosopher,
The same Εmperοr was entreated by οther Αsiatic christians who had suffered all manner of injury from the local population and he thought fit to send the following decree to the Council of Asia. 1
XIII.
“The Εmperor Caesar Mareus Aurelius Antoninus
Augustus Armenicus, Pontifex Maximus, Tribune for
the nfteenth time, Consul for the third time, to
Council of Asia, greeting. 2 I know that the gods
aho take care that such men should not escape
notice, for they would be far more likely to punish
those who are unwilling to worship them than you
are. But you drive them into tumult, for you con-
nrm them in the opinion which they hold by accusing
them as atheists, and they too when so accused might
well prerer apparent 3 death rather than life for the
sake of their οwn ood. wherefore they are also
conquerors because they sacrffice their lives rather
Further testimony to these events is given by Mehto, the famous bishop of the church in Sarffis at that time, as is clear from what he says in the Apology which he made to the Emperor verus οn behalf οf οur faith.
XIV. During the time of the emperors referred
to, while Anicetus was ruling the church of Rome,
Irenaeus relates that Polycarp was still alive and
came to Rome and conversed with Anicetus about
From the third book of Irenaeus against Heresies
“Αnd Ρolycarp also was not only instructed by
apostles and conversed with many who had seen the
Lord, but was also appointed bishop by apostles in
Asia in the church in smyma. We also saw him in
our childhood, for he lived a long time and extreme extreme
old age passed from life, a splenffid and glorious
martyr. Ηe conrtantly taught those things which
he had leamt from the apostles, which also are the
traffidItion of the church, which alone are true. To
these facts all the churehes in Αsia bear witness, and
the present successors of Ρolycarp, and he iS a far
more trustworthy and reliable witness of the truth
than valentinus and Marcion and the others who
hold wrong opinions. Ιn the time οf Αnicetus he
visited Rome and converted many of the abovementioned
heretics to the church of God, preaching
that the one and only truth which he had received
from the apostles was that which is the tradition of
the church. Αnd there are those who heard him tell
that John the ffisciple of the Lord Went in Εphesus
to bathe and seeing Cerinthus within, sprang out of
the baths without bathing calling οut, ‘Let us ny
lest the baths fall in, since Cerinthus, the enemy of
Antoninus, called Pius, held the sovereignty for twenty-two years 2 and was succeeded by Mareus Aurelius Verus, also called Antoninus, his son, together with his brother Lucius.
XV. Αt this time3
Polycarp was consecrated by martyrdom when great
persecutions again ffisturbed Αsia, and I think it
most necessary to give in this history the account
of his end, which is still extant in writing. The
document purports to be from the ehureh of which
he was the leader, and gives to the neighbouring
They then go on, before the narrative about
Polycarp, to give the stOry of the other martyrs,
deSeribing the constancy which they showed against
torture, for they say that thOse who were Standlng
around were amazed when they Saw that at one
time they Were tOrn by Scourges dOwn to deepseated
veins and arterieS, so that the hidden contents
of the receSses Of their bodies, their entrails
and organs, were exposed to sight. Αt another time
they were stretched on seashells and on sharp points,
were taken through all kinds of punishment and
torture, and finally vere given to be eaten by wild
beasts. They say that the noble Germanicus vas
especially distinguished, being Strengthened by the
grace of God to oVercOme the natural cowardice of
the body for death. Even when the proconsul wished
to dissuade him, urging his youth and entreating
him as he was still just in the flower of his youth
After this the document concerning him continues
as follows1 : “ Νοw when he had at last finished
prayer, after remembering all who had cver even
come his way, both small and great, high and low,
and the whole Catholic Church throughout the world,
the hour came for departure, and they set him on
an ass, and led him into the city, οn a ‘ great Sabbath
day.’ 2 Αnd the poliee captrialn Ηerοd and his
Νiketas mct him and removed him into the wagon,
and sat by his side trying to persuade him and saying :
‘But what hann is it to say, “ Lord Caesar,” and
offer sacrifice, and to be saved ? ’ But he at first
did not answer them, but when they continued he
said : ‘ I am not going to do what you counsel me.’
Αnd they gave up the attempt to persuade him, and
bcgan to speak fiercely, and turned him out in such
a huuy that in getting down from the wagon he
scraped his shin ; and without tuming round, as
though he had suffered nothing, he walked on
promptly and quickly, and was taken to the arena,
while the uproar in the arena was so great that no
one could even be heard. Νow when Polycarp
entered into the arena there came a voice from
heaven : ‘ Be strong, Polycarp, and play the man.’
Αnd no one saw the speaker, but many οf our friends
who were there heard the voice. Αnd when he was
brought forward, there was a great uproar of those
who heard that Polycarp had been arrested. Νext
But the jealous and envious evil one who resists
the family of the righteous, when he saw the greatness
of his martyrdom, and his blameless career from
the beginning, and that he was crowned with the
crown of immortality, and had carried off the unspeakable
prize, took care that not even his poor
body should be taken away by us, though many
This great end Was vouchSafed to the life of the
XVI. In their time too Justin, 2 whom we mentioned
a little earlier, after delivering to the rulers mentioned
a second book in behalf of our οpinions, was
adorned with divine martyrdom when the philosopher
This he, who was in truth a supreme philosopher,
sets in advance, in. the above-mentioned
Apology, just as clearly as in fact it was almost at
once to happen to him, using these words: “ Ι too
expect to be plotted against by one of those who
have been mentioned, and to be stretched on the
raek, or even by Crescens, that lover not of wisdom
but of boasting, for the man is not worthy to be called
‘ philosopher’ seeing that he publicly testifies
what he does not know, to the effect that the Christians
are atheists and impious, aud he does this to gain
the grace and pleasure of the many who have been
deceived. For either he controverts us without
attending to the teachings of Christ, and is a complete
rascal and far worse than the uneducated, who often
avoid discussing and giving false testimony on subjects
jects of which they have no knowledge; and if he
has studied and does not understand the greatness
in them, or though be does understand them is base
enough to do what he does to avoid suspicion, he is
more ignoble and rescally, for he succumbs to
ignorant and unreasonable opinion and fear. For I
would have you to know that Ι put forward and
asked him certain questions Of this kind in order to
find out and prove that he really knows nothing ;
and to show that I am speaking the truth, in case
the information a to the arguments was not
brought to you, Ι am readu to communicate the
So says Justin ; and that, according to his own prophecy, he was caught by Crescens and suffered martyrdom, Tatian, a man Who in eariy life was trained in the learning of the Greeks and gained great distinction in it and has left many monuments of himself in writing, narrates as follows in his treatise against the Greeks: “ Αnd the wonderful Justin rightly exclaimed that those mentinoned are like brigands. ” Then continuting about the philosophers, he proceeds: “ Crescens, who lurked in the great city, surpassed all in unnatural rice and was also wholly devoted to the love οf money. Ηe counselled others to despise death but himself was so afraid οf it that he intrigued to inffict death on Justin, as though it were a great evil, because Justin by preaching the truth convicted the philosophers as gluttons and ” such was the cause οf the marthyrdom of Justin.
XVII. The same writer mentions in his first
Αpology that before his own contest οthers had been
martyrs berore him. Ηe narrates this prohtably to
our sub; eet and he writes thus : “ Α certain woman
lived with a ffissipated husband, and at Rrst she too
XVIII. Justin has left us treatises of an educated
intelligence trained in theology, which are full οf
helpfulness, and to them we will refer students,
infficating what has come usefully to our knowledge.
nere is a treatise by him, on behalf of our opinions,
addressed to Antoninus, surnamed Pius, and his children,
and to the Roman senate another, containing a
second Αpolοgy for our defenee, which he made to the
successor and namesake of the above mentioned emperor,
Antoninus Verus, whose periodweare at present
discussing; and another to the Greeks, in which, after a
long and expanded argument about very many things
inquired into both by Christians and the philosophers
οf the Greeks, he discourses on the nature of demons,
which there is no urgency to quote at present.
XIX. Νοw When the reign of this emperor was approaching the eighth year 1 soter succeeded Anicetus in the bishopric of Rome, who had completed eleven years altogether, and when Celadion had presided over the diocese of the Alexandrians for fourteen years,
XX. Agrippinus took up the succession, and in the church οf the Αntiochians, the famous Theophilus was the sixth from the Αpostles, the fourth having been Cornelius, who was appointed after Ηero, and after Cornelius Εros had suceeeded to the bishopric in the fifth place.
XXI. At this time there flourished in the church
XXII. Hegesippus has left a complete record his οwn opinion in five treatises which have come down to us. In them he explriaIns how when travelling as far as Rome he mingled with many bishops and that he found the same doctrine among them all. But it is well to listen to What he said after some remarks about the epistle of Clement to the Corinthians: “ Αnd the chureh οf the Corinthians remained in the truc doctrine until Ρrimus was bishop of Corinth, and I conversed with them οn my voyage to Rome, and spent some days with the corinthians during whieh we were refreshed by the true word. When 1 was in Rome Ι reeovered the list οf the succeSsion until Αnicetus, whose deacon was Εleutherus ; soter Suceeeded Αnicetus, and after him came EleutheruS. In each list and in each city things are as the law, the prophets, and the Lord preach.”
The same writer also deseribes the beginning of
the heresies of his time as follows : “ Αfter James
the Just had suffered martyrdom for the same reason
as the Lord, symeon, his cousm; the son οf Clopas
was appointed bishop, whom they all proposed because
cause he was another cousin οf the Lord. For this
cause they called the ehurch virgin, for it had not
The same writer also described the sects which onee existed among the Jews as follows: “ Now there were Various opinions among the circumcision, among the children of Israel, against the tribe of Judah and the Messiah, as folows: Essenes, Galileans, Hemerobaptists, Masbothei, Samaritans, saddueees, and Pharisees.”
Ηe also wrote much more, from which we have
already made some quotations, arranging the narratives
chronologically, and he makes extracts from the
Gospel according to the Ηebrews, and from the
and Ρartieularly from the Hebrev language, showing
that he had been converted from among the Hebrews,
and he mentions points as coming from the unwritten
tradition of the Jews. Αnd not only he but also Irenaeus
and the whole company of the ancients called
the Proverbs the All-virtuous Wisdom. And in disseems
XXIII. Concerning Dionysius it must Rrst be said
that he was appointed to the throne of the episcopate
of the diocese of Corinth, and that he communicated
his divine industry ungrudgingly not only to those
under him but aho to those at a distance, rendering
himself most useful to all in the general epistles
which he drew up for the churches. 1 Αmοng them
the lerter to the Lacedaemonians is an instrunction
in orthodoxy on the subject of peace and unity, and
the letter to the Athenians is a call to faith and to
life according to the gospel, and for despising this
he rehukes them as all but apostates from the truth
since the martyrdom οf Publius, 2 their leader, in the
persecution οf that time. Ηe mentions that Quadratus
was appointed their bishop after the martyrdom
οf Publius and testffies that through his zeal they
had bcen brought together and received a rerival of
their faith. Moreover, he mentions that Dionysius
the Areopagite was converted by the Αpostle Ρaul
to the frialth, accorffing to the narrative in the Αcts,
and was the first to be appointed to the bishoprie of
the diocese of Αthens. There is another extant
Ietter of his to the Nicomedians in which he
the heresy of Marcion and compares it with the rure
ofthe truth. Ηe also mote to the ehurch sojourning
in Gortyna together with the οther Cretan ffidIoceses,
and welcomes their bishop Philip for the reputation
There is, moreover, extant a letter of Dionysius to
the Romans addressed to Soter who was then boshop,
and there is nothing better than to quote the words
in which he welcomes the custom of the Romans,
which was observed down to the persecution in our
own times. “ This has been your custom from the be-
In this same letter he also quotes the letter of Clement to the Corinthians, showing that from the beginning it had been the custom to read it in the church. “ To-day we observed the holy day of the Lord, and read out your letter, whieh we shall continue to read from time to time for our admonition, as we do with that which was formerly sent to us through Clement.” 2
The same writer speaks as follows about the falsification of his owh letters. “ When Christians asked me to write letters Ι wrote them, and the apostles of the derivll have filled them with tares, by leaving out some things and putting in others. But woe awaits them. Therefore it is no wonder that some have gone about to falsify even the scriptures of the Lord When they have plotted against writings so inferior.”
Besides these there is extant another lerter of
Dionysius to Chrysophora, a most faithful Christian,
XXIV. Of Theophilus, whom we have mentioned as bishop of the church of the Antiochians, three elementary treatises are extant, addressed to Autolycus, and another with the title, Against the Heresy of Hermogenes, in which he has quoted the Apocalypse of John, and there are also extant some οther books οf his on instruction. Heretics were evcn then no less defiling the pure seed of apostolic teaching like tares, and the shepherds ofthe churches in every place, as though driving off wild beasts from Christ's sheep, excluded them at one time by rebukes and exhortations to the brethren, at another by their more complete exposure, by unwritten and personal inquiry and conversation, and ultimately correcting their opinions by accurate arguments in written treatises. It is elear that Theophilus joined with the others in this campaign against them from a noble trcatise whieh he made against Marcion, which has heen preserved until now with the others that we have mentioned. His successor in the church οf the Antiochians was Maximinus, seventh from theapostles.
XXV. Philip, whom we know from the words of
Dionysius as bishop of the diocese in Gortyna, also
made a most excellent treatise against Marcion.
Irenaeus, likewise, and Modestus, 1 who excels beyond
XXVI. In their time, too, Melito, bishop of the diocese of Sardis, and Apolinarius, bishop of Hierapolis, Vere at the height of their fame, and each addressed apologetic arguments of their own to the emperor 1 of the Romans of that day, who has been already mentioned. The following of their works have come to our knowledge. Of Melito two books Οn the Passover, a treatise Οn Christian Life and the Prophets, Οn the Church, and Οn the Lord's Day ; besides these Οn the Faith of Man, and On Creation, and Οn the Obedience of Faith, and On the Senses 2 ; besides these, On the Soul and Body,3 and On Baptism and Truth and Faith and Christ's Birth,4 and a treatise of his prophecy 5 and Οn Soul and Body, and On Hospitality, and the Key, and the books Οn the Deuil and the Apocalypse of John, and On God Incarnate ; above all, the little book To Antoninus.6
Αt the beginning of the book On the Passover he
indicates the time at which he vas composing it as
follows: “ Ιn the time Of Servillius Paulus, 7 proconsul,
of Αsia, at the time when Sagaris was martyred,
These words are found in the treatise quoted, but
in the Extracts which he wrote the same writer begins
XXVII. Of the many writings of Apolinarius
which have been widely preserved the following
have reached us : Α treatise to the above mentioned
emperor, 1 five books Against the Greeks, and books
one and two Οn the Truth, one and to Against the
XXVIII. Αnd of Musanus, whom we have mentioned in a previous passage, there is extant a certain very eloquent discourse which he wrote to some Christians who had fallen away to the heresy of the so-called Encratites, 2 which was at that time just beginning to sprout and to introduce into life its strange and corrupting false doctrine.
XXIX. The
story goes that Tatian was the author of this error,
whose words we quoted a little above concerning the
marvellous Justin, and related that he was a disciple
of the martyr. Irenaeus states this in his first book,
Against the Heresies, and in the same place writes
thus concerning him and his heresy. “ The so-ealled
Encratites proceeding from Saturninus and Marcion
preached against marriage, annulling the original
creation of God, and tacitly condemning him who
made male and female. They also introduced abstention
from what they called ‘animate᾿ thigns in
ingratitude to the God who has made all things, and
they deny the salvation of the first created man.
This innovation was recently made by them when a
certain Tatian first introduced this blasphemy. Ηe
had been a hearer of Justin but so long as he was
with him, he produced nothing of this king, but after
the martyrdom of Justin he left the church, being
XXX. In the same reign heresies increased in Mesopotamia, and Bardesanes, a most able man and skilled in Syriac, composed ffidlalogues against the Marcionites and other leaders of various opinions, and he issued them in his own language and script, together with many othcr οf his writings. Those who knew them; and they were many, for he was a powerful arguer, have translated them from Syriac into Greek. Αmong them is his very powerful dialogue with Antoninus Concerning Fate, and they say that he wrote many οther works in conscquence of the persecution of that time. Ηe had been first a member of the Valentinians, but condemned this school and refuted many oftheir fables, and himself thought that he had changed to orthodox opinion, but in fact he did not completely clean off the ffith of his ancient heresy.
Αt this time Soter, bishop of Rome, died.
CONTENTS OF BOOKS V
The contents of the fifth book of the History of the Curch are as follows :
I. The number and behaviour of those those who in the time of verus underwent in Gaul the struggle for religion.
II. Ηow the martyrs, beloved οf God, gave the hand οf fellowship and healing to those who had fallen in the persecution.
IΙI. ne vision which appeared in a dream to the martyr Αttalus.
IV. Ηow the martyrs commended Irenaeus by a letter.
v. Ηοw God sent rain from heaven to Marcus Aurelius Caesar in response to the prayers of the christians.
VI. The list of those who were bishops in Rome.
VII. Ηow even until those times strange miracles were wrought by the faithful.
VIII. Ηow Irenaeus quotes the divine Scriptures.
IX. Those who were bishops under Commodus.
X. On Ρantaenus the philosopher.
XI. On Clement οf Αlexandria.
XII. On the bishops in Jerusalem.
XIII. On Rhodo and the dissensions which he mentions among the Marcionites.
XIV. On the Montanist 1 false prophets.
XV. About the schism at Rome under BlastuS.
XVL The tradition concerning Montanus and those who were false prophets together with him.
XVII. Οn Miltiades and the treatises which he composed.
XVIII. Ηow Apollonius also refuted the Montanists and the quotations which he made.
XIX. Οf Serapion On Montanism.
XX. The discussions of Irenaeus in writing with the schimatics at Rome.
XXI. How Apllonius was martyred in Rome.
XXII. What bishops were famous in these times.
XXIII. Οn the paschal controversy which was then active.
XXIV. On the division in Asia.
XXV. How unanimous decision was reaehed concerning Easter.
XXVI. How much of the eloquent work of Irenaeus has come down to us.
XXVII. How much also of the others who flourished with him at that time.
XXVIII. Οn those who at the beginning put forward the heresy of Artemon, what manner of men they were, and how they have dared to corrupt the holy Scriptures.
BOOK V
SORER, the bishop of the church of Rome, ended his
life in the eighth year οf his rule. To him succeeded
Elutherus, the twelfth from the apostles, and it was
the seventeenth year of the Emperor Antonius Verus.1
Ιn this time the persecution οf us in some parts of
the world was rekindled more violently by popular
violence in the cities, and, to judge from the events
in οne nation, myriads were distinguished by martyrdom.
The story has chanced to be handed down in
writing for posterity, and it is truly worthy of unceasing
remembrance. sincc the whole reeord of
its complete treatment has been embodied in our
collection οf martyrs, 2 and contains not merely the
narrahve itself but also an exposition οf doctrine,
I will at present select and quote merely such points
as belong to the present undertaking. Other writers
οf historical works have confined themselves to the
written tradition of victories in wars, of trimnphs οver
enemies, of the exploits of generals and the valour
of soldiers, men stained with blood and with countless
murders for the sake of children and country
and other possessions ; but it is wars most peaceful,
1. Gaul was the country in which was prepared the stage for these events. Its capital cities, famous and more renowned than the others in the distriet, were Lyolb and Vienne, through both of which passes the river Rhone, flowing in an ample stream through the whole district. The distingtliSlled churches of this country sent the document about the martyrs to the churches in Asia and Phrygia, in this way recording what happedned among them, and I will quote their words : “ The servants sojourning in Vienne and Lyons in Gaul to the brethren in Αsia and Phrygia, who have the same faith and hope of redemption as you. Ρeace, grace, and glory from God the Father and Jesus Christ, our Lord.”
Then after other prefatory remarks they begin
their narrative thus : “ The greatness of the persecution
here, and the terrible rage of the heathen
against the saints, and the suffering of the blessed
martyrs, are more than we can narrate accurately,
nor can they be put down in writing. For with all
“First they endured nobly all that was heaped upon
them by the mob, howls and stripes and dragging
about, and rapine and imprisonment and stoning,
and all things which are wont to happen at the
hands of an infuriated populace against its supposed
enemies and foes ; then they were dragged into the
market-place by the tribune and by the chief
authorities of the city, were indicted and eonfessed,
and at last they were shut up until the coming οf
the governor. Then they were brought before the
governor, and When he used all his eruelty against
them, then intervened Vettius Εpagathus, one οf
the brethren, mled filled with love towards and
towards his neighbour, the strietness οf whose life
“The rest were then ffidIrided and the first martyrs
were obviously ready, and they fulffiled the confession
of martyrdom with all reaffiness, but some
οthers appeared not to be ready, and failcd in
training and in strength, unable to endure the strain
“Sanctus also himself endured nobly, beyond
measure or human power, all the ill- treament of
“Biblis, too, one of those who had denied, did the devil bring to torture (thinking that he had already swallowed her up and wishing to condemn her through blasphemy as well), to force her to say immpious things about us, as though she were already broken and weak. But she recovered under torture, and, as it were, woke up out of deep sleep, being reminded through this transitory punishment of the eternal torments in hell, and contradicted the blasphemers, saying, ‘How would such men eat children, when they are not allowed to eat the blood even of irrational animals?’ And after this she confessed herself a Christian and was added to the ranks of the martyrs.
“But when the tyrant's torments had been brought
to naught by Christ through the endurance of the
blessed saints, the devil thought of other devices,
imprisonment in the jail in darkness and in the
most horrible place, and stretching their feet in the
stocks, separated to the fifth hole, and the other
outrages which angry warders filled with the devil
are accustomed to inflict on the prisoners. Thus
most of them were strangled in the prison, being all
those whom the Lord had chosen thus to depart
manifesting his glory. Some were tortured so cruelly
“The blessed Pothinus, who had been entrusted
with the ministry of the bishoprie at Lyons, was over
nunety years old and very weak physically. Ηe was
scarcely breathing through the physical weakness
which had aheady come upon ffihlm, but was strengthened
by zeal of spirit through urgent desire of
martyrdom. Ηe was dragged before the judgementseat,
and although his body was weakened by old
age and disease, his soul was kept in him in order
that through it Christ might triumph. Ηe was
brought by soldiers to the judgement-seat ; the local
authorities accompanied him, and all the populace,
uttering all kinds of howls at him as though he was
Christ himself, but he gave noble testimony. When
asked by the governor, Who was the God of the
Christians, he said, ‘ If you are worthy, you will
’ And then he was dragged about without
mercy, and suffered many blows ; for those who were
near ilhtreated him with feet and hands and in
every way, without respect even for his old age, and
those who were at a ffistance each threw at him
whatever he had at hand, and all thought that it
would be a great transgression and impiety to omit
any abuse against him. For they thought that in
“Then a great ffispensation of God was given, and
the measureless mercy of Jesus was so manifested,
as has rarely happened among the brethren, but is
not beyond the skill of Christ. For those who at the
nrst arrest had denied were imprisoned themselves
and shared in the terrors, for this time not even
their denial was any advantage to them ; but those
who confessed what they were Were imprisoned as
Christians, no other accusation being brought against
them, the others however were held as murderers and
foul persons and punished twiee as much as the rest.
For the burden of the former was lightened by the
joy of martyrdom and the hope of the promises, and
by love towards Christ and by the spirit of the
Father ; but the latter were greauy punished by
their conscience so that they were conspicuous among
all the rest by their faces when they were taken
out. For the one went forth gladly; glory and
great grace were mingled on their faces, so that
they wore even their fetters as a becoming ornament,
like a bride adorned with golden lace of many
pattems, and they were perfumed with the sweet
savour οf Christ, so that some supposed that they
had been anointed with worldly unguents ; but the
others were depressed and humble and wretched
and ffiled with every kind of unseemliness, and in
addition were insulted by the heathen as ignoble
and cowardly ; they had gained the accusation οf
murder, but had lost the name which is full of
honour and glory and gives life. wben the others
saw this they were strengthened and those who
Αfter a few more sentences they go on again: “After this the testimony of their death fell into every kind of variety. For they wove various colours and all kinds of Rowers into one wreath to offer to the Father, and so it was necessary for the noble athletes to undergo a varied conteSt, and after great victory to receive the great crown of immortality. Maturus and sanctus and Blandina and Αttalus were led forth to the vild beasts, to the public, 1 and to a common exhibition οf the inhumanity of the heathen, for the day of fighting with beasts was specially appointed for the Christians. Maturus and Sanctus passed again through all torture in the amphitheatre as though they had suffered nothing before, but rather as though, having conquered the opponent in many bouts, 2 they were now striving for his crown, οnce more they ran the gauntlet in the accustomed manner, endured the worrying of the wild beastS, and everything which the maddened public, some in οne way, some in another, were howling for and commanding, finally, the iron chair on which the roasting οf their own bodies clothed them with its reek. Their persecutors did not stop even here, but went on growing more and more furious, wishing to eonquer their endurance, yet gained nothing from sanctus beyond the sound of the confession Which he had been accustomed to make from the beginning.
“Thus after a long time, when their life still remained in them through the great contest, they were at last sacrificed, having been made a spectacle to the world throughout that day as a substitute for all the variations of gladiatorial eontests ; but Blandina was hung on a stake and offered as a prey to the wild beasts that were let in. She seemed to be hanging in the shape of a croSS, and by her continuous prayer gave great zeal to the combatants, while they looked οn during the cntest, and with their outward eyes saw in the form of their sister him who was crueffied for them, to persuade those who believe on him that all who suffer for the glory of Christ have for ever fellowship with the living God Then when none of the beasts Would touch her she was taken down from the stake and brought baek into the jail, and was thus preserved for another contest, in order that by winning through more trials she might make irrevocable the condemnation of the crooked serpent, and might encourage the brethren ; for small and weak and despised as she was, she had put on the great and invincible athlete, Christ ; she had overcome the adversary in many contests, and through the struggle had gained the crown of immortality.
“But Αttalus waS himSelf loudly ealled for by the
crowd, for he was well known. Ηe went in, a ready
combatant, for his conscience was clear, and he had
been nobly trained in Christian discipline and had
ever been a witness for truth among us. Ηe was
led round the amphitheatre and a placard was earried
before him on which was written in Latin, This
Attalus, the ’ The people were very bitter
“But the intervening time was not idle or fruitless
for them but through their endurance was manifested
the immeasurable mercy of Christ, for through the
living the dead were being quickened and martyrs
gave grace to those who had denied. Αnd there
was great joy to the Virgin Mother who had miscarried
with them as though dead, and was receiving
them back alive. For through them the majority
of those who had denied were again brought to
birth 1 and again conceived and quickened again,
and learned to confess, and now alive and vigorous,
made happy by God who wills not the death of the
sinner, but is Hnd towards repentance, went to the
judgement-seat, in οrder that they might again
be interrogated by the governor. For caesar had
written that they should be tortured to death, but
that if any should reeant they should be let go,
and at the beginning οf the local feast (and this is
widely attended by the eoncourse οf all the heathen
to it) the govemor led them to the judgement-seat,
making a show and spectacle οf the blessed
men to the mob. Ηe accordingly examined them
again, beheaded all who appeared to possess Roman
citizenship, and sent the rest to the beasts. Αnd
Christ was greatly glorified by those who had formerly
denied but theu confessed contrary to the expectation
of the people. For they were examined by
themselves with the intention of then letting them
“In addition to all this, on the last day of the
gladiatorial sports, Blanffina was again brought in
with Ponticus, a boy of about fifteen years old, and
they had been brought in every day to see the
torture of the others, and efforts were made to force
them to swear by the idols, and the mob was furiolls
against them beeause they had remained steadfast
and disregarded them, so that there was neither pity
for the youth οf the boy nor respeet for the sex οf
the woman. They exposed them to all the terrors
and put them through every torture in turn, trying
to make them swear, but not being able to do so.
For Ronticus was encouraged by the Christian sister,
so that even the heathen saw that she was exhorting
and rtrengthening him, and after nobly enduring
every torture he gave up his spirit. But the blessed
Blandina, last οf all, like a noble mother who had
encouraged her children and sent them forth triumphant
to the king, having herself endured all the
tortures of the cffildren, haStened to them, rejoicing
and glad at her departure as though invited to a
marriage feast rather than cast to the beaSts. Αnd
after scourging, after the beasts, after the gridiron,
she was at last put in a net and thrown to a bull.
she was tossed about a long time by the beast,
haring no more feeling for what happened to her
through her hope and hold on what had been en-
“ Not even thus was their madness and cruelty to
the SaintS satished, for, incited by a wild beast, 1 wild
and barbarous tribes could scarcely stop, and their
violenee began again in a new way on the bodies ;
for that they had been conquered 2 did not shame
them, because they had no human reason, but it
rather inflamed their wrath as of a wild beast, and
the governor and the people showed the like unrighteous
hatred against us that the Scripture might
be fulfilled, Let him that is unlawful be unlawful
still, and he that iS righteous be righteouS ’
For thoSe who had been strangled in the jail they
threw to the dogs, and watched carefully night and
day that none should be cared for by us. Then they
threw out the remains left by the beasb and by the
nre, torn and charred, and ror many days watched
with a mihtary guard the heads of the rest, together
with their trunks, all unburied. And some raged
and gnashed their teeth at the iemains, seeking
some further vengeance from them, others laughed
and jeered, glorifying their idols and ascribing to
them the punishment of the Christians, and the
gentler, who seemed to have a little sympathy,
mocked greatly, saying, ‘ Where is their god and
what good to them was their worship, which they
preferred beyond their ’ Their conduct thus
Further on they say : “ Thus the bodies οf the martyrs, after having been exposed and insulted in every way for six days, and afterwards burned and turned to ashes, were swept by the wicked into the river Rhone which flows near by, that not even a relic of them might still appear upon the earth. Αnd this they did as though they could coquer God and take away their rebirth in order, as they said, ‘ that they might not even have any hope of resurrection, through trusting in which they have brought in strange and new worship and despised terrors, going readily and with joy to death ; now let us see if they will rise again, and if their God be able to help them and to take them out of our hands.’”
II. Such things happened to the churehes of Christ
under the emperor mentioned, and from them it is
possible to from a reasonable conclusion as to what
was done in the other provinces. It is worth while
to add other statements from the same document,
in which the genueness and the kindness of the
martyrs already mentioned have been set down in
these very words. “ And they carried so far their
zeal and imitation οf Christ, ‘ who being in the form
of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God,’ that for all their glory, and though they had
Α little further οn they say: “They humbled
themselves under the mighty hand and by it they
have now been greatly exalted. At that time they
made defence for all men, against none did they
bring accusation; they released all and bound none;
Αnd again after οther details, they Say: “For their greatest contes, through the genuineness of their love, was this, that the beast 1 should be choked into throwing up alive those whom he had at first thought to have swallowed down. For they did not boast over the fallen, but from their own abundance supplied with a mother's love those that and shedding many tears for them to the Father, they prayed for life, and he gave it to them, and they divided it among their neighbours, and then departed to God, having in all things carried off the victory. They ever loved Ρeace; peace they commended to us; and with peace they departed to God; for their mother2 they left behind no sorrow, and for the brethren no strife and war, but glory, Ρeace, concord, and ” Let this profitable extract suffice concerning the love of those blessed ones for their brethren who had fallen, for the sake οf the inhuman and merciless disposition οf those who after these events acted unsparingly to the members οf Christ.3
ΙII. The same document οf the aforementioned
martyrs contains also another story worthy οf
memory, and none could grudge οur bringing it to
Just at that time the party οf Montanus and Αleibiades and Theodotus in Ρhrygia began first to engender among many their views concerning prophecy (for the many other wonderful works of the grace of God which Were still being wrought up to that time in divers churches produced the belief among many that they also were prophets), and when dissension arose about the persons mentioned the brethren in Gaul again formulated their οwn judgement, pious and most orthodox, concerning them, subjoining various letters from the martyrs who had been consecrated among them, which letters while they were still in prison they had composed for the brethren in Αsia and Ρhrygia, and also for Εleutherus, who was then bishop οf the Romans, and so they were ambassadors for the sake οf the peace of the churches.
IV. Irenaeus also, who was at that time already a presbyter of the diocese at Lyons, the same martyrs commended to the afore-mentioned bishop οf Rome, and gave him much good testimony, as is shown by words to the following effect: “Once more and always, Father Εleutherus, we wish you greeting in God. We have asked our brother and companion, Irenaeus, to bring this letter to you and we beg you to hold him in esteem, for he is Ζealous for the covenant οf Christ. For had we known that rank can confer righteousness οn anyone, we should first of all have recommended him as being a presbyter of the church, for that is his position.”
What need is there to transcribe the list οf the martyrs in the above mentioned document, some consecrated by beheading, some cast out to be eaten by the wild beasts, οthers who fell asleep in the jail, and the number of the confessors which still survived at that time ? For whoever wishes can easily read the full aecount by taking the description which has been included in our collection of martyrs,1 as I said before. Such were the events which happened under Αntοninus.
V. It is said that when his brother, Marcus Aurelius
Caesar, was engaging in battle with the Germans
and Sarmatians, he was in difficulties, because his
army was oppressed by thirst; but the soldiers of
the legion which is called after Melitene,2 knelt on
the ground according to our own custom οf prayer,
in the faith which has sustained them from that time
to this in their contests with their enemies, and turned
The story is both told among writers who are
foreign to our faith who have undertaken to write
of the times of the above mentioned emperors,1 and
has also been recorded by Christians. By the heathen
writers, inasmucb as they were strangers to the faith,
the miracle is related, but it was not confessed that
it happened through the prayers of the Christians;
but in our own writers, inasmuch as they are the
friends of truth, what happened has been described
in a simply and harmless fashion. Αmong these
would be also Apolinarius, who states that after that
time the legion which had wrought the miracle
through prayer had received a name from the emperor
appropriate to what had happened, and was
called in Latin the “Thundering ’’2 Tertullian
is also a worthy witness of these things, who in
addressing in Latin an apology for our faithto to the
Senate, which we have quoted already, confirmed
the story with more and clearer proof. In his
writing he says that letters of Marcus, the most
prudent emperor, were still extant, in which he
testifies himself that when his army was on the point
When Ρothinus was consecrated with the martyrs in Gaul at the age of full ninety years, Irenaeus received the episcopacy οf the diocese in Lyons,1 of which Ροthinus had been the head, and we have been told that he had been a listener to Polycarp in his early youth. In his third book against the heresies he gives the succession οf the bishops in Rome as far as Εleutherus, the events of whose days are now being discussed by us, as though his book had been composed at that time, and he gives the list, writing as follows.
VI. “Therefore when the
blessed apostles had found and built the church they
gave the ministry of the episcopate to Linus. Paul
mentioned this Linus in his epistle to Timothy.
Anencletus succeeded him, and after him Clement
obtained the episcopate in the third place from the
apostles. He had seen the blessed apostles and
Αnd after a little he says: “Εvarestus succeeded to this Clement and Αlexander to Εvarestus, and then Xystus was appointed as the sixth from the apostles, and after him Telesphorus, who also was martyred gloriously; then Hyginus, then Pius, after him Anicetus. Soter succeeded Anicetus, and now, in the twelfth place from the apostles, Eleutherus holds the lot of the episcopate. The tradition from the apostles in the church and the preaching of the truth have reached us in the same οrder and the same teaching.”2
VII. These things Irenaeus recounts, according to
the extracts which we have made already, in the
books, five in number, to which he gave the title of
Refutation and Overthrow of Knowledge falsely socalled,
and in the second book of this work he proves
in the following words that manifestations of the
divine and marvellous power had remained in some
VIII. Αt the beginning of this work we made promise to quote from time to time the sayings of the presbyters and writers of the church of the first period, in which they have delivered the traditions which came down to them about the canonical Scriptures. Now Irenaeus was one of these, so let us quote his words, and in the first place those which refer to the saered Gospels, as follwos : “ Now Matthew published among the Hebrews a written gospel 1 also in their own tongue, while Ρeter and Paul were preaching in Rome and founding the church. But after their death Mark also, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, himself handed down to us in writing the things which were preached by Ρeter, and Luke also, who was a follower of Paul, put down in a book the gospel which was preached by him. Then John, the disciple of the Lord, who had even reted on his breast, himself also gave forth the gospel, while he was living at Ephesus in Asia.”
These things were said by the writer referred to in the third book of his treatise which has been quoted before, and in the fifth book he discourses thus about the Apocalypse of John and the number of the name of the Antichrist.1 “ Now since this is so, and since this number is found in all the good and ancient copies, and sinee those Who have seem John face to face testify, and reason teaches us that the number of the name of the beast appears according to the numeration of the Greeks by the letters in it . . . ” Αnd going on later he says concerning the same point, “ We therefore will not take the risk of making any positive statement concerning the name of the Antichrist. For if it had been necessary for his name to have been announeed cleariy at the present time, it would have been spoken by him who also saw the Revelation ; for it was not even seen a long time ago, but almost in our own generation towards the end of the reign of Domitian.”
The author quoted says this about the Apocalypse,
and he also mentions the first Epistle of John,
making many quotations from it, and likewise the
first Epistle of Ρeter. Αnd he not only knew but
also received 2 the writing of the Shepherd, saying,
“ Well did the scripture say ‘ first of all believe that
God is one who created and fitted together all
’ and so ” Ηe also made some quotations
all but verbally from the WiSdom of Solomon, “ Αnd
Hear also, word for word, what he writes about the
interpretation οf the inspired Scriptures accorffing to
the Septuagint. “ So God became man and the
Lord himself saved us, giving us the sign of the
virgin, but not as some say, who at the present time
venture to translate the scriptures, ‘ behold a young
woman shall conceive and bear a ’ as Theodotion
the Εphesian tranriated it and Αquila from Ρontus,
both οf them Jewish proselytes, whom the Εbionites
follow and aver that he was begotten by Joseph. ’’
After a little he goes on thus : ‘‘ For before the
Romans established their government, while the
Macedonians still possessed Asia, Ρtolemy, the son
of Lagus,1 being very anxious to adorn the library,
which he had founded in Αlexandria, with all the
best extant writings of all men, asked from the
inhabitants of Jerusalem to have their Scriptures
translated into Greek. They, for they were at that
time still subject to the Macedonians, sent to Ptolemy
seventy elders, the most experienced they had
IX. When Antoninus had held the empire for nineteen years, Commodus 2 received the sovereignty, and in his first year Julian was appointed to the episcopate of the Churches in Αlexandria when Agrippinus had completed his ministry after twelve years.
X. Αt that time a man very famous for his learning named Pantaenus had charge of the life of the faithful in Αlexandria, for from ancient custom a school of sacred learning eristed among them. This sehool has lasted on to our time, and we have heard that it is managed by men powerful in their learning and zeal for divine things, but tradition says that at that time Pantaenus was especially eminent, and that he had been influenced by the philosophic system of those called stoics. They say that he showed sueh Zeal in his warm disposition for the divine word that he was appointed as a herald for the goSpel of Christ to the heathen in the East, and was sent as far as India. For indeed there Were until then many evangelists of the word who had forethought to use inspired zeal on the apostolic model for the increases and the building up of the divine word. Οne of these was Pantaenus, and it is said that he went to the Indians, and the tradition is that he found there that among some of those there who had known Christ the Gospel according to MattheW had preceded his coming ; for Bartholomew, one of the apostles, had preached to them and had left them the writing of Matthew in Hebrew letters, which was preserved until the time mentioned. Pantaenus, after many achievementS, was at the head of the sehool in Alexandria until his death, and orally and in writing expounded the treasures of the divine doctrine.
XI. Ιn his time Clement. the namesake of the
pupil of the apostles who had once ruled the ehurch
οf Rome, was famous in Αlexandria for his study
was privileged to hear, and οf blessed and truly
notable men. of these one, the Ionian, was in
Greece, another in South Italy, a third in CoeleSyria,2
another from Egypt, and there were others
in the Εast, οne οf them an Assyrian, another in
Palestine of Hebrew origin. But when I had met
the last, and in power he was indeed the first,
hunted him out from his concealment in Egypt and
found rest. But these men preserved the true tradition
of the blessed teaching directly from Ρeter and
James and John and Ρaul, the holy apostles, son receiving
it from father (but there were few like their
fathers), and by the blessing of God they came down
to us to deposit those ancestral and apostolic seeds.”
XII. In their time there flourished Narcissus,
bishop of the church at Jerusalem, who is still widely
famous. Ηe held the succession in the fifteenth
place after the siege of the Jews under Ηadrian,
aud we have stated already that from that time the
church in that city was composed οf Gentiles, in
XIII. Αt this time too Rhodo, of Asiatic race, was,
as he narrates himself, the pupil at Rome of Tatian,
whom we have mentioned above, and composed
various books, among others especially one direeted
against the heresy of Marcion. Ηe says that it was
divided in his time into various opinions, and, describing
accurately those who had caused the
divergence, he refutes the fahe teaching devised by
each οf them. Listen then to him when he writes
thus : “ Therefore they have ceased to agree among
themselves, maintaining inconsistent opinions. One
of their herd is Αpelles, who is reverenced for his life
and old age. Ηe admits that there is one Principle,2
but says that the prophecies are of an opposing
spirit, and he was persuaded by the utteranees of a
possessed maiden named Philoumene. But οthers,
such as the eaptain himself (Mareion), introduced
two Principles. To them belong Ρotitus and Basilicus.
These followed the wolf of Pontus,3 not Perceiving
The same writerd (Rhodo) says that he conversed
with Αpelles, and states it thus : “ For the οld man
Apelles when he consorted with us, was proved to
make many false statements. Hence also he used
to say that it is not necessary to investigate the
argument fully, but that eaeh should remain in his
own belief, for he asserted that those who placed
their hope on the Crucffied would be saved, if they
persisted in good works. But as we have srid before,
the most obseure part of all the doctrines which he
put forward were about God. For he kept on saying
that there is only one Principle just as our doctrine
” Then after expounding all his opinions he
goes on as follows: “ Αnd when I said to him,
where is this proof of yours, οr how can you say
that there is οne Ρrinciple ? Tell ’ he said that
the prophecies refute themselves by not having
spoken the truth at all, for they are inconsistent
and false and contradict themselves, but as to how
there is one Ρrinciple he said that he did not know
it, but merely inclined to that riew. Then when
adjured him to to speak the truth he swore that he
was speaking the truth, when he said that he did
not know how the unbegotten God is one but that
he believed it. But I laughed at him and condemned
him, because though he called himself a teacher he
did not know how to establish what he taught.”
In the same work, speaking to Kallistio, the same
XIV. The enemy of the church οf God, who hates good and loves deeply all that is wicked, left untried no kind of plot against men and again strove to raise up strange heresies against the church. Οf these some like poisonous reptiles crawled over Asia and Pyrygia, and boasted that Montanus was the Paraclete and that the women οf his sect, Priscilla and Maximilla, were the prophetesses of Montanus.
XV. Others flourished in Rome of which Florinus was the leader. Ηe had been turned out of the presbytery of the church and with him was Blastus who had suffered a similar fall. These drew away more οf the church and brought them to their own opinion, each trying to introduce innovations about the truth in his own way.
XVI. Αgainst the so-called Cataphrygian 2 heresy
the power which champions the truth raised up a
powertul and invincible weapon at Hierapolis in
have been urged by you to compose a treatise
against the sect of those called after Miltiades,1
but until now 1 was somewhat reluctant, not from
any lack of ability to refute the lie and testify to
the truth, but from timidity and seruples lest 1 might
seem to some to be adding to the writings or injunctions
οf the word of the new covenant οf the gospel,
to which no οne who has chosen to live according to
the gospel itself can add and from which he cannot
take away. But when I had just come to Ancyra
in Galatia and perceived that the chureh in that
place was torn in two by this new movement which
is not, as they call it, prophecy but much rather, as
will be shown, false prophecy, I disputed concerning
these people themselves and their propositions
so far as I could, with the Lord's help, for many
days continuously 2 in the church. Thus the church
rejoiced and was strengthened in the truth, but our
opponents were crushed for the moment and our
adversaries were ffirtressed. Therefore the presbyters
οf the place asked me to leave some note of
what had been said against the opponents of the
Continuing with other similar remarks at the
beginning of his treatise, he proceeds to narrate as
follows the cause of the heresy rererred to : — “ Their
opposition and their recent heretical schism from the
church had the following origin. In Phrygian Μysia
there is said to be a Village called Ardabav. There
they say that a recent convert called Montanus, when
Gratus was proconsul of Asia, in the unbounded lust
of his sould for leadership gave access tp himself to
the adversary, became obsessed, and suddenly fell
into frenzy and convulsions. He began to be
ecstatic and to speak and to talk strangely, prophesying
contrary to the custom which belongs to the
tradition and succession of the church from the
beginning. Οf those who at that time heard these
bastard utterances some were vexed, thinking that
he was possessed by a devil and by a spirit of error,
and was disturbing the populace ; they rebuked
him, and forbade him to speak, remembering the
distinction made by the Lord, and his warning to
keep watchful guard against the coming οf the false
prophets ; but others, as though elevated by a holy
spirit and a prophetic gift, and not a little conceited,
forgot the Lord's distinction, and encouraged the
mind-injuring and seducing and people-misleading
Ηe tells this story at the beginning, and throughout
the book continues the refutation of the error, but
in the second book he speaks as follows about the
Again in the same book he says that the sacred
bishops of that time tried to refute the spirit that
In the same book, again, after οther refutations of the false prophecies of Maximilla, in a single assage he both indicates the time at whieh he wrote this, and quotes her predictions, in which she foretold future wars and revolutions, and he corrects the falsehood of them as follows : “ Ηas it not been made obrious already that this is another lie ? For it is more than thirteen years to-day since the woman died, and there has been in the world neither local nor universal war, but rather by the mercy οf God continuing peace even for ”2
This is from his second book. Αnd from the third
I will also quote a few words in which he speaks as
Αnd after a little he goes on as follows : “ Wherefore whenever members of the church who have been called to martyrdom for the true faith meet any of the so-called martyrs of the Montanist heresy, they separate from them and die without communicating with them, because they refuse to agree with the spirit in Montanus and the women. Αnd that this is true, and that it happened in our time in Αpamea on the Meander, is shown by the case of those who were martyred with Gaius and Αlexander οf Εumeneia.”
XVII. Αnd in this work he also quotes Miltiades
as a writer who had also himself written a treatise
against the heresy mentioned. Αfter quoting some
Ηe, therefore, so writes. But the Miltiades mentioned
by him has also left us other monuments of his
own zeal for the oracles of God in the treatises which
XVIII. Apollonius also, a writer of the ehurch when the so-called Montanist heresy was still flourishing in Ρhrygia, composed a refutation and published it as a separate work against them, proving word by word that their alleged prophecies are false and showing the true character of the life of the leaders of the heresy. Listen to the actual words which he uses about Montanus. “ But the deeds and the teachings of this recent teaeher show his eharaeter. Ιt is he Who taught the annulment of marriage, who enacted fasts, who gave the name οf Jerusalem to Pepuza and Tymion, which are little towns in Phrygia, and wished to hold assemblies there from everywhere, who appointed colleetors of money, who organimd the receiving of gifts under the name of offerings, who provided salaries for those who preached his doctrine in order that its teaching might prevail through gluttony.”
So he says about Montanus. Αnd a little further
on he writes thus about the Ρrophetesses. “ Thus
we prove that these first prophetesses themselves
deserted their husbands from the moment that they
were filled with the spirit. what a lie it is then for
them to call Ρriscilla a ” Then he goes on
saying : “Does not all Scripture seem to you to forbid
a prophet from receiving gifts and money 7. There-
Then further on he says this about one of their
confessors: “Moreover, Themiso too, who was garbed
with specious covertousness, who did not endure the
sign of confession but exchanged prison for wealth
when he ought to have been humble-minded on this
accound, and boasted that he was a martyr, dared,
in imitation of the apostle, to compose an epistle
general, to instruct those whose faith was better
than his, and to contend with empty sounding words
and to blaspheme against the Lord and the apostles
and the holy ” Αnd again he writes thus
about another of those who were honoured among
them as martyrs: “But in order that we may not
speak about more of them, let the prophetess 1 tell
us the story of Alexander, who calls himself a
martyr, with whom she joins in revels, to whom many
pay reverence. We need not tell of his robberies
and the other crimes for which he has been punished,
but the record-house 2 has them. Which then forgives
the ’s sins? Does the prophet absolve
the martyr of robbery or the martyr forgive the
prophet for avarice? For the Lord said, ‘Provide
neither gold nor silver nor two ’; but these,
doing wholly otherwise, have transgressed by the
acquisition of these forbidden things. For we will
show that their so-called prophets and martyrs make
And again in another part of the book he says this
about their boasted prophets: “If they deny that
their prophets have taken gifts let them admit this,
that if they have been convicted, they are not true
prophets, and we will give countless proofs of this.
But it is necessary to test all the fruits of a prophet.
Tell me, does a prophet dye his hair ? Does he pencil
his eyelids ? Does he love ornaments ? Does he gamble
and dice ? Does he lend money ? Let them state
This same Apollonius in the same book says that it was forty years from the time when Montanus plotted his fictitious prophecy, to the time when he wrote his book. Αnd again he says that Zoticus, whom the former writer mentioned, when Maximilla pretended to prophesy in Pepuza had tried in opporition to confute the spirit which worked in her, but was prevented by those who agreed with her Ηe also mentions a certain Thraseas 1 as one of the martyrs οf that time. Moreover, he says, as though from tradition, that the Sariour ordered his apostles not to leave Jerusalem for twelve years. He also makes quotations from the Apocalypse of John and tells how by divine power a dead man was raised by John himseK at Ephesus. Αnd he says other things by which he demonstrated powertully and completely the error of the heresy under discussion. so far says Apollonius.
XIX. Tradition says that Serapion was bishop of
Antioch after Maximinus at the time referred to, and
he has mentioned the works of Apolinarius against
the heresy described. Ηe mentions him in his own
letter to Caricus and Pontius, in whieh he aho himself
refutes the same heresy, and continues thus: :
“Αnd in order that you may know this, that the
working οf the so-called new prophecy of this false
οrder is abominated in the whole οf Christendom
XX. In opposition to those in Rome who were
discarding the sound ordinance of the church,
Irenaeus composed various letters. He addressed
one to Blastus On Schism, another to Florinus, On
the Sole Sovereignty 1 οr That God is not the Author of
Evil, for Florinus seemed to be defending this
opinion. For his sake too, when he a attracted
by the Valentinian error, a work was composed by
Irenaeus On the Ogdoad,2 in which he also indicates
that he had himself received the first succession of
the apostles, and in it, at the end of the work, we
find a most acceptable notice from him which we
are obliged to give in this book and it runs as follows:
“Ι adjure thee, who shalt copy out this book, by
our Lord Jesus Christ, by his glorious advent when
he comes to judge the living and the dead, that thou
In the letter to Florinus, whieh we have spoken of
above, Irenaeus again mentionS his intercourse with
Polycarp, and says: “These opinions, Ο Florinus,
that I may speak sparingly, do not belong to sound
doctrine. These opinions are inconsistent with the
church, and bring those who believe in them into
the greatest impiety. These opinions not even the
hereties outside the church ever dared to proclaim.
These opinions those who were presbyters before us,
they who accompanied the apostleS, did not hand on to
you. For while 1 was still a boy Ι knew you in lower
Asia in Polycarp's house when you were a man
rank in the royal hall and endeavouring to stand
well with him. I remember the eventS of those days
more cleariy than those whieh happened recently,
for what we learn as children grows up vith the soul
and is united to it, so that I can speak even of the
place in which the blessed Polycarp sat and disputed,
how he came in and went οut, the character of his
life, the appearance of his body, the discourses which
he made to the people, how he reported his intercourse
with John and with the others who had Seen
the Lord, how he remembered their wordS, and what
XXI. Αnd at the same time in the reign of
Commodus our treatment was changed to a milder
one, and by the grace of God peace came on the
churches throughout the whole world. The word of
salvation began ` to lead every soul of every race
men to the pious worship of the God of the universe,
so that now many of those who at Rome were famous
for wealth and family turned to their own salvation
with all their house and with all their kin. This was
unendurable to the demon who hates good, envious
as he is by nature, and he again stripped for conflict,
XXII. In the tenth year ofthe reign οf Commodus 2
victor sueceeded Eleutherus who had served in the
episcopate thirteen years. Ιn the same year Julian
had completed his tenth year, and Demetrius was
appointed to the administration of the Alexandrian
dioceses, and at the same time the famous Serapion,
whom we mentioned before, was bishop of the ehurch
XXIII. At thattime time no small controversy arose
because all the dioceses of Asia thought it right, as
though by more ancient tradition, to observe for the
feast of the Saniour's passover tbe fourteenth day
of the moon, on which the Jews had been commanded
to kill the lamb. Thus it was necessary to finish
tbe fast on that day, whatever day of the Week it
might be. 1 Υet it was not the custom to celebrate
in this manner in the churches throughout the rest
of the world, for from apostolic tradition they kept
the custom which still exists that it is not right to
finish tbe fast on any day save that of the resurrection
of our Saviour. Many meetings and conferences
with bishops were beld on this point, and all unanimously
formulated in their letters the doctrine
of the church for those in every country country that the
mystery of the Lord's resurrection from the dead
could be celebrated on no day save Sunday, 2 and
XXIV. These iSsued the single definition which
was given above; but the bishops in Asia were led
by Polycrates in persisting that it was necessary to
keep the custom whieh had been handed doWn to
them of old. Polycrates himself in a document
which he addreSsed to victor and to the church of
Rome, expounds the traffition which had come to
him as follows. “Therefore we keep the day undeviatingly,
neither adding nor taking away, for in
Αsia great luminaries 1 sleep, and they will rise on
the day of the coming of the Lord, when he shall
come with glory from heaven and seek out 2 all the
saints. sueh were Philip of the twelve apostles, and
two of his daughters Who grew old as virgins, who
sleep in Hierapolis, and another daughter of his, who
lived in the Ηoly spirit, reSts at Ephesus. Moreover,
Ηe continues about the bishops who when he wrote
were with him and shared his opimon, and says
thus: “And I could mention the bishops who are
present whom you required me to summon, and I
did so. If I should write their names they would
be many multitudes; and they knowing my feeble
Upon this Victor, who presided at Rome, immediately
tried to cut off from the common unity the
dioceses of all Αsia, together with the adjacent
churches, οn the ground of heterodoxy, and he
indited letters announcing that all the Christians
there were absolutely excommunicated. But by
no means all were pleased by this, so they isSued
counter-requests to him to consider the cause of
peace and unity and love towards his neighbours.
Thcir words are extant, sharply rebuking victor.
Αmοng them too Irenaeus, writing in the name of
the Christians whose leader he was in Oaul, though
he recommends that the mystery of the ’s
resurrection be observed only οn the Lord's day, yet
nevertheless exhorts victor suitably and at length
not to excommunicate whole churches of God for
following a traffidltion οf ancient custom, and eontinues
as follows: “For the controversy is not only about
the day, but also about the actual character οf the
fast; for some think that they ought to fast οne
day, others two, others even more, some count their
day as forty hours, day and night. 1 Αnd such variation
of observance ffid not begin in οur own timep
but much earlier, in the days of οur predecessors who,
Ηe adds to this a narrative whieh I may suitably
quote, running as follows: “Among these too were
the presbyters before soter, who presided over
church of which you are now the leader, I mean
Anicetus and Ρius and telesphorus and Xystus.
ney did not themselves observe it, 1 nor ffid they
enjoin it οn those who followed them, and though they
ffidId not keep it they Were none the less at peace
with those from the ffioceses in which it was οbserved
when tbey came to them, although to observe it was
more objectionable to those who ffid not do so, 2 Αnd
no οne was ever rejected for this reason, but the presbyters
before you who did not observe it sent the
Εucharist to those from other dioceses who did; and
when the blessed Polycarp was staying in Rome in
the time of Anicetus, though they disagreed a little
about some other things as well, they immediately
made peace, having no wish for strife between them
on this marter. For neither waS Anicetus able to
persuade Polycarp not to observe it, inasmuch as he
had always done so in company with John the disciple
of οur Lord and the other apostles with whom
he had associated; nor did Polycarp persuade
Anicetus to observe it, for he said that he ought to
Αnd Irenaeus, who deserVed his name, making an eirenicon in this vay, gaVe exhortations of this kind for the peace of the church and served as as ambassador, for in letters he diseussed the Various views on the issue vhieh had been raised, not Only with Vletor but with Vith many other rulers of churehes.
XXV. The Palestinians whom Ve bave reeenriy mentioned, that is to say Narcissus and Theophilus, and with them Cassius, the bishop of the church in Tyre, and Clarus, the birilop Of the church in Ptolemais, and thoSe Vho aembled rith them, treated at length the tradition concerning rile passover which had come down tO them frOm the succession of the apostles, and at the end Of their riring they add as follows: “Try tO send copies of Our letter to eVery diocese that ve may nOt be guilty towards thOse who easily deeeiVe tbeir own sOulS. Αnd Ve make it plain tO you that in Alexandria also they celebrate the Same day as do we, for letters have been eXehanged between them and us, so that we obserVe the holy day together and in agreement.”
XXVI. Ιn addition to the published treatises
When CommoduS had riniShed his relgn after thirteen years severus became emperor not quite six monthS after the death Or CommOdus, Pertinax coming in the interval. 1
XXVII. Many workes of
the Virtuous zeal of the aneient members of rile
church of that time have still been widely preserved
until now, and we haVc read them OurselveS. such
are the writings of Heraclitus on the Epistles, 2 and
the writings of Maximus on the problem of the
source of eVri; sO much traversed by the heretic, and
on whether matter has an origin, the works of
Candidus on the Hexaëmeron, 3 and of Apion On the
same subject, also of seXtuS on the Resurrection, and
another treatise of Arabianus, and eountless Others
of whieh We are unable from lack of evidenee to give
the date or any aecOunts Of their hiStOry. Αnd there
are many otherS alSo which have reaehed uS, but we
cannot even giVe their names, yet they are orthodox
XXVIII. In a treatise worked out by one of these
against the heresy of Αrtemon, which Ρaul of
Samosata has tried to renew in our time, there is
extant an account which bears οn the history which
we are examining. For he criticizes the abovementioned
heresy (which claims that the sarivlour
was a mere man) as a recent innovation, beeause
those who introduced it wished to make it respectable
as being ancient. Among many other points adduced
in refutation of their blasphemous falsehood, the
treatise rehtes this this: “For For they say that all who
went before and the apostles themselves received
and taught what they now say, and that the truth
of the teaching was preserved until the times οf
victor, who was the tffihlrteenth bishop in Rome after
Ρeter, but that the truth had been corrupted from
the time of his successor, Zephyrinus. What they
said might perhaps be plausible if in the nrst place
the dirine scriptures were not opposed to them, and
there are also writings of certain christians, older
than the time of Victor, wHch they wrote to the
Gentiles οn behalf of the truth and against the
heresies of their οwn time. 1 mean the works of
Justin and Miltiades and Tatian and Clement and
many others in all of which Christ is treated as God.
For who is ignorant of the books of Irenaeus and
Melito and the others who announced Christ as God
Such were the events of the time of Victor. When
he had held his office ten yearS, Zephyrinus WaS
appointed his suceessor in the ninth year of the reign
οf Severus. 1 Αnd the author of the book mentioned
about the founder of the above-mentioned heresy
adds another incident which happened in the time
of Zephyrinus and wTites as follows: “I will at least
remind many of the brethren of an event whieh
happened in our time whieh I think would have
probably been a warning to the men of sodom had it
happened in their city. There Was a certain confessor,
Natalius, not long ago but in our own time.
Ηe was deceived by Asclepiodotus and by a second
Theodotus, a banker. These were both ffiscipleS of
Theodotus the cobbler, who was first excommunicated
by vietor, who, as I said, was then bishop, for this way
We would add to this some other Words of the
same author on the same persons, Which run as
follows : “ They have not feared to corrupt divine
scriptures, they have nullified the rule of ancient
faith, they have not known Christ, they do not
inquire what the divine scriptures sa y, but in-
dustriously consider what syllogistic Bgure may be
found for the support of their atheiSm. Ιf anyone
adduced to them a text of divine Scripture they
when they make a bad use of the arts of unbelievers
ror the opinions of their heresy, and adulterate the
simple faith of the divine seriptures by the cunning
οf the godless, what need is there to say that they
are not even near the faith f For this cause they ffid
not fear to lay hands οn the divine scriptures, saying
that they had eonected them. Αnd that 1 do not
calumniate them in saying tffis anywhowish can learn,
for if any be willing to collect and compare with
each other the texts of each of them, he would hnd
them in great discord, for the copies 3 of Asclepiades
do not agree vith those of Theodotus, and it is
possible to obtain many of them because their disciples
have diligently wTitten out copies corrected,
as they say, but really corrupted by each of them.
Again the eopies of Hermophilus do not agree with
these, the copies οf ΑΡolloniades are not even consistent
with themselves, for the eopies copies b y
them at Rrst can be compared With those whieh
later on underwent a second corruption, and they
CONTENTS ΟF BOOK VI
The Sixth Book of the Ecclesiastical History contains the following:
I. On the persecution under Severus.
II. Οn Οrigen’s training from boyhood.
ΙII. How he set forth the word of Christ when quite young.
IV. How many of those insructed by him were elevated to the rank of martyrs.
V. Οn Potamiaena.
VI. On Clement the Alexandrian.
VII. Οn Judas, a writer.
VIII. On Origen's rash act.
IX. On the miraeles of Narcissus.
X. On the bishops at Jerusalem.
XI. Οn Alexander.
XII. Οn Serapion and his extant works.
XIII. On the treatises Of Clement.
XIV. What Scriptures he mentioned.
XV. Οn Heraclas.
XVI. How Origen laboured at the divine Scriptures.
XVII. Οn symmaehus the translator.
XVIII. Οn Αmbrose.
XIX. What things are mentioned concerning Origen.
XX. What books of the mcn of that day are extant.
XXI. What bishops were well known in the time of these persons.
XXII. What works of Hippolytus have reached us.
XXIII. Οn Origen's zeal, and how he was deemed worthy of the presbyterate in the Church.
XXIV. The commentaries he wrote at Alexandria.
XXV. Ηow he mentioned the Canonical Scriptures.
XXVI. Ηow the bishops regarded him.
XXVII. Ηow Ηeraelas succeeded to the episcopate of the Alexandrians.
XXVIII. Οn the persecution under Maximin.
XXIX. Οn Fabian, how he was miraculously designated bishop of the Romans by God.
XXX. What pupils of Origen there have been.
XXXI. On Africanus.
XXXII. The commentaries that Origen wrote at Caesarea in Ρalertine.
XXXIII. Οn the error or Beryllus.
XXXIV. What happened under Philopl.
XXXV. How Dionysius succeeded Ηeraclas in the episcopate.
XXXVI. Οther works composed by Οrigen.
XXXVII. Οn the dissension of the Arabians.
XXXVIII. Οn the heresy of the Helkesaites.
XXIX. Οn what happened under Decius.
XL. Οn what befell Dionysius.
XLI. On those that suffered martyrdom Alexandira itself.
XLII. On the other martyrdoms which Dionysius relates.
XLIII. Οn Novatus, his manner of life, and his heresy.
XLIV. Α story of Dionysius about Serapion.
XLV. Letter of Dionysius to Novatus.
XLVI. Οn the other letters of Dionysius.
THΕ ECCLESIASTICAL ΙSTΟRV ΟF EUSEBIUS
BΟΟΚ VII
1. Νow when Severus also was stirring up persecution against the churches, in every place splendid martyrdoms of the champions of piety were accomplished, but with especial frequency at Alexandria. Thither, as to some great arena, were escorted from Εgypt and the whole Thebais God's champions, who, through their most stedfast endurance in divers tortures and modes of death, were wreathed with the crowns laid up with God. Αmong these was Leonides, known as “the father of Οrigen,’’ who was beheaded, leaving his son behind him quite young. It will not be out of place to deseribe briefly how deliberately the mind was set on the Divine Word from that early age, especially as the story about him has received exceedingly widespread notoriety.
II. Μany
indeed, would there be to say, if one were to attempt
at leisure to hand down in writing the man's life, and
the narrative concerning him would require also a
work of its own. Nevertheless, on the present
occasion abridging most things as briefly as may be,
we shall state some few of the facts concerning him,
In the case of Origen I think that even the facts
from his very cradle,1 so to speak, are worthy
mention. For Severus was in the tenth year of his
reigh,2 and Laetus was governor of Alexandria
the rest of Εgypt, and Demetrius had just then
received the episcopate οf the communities there in
succession to Julian. When, therefore, the flame
οf persecution was kindled to a fierce blaze, and
countless numbers were being wreathed with the
crowns οf martyrdom, Origen's soul was
with such a passion for martyrdom, while he was still
quite a boy, that he was all eagerness to come to
close quarters with danger, and to leap forward and
rush into the conflict. In fact, it were but a very
little step and the end of his life was at hand, had
not the divine and heavenly providence, acting for
the general good through his mother, stood in the
way of his zeal. She, at all events, at first had
recourse to verbal entreaties, bidding him spare a
mother's feelings; then, when he learnt that his
father had been captured and was kept in prison,
and his whole being was set on the desire for martyrdom,
perceiving that his purpose was more resolute
than ever, she hid all his clothes, and so laid upon
him the necessity of remaining at home. Αnd since
nothing else remained for him to do, and a zeal,
intense beyond his years, suffered him not to be quiet,
he sent to his father a letter on martyrdom most
strongly urging him οn, in which he advises him in
these very words, saying : “Take care to to change
But when his father had been perfected by martyrdom,
he was left destitute with his mother and six
smaller brothers, when he was not quite seventeen.
His father's property was confiscated for the imperial
treasury, and he found himself, along with his
ralatives, in want of the necessaries of life. Yet he
was deemed worthy of divine aid, and met with
welcome and refreshment from a certain lady, very
rich in this world's goods, and otherwise distinguished,
who nevertheless was treating with honour a wellknown
person, one of the heretics at Alexandria at
that time Ηe was an Antiochene by race, but the
lady we have mentioned kept him at her house as
her adopted son, and treated him with especial
honour. But although Origen of necessity had to
consort with him, he used to give clear proofs of his
orthodoxy, at that age, in the faith. For though very
great numbers, not only of heretics but also of our
own people, were gathered together with Ρaul (for
that was the man's name), attracted by his apparent
skilfulness in speech, Origen could never be persuaded
to associate with him in prayer, keeping the rule οf
the Church, even from boyhood, and “loathing’’ —
the very word he himself uses somewhere—
teachings of the heresies. Ηis father had brought
him forward in secular studies, and after his death
he applied himself wholly with renewed zeal to a
literary training, so that he had a tolerable amount
οf pronciency in letters; and, not not after his
father's perfecting, by dint of application to these
III. Αnd while he was devoting himself to teaching,
as he himself informs us somewhere in writing, since
there was no one at Alexandria set apart for catechetical
instruction (for all had been driven away by
the threat of the persecution), some of the heathen
approached him to hear the word of God. Of these
Plutrach is pointed out as being the first, who after
a noble life was adorned also with a divine martyrdom;
and the second, Heraclas, Plutarch's brother. Ηe also,
in his own person, afforded a noteworthy example of
a philosophic life and of discipline, and was deemed
worthy of the bishopric of Αlexandrians in succession
to Demetrius. Origen was in his eighteenth
year 1 when he came to preside over the catechetical
school, and at this time also he came into prominence
when the persecutions were going on under Aquila,
the governor of Alexandria.2 Then also he won
himself an exceedingly wide reputation among all
those who were οf the faith, by the kindly help and
goodwill that he displayed towards all the holy
martyrs, unknown and known alike. For he was
present not only with the holy martyrs who were
in prison, not only with those who were under examination
right up to the final sentence, but also
when they were being led away afterwards to their
death, using great boldness and coming to close
quarters with danger; so that, as he courageously
drew near and with great boldness greeted the
martyrs with a kiss, many a time the heathen
multitude round about in its fury went near to
stoning him, but for the fact that time after time he
found the divine right hand to help him, and so
Αnd when he saw still more pupils coming to him
(for the task of instruction had been entrusted by
Demetrius, the president of the church, to him alone),
considering that the teaching of letters3 was not
consonant with training in the divine studies, without
more ado he broke off the task of teaching letters,3
as being unprofitable and opposed to sacred study;
and then, for the good reason that he might never be
in need of others’ assistance, he disposed of all the
Αnd by displaying proofs such as these οf a philosophic life to those who saw him, he naturally stimulated a large number of his pupils to a like zeal, so that, even among the unbelieving Gentiles and those from the ranks of learning and philosophy, some persons of no small account were won by his instruction. By his ageney these very persons received the faith of the divine Word truly in the depths of the soul, and were conspicuous at the persecution then taking place; insomuch that even some οf them were arrested and perfected by martyrdom.
IV. The first of these, then, was Plutarch, he whom we mentioned a little while ago.1 As this man was being led οn the way to death, he οf whom we have been speaking, being present with him to the very end of his life, was again almost killed by his fellow- citizens, as being clearly responsible for his death. But οn that occasion also he was kept by the will of God.2 Αnd, after Plutarch, Serenus was the second οf Origen's pupils to show himself a martyr, having through fire given the proof of the faith he had received. From the same school Heraclides was the third martyr, and after him Ηero, the fourth; the former of these was still a eatechumen, the latter lately baptized. Both were beheaded. Further, in addition to these, from the same school was proclaimed a fifth champion of piety, one serenus, a different person from the first-mentioned of that name. It is recorded that after very great endurance of torture his head was taken off. Αnd, among the women, Ηerais, who was still under instruction for baptism, as Οrigen himself sayssomewhere, “received the baptism by fire,” and so ended her life.
v. Seventh among them must be numbered Basilides,
who led away the famous Potamiaena. The
praise οf this woman is to this day still loudly sung
by her fellow-countrymen, as of one who on
of the chastity and virginity of her body, in which
excelled, contended much with lovers (for assuredly
her body, as well as her mind, was in the full bloom
of its youthful beauty); as of one who endured much,
and at the end, after tortures that were terrible and
fearful to relate, was perfected by fire, along with her
mother Marcella. Ιt is said, in fact, that the judge,
whose name was Aquila, after inflicting severe
tortures upon her entire body, at last threatened to
hand her over to the gladiators for bodily insult, and
that, when after a brief period of reflection she was
asked what her decision was, she made a reply which
involved from their point of view something profane.
No sooner had she spoken than she received the
sentence, and Basilides, being one of those serving
in the army, took her and led her away to death.
And as the crowed tried to annoy her, and insult her
with shameful words, he kept restraining them and
driving away the insulters, displaying the greatest pity
and kindness towards her. She on her part accepted
his fellow-feeling for her and bade him be of
cheer, for that she would ask him from her Lord,
when she departed, and before long would requite
him for what he had done for her. Thus speaking
[it is said], she right nobly endured the end, boiling
pitch being poured slowly and little by little over
different parts of her body from head to toe. Such
was the contest waged by this maiden celebrated in
VI. Ρantaenus was succeeded by Clement, who
directed the instruction at Alexandria up to such a
date that Origen also was one of his pupils. In fact
lement, when compiling his Stromateis, in the first
k displays a chronological table, using the death
of Commodus as a terminus in measuring his dates 1;
so that it is clear that the work was composed by him
VII. Αt this time Judas also, another writer, composed a written discourse on the seventy weeks in the book of Daniel; he stops his record of time at the tenth year of the reign of Severus. Ηe also was of the opinion that the much talked of coming of the antichrist was then already near. So strongly did the persecution which was then stirred up against us disturb the minds of the many.
VIII. Αt that time, while Οrigen was performing the work of instruction at Alexandria, he did a thing which gave abundant proof of an immature and youthful mind, yet withal of faith and self-control. For he took the saying, “There are eunuchs which made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake,” in too literal and extreme a sense, and both to fulfil the Saviour’s saying, and also that might prevent all suspicion of shameful slander on the part of unbelievers (for, young as he was, he used to discourse on divine things with women as well as men), he hastened to put into effect the Saviour's Saying, taking care to escape the notice of the greater number of his pupils. But, wishful though he might be, it was not possible to hide a deed of this nature. In fact Demetrius got to know of it later, since he was presiding over the community at that place; and while he marvelled exceedingly at him for his rash act, he approved the zeal and the sinceriry of his faith, bade him be of good cheer, and urged him to attach himself now all the more to the work of instruction.
Such indeed was his attitude at that time. But not Iong afterwards, when the same person saw that he was prospering and a great man and distinguished and famous in the sight of all, overcome by a human weakness, he attempted to describe the deed as monstrous to the bishops throughout the world, when the most highly approved and distinguished bishops in Palestine, namely those of Caesarea and Jerusalem,1 deeming Origen worthy of privilege and the highest honour, ordained him to the presbyterate by laying on of hands.2 So, as he had then advanced to a position of great esteem, and had aequired no small reputation and fame for his virtue and wisdom in the eyes of all men everywhere, through lack of any other ground οf aceusation Demetrius spread grave scandal about the deed that he had committed long ago when a boy, and had the temerity to include in his accusations those who raised him to the presbyterate.
This happened a little while afterwards. Αt that time, however, Origen was engaged at Αlexandria in the work or divine instruction for all, without reserve, who came to him by night and in the course of the day, devoting his whole time untiringly to the divine studies and his pupils.
When Severus had held the principate for eighteen
years, he was succeeded by his son Antoninus.3
this time Αlexander (being one of those who Ρlayed
the man during the persecution and after contending
for the faith by their confessions were preserved by
the Providence of God), whom we have mentioned
lately4 as bishop of the church at Jerusalem,
deemed worthy of the said bishopric, distinguished
IX. Many οther miracles, indeed, of Νarcissus do e citizens of the community call to mind, as handed wn by the brethren in succession, and among these ey relate that the following wonder was performed him. Once at the great all-night vigil of the ascha it is said that the oil failed the deacons, and at when deep despondency seized the whole ultitude, thereupon Narcissus commanded those ho were preparing the lights to draw water and ring it to him; that when this was no sooner said an done, he then prayed οver the water, and bade em pour it down into the lamps with unfeigned ith in the Lord. Αnd that when they did this, contrary to all reason by miraculous and divine power nature was changed in quality from water into il; and that for a very long time, from that day even ours, a little was preserved as a οf that wonder former days by very many οf the brethren there.
Αnd they enumerate a great many other things
about the life of this man worthy of mention, among
which is the following. Certain miserable creatures,
not being able to endure his energy and the firmness
of his conduct, and fearing lest they should be taken
and put on their trial (for they were conscious of many
evil deeds), anticipated the event by devising an
intrigue agrinst him and spreading a certain grave
slander to his hurt. Then, with a view to securing
the belief οf their hearers, they strove to confirm their
accusations by oaths; one swore, “[if this is not true]
ay I be destroyed by fire”; another, “may
y be wasted by an untoward diseasse”; and
such were the punishments that these men suffered their falsehood.
X. But as Narcissus had retired
no one knew where he might be, it seemed good
those presiding over the neighbouring churches to
eed to the appointment οf another bishop. Ηis
e was Dius. Αfter a brief presidency he was
cceeded by Germanion, and he in turn by Gordius.
XI. Αnd when he was no longer able to perform
the ministry on account of ripe old age, the abovementioned1
Alexander, being bishop of another
community, was called by a dispensarion of God to a
joint ministry with Narcissus, by a revelation which
appeared to him in a vision at night. Whereupon,
as if in obedience to some oraele, he made the journey
rom the land of the Cappadocians, where he was
rst deemed worthy of the episeopate, to Jerusalem,
for the purpose of prayer and investigation οf the
sacred] places. The people there gave him the most
ordial welcome, and suffered him not to return home
gain, in accordance with another revelation which
as seen by them also at night, and which vouchsafed
n identieal utterance of the clearest kind to those
f them who were peculiarly zealous. For it indieated
o them to go forth outside the gates and welcome as
heir bishop him who was fore-ordained of God. Αnd
oing this, with the common consent of the bishops
ho were administering the churches round about,
hey compelled him of necessity to remain. Αnd in
fact Alexander himself in a personal letter to the
ntinoites,2 which is still to this day preserved
, mentions Narcissus as holding the chief place
long with him, writing as follows, in these very words,
So was it with these matters. But when Serapion tered upon his rest, Asclepiades succeeded to the ishopric of the chureh at Antioch, and he was self distinguished for his confessions in the (??)ersecution. Αlexander also his his appointent, writing thus to the Antiochenes: “Αlexander, slave and prisoner οf Jesus Christ, to the blessed urch of the Antioehenes, greeting in the Lord. Light and easy did the Lord make my bonds, when learnt at the time οf my imprisonment that by the vine Ρrovidence Αsclepiades, whose worthy faith es him most suitable, had been entrusted with the ishopric of your holy church of the Antiochenes.”
This epistle he indicates had been sent by the hand f Clement,1 writing at the close in this is letter I send unto you, my dear brethren, by the and of Clement the blessed presbyter, a man irtuous and approved, of whom ye yourselves also ve heard, and with whom ye will become acquainted; o also, when he was present here in accordance h the providence and overseership of the Master, th stablished and increased the Church of the rd.”
XII. Νοw it is likely, indeed, that other memoirs
, the fruit of Serapion's literary studies, are
reserved by other persons, but there have come
wn to us only those addressed To Domnus, οne
ho had fallen away from the faith of Christ, at the
XIII. Such are the writings of Serapion. But of Clement the Stromateis, all the eight books, are preserved with us, upon whieh he bestowed the following title: “Titus Flavius Clement's Stromateis3 of Gnostic Memoirs according to the True Philosophy”; and οf equal number with these are his books entitled Hypotyposeis,4 in which he mentions Ρantaenus by name as his teaeher, and has set forth his interpretations of the scriptures and his traditons. There is also a book of his, the Exhorlalion to the Greeks,5 and the three books of the work entitled Paedagogus, and Who is the Rich Man that is being Saved?5 (such is the title of another book of his), and the treatise Οn the Pascha, and discourses Οn Fasting and Οn Slander, and the Exhortation to Endurance, or To the Recently Baptized,5 and the [book] entitled the Ecclesiastical Cannon, or Against the Judaizers,6 which he has dedicated to Alexander, the bishop mentioned above.7 the bedelothes. Hence works of a miscellaneous character were thus entitled, not οnly by Clement, but also by Plutarch and Origen (see 24. 3).
Νow in the Stromateis he has composed a patchwork, not only of the divine Scripture, but of the writings of the Greeks as well, if he thought that they also had said anything useful, and he mentions opinions from many sources, explaining Greek and barbarian alike, and moreover sifts the false opinions οf the heresiarchs; and unfolding much history he gives us a work of great erudition. With all these he mingles also the opinions of philosophers, and so he has suitably made the title of the Stromateis to correspond to the work itself. Αnd in them he has also made use of testimonies from the disputed writings, the known known as the Wisdom of Solomon, and the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of sirach, and the Epistle to the Hebrews, and those of Barnabas, and Clement, and Jude; and he mentions Tatian's book Against the Greeks, and Cassian, sinee he also had composed a chronography,1 and moreover Philo and Aristobulus and Josephus and Demetrius and Eupolemus, Jewish writers, in that they would show, all of them, in writing, that Moses and the Jewish race went back further in their origins than the Greeks.2 Αnd the books of Clement, of which we are speaking, are full of much other useful learning. Ιn the first of these he shows with reference to himself that he came very near to the successors of the Αpostles3; and he promises in them also to write a commentary on Genesis.4
Αnd in his book Οn the Pascha he professes that
he was compelled by his companions to commit to
XIV. Αnd in the Hypotyposeis, to speak briefly, he has given concise explanations of all the Canonical scriptures, not passing over even the disputed writings, Ι mean the Epistle of Jude and the remaining Catholic Εpistles, and the Epistle of Barnabas, the Apocalypse known as Peter's. Αnd as for Εpistle to the Hebrews, he says indeed that it is Paul's, but that it was written for Hebrews in the Ηebrew tongue, and that Luke, having carefully translated it, published it for the Greeks; hence, as a result of this translation, the same complexion of style is found in this Epistle and in the Acts: but that the [words] “Paul an apostle” were not prefixed. For, says he, “in writing to Ηebrews who had conceived a prejudice against him and were suspicious of him, he very wisely did not repel them at the beginning by putting his name.”
Then lower down he adds: “But now, as the blessed elder used to say, since the Lord, being the apostle of the Αlmighty, was sent to the Hebrews, ΡauΙ, through modesty, since he had been sent to the Gentiles, does not inscribe himself as an apostle οf the Hebrews, both to give due deference to the Lord and because he wrote to the Ηebrews also out of his abundance, being a preacher and apostle of the Gentiles.”
Αnd again in the same books Clement has inserted
a tradition of the primitive elders with regard to the
οrder οf the Gospels, as follows. Ηe Said that those
Αnd again Αlexander, of whom we spoke before,3 mentions Clement, and at the same time also Pantaenus, in a certain letter to Origen, as men who had been known to him. Ηe writes as follows: “For this also has proved to be the will of God, as thou knowest, that the friendship that comes to us from οur forefathers should remain unshaken, nay rather grow warmer and more stedfast. For we know as fathers those blessed ones who went before us, with whom we shall be ere long: Pantaenus, truly blessed and my master, and the holy Clement, who was my master and profited me, and all others like them. Through these I came to know thee, who art the best in all things, and my master and brother.” do these matters stand.
Now Αdamantius (for this also was Origen's name),
when Zephyrinus was at that time ruling the church
Αfter spending a short time there, he returned to Αlexandria, and indeed continued to fulfil in that city his customary work οf instruction with all Ζeal, Demetrius, the bishop of the people there, still exhorting and wellnigh entreating him to ply diligently his task of usefulness for the brethren.
XV. But when he saw that he was becoming unable for the deeper study of diving things, namely, the examination and translation of the sacred writings, and in addition for the instruction of those who were coming to him and did not give him time to breathe (for one batch of pupils after another kept frequenting from morn to night his lecture-room), he made a division of the numbers. seleeting Heraclas from among his pupils, a man who was Ζealous of divine things, and, as well, a very learned person and no tyro in philosophy, he gave him a share in the task of instruction, assigning to him the preliminary studies οf those who were just learning their elements, and reserving for himself the teaching of the experienced pupils.
XVI. Αnd so accurate was the examination that
Origen brought to bear upon the divine books, that
he even made a thorough study of the Ηebrew tongue,
and got into his own Ρossession the original writings
in the actual Ηebrew characters, which were extant
among the Jews. Thus, too, he traced the editions
οf the other translators οf the sacred writings besides
the Seventy; and besides the beaten track of translations,
that of Αquila and Symmachus and Theodotion,
he discovered certain others, which were used
XVII. Now as regards these same translators it is
to be noted that Symmachus was an Ebionite. Those
who belong to the heresy of the Ebionites, as it is
called, affirm that the Christ was born of Joseph and
Μary, and suppose Him to be a mere man, and
strongly maintain that the law ought to be kept in a
more strictly Jewish fashion, as also we saw somewhere
from the foregoing history.3 Αnd
too of Symmachus are still extant, in which, by his
opposition to the Gospel according to Matthew, he
seems to hold the above-mentioned heresy. These,
along with other interpretations of the Scriptures by
XVIII. Αt this time also Ambrose, who held the views of the heresy of Valentinus,1 was refuted truth as presented by Origen, and, as if his mind were illuminated by light, gave his adhesion to the true doctrine as taught by the Church. And many other cultured persons, since Origen's fame was noised abroad everywhere, came to him to make trial οf the man's sufficiency in the sacred books. Αnd numbers of the heretics, and not a few of the most distinguished philosophers, gave earnest heed to him, and, one might almost say, were instructed by him in secular philosophy as well as in divine things. For he used to introduce also to the study of philosophy as many as he saw were naturally gifted, imparting geometry and arithmetic and the οther preliminary subjects, and then leading them on to the systems which are found among philosophers, giving a detailed account of their treatises commenting upon and examining into each, so that the man was proclaimed as a great philosopher even among the Greeks themselves. Αnd many persons also of a more ignorant character he urged to take up the ordinary elementary studies, declaring that they would derive no small advantage from these when they came to examine and study the drvine Scriptures. For this reason he deemed especially necessary even for himself a training in secular and philosophic studies.
XIX. Νow, as witnesses also to his achievements in
this direction, we have the Greek philosophers themselves
who flourished in his day, in whose treatises
But hear the very words that he uses: “Some, in their eagerness to find an explanation of the wickedness of the Jewish writings rather than give them up, had recourse to interpretations that are incompatible and do not harmonize with what has been offering not so much a defence of what was outlandish as commendation and praise of their own work. For they boast that the things said plainly by Moses are riddles, treating them as divine oracles full of hidden mysteries, and bewitching the mental judgement by their own pretentious obscurity; and so they put forward their interpretations.”
Then, after other remarks, he says: “But this
These statements were made by Porphyry in the
third treatise of his writings against Christians. Αnd
while he tells the truth about the man's training and
Let these things be stated to prove at once the
false one's calumny and Origen's great knowledge
of Greek learning. With regard to such learning
also he writes as follows in a certain epistle, defending
himself against those who found fault with him for
his zeal in that direction: “But as Ι was devoted to
the word, and the fame of οur proficiency was spreading
abroad, there approached me sometimes heretics,
sometimes those conversant with Greek learning, and
especially philosophy, and I thought it right to
examine both the opinions of the heretics, and also
the elaim that the philosophers make to speak
concerning truth. Αnd in doing this we followed the
example of Pantaenus, who, before us, was of assistance
to many, and had acquired no small attainments
in these matters, and also Heraclas, who now has a
seat in the presbytery of the Alexandrians, whom Ι
This, indeed, is what he wrote in defence οf his
Greek training. But at this time, while he was
living at Alexandria, one of the militray appeared
οn the scene and delivered letters to Demetrius, the
bishop οf the community, and to the then governor
of the province οf Egypt, from the ruler of Αrabia,
to the intent that he should send Origen with all
peed for an interview with him. Ηe duly arrived
in Arabia, but soon accomplished the object οf his
journey thither, and returned again to Αlexandria.
But after the lapse of some time no small warfare 2
broke out again in the city, and leaving Alexandria
secretly he went to Ρalestine and abode at Caesarea.
And although he had not yet received ordination to
the presbyterate, the bishops there requested him to
discourse and expound the divine Scriptures publicly
the church. That this is so is clear from what
lexander, the bishop οf Jerusalem, and Theotistus,
the bishop of Caesarea, write with reference
Demetrius. They make their defence somewhat
follows : “ Αnd he added to his letter that such a
ing had never been heard οf, nor taken plaee
itherto, that laymen should preach in the presence
f bishops ; though I do not know how he comes to
In this way honour was paid to the man of whom we are speaking, while he was still young, not only y his fellow-countrymen but also by the bishops in a foreign land. But since Demetrius once again ecalled him by letter, and by men who were deacons f the Church urged him to come back with speed Alexandria, he retumed and continued to labour ith his accustomed zeal.
XX. Νow there flourished at that time many earned churchemen, and the letters which they enned to οne another are still extant and easily ccessible. They have been preserved even to our ay in the library at Aelia,1 equipped by Alexander, en ruling the church there ; from which also we have been able ourselves to gather together the aterial for our present work.
Of these Beryllus has left behind him, as well as etters, varied and beautiful compositions. Ηe was ishop of the Arabians at Bostra. Αnd likewise also ippolytus,2 who also presided over another church mewhere.
Αnd there has reached us also a Dialogue of Gaius,
XXI. But indeed when Αntoninus had reigned for seven years and six months he was succeeded by Macrinus 2 ; and when he had eontinued in office for a year, again another Antoninus 3 received the Roman government. In the first year of the latter, Zephyrinus, the bishop of the Romans, 4 departed this life, having held the ministry for eighteen entire years.
After him Callistus was entrusted with the episcopate; he survived five years and then left the ministry to Urban. Αfter this the Εmperor Αlexander suceeeded to the principate of the Romans, Αntoninus having continued in office for only four years. Αt this time also Ρhiletus succeeded Asclepiades in the church f the Αntioehenes.
Origen's fame was now universal, so as to reach the
ars οf the Εmperor’s mother, Μamaea by name, a
ligious woman if ever there was one. She set great
tore οn securing a sight of the man, and on testing
at understanding οf divine things which was the
onder of all. She was then staying at Αntioch, and
moned him to her presence with a military escort.
XXII. Αt that very time alsο Ηippolytus, besides very many other memoirs, cοmposed the treatise οn Pascha in which he sets fοrth a register of the and puts fοrward a certain canon of a sixteenyears ars cycle for the Ρascha, using the first year οf the Emperοr Αlexander as a tenninus in measuring his (??)tes. of his other treatises the folloπing have ceached us : Οn the Hexaëmeron,1 On what followed the Hexaëmeron, Against Marcion, Οn the Sοng, On Parts of Εzekiel, Οn the Pascha, Against All the Heresies; and very many οthers also might be found preserved by many people.
XXIII. starting Dom that time also Origen’s commentaries on the divineScriptures had their beginning, at the instigation οf Αmbrose, who not plied him with innumerable verbal exhortations encouragements, but also provided him untintingly what was necessary. For as he Hictated there were ready at hand mοre than seven chorthand-writers, who relieved each other at fixed and as many copyists, as well as girls skilled penmanship; for all of whom Αmbrose supplied without stint the necessary means. Νay further, he contributee to origen a vast amount of zeal in the carnest study of the divine oracles, a zeal which more chan anything else acted as an incentive to him tο compose his commentarieses.
Such was the state of affairs when Pontianus succeeded Urban, who had been bishop of the chureh of the Romans for eight years, and Ζebennus came after Ρhiletus as [bishop] of the [church] of the Antiochenes. In their day Οrigen journeyed to Greece through Palestine because of an urgent necessity in Chureh matters, and reveived the laying-on of hands for the presbyterate at Caesarea from the bishops there. The agitation that was set on foot concerning him on this aeeount, and the decistions made by those who presided over the chuiehes on the matters agitated, as well as the other contributions that he made as he was reaching his prime to the study of the divine Word, require a separate composition, and we have given a fairly full account of them in the seeond [book] of the Apology that we have written on his behalf.
XXIV. But to that information it is necessary to
add that in the sixth of his Expositions οn the
[Gospel] according to John he indicates that he composed
the first five while he was still at Alexandria ;
but of this work on the whole of the selfsame Gospel
only twenty-two tomes have come our way. Αnd
[We must also state] that in the ninth of those On
Genesis (there are twelve in all) he shows that not
only were those before the ninth written at Alexandria,
but also [his commentary] on the first twentyfive
Psalms, and, as well those on Lamentations, of
which there have come to us five tomes. In these he
mentions also those Οn the Resurrection, of which
there are two. Moreover he wrote his De Principiis
before his removal from Alexandria, and he composed
the [books] entitled Stromateis, ten in number, in
the same city in the reign of Alexaner, as is shown
XXV. Νow while expounding the first Ρsalm he set forth the catalogue of the sacred Scriptures of the Old Testament, writing somewhat as follows in these words : “ But it should be known that there are twenty-two canonical books, according to the Ηebrew tradition ; the same as the number of the letters of their alphabet."
Then further on he adds as follows : “ These are
the twenty-two books according to the Ηebrews :
That which is entitled with us Genesis, but with the
Hebrews, from the beginning of the books, Bresith,
that is ῾ In the beginning.᾿ Exodus,
that is, ῾ These ‘These are
‘ Αnd he called.᾿ Νumbers, Αmmes phekodeim.
Deuteronomy, Elle addebareim, ‘ These are the
words.᾿ Jesus the son of Nave, Iosoue ben
Judges, Ruth, with them in one books, Sophteim. 2 Οf
Kingdoms i, ii, with them one, Samuel, ‘The called
of God.᾿ Οf Kingdoms iii, iv, in one,
david, that is, ‘The Kingdom of David. Chronicles
i, ii, in one, Dabreݲ iamein, that is, ‘Words of
Esdras i, ii, in one, Ezra, that is, ῾Helper.᾿ Book
Ρsalms, Sphar thelleim. Proverbs of Solomon,
Meloݲth. Ecelesiastes, Koݲelth. Song of
as some suppose, Songs of Songs), Sir assireim.
Esaias, Iessia. Jeremiah with Lamentations and the
Letter, in one, Jeremia. Daniel, Danieݲl.
Ezekieݲl. Job, Joݲb. Esther, Estheݲr.
These things he inserts in the above-mentioned treatise. But in the first of his [Commentaries] on the Gospel according to Mattheru defending the canon of the Church, he gives his testimony that he knowns only four Gospels, writing somewhat as follows: “. . . as having learnt by tradition concerning four Gospels, which alone are unquestionable in the Church of God under heaven, that first was written that according to Matthew, who was once a taxcollector but afterwards an apostle of Jesus Christ, who published it for those who from Judaism came to believe, composed as it was in the Hebrew language. secondly, that according to Mark, who wrote it in accordance with Peter's instructions, whom also Ρeter aeknowledged as his son in the catholic epistle, speaking in these terms : ‘She that is in Babylon, elect together with you, saluteth you ; and so doth Μark my son.᾿ Αnd thirdly, that according to who wrote, for those who from the Gentiles [came to believe], the Gospel that was praised by Ρaul. Αfter them all, that according to John.”
Αnd in the fifth of his Expositions οn the Gospel
according to John the same person says this with
reference to the epistles of the apostles : “But he
who was made suffieient to become a minister of the
new covenant, not of the letter but of the spirit, even
Ρaul, who fully preached the Gospel from Jerusalem
and round about even unto Illyricum, did not so
much as write to all the Churches that he taught ;
and even to those to which he wrote he sent but a few
Furthermore, he thus discusses the Εpistle to the Ηebrews, in his Homilies upon it : “That the charaeter of the dietion of the epistle entitled To the Ηebrews has not the ’s rudeness in speech, who confessed himself rude in speech, that is, in style, but that the epistle is better Greek in the framing of its dietion, will be admitted by everyone who is able to discern differences of style. But again, on the other hand, that the thoughts of the epistle are admirable, and not inferior to the acknowledged writings of the apostle, to this also everyone will consent as true who has given attention to reading the apostle.”
Further on, he adds the following remarks : “But
as for myself, if I were to state my own opinion, I
should say that the thoughts are the apostle's
that the style and composition belong to one who
called to mind the apostle's teachings and, as, it
XXVI. But this must suffice on these matters. Νow it was in the tenth year of the above-mentioned reign1 that Origen removed from Αlexandria to Caesarea, leaving to Ηeraclas the Catechetical School for those in the city. Αnd not long afterwards Demetrius, the bishop οf the church οf the Alexandrians, died, having continued in the ministry for forty-three entire years. Ηe was succeeded by Heraclas.
XXVII, Νow at this time Firmilian, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, was distinguished ; he displayed such esteem for Origen, that at one time he would summon him to his own parts for the benefit of the churches ; at another, Journey himself Judaea, and spend some time with him for his own betterment in divine things. Νay further, Alexander, who presided over the [church] of Jerusalem, and Theoctistus, [who presided] at Caesarea, continued their attendance on him the whole time, as their only teacher, and used to concede to him the task of expounding the divine Scriptures, and the οther parts of the Church’s instruction.
XXVIII. But to resume. When Alexander the
XXIX. Gordian having succeeded to the Roman
government after Maximin,2 Pontianus, when he had
been bishop of the church of Rome for six years, was
succeeded by Anteros; who exercised his ministry
for a month, and was succeeded by Fabian. It is
said that Fabian, after the death οf Αnteros, came
from the country along with others and stayed at
Rome, where he came to the office in a most miraculous
manner, thanks to the divine and heavenly grace.
For when the brethren were all assembled for the
purpose of appointing him who should succeed to the
episcopate, and very many notable and distinguished
ersons were in the thoughts of many, Fabian, who
as there, came into nobody's mind. But all of
udden, they relate, a dove flew down from above and
Αt that very time also Ζebennus, bishop of Antioch, departed this life and Babylas succeeded to the rule ; and in Alexandria, Ηeraclas, having received the ministry after Demetrius, was succeeded in the Catechetical School there by Dionysius, who had also been one of Οrigen’s pupils.
XXX. Νow while Οrigen was playing his accustomed tasks at Caesarea, many came to him, not only of the natives, but also numbers of foreign pupils who had left their own countries. Αmong these as especially distinguished we know to have been Theodore, who was the selfsame person as that renowned bishop in our day, Gregory, and his brother Αthenodore. Both of them were strongly enamoured of Greek and Roman Studies, but Origen instilled into them a passion for philosophy and urged them to exchange their former love for the study of divine truth.1 Five whole years they continued with him, and made such progress in divine things that while still young both of them were deemed worthy of the episcopate in the churehes of Pontus.
XXXI. Αt that time Africanus also, the author of
the books entitled Cesti,2 was well known. Α letter
οf his, written to Οrigen, is extant ; he was at a loss
as to whether the story of Susanna in the book of
XXXII. Αnd Origen too at this time was composing
his Commentaries οn Isaiah, and at the same time
those also οn Ezekiel. Of the former, thirty tomes
have come our way on the third part of Ιsaiah, up to
the vision of the beasts in the desert ; and on Ezekiel
five and twenty, the only ones that he has written
οn the whole prophet. Αnd having come at that
time to Αthens, he finished the commentary on
Ezekiel, and began that on the song of Songs,
carrying it forward there up to the fifth book. And
returning to Caesarea he brought these also to an
end, numbering ten. Why should one draw up the
exact catalogue of the man's works here and
seeing that sueh would require a special study ? Αnd
XXXIII. Beryllus, who, as we have mentioned a
little above,1 was bishop of Bostra in Αrabia, perverting
the Church’s standard, attempted to introduce
things foreign to the faith, daring to say that
our Saviour and Lord did not pre-exist in an individual
existence of Ηis own before Ηis coming to reside
among men, nor had Ηe a divinity of Ηis own,
only the Father’s dwelling in Ηim.
after a large number of bishops had held questionings
and discussions with the man, Origen being invited
along with others, entered in the first place into
conversation with the man to discover what Were his
opinions, and when he knew what it was that he
asserted, he corrected what was unorthodox, and,
persuading him by reasoning, established him in the
truth as to the doctrine, and restored him to his
former sound opinion. Αnd there are still extant
to this very day records in writing both of Beryllus
and of the synod that was held on his account, which
contain at once the questions Οrigen put put him and
the discussions that took place in his own community,
and all that was done on that occasion. And a great
many other things about Origen have been handed
down to memory by the older men of our day, which
XXXXIV. When after six whole years Gordian broadught his government of the Romans to an end, Ρhilip along with his sOn Ρhilip suceeeded to the principate.1 It is recorded that he, being a Christian, wished on the day of the last paschal vigil to share along with the multitude the Ρrayers at the church, but was not permitted to enter by him who was then preriding until he eonfessed and numbered himself among those who were reckoned to be in sins and were occupying the place of penitence; for that otherwise, had he not done so, he would never have been received by [the president] on account of the many charges made concerning him. Αnd it is said that he obeyed readily, displaying by his actions how genuine and pious was his disposition towards the fear of God.
XXXV. It was the third year of his regin 2 when Ηeraclas departed this life, after Ρresiding for sixteen years over the churches at Αlexandria; Dionysius took up the episcopal office.
XXXVI. Then indeed, as was fitting, When the
faith was inereasing and our doctrine was boldly
proclaimed in the ears of all, it is said that Οrigen,
who was over sixty years Οf age, inasmuch as he had
now acquired immeense facility from long preparation,3
Ρermitted shorthand-writers to take down the dis-
Αt that time also he composed the treatises, eight in number, in answer to the work against us, entitled True Discourse of Celsus the Epicurean. and twenty-five tomes on the Gospel according to Μatthew, and those on the twelve prophets, of which we found only five and twenty. Αnd there is extant alSo a letter of his to the Emperor Philip himself, and another to his wife Severa, and narious other letters to various persons. Αs many of these as we have been able to bring together, preserved as they were here and there by various persons, we arranged in separate roll-eases, so that they might no longer be dispersed. These letters number more than a hundred. Αnd he wrote also to Fabian the bishop of Rome, and to very many other rulers of churches, with reference to his orthodoxy. You will find these facts also established in the sixth book of the Apology We wrote on the ’s hehalf.
XXXVII. Οnce more in Αrabia at the above-men- tioned time other persons sprang up, introducing a doctrine foreign to the truth, and saying that the human soul dies for a while in this present time, along with our bodies, at their death, and with them turns to corruption; but that hereafter, at the time of the resurrection, it will come to life again along with them. Moreover, when a synod of no small dimensions was then assembled together, Origen was again invited, and there opened a discussion in public on the subject in question, with sueh power that he changed the opinions of those who had formerly been deluded.
XXXVIII. Αt that time also another perverse
XXXIX. But to resume. When Philip had reigned for seven years he was succeeded by Decius. 1 Ηe, on account of his enmity towards Philip, raised a persecution against the churches, in which Fabian was pertected by martyrdom at Rome, and was sueceeded in the episeopate by Cornelius.
In Palestine, Αlexander, the bishop of the church of
Jerusalem, appeared οnce more for Chrisrt’s sake
caesarea before the governor’s courts, and for
second time distinguished himself by the confession
he made; he underwent the trial of imprisonment,
crowned with the venerable hoary loeks of ripe old
age. Αnd when after the splenffid and manifest
Αnd when at Αntioch Babvlas, in like manner to lexander, after confession departed this life in rison, Fabius was made president of the church ere.
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 ll his forces in rivalry agrialnst the man, how he led them with every derivlce and power, and singled him ut, above all others upon whom he made war at that ime, for special attack; the nature and extent of which he endured for the word of Christ, chains d tortures, punishments infficted on his body, unishments as he lay in iron and in the recesses of is dungion; and how, when for many days his feet ere stretched four spaces in that instrument of rture, the stoeks, he bore with a stout heart threats f fire and everything else that was inflicted by his nemies; and the kind of issue he had thereof, the udge eagerly striving with all his might on no account put him to death; and what sort of sayings he eft behind him after this, sayings full ofhelp for those ho needed uplifting —[of all these matters] the man’s umerous letters contain both a true and aecurate count.
XL. Αs to that which befell Dionysius, I shall
uote from a letter of his against Germanus, where,
eaking of himself, he gives the following account :
Now I for my part speak also before God, and Ηe
οws if I lie. Αcting not on my οwn judgement nor
art from God have I taken flight; but οn a former
Then, after some intervening remarks, he tells what appened to him after the ffight, adffing as follows: ‘ For I, indeed, falling about sunset into the hands of the soldiers, together with those who were with was brought to Taposiris,3 but Timothy by the ivine Providence happened to be absent and to cape being seized; but coming afterwards he found house deserted and senants guarffing it, and us mpletely taken ”
Αnd further on he says: “Αnd what was the way
which Ηe wonderfully brought it about? For the
shall be told. one of the country-folk met
imonthy fleeing and distraught, and inquired the
ason of his haste. Αnd he spoke οut the truth, and
when the other heard it (now he was off to take part
XLI. But the same person in a letter to Fabius,
of the Antiochenes, gives the following account
contests of those who suffered martyrdom at
dria under Decius: “It was not with the
ial edict that the persecution began amongst
“First, then, they seized an old man named Metras, and bade him utter blasphemous words; and when le refused to οbey they belaboured his body with udgels, stabbed his face and eyes with sharp reeds, and leading him to the suburbs stoned him.
“Then they led a woman called Quinta, a believer, the idol temple, and were for forcing her to worship. But when she turned away and showed her lisgust, they bound her by the feet and dragged her through the whole city over the rough pavement, hat she was bruised by the big stones, beating her ll the while; and bringing her to the same place hey stoned her to death. Then with one accord they II rushed to the houses of the godly, and, falling ach upon those whom they recognized as neighbours, hey harried, spoiled and plundered them, appropriting the more valuable of their treasures, and scatterng and burning in the streets the cheaper articles and uch as were made of wood, until they gave the city he appearance of having been captured by enemies. ut the brethren gave way and gradually retired, and, like those of whom Paul also testified, they took yfully the spoiling of their possessions. Αnd I now not there be —save, it may it be. some single one who fell into their —who up to the resent has denied the Lord.
“Moreover, they seized then that marvellous aged virgin Apollonia, broke out all her teeth with blows οn her jaws, and piling up a pyre before the city threatened to burn her alive, if she refused to recite along with them their blasphemous sayings. But she asked for a brief space, and, being released, without flinching 1 she leaped into the fire and was consumed.
“Serapion they laid hold of at his own home, broke all his limbs by the severe tortures they inflicted, and cast him down head foremost from the upper story.
“Νow there was no way, no thoroughfare, no alley
by which we could go, either by night or during the
day: alaways and everywhere all were shouting,
that he who did not join in the chorus of blasphemy
must immediately be dragged off and burnt. Αnd
this state of things continued at its height for a
long time. But strife and civil war came upon the
wretehed men, and turned on themselves the fury of
which we had been the object; and for a brief space
we breathed again, since they had no time to indulge
their anger against us. Straightway, however, the
news was spread abroad of the change from that rule
that had been more kindly to us, 2 and great was the
fear of threatened punishment that hung over us.
And, what is more, the edict arriVed, and it was
almost like that which was predicted by our Lord,
wellnigh the most terrible of all, so as, if possible, to
cause to stumble even the elect.3 Ηowsoever that
be, all cowered with fear. Αnd of many of the more
eminent persons, some came forward immediately
through fear, others in public positions were
to do so by their business, and others were
“But the firm and blessed pillars ofthe Lord, being
strengthened by Ηim, and receiving power and stedfasness
in due measure according to the mighty faith
that was in them, proved themselves admirable
martyrs οf Ηis kingdom. Of these the first was
Julian, a man who suffered from gout, unable to stand
or walk. Ηe was brought up with two others who
carried him, of whom the one straightway denied;
the οther, Cronion by name, but surnamed Eunus,
and the οld man Julian himself, confessed the Lord,
and were carried upon eamels through the whole city,
very large in extent as ye know, and thus uplifted
were beaten, and in the end, surrounded by all the
“And with them four women : Ammonarion, a holy virgin, though tortured vigorously by the judge for a very long time, inamueh as she had made it plain beforehand that she would not utter anything of what he bade her, kept true to her promise, and was led away. And as to the rest, Mercuria, an aged woman of reverend mien, and Dionysia, the mother indeed of many children, who yet did not love them above the Lord, when the governor was ashamed to ply continued torture all to no end, and to be worsted by women,—they were put to death by the and so had trial of no further tortures. For these Ammonarion, true champion, had taken upon herself on behalf of all.
“ Hero and Αter and Isidore, Egyptians, and with
them a young boy of about fifteen named
were delivered up. Αnd at first [the governor] tried
to wheedle the Ιad by words, as one easily led astray,
and to compel him by tortures, as one that would
easily give in ; but Dioscrous neither obeyed nor
“Α certain Νamesion, he alsο an Εgyptian, was fahely accused of consorting with rοbbers, and when he had cleared himself before the centuriοn of that charge sο fοreign to his character, he was informed against as beingg a christian, and came bound before the gοvernοr. Ηe mοst unjusfly inflicted on him tmicece as many tortures and scourgings as he did on the robbers, and bumt hI·m between them, thus honouringng him, happy man, with a likeness to Christ.
“Α whole band of soldieriers, Αmmοn and Ζeno and
Ptolemy and Ingenuus, and with them an old man
Theophilus, had taken their stand before the cοurt.
Νow a certain man was being tried as a Christian, and
at that moment was inclining towards denial, when
these men standing by ground their teeth, cast looks
at him, sοetched out their hands and made gestures
with their bodies. Αnd when all turned towards
them, befοre anyone could οtherwise seize them,
they ran of their own accord tο the prisoner’s dock
saying that they were christians; so that both the
govemor and his assessors were filled with fear,
and those who were on their trial showed themselves
very courageous in the face of their future
sufferings, while the Judges were affrighted. So
these men marched frοm the court in proud pro-
XLII. “ Αnd many others throughout the cities and villages were torn in pieces by the heathen, οf whom I shall mention οne as an example. Ischyrion was acting as the hired steward of one of the rulers. Ηis employer bade him sacrifice ; when he refused he insulted him, when he abode by his refusal he abused him foully ; and as he still remained firm he took a very large stick, thrust it through his bowels and vital οrgans, and so killed him.
“ What need is there to speak of the multitude of those who wandered in deserts and mountains,1 perished by hunger and thirst and frost and diseases and robbers and wild beasts ? Such of them as survive bear testimony to their election and victory ; but οne fact in connexion with these men also I shall adduce as evidence. Chaeremon was bishop of the city called Nilopolis, and of extreme age. Ηe fled to the Αrabian mountain with his wife, 2 and never returned, nor could the brethren ever lay eyes again either on them οr their bodies, although they made a long and thorough search. But many in that same Αrabian mountain were reduced to utter slavery by barbarian Saracens. Of these some were with difficulty ransomed for large sums, others have not yet been, up to this day.
“ Αnd I have not given this account, brother, to purpose, but that you may know all the terrible things that happened with us. Those who have had a larger experience of them would know more examples.“
Then, after a little, he adds as follows: “ Thererore
the divine martyrs themselves among us, who now
are assessors οf Christ, and share the fellowship οf
Νow these words Dionysius added suitably, raising the question about those who had proved weak in the time of persecution,
XLIII. since Novatus, 3 a
presbyter of the church of the Romans, being lifted
up by arrogance against these, as if there was no
longer any hope of salvation for them, not even if
they were to perform everything that a genuine
conversion and a pure confession demand, became
the leader of a separate sect of those who, in their
pride of mind, styled themselves Ρuritans. Whereupon
a very large synod was assembled at Rome, of
sixty bishop and a still greater number οf presbyters
οf penitents. They were admitted to the eucharistic prayers,
but debarred from communion.
Νow there have reached us a letter of Cornelius,
bishop of the Romans, to Fabius, bishop of the church
of the Αntiochenes, telling the fects concerning the
Roman Synod, and what was decreed by them of
Italy and Africa and the regions thereabout; ; and,
again, another of Cyprian and of those with him in
Αfrica, composed in the Latin language, in which it
was made clear that they also agreed that those who
had suffered trial should meet with succour, and that
in the reason of things it was fitting that the leader
of the heresy should be excommunicated from the
Catholic Church, and likewise all those who were
led away with him. To these was subjoine3d a certain
οther letter of Cornelius, on the resolutions of the
synod ; and, again, another on the doings of Novatus.
There is nothing to prevent me from quoting parts
of this last, so that those who read this book may
know about him. Ιn explaining, then, to Fabius
what kind of manner of man Novatus was, Cornelius
writes these very words : “ “But that you may know
that for a long time back this marvellous fellow has
been seeking the office of a bishop, and has succeeded
in concealing in his heart this his violent desire, using
Then shortly afterwards he says : “ Ηow extraordinary
a change and transformation, brother
beloved, we have beheld to have taken plaee in him
in a little while ḷ For in sooth this highly distinguished
person, who was in the habit οf pledging
himself by some terrible oaths in no wise to seek the
office οf a bishop, of a sudden appears as a bishop as
if he were cast into our midst by some contrivance.1
For in sooth this master οf doctrine, this champion
of the Chrurch's discipline, when he was attempting
to wrest and filch away the episcopate that was not
given him from above, chose to himself two companions
“ This vindicator, then, of the gospel did not know
that there should be one bishop in a catholic church,
in which he was not ignorant (for how could he be ?)
that there are forty-six presbyters, seven deacons,
seven sub-deacons, forty-two acolytes, fifty-two exorcists,
readers and door-keepers, above fifteen hundred
widows and persons in distress, all of whom are
supported by the grace and loving-kindness of the
Master. But not even did this great multitude, so
Αnd shortly afterwards he says again : “ . . . he
who through cowardice and love of life at the time of
persecution denied that he was a presbyter. For
when he was requested and exhorted by the deacons
to leave the cell in which he shut himself, and bring
all the help to the brethren that it is right and
possible for a presbyter to being to brethren who are
in danger and in need of succour, so far was he from
obeying the deacons' exhortations, that he even went
Passing over a few things, he again adds as follows : “ For when this illustrious person deserted the Church of God, in which, when he came to believe, he was deemed worthy of the presbyterate through the favour of the bishop, who laid his hand on him to confer that order (meeting the opposition of all the clergy and many lay persons as well—since one has received baptism by affusion1 on his bed owing to sickness, as Νovatus had, might not be ordained to an order—with the request that he should be to ordain this man alone) .... ”
Then he adds something else, the worst of all the man's offences, saying thus : “ For when he has the offerings, and is distributing to each his portion,2 as he gives it [into their hands] he compels the wretched persons to utter an oath instead of the blessing, taking in both his hands those of him who had received, and not letting go until they swear saying thus (for I shall use his very words) : ‘Swear to me by the Blood and Body of our Lord Jesus Christ never to forsake me and turn to Cornelius.’ the miserable person does not taste until he first calls down a curse upon himself, and instead οf saying the Αmen as he receives that bread, he says, ‘ I will not return to Cornelius.’
Αnd after οther remarks he again says as follows :
‘‘ But know that now he has become bare and desolate,
for every day the brethren desert him and go back
Αnd at the close οf the letter he has made a catalogue οf the bishops present at Rome who condemned the stupidity of Νοvatus, indicating at once both their names and the name of the community over which each one presided ; and of those who were not present, indeed, at Rome, but who signified in writing their assent to the judgement of the aforesaid, he mentions the names and, as well, the city where each lived and from which each wrote. This is what Cornelius wrote for the information of Fabius, bishop of Antioch.
XLIV. But to this same Fabius, when he was
inclining somewhat towards the schism, Dionysius
also, he of Alexandria, wrote, making many οther reamarks
with reference to repentance in his letter to
him and describing the conflicts of those lately
martyred at Alexandria. In the course of his narrative
he tells a certain astonishing tale, which must
needs be handed down in this work. It is as follows :
‘‘ But this one example that happened amongst us
I shall set forth for thee. There was a certain
Serapion amongst us, an old man and a believer,
who lived blamelessly for a long time, but in the trial
fell. This man oftentimes besought [absolution], and
no one paid him heed. For indeed he had sacrificed.
Αnd, falling sick, he continued for three successive
days speechless and unconscious ; but on the fourth
XLV. Such is the aeeount of Dionysius. But let
us see the kind of lerter that the same person wrote
also to Novatus, 2 who was then disturbing the Roman
brotherhood. Since, then, he put forward some of the
brethren as an excuse for his defection and sehism,
as having been eompelled by them to proeeed to this
length, see how Dionysius writes to him: “Dionysius
XLVI. This aho he wrote to Novatus. Αnd he
wrote also to the Egyptians a letter on Repentanee,
in which he has set forth his opinions with reference
to those who had fallen, outlining degrees of failures.
Αnd to Colon (he was bishop of the community οf the
Hermopolitans) a personal letter of his is extant On
Repentance, and another in the nature of a rebuke
to his flock at Alexandria. Αmong these there is also
the brethren at Laofficea over whom Thelymidres
resided as bishop ; and he wrote to those in
rmenia, likewise On Repentanee, whose bishop was
eruzanes. In addition to all these he wrote also
Cornelius of Rome, when he received his letter
against Novatus, in which abo he clearly infficates
that he had been invited by Helenus, bishop at Tarsus
Next to this there is also another extant, a “diaconic’’ 1 letter of DionySius to those in Rome through Hippolytus. To the same peOple he composed another letter On Peace, and likewise Οn Repentanee, and again another to the confessors there While they were still in agreement with the opinion of Novatus. Αnd to these same persons he wrote two more, after they had returned to the Chureh. Αnd in his communications with many others, likewise by letter, he has left behind a varied Souree of profit to those who still to this day set store by his writings.
CONTENTS ΟF BOOK VII
The Seventh Book of the Ecclesiastical History contains the follorving:
Ι. Οn the evil disposition of Deeius and Gallus.
ΙΙ. The bishops of Rome in their day.
III. How Cyprian, along with the bishops on hls side, Was the rirst to hold the opinion that those who were turning from heretical error ought to be cleansed by baptism.
ΙV. How many letterS DionySius composed on this subject.
V. Οn the peace after the persecution.
VI. Οn the heresy of Sabellius.
VII. Οn the abominable error of the heretics and the God-sent vision of Dionysius, and the rule of the Church which he had reeeiVed.
VIII. Οn the heterodoxy of Novatus.
IX. Οn the ungodly baptism of the hereties.
X. On Valerian and the persecution in his day.
XI. On the things that then happened to DiOnySiuS and those in Egypt.
XII. On those who were martyred at Caesarea in Palestine.
XIII. On the peaee under Gallienus.
XIV. The bishops who flourished at that time.
XV. Ηow Marinus was martyred at Caesarea.
XVI. The story of Astyrius.
XVII. On the signs at Paneas of the mighty working of our saviour.
XVIII. Οn the throne of James.
XIX. On the festal letterS of DionySiuS, where also he draws up a eanon conerning the Pascha.
XX. On the happeningS at Alexandria.
XXI. Οn the disease that visited it.
XXII. Οn the reign of Gallienus.
XXIII. Οn Nepos and his schism.
XXIV. On the Apocalypse of John.
XXV. Οn the letters of Dionysius.
XXVI. On Paul of samoSata and the heresy put together by him at Antioch. XXVII. On the illustrious bishops who were well known at that time. Ηow Ρaul was refuted and excommunh cated. on the perverse heterodoxy of the Manicheans, which began precisely at time.
XXX. On the distinguished churchmen of our own day, and which of them remained until the attaek upon the churches. 1
BOOK VII
In the composition of the seventh book of Ecclesiastical History Dionysius, the great bishop of the Alexandrians, 1 will again assist us in our task by his own words, indicating in turn eaeh of the things that were done in his day, by means of the letters he has lert behind. From that point of time my record will take its beginning.
Ι. when Deeius had reigned for an entire period of less than two years, he was forthwith murdered along with his sons, and Gallus sueeeeded him. 2 Αt this time 3 Origen died, having completed the year save one of his life. Νow when writing to Hermammon, Dionysius speaks as follows, with reference to Gallus: “But not even did Gallus recognize the fault [in the policy] of Decius, nor yet ffid he look to that which caused his fall, but he stumbled against the same stone that was before his eyes. For when his reign was prospering, and matters were moing accorffing to his mind, he drove away the holy men who were supplicating God for his peaee and health. Therefore along with them he banished -ho their prayers on his behalf.”
ΙΙ. so much, then, concerning him. But in the
city of the Romans, when Cornelius brought his
III. Cyprian, pastor of the community at Carthage, was the Rrst of thoSe of his day to consider that they οught not to be admitted otherwise than by having been first eleansed from their error by baptism. But stephen, thinking that they ought not to make any innovation contrary to the traffition that had prevailed from the beginning, was full of indignation thereat.
Iv. Dionysius, therefore, haring communi- cated with him on this point at very great length in a letter, at its close shows that with the abatement οf the persecution the churches everywhere, having now rejected the innovation of Novatus, had resumed peace among themselves. Ηe writes thus:
V. “ But know now, brother, that all the ehurches in
the East and still further away, which were fonnerly
divided, have been united, and all their presidents
eveqwhere are of like mind, rejoicing above measure
at the unexpeeted arrival of peaee: Demetrian at
Αntiοch, Theoctistus at Caesarea, Mazabanes at
Aelia, marinus at Tyre (Alexander having fallen
asleep), Heliodorus at Laodicea (for Thelymidres has
entered into his rest), Helenus at TarSus and all the
churches of Cilicia, Firmilian and all Cappadocia.
such is the aceount of Dionysius. But when stephen had fulRlled his ministry for two years, he was succeeded by Xystus. To him Dionysius penned a second letter on Baptism, showing the opinion and decision both of stephen and of the οther bishops. About stephen he speaks thus: ‘‘Νow he had written fonnerly with reference both to Ηelenus and Firmilian and all those from Cilicia and Cappadocia and, in fact, Galatia and all the prorinees that border on these, to the eKect that he would not hold communion in future with them either, for this same reason; since, says he, they rebaptize heretics. Αnd look thou at the importance of the matter. For deerees on this question have been actually passed in the largest synods of bishops, as 1 learn, so that those who come over from heresies are nrst placed under instruction, then washed and purged again from the ffith of the old and impure leaven. Αnd I wote beseeching him οn all these matters.”
Αnd, after other remarks, he says: “Αnd to οur beloved fellow-presbyters aho, Dionysius and Philemon, who had formerly been of the same opinion as stephen and mote [some letters] to me about the same matters, at Rrst I wrote briefly, but now at greater length.”
so much with regard to the question of which
am speaking.
vI. But when inffidlcating in the same
letter, with reference to the followers of the Sabellian
heresy,1 that they were prevalent in his day, he speaks
thus: “For as to the doetrine now set on foot at
Ρtοlemais in the Pentapolis, an impious doctrine
which contains great blasphemy concerning the
Almighty ood, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
great unbelief as to Ηis only-begotten Son, the
firstborn of all creation, the word who was made
man, and whieh is without pereeption of the Ηοly
Spirit, — when there eame to me nom both both both
documents and also the brethren who were ready to
discuss the question, I wrote some letters, as 1 was
able by the help of God, giving an exposition of the
marter in a somewhat didactic manner; οf which
scnd thee the copies.”
VII. Αnd in the third οf those on Baptism, which
the same Dionysius wrote to Philemon the Roman
presbyter, he relates the following: “But as for
me, 1 read both the compositions and the traditions
ofthe heretics, polluting my soul for a little with their
abominable thoughts, yet all the while deriving this
advantage from them, that I could refute them for
myself and loathed them far more. Αnd indeed a
certain brother, one of the presbyters, attempted to
dissuade and frighten me from becoming involved in
the mire of their wickedness, for he said that I should
injure my own soul; and said truly, as Ι perceived.
nut a vision sent by ood came and strengthened me,
and a word of command was given me, saying expressly:
‘Read all things that may come to thy
Then, making certain renlarks about all the heresies, he goe On tO say: “This rule and pattern I reeeiVed from our blessed pope 2 Ηeraclas. For those Who came over frOm the hereries, although they had departed from the Church (Or rather, had not eVen done that, but, while srill reputed members Of the congregation, were charged with frequenting some false teacher), he drOve rrom the Church, and refused to listen to their entreaties until they pubhely declared all that they had heard frOm them that oppose themselves.’ and then he admitted them to the congregation, without requiring of them a second baptism. For they had fOrmerly receiVed the holy [baptism] from him.’’
Αnd again, after a protracted discussiOn of the question, he adds as follows: “I have learnt this also, that the Africans did nOt intrOduee this practice noW for the rlrst time, but that long befOre, in the days of the bishops that were before us, in the most populous churches and the synods of the brethren, in Iconium and Synnada and in many places, this eOurse was adOpted. Αnd Ι do not dare to overturn their deeirions and involve them in strife and comtention. ‘ For ‘For thou shalt not remove,’ he says, neighbour’s landmarks, which thy fathers placed.’
The fourth of hls letters on baptism was written to
VIII. “For it is with good reason indeed that we feel enmity towards Novatian, who caused a in the church and drew away some of the brethren to impieues and blasphemies, and introduced as well most profane teaching about God, and falsely accouses our most compassionate Lord Jesus Christ of being without mercy; and above all this, he sets at naught the holy washing, and overturns the faith and confession that precede it, and entirely banishes the Ηoly sprit from them, even though there was some hope οf Ηis remaining with or even returning to them.”
IX. Αnd his fifth letter was written to Xystus,
bishop of the Romans. In it, speaking much against
the heretics, he sets forth the following thing that
happened in his day, saying: “of a truth, brother,
I have need of counsel, and ask an opinion of thee.
The following matter has come before me, and 1 am
fearful lest after all I be mistaken. of the brethren
who meet together for worship there is one, reckoned
faithful, of long stanffing, a member of the congregation
before my ordination, and, I think, before the
appointment of the blessed Heraclas. Having been
present with those who were recently being baptized,
and having heard the questions and answers, he came
to me in tears, bewailing himself and falling before
In addition to the above-mentioned letters, there is extant also another of his On Baptism, addressed by him and the community over which he ruled to Xystus and the church at Rome, in which with a long proof he gives a protracted discussion of the the subject in question. Αnd, after these, there is yet another letter of his extant, to Dionysius at Rome, that with reference to Lucian. so much for these matters.
X. But to resume. Gallus and his associates held
And in addition he goes on to say: “Goodly at all events were the thank-offerings that Macrianus made to them for the Empire of his hopes. 1 Formerly when he was regarded as minister over the imperial accounts as a whole, he displayed neither a reasenable nor a catholic mind. But he has fallen under the prophetic curse which says: ‘Woe unto them that prophesy from their heart, and see not the whole.᾿ For he did not understand the universal nor did he suspeet the judgement of Him who is before all and through all and over all. Therefore he has come to be at enmity with His Catholic Church, and so alienated and estranged himself from God's mercy and banished himself as far as possible from his own salvations, in this proving true his name.”
Αnd again, after Other remarks, he says: “For
Valerian, being induced by him to this course of
aetion, Was given over to insults and reproaches,
according to that which was said to Isaiah: “Αnd
these have Chosen their own ways and abominations,
in which their soul delighteth, and I will
their mockings, and their sins I will recompense
them.᾿ now this man,3 in his mad desire for
This is the account given by dionysius concerning valerian.
XI. But With regard to the storm of
persecution that raged fiercely in his day, What the
same Dionysius, and others with him, underwent for
their piety toward the God of the universe will be
made plain by his own words which he wrote at
length against Germanus, one of the bishops of his
day who was attempting to defame him. Ηe makes
his statement in the following manner: “But Ι am
in danger of falling, in truth, into great foolishness
and stupidity, being foreed to the point of compulsion
to recount the wonderful dispensation of God concerning
us. But since ῾it is good,᾿ he says, ῾to keep
close the secret of a king, but glorious to reveal the
works of God,᾿ God,῾ I will join issue with the
Germanus. I came before Aemilianus,1 not alone,
but there followed me my fellow-presbyter maximus,
and Faurtus, Εusebius, Chaeremon, deacons; and
one of the brethren who had come from Rome
entered in along with us. And Aemilianus did not
lead off with the words ῾Do not hold essemblies.'
For that would have been superfluous for him to say,
and the last thing [to be mentioned] by one who was
going back to the very beginning. For his discourse
change or ever cease to be a Christian. Thereupon
he bade us depart to a village near the desert,
Cephro.
“But hear the things themselves that were spoken ὢ both sides, as they were placed on record: When Dionysius and Faustus and Maximus and Marcellus and chaeremon were brought into eourt, Aemilianus, the deputy-prefect, said, ‘ . . . Αnd verbally I discoursed with you concerning the kindness that our lords 1 have displayed on your behalf. For they gave you the opportunity of safety if ye were willing to turn to that which is according to nature and worship the gods which preserve their Εmpire, and forget those gods which are contrary to nature. What, therefore, say ye to these things? For I do not expect that ye will be ungrateful for their kindess, forasmuch as they urge you on to the better urse.'
“Dionysius replied : ‘Νot all men Worship all ods, but each one certain whom he regards as such. therefore both worship and adore the οne God and aker of all things, who also committed the Εmpire the Augusti, most highly favoured of God, Valerian d Gallienus; and to Ηim we unceasingly pray for their Empire, that it may remain unshaken.
“Aemilianus, the deputy-prefect, said to them: ῾ Αnd who prevents you from worshipping this also, if he be a god, along with the natural gods? For ye were bidden to worship gods, and gods whom all know.'
“Dionysius replied: ‘We worship no other God.'
“Aemilianus, the deputy-prefect, said to them: ‘ I see that ye are at onee ungrateful and insensible of the clemency οf οur Αugusti. Wherefore ye shall not be in this city, but ye shall betake yourselves to the parts of Libya and [remain] in a place ealled Cephro. For this is the place 1 chose in accordance with the command οf our Augusti. Αnd it shall in no wise be permitted either to you or to any others either to hold assemblies or to enter the cemeteries, 1 as they are called. If anyone be proved not to have gone to the place that I commanded, or be found at any assembly, he will bring the peril upon himself, for there shall be no laek οf the necessary observation. Be gone therefore whither ye were bidden.'
“Αnd even though I was sick, he hurried me away without granting me a single ’s respite. What spare time had I then remaining either for holding οr not holding an assembly?’’
Then after other remarks he says:“ But we did
not abstain from even the visible assembling of
ourselves with the Lord; nay, 1 strove the more
earnestly to gather together those in the city, as if
Ι were with them, ‘being abSent in body,' as he 2 said,
‘but present in spirit,᾿ and at Cephro a large churck
also sojourned with us, some brethren following us
from the city, οthers joining us from Egypt. And
‘‘For Aemilianus wished to remove us to rougher,
as he thought, and more Libyan-like places, and he
ade those [who were seattered] in every direction to
stream together to the Mareotian [nome], assigning
mparate rillages in the district for each party; but
us he posted more on the road, so that we should be
he first to be arrested. For he eridently was managing
and arranging it, that, whenever he wished to
eize us, he might find us all easy of capture. Αs
οr me, when I had been bidden to depart to Cephro,
did not even know in what direction the place lay,
carcely haring heard so much as the name before;
evertheless I departed with a good grace and made
o disturbance. But when it was told me that I was
remove to the parts of Colluthion, those who were
resent know how I was affected (for here I shall be
own aecuser): at nffirs 1 was vexed and exceedly
angry; for although the places happened to
better known and more familiar to us, yet it was
rmed that the district was without brethren or
ersons of good character, and exposed besides to
oyances of travellers and incursions of robbers.
ut I found encouragement when the brethren reinded
me that it was nearer the city,1 and that,
hile Cephro used to bring us much intercourse with
Αnd, after other remarks with referenee to hat happened to him, he writes again as follows: “Μany, to be sure, are the confessions on which Germanus prides himself, many the happenings to his hurt of which he has to tell—even all the things that he make a list of as regards us: sentenees, confiscations, proscriptions, spoiling of possessions, losses of dignities, despisings of worldly glory, disdainings of commendations and the reverse from prefect and council, endurance of threats, outcries, perils, persecutions, wanderings, anguish and divers tribulations, such as happened to me under Deeius and sabinus, up to the present time under Aemilianus. But Where did Germanus appear? What talk was there about him? But Ι must cease from the great folly into which Ι am falling on account of Germanus; wherefore also I forbear to give in detail to the brethren who know them an account of the events."
The same Dionysius, in the letter also to Domitius
and Didymus, mentions again the happenings of the
persecution, aS follows: : “ But it is superfluous to
recount by name our people, since they are numerous
and unknown to you. Οnly understand that men and
women, both οld men and lads, both girls and aged
women, both soldiers and civilians, both every race
and every age, some enduring scourgings and fire,
Αnd a little further down he says: “But in the
city there have concealed themselves, secretly visiting
e brethren, of the presbyters Maximus, Dioscorus,
emetrius, Lucius. For those who are better known
the world, Faustinus and Aquila, are wandering
bout in Εgypt. Αs to the deacons, they who surived
those that died in the island are Faustus,
usebius, chaeremon: that Εusebius, whom from
beginning God strengthened and prepared to
nder with all energy the services to the confessors
at were in prison, and at no small risk to perform
e task of laying out the corpses οf the blessed and
erfect martyrs. For even to this day the prefect
not cease from putting to a cruel death, as I have
id before of those who are brought before
Such is the aceount given by Dionysius. It should be observed, however, that Εusebius, whom he calls a deacon, shortly afterwards was appointed bishop of Laodicea in syria; and Maximus, of whom he speaks 38 a presbyter then, succeeded Dionysius himself in his ministry to the brethren in Alexandria; but that Faustus, who along with him was distinguished at that time for his confession, was preserved until the perseeution in our day, and, when quite an old man and full οf days, was perfeeted by martyrdom in our οwn time, being beheaded.
XII. so it happened to Dionysius at that time.
But during the perseeution of Valerian, of whieh we
are speaking, three persons at Caesarea in Palestine,
conspicuous for their confession of Christ, were
adorned with a divine martyrdom, becoming food for
wild beasts. of these οne was called Priscus, the
second Malchus, and the name of the third was
Alexander. It is said that these men, who were
living in the country, at first reproached themselves
for their carelessness and sloth, because instead of
hastening to secure the crown of martyrdom, they
were proving contemptuous of prizes, though the
present opportunity was bestowing them upon sueh
as yearned with a heavenly desire. But that when
they had taken counsel thereon, they started for
caesarea, appeared before the judge and met the
XIII. But not long afterwards Valerian underwent slavery at the hands of the barbarians,1 and his succeeding to the sole power,2 conducted the government with more prudence, and immediately by means of edicts put an end to the persecution against us. Ηe granted free power to those who preSided over the word to perform their accustomed duties, by a rescript which runs as follows: “The Emperor Caesar Publius Licinius Gallienus Ρius Felix Augustus to Dionysius and Ρinnas and Demetrius and the other bishops. I have given my order that the benent of my bounty should be published throughout all the world, to the intent that they should depart from the places οf worship,3 and therefore ye also may use ordinance contained in my rescript, so that none may molest you. Αnd this thing which it is within your power to accomplish has long since been conceded by me; and therefore Aurelius Quirinius, who is in charge of the Εxchequer, will observe the ordinance given by me.”
Let this, which for the sake of greater clearness
was translated from the Latin, be inserted. Αnd
there is also extant another of the same emperor’s
ordinances, which he addressed to other bishops,
XIV. Αt that time Xystus was still ruling the church of the Romans, Demetrian, who came after Fabius, the chureh at Αntioch, and Firmilian at caesarea in Cappadocia; and moreover Gregory and his brother Athenodore were ruling the churches of Ρontus, pupils of origen. Αs to Caesarea in Palestine, on the death of Theoctistus, Domnus succeeded to the episcopate, but after he had continued in office a short time Theotecnus, our contemporary, was appointed to succeed him. Ηe also was of the school of Origen. But at Jerusalem, when Mazabanes had entered into his rest, Ηymenaeus succeeded to the throne, the same who was distinguished for very many years in our day.
XV. In the time of those persons, when the
churches everywhere were at peace, a man at
caesarea in Ρalestine called Μarinus, honoured by
high rank in the army and distinguished besides by
birth and wealth, was beheaded for his testimony to
christ, on the following account. There is a certain
mark of honour among the Romans, the vine-switch,
and those that obtain it become, it is said, centurions.
Α post was vacant, and according to the order of
promotion Marinus was being called to this advancement.
Indeed he was on the point of receiving the
honour, when another stepped forward before the
tribunal, and stated that in accordance with the
ancient laws Marinus could not share in the rank
that belonged to Romans, since he was a Christian
and did not sacrifice to the emperors; but that the
οffice fell to himself. Αnd [it is said] that the
(his name was Αchaeus) was moved thereat, and first
When he came outside the court Theotecnus, the bishop there, approaehed and drew him aside in conversation, and taking him by the hand led him forward to the church. Οnce inside, he placed him close to the altar 1 itself, and rairing his cloak a little, pointed to the sword with which he was girded; at the same time he brought and placed before him the book of the divine Gospels, and bade him choose which of the two he wished.
Without hesitation he stretched forth his right hand and took the divine book. “Ηold fast then,” said Theotecnus to him, “hold fast to God; and, strengthened by Him, mayest thou obtain that thou hast chosen. Go in peace.” As he was thence immediately a herald cried aloud, summoning him before the court of justice. For the appointed time was now over Standing before the judge he displayed still greater zeal for the faith; and straightway, even as he was, was led away to death, and so was perfected.
XVI. In that place Astyrius also is commemorated for the boldness whieh is dear to God. Ηe was a member of the Roman Senate, a favourite of emperors, and well known to all both for birth and wealth. Ηe was present with the martyr when he was being perfected, and raising the corpse2 upon his shoulder he placed it upon a splendid and costly robe, and laying it out with great magnificence gave it a fitting burial.
Α great many other facts are mentioned about this man by his friends, who have survived to οur day, and also the following wonderful event.
XVII. Αt caesarea Philippit, which Phoenicians call Paneas, is said that on a certain festival a victim is thrown down among the springs that are shown there, on the slopes of the mountain called Paneion, from which the Jordan takes its source; and that it becomes invisible in some miraculous way through the power, a circumstance, they say, that is looked upon by those present as a far-famed marvel. Νow story goes] that once Astyrius was there when this was being done, and when he saw the multitude stuck with amazement at the affair, in pity for their error he looked up toward heaven and besought God who is over all, through Christ, to confound the demon who was causing the people to err, and put an end to the deception of these men. Αnd it is said that, when he had thus prayed, of a sudden the sacrifice floated on the surface οf the springs; and thus their miracle came to an end, and no further marvel ever took place in connexion with that spot.
XVIII. But since I have come to mention this city.
I do not think it right to omit a story that is worthy
to be recorded also for those that come after us. For
they say that she who had an issue of blood, and who,
as we leam from the sacred Gospels, found at the
hands of our Sariour relief from her affliction, came
from this place, and that her house was pointed out
in the city, and that marvellous memorials of the
good deed, which the Saviour wrought upon her, still
remained. For [they said] that there stood on a lofty
stone at the gates of her house a brazen figure in
relief a woman, bending on her knee and stretching
XIX. Νow the throne of James, who was the first to receive from the Saviour and the apostles the episcopate of the church at Jerusalem, who also, as the divine books show, was called a brother of Christ, has been preserved to this day; and by the honour that the brethren in suecession there pay to it, they show cleariy to all the reverenee in whieh the holy men were and still are held by the men οf old time and those of our day, because of the love shown them by God. so much for these matters.
XX. But to resume. Dionysius, in addition to the
letters of his that were mentioned, composed at that
time also the festal letters which are still extant, in
which he gives utterance to words specially suited to
XXI. Ρeace had all but arrived, when he returned to Αlexandria. But when faction and war broke out there once more, since it was not possible for him to discharge his oversight over all the brethren in the city, separated as they were into one or other part οf the faction, he again at the festival of the Ρaseha communicated with them by letter, as if he were someone in a foreign country, from Alexandria itself. Αnd to Ηierax, after this, a bishop of those in Εgypt he writes another festal letter, mentioning in the following terms the faction prevailing among the Αlexandrians in his day:
“But as for me, what wonder is it if I find it difficult
to communicate even by letter with those who
at some distance, seeing that it has become impossible
even for myself to coverse with myself, or to take
counsel with my own soul? Certainly, I have need
to write by letter to my very heart, that is, the
brethren that are of the same household and mind
with me, and citizens of the same church; and there
seems no possible way of getting this correspondence
through. For it were easier for a man to pass, I do
not say to a foreign country, but even from East to
XXII. After this, when the war was followed by a pestilential disease, and the feast was at hand, he communicated once more by letter with the brethren, indicating the sufferings of the calamity, as follows:
‟To other men the present would not seem to be
a time for festival, nor for them is this or any οther
time of such a nature; I speak not of times of
mourning, but even of any time that might be
thought especially joyful. Νow indeed all is lamentation,
and all men mourn, and wailings resound
“For of a truth many and terrible were the things also that happened to us before this. Αt first they drove us out, and alone we kept our festival at that time also, persecuted and put to death by all, and every single sport where we were afflicted became for us a place of festive assembly, field, desert, ship, inn, prison; but the brightest of all festivals was kept by the perfect martyrs, when they feasted in heaven. Αnd, after that, war and famine came upon us, which we bore along with the heathen. Alone we endured all the injuries they inflicted upon us, while we had the benefit besides of what they wrought upon each other and what they suffered: and we found our joy once more in the peace of Christ, which Ηe has given to us alone. But when the briefest breathing-space had been granted us and them, there descended upon us this disease, a thing that is to them more fearful than any other object of fear, more cruel than any calamity whatsoever, and, as one of their own writers declared, ‘the only thing of all that proved worse than what was expected.’ Yet to us it was not so, but, less than the other misfortunes, a source of discipline and testing. For indeed it did not leave us untouched, although it attacked the heathen with great strength.”
Following these remarks he adds as follows: “The
most, at all events, of our brethren in their exceeding
love and affection for the brotherhood were unsparing
Αnd also after this letter, when peace reigned in the city, he once more sent a festal letter to the brethren in Egypt, and following this he again indited οthers. Αnd there is extant, also, a certain letter of his on the Sabbath, and another on Exercise.
Communicating by a letter again with Ηermammon and the brethren in Εgypt, he recounts in full many other things about the wickedness of Deeius and his successors, and mentions the peace under Gallienus.
XXIII. But there is nothing like hearing the nature of these happenings also.
“He1 then, after inciting one of his emperors and
attacking the other, of a sudden disappeared altogether,
root and branch with all his family, and
Gallienus was proclaimed and acknowledged by all,
being at once an old and a new emperor, for he was
before and came after them; for in accordance with
that which was spoken to the prophet Isaiah: ῾ Behold,
the former things are come to pass, and new
things which shall now spring forth.’ 2 For as
a cloud speeds underneath the rays of the sun, and
for a short time screens and darkens it, and appears
instead of it, but when the cloud passes by or is
melted away, the sun that shone before again shines
forth and once more appears; so Macrianus, after
coming forward and getting for himself access to the
imperial power that belonged to Gallienus, is no
more, since indeed he never was, while Gallienus is
like as he was before; and the monarchy has, as it
attempted to dethrone Gallienus (10. 8). Ηe and his son
were subsequently defeated in battle and
Then, following on this, he indicates also the time at which he wrote this, in these words: “Αnd it occurs to me once more to observe the days of the imperial years. For I perceive that those wicked persons, though they were named with honour, after a short time have become nameless; while he, who is holier and filled with more love to God, has Ρassed the period of seven years, and is now completing a ninth year,1 in which let us keep the feast.”
XXIV. Besides all these, the two treatises On
Promises were also composed by him. The occasion
was supplied him by the teaching of Νepos, a bishop
of those in Εgypt, that the promises whieh had been
made to the saints in the divine scriptures should be
interpreted after a more Jewish fashion, and his
assdumption that there will be a kind of millennium
on this earth devoted to bodily indulgenee. Thinking
for example, to establish his own peculiar opinion
from the Apocalypse of John, he composed a certain
book on the subject and entitled it Refutation of the
Allegorists.2 Dionysius attaeked him in the books On
Promises, in the first of which he sets out the view
that he himself held with regard to the doctrine, and
in the seeond treats of the Apocalypse of John.
There, at the beginning, he mentions Νepos, writing
as follows about him: “But since they bring forward
in his ninth year he was, to use Dionysius's metaphor, “under
a cloud.”
Αfter other remarks he adds as follows: ‘‘Νοw
XXV. Then, in due course, lower down he speaks
thus, with reference to the Apocalypse of John:
“Some indeed of those before our time rejected
altogether impugned the book, examining it chapter
by chapter and declaring it to be unintelligible and
by chapter and declaring it to be unintelligible and illogical, and its title false. For they say that it is
not John's, no, nor yet an apocalypse (unveiling),
since it is veiled by its heavy, thick curtain of unintelligibility;
and that the author of this book was
not only not one of the apostles, nor even one of
ints or those belonging to the chureh, but Cerinthus,
e same who created the seet called “Cerinthian’’
after him, since he desired to affix to his own forgery
a name worthy of credit. For that this was the
doctrine which he taught, that the kingdom of christ
would be οn earth; and he dreamed that it would
consist in those things which formed the object of his
own desires (for he was a lover of the body and
altogether camal), in the full satisfaction of the belly
and lower lusts, that is, in feasts and carousals and marriages, and (as a means, he thought, οf procuring
d lowerd not lower lusts, that is, in feasts and
under a better name) in festivals and sacrinces
and slayings of victims.1 But for my part I should
not dare to reject the book, since many my brethren hold it in estimatin ; but, reckoning that my perception
οt dare to reject the book, since many brethren hold
is inadequate to form an opinion concerning it, I hold
what the interpretation of each several passage is in
some way hidden and more wonderful.2 For even
although I do not understand it, yet I suspect that
some deeper meaning underlies the words. For I
Moreover, after closely examining the whole book οf the Apocalypse and demonstrating that it cannot be understood in the literal sense, he adds as follows: “After completing the whole, one might say, of his prophecy, the prophet ealls those blessed who observe it, and indeed himself also; for he says: ῾ Blessed is he that keepeth the words οf the prophecy of this book, and I John, he that saw and heard these things.’ That then, he was certainly named John and that this book is by one John, I will not gainsay; for I fully allow that it is the work of some holy and inspired person. But I should not readily agree that he was the apostle, the son Zebedee, the brother of James, whose are the Gospel entitled According to John and the Catholic Epistle. For I fonn my judgement from the character of each and from the nature of the language and from What is known as the general construction of the book, that the John therein mentioned] is not the same. For the evangelist nowhere adds his name, nor yet proclaims himself, throughout either the Gospel or the Epistle.”
Then lower down he again speaks thus: “ . . . But
John nowhere, either in the first or the third person.
But he who wrote the Apocalypse at the very beginning
puts himself forward: ῾ The Revelation of Jesus
Christ, which he gave him to show unto his servants
quickly, and he sent and signified it by his angel
“That the writer of these words, therefore, was
John, one must beieve, since he says it. But What
John, is not clear. For he ffid not say that he was,
as is frequently said in the Gospel, the disciple loved
by the Lord, nor he whieh leaned back οn Ηis breast,
nor the brother οf James, nor the eye-witness and
“Αnd from the conceptions too, and from the
tenns and their arrangement, one might naturally
assume that this writer was a different person from
the other. For there is indeed a mutual agreement
between the Gospel and the Εpistle, and they begin
alike. The one says: ‘In the beginning was
word’; the other: ‘That which was from the begining.'
promise of the Ηoly spirit 4; the adoption of the
sons of God 5; the the ‘faith’ 6 that is demanded of us
throughout; ‘the Father’ and ‘the Son’7: these
are to be found everywhere. In a word, it is obrivlous
that those who observe their character throughout
will see at a glance that the Gospel and Εpistle have
one and the same complexion. But the Apocalypse
is utterly different from, and foreign to, these
writings; it has no connexion, no affinity, in any way
with them; it searcely, so to speak, has even a
syllable in common with them. Νay more, neither
does the Εpistle (not to speak of the Gospel) contain
any mention or thought of the Apocalypse, nor the
Apocalypse of the Εpistle, whereas Ρaul in his
epistles gave us a little light also on his revelations,
which he ffidJd not record separately.
“Αnd further, by means of the style one can
estimate the difference between the Gospel and
Εpistle and the Αpocalypse. For the former are not
only written in faultless Greek, but also show the
greatest literary skill in their ffiction, their reasonings,
and the constructions in which they are expressed.
There is a complete absence of any barbarous word,
or soleeism, or any vulgarism whatever. For their
author had, as it seemS, both kind of word, by the
free gift of the Lord, the word of knowledge and the
word of speech. But I will not deny that the other
writer had seen revelations and received knowledge
and prophecy; nevertheless I observe his style and
that his use of the Oreek language is not accurate,
but that he employs barbarous idioms, in some places
XXVI. In addition to these letters οf Dionysius there are extant aho many others, as for example those against Sabellius to Αmmon bishop of the church at Bernice, and that to Telesphorus, and that to Euphranor and Αmmon again and Εupοrus. Αnd he composed on the same subject aho four οther treatises, which he addressed to his namesake at Rome, Dionvsius. Αnd we have many letters of his hesides these, and moreover lengthy books written in epistolary form, such as those on Νature, addressed to Timothy his boy, and that on Temptations, which also he defficated to Euphranor. In adffition to these, in writing also to Basilides, bishop of the communities in the Pentapolis, he says that he himself had written an exposition of the beginning of Ecclesiastes; and he has left behind for our beneRt various other letters addressed to this person.
so much for Dionysius. But come now, after recording these things, let us hand down for the infonnation of posterity the character οf our own generation.
XXVII. when Xystus had presided
οver the church of the Romans for eleven years,1 he
was succeeded by Dionysius, namesake of him of
Αlexandria. Αt this time also when Demetrian had
departed this life at Αntioch, Ρaul of samosata
received the Ρiscopate. Αs this person espoused
low and mean riews as to Christ, contraq to the
’s teaching, namely, that Ηe was in His nature
XXVIII. Αmong those who were the mort distinguished were Firmilian, bishop of Caesarea Cappadocia; the brothers Gregory and Athenodore, pastors of the communities in Pontus; and in addition to these, Helenus, [bishop] of community at Tarsus, and Nicomas, of the community at Iconium nor must we omit Hymenaeus, of the church at Jemsalem, and neotecnus, of this neighbouring church of Caesarea; and moreover there was aho, who was ruling with distinction the brethren at Bostra; and one would not be at a loss to reckon up countless others, together with presbyters and deacons, who were gathered together in the abovementioned city for the same cause. But these were the most famous among them. when all, then, were coming together frequently οn different oecasions, argmnents and questions were mooted at each meeting, the samosatene and his party attempting to keep still concealed and to cloak what was heterodox, while the οthers were eamestly engaged in laying bare and bringing into the open his heresy and blasphemy against Christ.
Αt that time Dionysius died in the tweKth year οf
the reign οf Gallienus, 1 haring presided in the epis-
Gallienus having held the prineipate for fifteen entire years, Claudius was established as his successor. 1
When he had completed his second year, he gac over the gOVernment to Aurelian.
XXIX. Ιn Aurelian's day a final synod of an ofexceedingly large number ofbishops Was assembled, and the leader ofthe heresy at Antioch, being unmasked and now cleariy condemned of heterodoxy by all, was excommunicated from the Catholich Church under heaven. The person foremost in calling him to account and in utterly refuting his attempts at concealment was Malchion, a learned man, who aho was head of a sehool of rhetoric, one of the Greek educational establihments at Antioch; and, moreoVer, for the surpassing sincerity of his faith in Christ he had been deemed worthy of the presbyterate of that community. Ιn faet, this man had stenographers to take notes as he held a disputatiOn with Ρaul, wllich we know to be eXtant even to tbis day; and he, alOne of them all, was able to unmask that erafty and deceitful person.
XXX. The pastors, then, WhO had been assembled
together, indited unanimously a ringle letter personally
to DiOnysius, bishop of ROme, and Maximus, of
Alexandria, and sent it throughOut all the provinces.
In it they make manifest to au their zeal, and also
the perverse heterodoxy of Ρaul, as well as the
arguments and questions that they addressed to him;
and moreover they deseribe the man’s whole life and
eonduct. From Which, by way οf memOrial, it may
“To Dionysius and Maximus and to all Our fellowministers throughout the worid, bishops, presbyters and deacons, and to the whole Catholic Chureh under heaven, Helenus and Ηymenaeus and Theophilus Theotecnus and Maximus, Ρroclus, Νicomas and Aelianus and Ρaul and Bolanus and Protogenes and Hierax and Eutychius and Theodore and Μalchion and Lueius and all the otherS who, with us, sojourn in the adjacent cities and provinces, bishops and preSbyters and deaeOns and the ehurcheS of God, aS to brethren beloved in the Lord send greeting.”
Α little further on they proeeed thus: “Αnd we
wrote 1 inviting many even of the bishops at a distance
to eome and heal this deadly doctrine, as for
example, both DionySius at Alexandria and Firmihan
of Cappadoeia, those blessed men. The former of
these wrote to Antioch, [not to the bishop,] neither
deeming the leader of the heresy worthy of being
addressed nor writing to him personally, but to the
whole community; of which letter also We subjoin a
copy. Firmilian, on the other hand, even came twice,
and eondemned Paul's new-fangled ideas, as we who
were Ρresent know and bear Witness, and many others
knoW aS well; but, on his promising to ehange, he
adjourned the [proceedings], hoping and believing that
the matter would be Bttingly eoncluded ithout any
reproach to the Word; for he WaS deeeived by him
who both denied his God and Lord, and also did not
Αgain, after other remarks they describe the manner
of his life, in the fOllowing terms: “But
he departed from the canOn [of truth], and has turned
aside to spurious and bastard doetrines, we are under
no obligation to judge the actions of him that
without, not even because, though he vas fOrmerly
poor and penniless, neither haVing reeeived a livelihoos
from hiS fathers nor having got it from a trade
or any oeeupation, he has has come to possess
abundant wealth, as a result of lawless deeds and
sacrilegious plunderings and extortions exacted from
the brethren by threats; for he deprives the injured
of their rights, and promises to help them for money,
yet breaks his word with these also, and with a light
heart makes his harvest out of the readiness of
persons engaged in lawsuits to make an offer, for the
sake of being rid of those that trouble them; seeing
that he considers that godliness is a way of gain.
Νeither [do we judge him] beeause he sets his mind
on high things and is lifted up, clothing himself with
wordly honours and wishing to be ealled ducenarius 1
rather than bishop, and struts in the market-places, 2
reading and dictating letters as he walks in public,
and attended by a bodyguard, some preceding, some
following, and that too in numbers: with the result
Then at the close οf the letter they add as follows:
“We were compelled therefore, aS he opposed himself to God and refused to yield, to excommunicate him, and appoint another bishop in his stead for the Catholic Chureh [choosing] by the providence of God, as we are persuaded, Domnus the son of the blessed Demetrian, who formerly presided with distinction over the same community; he is adorned with all the noble qualities suitable for a bishop, and we notify [this his appointment] unto you that ye may write to him, and from him receive letters of communion. But let this fellow write to Artemas, and let those who side with Αrtemas hold communion with him.”
When Ρaul, then, had fallen from the episcopate
as well as from his orthodoxy in the faith, Domnus,
as has been said, sueceeded to the ministry of the
chureh at Αntioch. But as Ρaul refused on an any
account to give up possession οf the church-building,
such indeed was the disposition οf Aurelian towards
us at that time. But as his reign advanced, he
changed his mind with regard to us, and was now
being moved by certain counsels to stir up persecution
against us; and there was great talk about this on
all sides. But as he was just οn the point οf so doing
and was putting, one might almost say, his signature
to the decrees against us, the divine Justice visited
him, and pinioned his arms, so to speak, to prevent
his undertaking. Thus it was clearly shown for all
to see that the rulers of this world would never find
it easy to proeeed against the churches of Christ,
unless the hand which champions us were to permit
this to be done, as a divine and heavenly judgement
to chasten and turn us, at whatsoever times it should
approve. At all events, when Aurelian had reigned
r six years, 2 he was suceeeded by Ρrobus. Ηe held
e government for something like the same number οf
years, 3 and Carus with his sons Carinus and Numerianus
succeeded him; and when they in their turn had
remained in office for not three entire years, the
government devolved on Diocletian 4 and οn those who
were brought in after him; and under them was
XXXI. Αt that time also the madman,1 named his devil-possessed heresy, was taking as his armour mental delusion; for the devil, that is Satan himself, the adversary of God, had put the man forward for the destruction of many. Ηis very speech and manners proclaimed him a barbarian in mode of life, and, being by nature devilish and insane, he suited his endeavours thereto and attempted to pose as Christ: at one time giving out that he was the Paraclete and the Ηoly spirit Himself, conceited fool that he was, as well as mad; at another time choosing, as Christ did, twelve disciples as associates in his new-fangled system. In short, he stitched together false and godless doctrines that he had collected from the countless, long-extinct, godless heresies, and infected οur empire with, as it were, a deadly poison that came from the land of the Ρersians; d from him the profane name of Manichaean is still commonly on men's lips to this day. Such, then, was the foundation on which rested this knowledge which is falsely so called, which sprang up at the e we have mentioned.
XXXII. At that time Felix, who had presided over
the church οf the Romans for five years, was suceded
by Eutychianus. This person did not
r even ten entire months; he left the office to
aius our contemporary. Αnd when he had presided
In the time of these persons, in suecession to Domnus, Timaeus was in charge of the episeopate of Antioch, whom our contemporary Cyril succeeded. During Cyril's episcopate we came to know Dorotheus, a leamed man, who had been deemed worthy of the presbyterate at Αntioeh. In his zeal for all that is beautiful in divine things, he made so careful a study of the Ηebrew tongue that he read with understanding the original Ηebrew Scriptures. Αnd he was by nο means unacquainted with the most liberal studies and Greek primary education; but withal he was by bature a eunuch, having been so frοm his very birth, so that even the emperοr, accounting this as a sort miracle, tοok him into his friendship and honoured him with the charge of the purple dye-wοrks at Tyre. we heard him giving a measured exposition of the Scriptures in the church.
After Cyril, Tyrannus succeeded to the episcopate the community of the Antiochenes, in whose day the attack upon the churches was at its height.
Αfter socrates as head of the cοmmumunity at
Laodicea came Εusebius, being a native of the city οf
Alexandria. The reason of his migration was the
air of Ρaul. For when he had cοme to Syria οn
busniess connected with Ρaul, he was prevented frοm
returning home by those whο had divine things at
heart. Ηe was a goοdly example of piety amοng our
cοntemporaries, as it will be easy to discover from the
expressions of Dionysius quoted above.1 Αnatolius
was appointed his successor, one good man, as they
say, folloning another. Ηe alsο was by race an
From the Canons of Anatolius οn the Pascha.1
“It has therefore in the first year the new moon of first the first month, which is the beginning of the nineteen-year cycle, on the 26th of Phamnoth according to the Egyptians, but according to the months of the Macedonians the 22nd of Dystrus, or, as the Romans would say, the 11th before the Kalends of April. The Sun is found on the aforesaid 26th of Phamenoth not only to have arrived at the first sign of the zodiac, but already to be passing through the fourth day within it. This sign is commonly called the first of the twelve divisions and the equinoctial [sign] and the beginning of months and head of the cycle and the starting-point of the planetary course. But the preceding sign is the last of the months and the twelfth sign and the last of the twelve divisions and the end of the planetary circuit. Therefore we say that they who place the first month in it, and determine the fourteenth day of the Pascha accordingly,2 are guilty of no small or ordinary mistake.
Αnd this is not our οwn statement, but the fact was
known to the Jews, those of οld time even before
Christ, and it was carefully observed by them. One
may learn it from what is said by Philo, Josephus and
Musaeus, and not only by them but also by those of
still more ancient date, the two Agathobuli, surnamed
the Masters οf Aristobulus the Great. Ηe was
reckoned among the Seventy who translated
sacred and divine Hebrew Scriptures for
Philadelphus and his father; and he dedicated books
exegetical of the Law of Moses to the same kings.
These writers, when they resolve the questions relative
to the Exodus, say that all equally ought to
sacrifice the passover after the vernal equinox, at the
middle of the first month; and that this is found to
occur when the sun is passing through the first sign
of the solar, or, as some have named it, the zodiacal
cycle. Αnd Aristobulus adds that at the feast of the
passover it is necessary that not only the sun should
be passing through an equinoctial sign, but the moon
also For as the equinoctial signs are two, the οne
vernal, the other autumnal, diametrically opposite
each to other, and as the fourteenth of the month, at
evening, is assigned as the day οf the passover, the
moon will have its place in the station that is diametrically
opposed to the sun, as may be seen in full
moon ; and the one, the sun, will be in the sign οf
the vernal equinox, while the other, the moon, will
οf necessity be in that of the autumnal. I know
many other statements of theirs, some of them
probable, others advanced as absolute proofs,1 by
which they attempt to establish that the Feast of
And the same person has left behind an Introduction to Arithmetic also in ten complete treatises, and, as well, evidences of his Study and deep knowledge οf divine things. Theotecnus, bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, first had ordained him to the episcopate, seeking to procure him as his successor in his own community after his death, and indeed for Some Short time both presided over the same church. But, the synod with reference to Ρaul summoning him to Antioch, as he was passing by the city οf the Laodiceans he was retained there by the brethren, Eusebius having fallen asleep.
Αnd when Anatolius also departed this life, Stephen
was appointed over the community there, the last
bishop before the persecution. Ηe won widespread
admiration for his knowledge of philosophy and other
secular learning, but he was not similarly disposed
towards the divine faith, as the progress of the
persecution cleariy proved, demonstrating that the
man was more οf a dissembler, more of a craven and
coward, than a true philosopher. But indeed the
church and her affairs were not destined to perish
But at Caesarea in Palestine Theotecnus, after
exercising his episcopal office in the most zealous
fashion, was sueeeeded by Agapius, whom also we
know to have laboured much, displaying a most
genuine regard for the gonernment of his people,
and with a liberal hand caring especially for all the
poor. In his day we came to known Pamphilus, a
most eloquent man and a true philosopher in his
mode of life, who had been deemed worthy of the
presbyterate of that community. It would be no
small undertaking to show the kind of man he was
and whence he eame. But of each particular of his
life and of the school that he established, as well as
his contest in various confessions during the persecution,
and the crown of martyrdom with which he was
wreathed at the end of all, we have treated separately
in a special work concerning him. Truly he was the
most admirable of those of that city; but as men
possessed of especially rare qualities in our day we
know Pierius, one of the presbyters at Alexandria,
and Μeletius, bishop of the churches in Pontus. The
former of these had been noted for his life of extreme
In the church at Jerusalem, after the bishop Hymnaeus mentioned shortly before, Zabdas received the ministry. Αfter no great time he fell asleep, and Hermo, the last of the bishops up to the persecution in our day, succeeded to the apostolic throne that has still been preserved there to the present day.2
Αnd at Alexandria too, Maximus, who had held
the episcopate for eighteen years after the death of
Dionysius, was succeeded by Theonas. In his day at
Alexandra Achillas, deemed worthy of the presbyterate
along with Pierius, was well known; he had
been entrusted with the school of the sacred faith,
having displayed a wealth of philosophy most rare
and inferior to none, and a manner of life that was
In these books having concluded the subject of he successions, from the birth of οur Saviour to the destruction of the places of —a subject that extends οver three hundred and five —come, let us next leave in writing, for the information of those also that come after us, what the extent and nature have been of the conflicts in our own day οf those who manfully contended for piety.
cycle that upon which “the new moon οf the first month” (i.e. the Jewish Νisan οr Αbib, to our March-April) falls upon March 22: he is, however, in error about the vernal equinox, which he places on Μarch 19 (§ 15, where Μarch 22 is fourth day”) instead of March 21. Ηe insists (as did also Dionysius) that the paschal full moon must fall after the equinox, as opposed to those, whom he mentions at the close οf § 15, who regarded the full moon (“the fourteenth day”) if it fell the day before the equinox, as the paschal moon.
COΝTEΝTS OF BOOK VIII
The Eighth Book of the Ecclesiastical History contains the following:
I. on the events before the persecution in our day.
II. On the destruetion of the churches.
III. On the nature of the conflicts endured in the persecution.
Iv. On the famed martyrs of God, how they filled every place with their memory, being wreathed with varied crowns for piety.
v. On those in Nicomedia.
VI. On those in the imperial palaces.
VII. On the Egyptians in Phoenicia.
VIII. On those in Εgypt.
IX. Οn those in the Thebais.
X. Accounts in writing of Ρhileas the martyr concerning what had taken place at Alexandria.
XI. On the martyrs in Ρhrygia.
XII. Οn very many others, both men and women, who endured various conflicts.
XIII. On the presedents of the Church who displaye in their own blood the genuineness of the piety of which they were ambassadors.
XIV. On the character of the enemies of piety. On the events which happened to those without [the Church].
VI. On the change of affairs for the better.
II. On the recantation of the rulers.
BOOK VIII
Having concluded the succession from the apostles in seven entire books, in this eighth treatise we regard it as one of our most urgent duties to hand down, for the knowledge of those that come after us, the events of our own day, which are worthy of no casual record ; and from this point our account will take its beginning.
I. It is beyond our powers to describe in a worthy
manner the measure and nature of that honour as
well as freedom which was accorded by all men, both
Greeks and barbarians, before the persecution in our
day, to that word of piety toward the God of the
universe which had been proclaimed through Christ
to the world. Yet proofs might be forthcoming in the
favours granted by the rulers to our people : to whom
they would even entrust the government of the provinces,
freeing them from agony of mind as regards
sacrificing, because οf the great friendliness that they
used to entertain for their doctrine. Why need one
speak of those in the imperial palaces and of the
supreme rulers, who allowed the members of their
households — wives, children and servants — to practise
openly to their face the divine word and conduct,
and — one might say — permitted them even to
of the freedom accorded to the faith ? Αnd these
they used to regard with especial esteem and more
But when, as the result of greater freedom, a
change to pride and sloth came οver our affairs, we
fell to envy and fierce railing against one another,
warring upon ourselves, so to speak, as occasion
offered, with weapons and spears formed of words ;
and rulers attacked rulers and laity formed factions
against laity, while unspeakable hypoerisy and pretence
pursued their evil course to the furthest end :
until the divine judgement with a sparing hand, as is
its wont (for the asseblies were still crowded),
II. Αll things in truth were fulfilled in our day, when we saw with our very eyes the houses of prayer cast down to their foundations from top to bottom, and the inspired and sacred seriptureS committed to the flames in the midst of the market-places, and the pastors οf the churches, some shamefully hiding themselves here and there, while others were ignominiously captured and made a mockery by their enemies ; when also, according to another prophetic word, He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the waste, where there is no way.
But as to these, it is not our part to deseribe their
melancholy misfortunes in the issue, even as we do
not think it proper to hand down to memory their
dissensions and unnatural conduct to one another
before the persecution. Thererore we resolved to
place on record nothing more about them than what
would justify the divine judgement. Accordingly,
we determined not even to mention those who have
been tried by the persecution, or have made utter
shipwreck of their salvation, and of their own free
will were plunged in the depths of the billows ; but
we shall add to the general history only such things
as may be profitable, first to ourselves, and then to those that com after us. Let us proceed, therefore
from this point to give a summary deseription of the
sacred conflicts of the martyrs or the divine Word.
lt was the nineteenth year of the reign of Diocletian, 1 and the month Dystrus, 2 or March, as the Romans would call it, in which, as the festival of the
I. Then indeed, then very many rulers of the
urches contended with a stout heart under terrible
rments, and displayed spectacles of mighty conflicts ;
ile countless others, whose souls cowardice had
numbed beforehand, readily proved weak at the first
ult ; while οf the rest, each underwent a serues
varried forms of torture : one would have his body
treated by scourgings ; another would be punished
ith the rack and torn to an unbearable degree,
hereat some met a miserable end to their life. But
ers, again, emerged from the connict otherwise :
e man was brought to the abominable and unholy
ifices by the violence of others who pressed round
him, and dismissed as if he had sacrificed, even though
e had not ; another who did not so much as approach
touch any accursed thing, when others had said
t he had sacrfficed, went away bearing the false
accusation in silence. Α third was taken up half-
ad and cast aside as if he were a corpse already ;
and, again, a certain person lying on the ground was
agged a long distance by the feet, haring been
But even such methods did not avail them against holy martyrs. what word of ours could suffice an accurate description of these ?
IV. For
ht tell of countless numbers who displayed a
ellous zeal for piety to the God of the universe;
only from what time the persecution was stirred
against all, but long before, during the period
en peace was still firmly established. For when
who had receivcd the authority 1 was just now
akening, as it were, from profound torpor, though
was in a secret and hidden manner aheady making
pts against the churches during the time that
e after Decius and valerian, and did not get him-
in readiness for the war against us all at once,
as yet made an artempt οnly upon those in the
ps (for in this way he thought that the rest also
could easily be taken, if first of all he were to get the
r in the conflict with thess): then one could see
t numbers of those in the army most gladly
bracing civil life, so that they might not prove
V. To begin with, the moment that the decree
against the churches was published at Nicomedia, a
ertain person 2 by no means obscure, but most highly
onoured as the world counts pre-eminence, moved
y zeal toward God and carried away by his burning
aith, seized and tore it to pieces, when posted up in
n open and public place, as an unholy and profane
VI. But among all those whose praises have ever yet been sung as worthy of admiration and famed for courage, whether by Greeks or barbarians, this occasion produced those divine and outStanffing martyrs Dorotheus and the imperial servants that were with him. These persons had been deemed worthy of the highest honour by their masters, who loved them no less than their own children ; but they accounted the reproaches and sufferings for piety and the many forms of death that were newly devised against them, as truly greater riches than the fair fame and luxury of this life. We shall mention the kind of death that οne of them met, and leave our readers to gather from that instance what happened to the οthers.
Α certain man was publicly brought forward in the
city of which we have spoken above, under the rulers
we have mentioned. Ηe was ordered to sacrifice ;
and, as he refused, the command was given that he
should be raised on high naked, and have his whole
body torn with scourges, until he should give in, and
even against his will do what was bidden him. But
when he remained unmoved even under these sufferings,
they proceeded to mix vinegar and salt together
and pour them into the mangled parts of his body,
where the bones were already showing. Αnd as he
But we shall pass by the martyrdoms of the rest, though they were not inferior, having regard to the due proportions of the book ; only Ρlacing it on record that Dorotheus and Gorgonius, together with many others of the household, after conflicts οf various kinds, departed this life by strangling, and so carried off the prizes οf the Good-given victory.
Αt that time Αnthimus, who then prerided over
the church at Nicomedia, was beheaded for his witness
to Christ. Αnd with him was associated a large
number ofmartyrs all together; for, I know not how,
in the Ρalace at Nicomedia a fire broke οut in those
very days, and through a false suspicion the rumour
went around that it was the work οf our people : and
by the imperial command the God-fearing persons
there, whole families and in heaps, were in some cases
butchered with the sword ; while others were perfacted
by fire, when it is recorded that men and
women leaped upon the pyre with a divine and unspeakable
eagerness. The executioners bound a
multitude ofothers, and [placing them] on boats threw
them into the depths οf the sea. Αs to the imperial
such were the things that were done in Νieomedia at the beginning of the persecution. But not long afterwards, when some in the district known as Melitene,1 and again οn the other hand when in syria, had attempted to take possession of the Empire,2 an imperial command Went forth that presidents οf the churches everywhere should be thrown into prison and bonds. Αnd the spectacle οf what followed surpasses all description; for in every place a countless number were shut up, and everywhere the prisons, that long ago had been prepared for murderers and grave-robbers, were then filled with bishops and presbyters and deacons, readers and exorcists, so that there was no longer any room left there for those condemned for wrongdoing.
Moreover, the first letter was followed by others,
wherein the οrder had been given that those in
prison should be allowed to go in liberty if they
sacrfficed, but if they refused, should be mutilated
by countless tortures. Αnd then, once more, how
could one here number the multitude of the martyrs
in each province, and especially of those in Αfriea
and ³ and in Thebais and Εgypt ?
From this last country also some departed into other
VII. We know at any rate those of them who were conspicuous in Palestine, and we know aho those at Tyre in Phoenicia. who that saw them was not struck with amazwment at the numberless lashes and the stedfastness displayed under them by these truly marvellous champions of godliness; at the conflict with man-eating wild beasts that followed immendiately on the lashes; the attacks that then took place ofleopards and different kinds of bears, οf wild boars and bulls goaded with hot iron ; and the marvellous endurance οf these noble persons when opposed to each οf the wild beasts ? We ourselves were present when these things were happening, what time we beheld the present, divine power of our sariour, Jesus christ Himself, the Object of their wintness, and the clear manifestation of that power to the martyrs. The man-eating beasts for a considerable time did not dare to touch or even approach the bodies οf those who were dear to God, but made their attacks on the others who presumably were provoking and urging them οn from the outside; while the holy champions were the only persons they did not reach at all, though they stood naked, waving their hands to drawa them οn to themselves (for this they were commanded to do) ; and sometimes, when the beasts would make a rush at them, they would be checked by, as it were, some divine power and once again retreat to the rear. Αnd when this happened for a long time, it occasioned no small astonishment among the spectators, so that, as the first beast did nothing, a second and a third were let loose against one and the same martyr.
One might be astounded at the fearless and valiant bearing of those holy persons in the face of these trials, and the steady, inflexible enduranee to be found in young bodies. For example, you might have seen a youth, not twenty years old in all, standing unbound, his hands spread in the form of a cross, and, with a mind undismayed and unmoved, most leisurely engaged in earnest prayer to the Deity ; never a with changing his ground or retreating from the plaee where he had taken his stand, while bears and leopards, breathing anger and death, almost touched his very flesh. Αnd yet, by a divine and mysterious power I cannot explain, their mouths were muxxled, so to speak, and they ran baek again to the rear. Such a one was he. Again you might have seen others (for they were five in all) thrown to a maddened bull, who, when others approached from the outside, tossed them into the air with his horns and mangled them, leaving them to be taken up half-dead ; but when he rushed in threatening anger at the holy martyrs as they stood unprotected, he was unable even to approach them, though he pawed with his feet and pushed with his horns this way and that ; and though the goading irons provoked him to breathe anger and threatening he was dragged away backwards by Divine Prividence ; so that other wild beasts were let loose against them, since the bull in no way did them the shghtest injury. Then at last, after the terrible and varied assaults of these beasts, they were all butehered with the sword, and instead of being buried in the earth were committed to the waves of the Sea.
VIII. Such was the contest of the Egyptians who at Tyre displayed their conffiets on behalf of piety.
But one must admire those of them also that were martyred in their own land, Where countless numbers, men, women and children, despising this passing life, endured various forms of death for the sake of οur Saniour's teaching. Some of them were committed to the flames after being torn and racked and grievously seourged, and suffering other mainfold torments terrible to hear, while some were engulfed in the sea ; others with a good courage stretched forth their heads to them that cut them off, or died in the midst of their tortures, or perished of hunger ; and others again were crucified, some as malefactors usually are, and some, even more brutally, were nailed in the opposite manner, head-downwards, and kept alive until they should perish of hunger on the gibbet.
IX. But it surpasses all description what the
martyrs in the Thebais endured as regards both
outrages and agonies. They had the entire body
torn to pieees with sharp sherds instead of claws,
even until life was extinct. Women Were fastened
by one foot and swung aloft through the air, head-downwards,
to a height by certain machines, their
bodies completely naked with not even a covering ;
and thus they presented this most disgraeerul, cruel
and inhuman of all spectacles to the whole company
of onlookers. Others, again, were fastened to trees
and trunks, and so died. For they drew together by
certain machines the very strongest of the branches,
to eaeh of which they fastened one of the martyr's
legs, and then released the branches to take up their
Αnd we ourselves also beheld, when we were at
these places, many all at once in a single day, some
of whom suffered decapitation, others, the punishment
of fire ; so that the murderous axe was dulled
and, worn out, was broken in pieces, while the executioners
themselves grew utterly weary and took it
in turns to succeed one another. Ιt was then that we
observed a most marvellous eagerness and a truly
divine power and zeal in those who had placed their
faith in the Christ of God. Thus, as soon as sentence
was given against the first, some from one quarter
and others from another Would leap up to the tribunal
before the judge and confess themselves Christians ;
paying no heed when faced with terrors and the
varied forms of tortures, but undismayedly and
boldly speaking of the piety towards the God of the
universe, and with joy and laughter and gladness
receiving the rinal sentence of death ; so that they
sang and sent up hymns and thanksgivings to the
God of the universe even to the very last breath.
Αnd while these indeed were marvellous, those
especially were marvellous who were distinguished
X. But since we said 2 that Phileas deserved a high reputation for his secular learning as well, let him appear as his own witness, to show us who he was, and at the same time to relate, more accurately than we could, the martyrdoms that took place at Alexandria.
From the Writings of Phileas to the Thmuites.
“ Since all these examples and patterns and goodly
tokens are placed before us in the divine and sacred
Scriptures, the blessed martyrs with us did not hesitate,
but directed the eye of the soul sincerely toward
the God who is over all, and with a mind resolved on
death for piety they clung fast to their calling,
finding that our Lord Jesus Christ became man for
our sakes, that Ηe might destroy every kind of sin,
and provide us with the means of entering into
eternal life. For Ηe counted it not a prize to be
on an equality with God, but emptied Ηimself,
taking the form of a servant ; and being found in
fashion as a man, Ηe humbled Himself unto death,
yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore also,
desiring earnestly the greater gifts, the Christbearing
martyrs endured every kind of suffering and
all manner of devices of torture, not once, but even a
second time in some cases ; and though their guards
vied in all kinds of threats against them, not only in
word but also in deed, they refused to give up their
resolution, because perfeet love casteth out fear.
What account would suffice to reckon up their bravery
and courage under eaeh torture ? For when all
who wished were given a free hand to insult them,
some smote with cudgels, others with rods, others
with scourges ; others, again, with straps, and others
with ropes. Αnd the spectacle of their tortures was
a varied one with no lack of wickedness therein.
Some with both hands bound behind them were
suspended upon the gibbet, and with the aid οf certain
Such are the words of the martyr, true lover both οf wisdom and of God, which he sent to the brethren in his community before the final sentence, when he was still in a state of imprisonment, at one and the same time showing the conditions in which he was living, and also stirring them up to hold fast to the fear of God in Christ, even after his death who was just about to be perfeeted. But Why need one make a long story and add fresh instance upon instance of the conflicts of the godly martyrs throughout the world, especially of those who were assailed no longer by the common law, but as if they were enemies ?
XI. For instance, at this time armed soldiers surrounded a little town in Phrygia, of which the inhabitants were all Christians, every man of them, and setting fire to it burnt them, along with young children and women as they were calling upon the God who is over all. The reason of this was, that all the inhabitants of the town to a man, the curator himself and the duumvirs with an the officials and the whole assembly, confessed themselves Christians and refused to give the least heed to those who bade them commit idolatry.
Αnd there was a certain other person who had attained to a high position under the Romans, Adauctus by name, a man of illustrious Italian birth; who had advanced through every grade of honour under the emperors, so as to pass blamelessly through the general administration οf what they call the magistracy and ministry of finance. Αnd besides all having dostinguished himself by his noble deeds οf godliness and his confessions οf the Christ οf God, he was adorned with the crown of martyrodom, enduring the conflict for piety while actually engaged as finance minister.
XII. why need I now mention the rest by name,
οr number the multitude of the men, or picture the
varied tortures inflicted upon the wonderful martyrs?
Sometimes they were slain with the axe, as was the
case with those in Arabia; at other times they had
their legs broken, as happened to those in Cappadocia;
on some occasions they were suspended on
high by the feet, head-downwards, while a slow fire
was kindled beneath, so that when the wood was
alight they were choked by the rising smoke—a
Why need one rekindle the memory of those at Antioch, who were roasted οn heated gridirons, not unto death, but with a view to lengthy torture; and οf others who put their right hand into the very fire sooner than touch the aecursed sacrifice? Some of them, to escape such trials, before they were caught and fell into the hands of those that plotted against them, threw themselves down from the tops οf lofty houses, regarding death as a prize snatched from the wickedness of evil men.
Αnd a certain holy person,1 admirable for
of soul yet in body a woman, and famed as well by
all that were at Antioch for Wealth, birth and sound
judgement, had brought up in the precepts of piety
her two unmarried daughters, distinguished for the
full bloom of their youthful beauty. Much envy
was stirred up on their account, and busied itself
in tracing in every manner possible where they lay
concealed; and when it discovered that they were
staying in a foreign country, of set purpose it recalled
them to Antioch. Thus they fell into the
soldiers’ toils. When, therefore, the woman
that herself and her daughters were in desperate
straits, she placed before them in conversation the
terrible things that awaited them from human
hands, and the most intolerable thing of all these
terrors—the threat of fornication. she exhorted
both herself and her giris that they ought not to
submit to listen to even the least whisper of such a
thing, and said that to surrender their souls to the
thus were these their own executioners. But another pair of maidens, also at Antioch, godly in every respect and true sisters, famous by birth, distinguished for their manner of life, young in years, in the bloom of beauty, grave οf soul, pious in their deportment, admirable in their zeal, the worshippers of demons commanded to be cast into the sea, as if the earth could not endure to bear such excellence.
Thus it happened with these martyrs. Αnd others in Ρontus suffered things terrible to hear: sharp reeds were driven through their fingers under the tips of the nails; in the case of others, lead was melted down by fire, and the boiling, burning stuff poured down their backs, roasting the most essential parts of their body; others endured in their privy parts and bowels sufferings that were disgraceful, pitiless, unmentionable, which the noble and lawabiding judges devised with more than usual eagerness, displaying their cruelty as if it were some great stroke of wisdom ; striving to οutdo one another by ever inventing novel tortures, as if contending for prizes in a contest.
But the end οf these calamities came when they were now worn out with their excessive wickedness, and were utterly weary of killing and surfeited and sated with shedding blood, and so tumed to what they considered merciful and humane conduct; so that they no longer thought that they were doing any harm to us. For it was not fitting, they said, to pollute the cities with the blood of their own people, or to involve in a charge of cruelty the supreme government of the rulers, a govemment that was well-disposed and mild towards all; but rather that the beneficence of the humane and imperial authority should be extended to all, and the death penalty no longer innicted. For [they declared] that this their punishment of us had been stopped, thanks to the humanity of the rulers. Then orders were given that their eyes should be gouged out and one of their legs maimed. For this was in their opinion humanity and the lightest of punishments inflicted upon us. Hence, because of this humanity on the part of gomess men, it is now no longer possible to tell the incalculable number οf those who had their right eye first cut out with a sword and then cauterized with fire, and the left foot rcndered useless by the further application οf branding irons to the joints, and who after this were condemned to the provincial copper mines, not so much for serrice as for ill-usage and hardship, and withal fell in with various other trials, which it is not possible even to recount; their brave and good deeds surpass all reckoning.
In these conflicts verily the magnificent martyrs
οf Christ were conspicuous throughout all the world,
XIII. Of those rulers of the churches who were
martyred in well-known cities, the first name that
we must record on the monuments to holy men, as a
martyr or the kingdom οf Christ, is that of Anthimus,
bishop of the city οf the Nicomedians, who was
beheaded. Of the martyrs at Antioch the best in
his entire life was Lucian, a presbyter of that community;
the same who in Nicomedia, where the
emperor was, proclaimed the heavenly kingdom of
Christ, nrst by word οf mouth in an Apology, and
afterwards also by deeds. Of the martyrs in
Phoenicia the most famous would be the pastors of the
spiritual flocks of Christ, beloved of God in all things,
Tyrannion, bishop of the church at Tyre, and
Ζenοbius, presbyter of the church at Sidon, and,
moreover, Silvanus, bishop οf the churches about
Εmesa. The last-named became food for wild beasts,
along with others, at Emesa itself, and so was received
up into the choirs of martyrs; the other two
glorified the word οf God at Αntiοch by their endurance
unto death; one of them, the bishop, being
committed to the depths of the sea, while that best
of physicians, Ζenobius, died bravely under the tortures
that were applied to his sides. Of the martyrs
in Palestine, Silvanus, bishop οf the churches about
Gaza, was beheaded at the copper mines at Phaeno,
Now as concerns the state of the Roman government
before the war against us, during all the periods
But as their authority thus increased without let or hindrance and day by day waxed greater, all at once they departed from their peaceful attitude towards us and stirred up a relentless war. Αnd the second year2 of this kind οf movement οn their part had not fully expired, when a sort of revolution affecting the entire principate took place and threw the whole of public life into confusion. For a disease fell upon him who stood first among those οf whom we spoke,3 which caused his mind to deranged; and, along with him who had been honoured with the second place after him,4 he resumed the ordinary life of a private citizen. Αnd this had not yet taken place, when the whole principate was rent in twain, a thing that had never even been recorded as having happened at any time in days gone by.5
But after no very great interval of time the
Εmperor Constantius, who all his hfe long was most
mildly and favourably disposed toward his subjects,
and most friendly towards the divine word, died6
according to the common law of nature, leaving his
lawful son Constantine Εmperor and Αugustus in his
Ηis son Constantine from the very hrst was proclaimed by the armies most perfect Emperor and Αugustus, and, long before them, by God Himselfe, the King supreme; and he set himself to be an emulator of his father’s piety toward our doctrine.
Sueh was he. And afterwards Licinius was declared
Emperor and Augustus by a common vote of
the rulers. 2 These things caused great vexation to
Maximin, since up to that time he was still entitled
only Caesar by all. Therefore, being above all things
a tyrant, he fraudulently seized the honour for himself,
and became Αugustus, appointed such by him-
XIV. Ηis son Maxentius, Who seeured for himself
the tyranny at Rome, at the beginning counterfeited
our faith in order to please and fawn upon the Roman
populace; and for this reason ordered his subjects
to give over the persecution against Christians; for
he was feigning piety and endeavouring to appear
favourable and very mild above his predecessors.
Yet his dees have not shown him to be such as it
was hoped he would be. Οn the eontrary, he drove
headlong into every form of wickedness, and there is
not a single abominable and dissolute aet that he
has left undone, committing adulteries and all kinds
of rape. In fact he used to separate from their
husbands lawfully married women, insult them with
the utmost dishonour, and send them back again to
their husbands; and he made it his business thus to
assail persons neither undistinguished nor obseure, but
the most eminent of those who had attained the highest
rank in the assembly of the Roman senate were the
very and especial objects of his offensive behaviour.
Αll cowered before him, people and rulers, famous
and obscure, and were worn out by his terrible
tyranny; and even though they remained quiet and
endured the bitter servitude, srill there was no
escape from the tyrant’s murderous cruelty.
for example, on a small pretence he gave the people
Indeed, οne cannot even mention the kind of things that this tyrant at Rome did to enslave his subjects; so that they were actually reduced to such extreme scarcity and lack of even necessary food, as has never been known, according to οur contemporaries, either at Rome or elsewhere.
But the tyrant in the Εast, Maximin, secretly
forming a friendly alliance with the tyrant at Rome,
as with a brother in wickedness, for a very long time
thought that it was unknown. Αs a matter of fact,
afterwards he was detected1 and paid the just
It was marvellous how he acquired a family likeness
and kinship with the villainy of the tyrant at Rome,
nay rather, carried off the first prize for wickedness
and the reward of victory over him. For it was the
principal charlatans and magicians who were deemed
These indeed were wonderful, yet most surpassingly
wonderful was that woman at Rome, 1 truly
the most noble and chaste of all those towards
whom the tyrant there, Maxentius, in conduct like
Maximin, attempted to act offensively. For when
she learnt that at her house were those who
ministered to the tyrant in such deeds (and she
also was a Christian), and that her husband, and he
too a prefect of the Romans, through fear had permitted
them to take and lead her off, she begged to
be excused for a brief space, as if forsooth to adorm
her person, entered her chamber, and when alone
transfixed herself with a sword. Αnd straightway
dying she left her corpse to her procurers; but by
deeds that themselves were more eloquent than any
words she made it known to all men, both those
present and those to come herearter, that a Christian's
virtue is the only possession that cannot be
conquered or destroyed. To such an extent, in
truth, did the two tyrants, who had divided among
them Εast and West, carry the wickedness that they
wrought at one and the same time. But who is
there, in search for the reason of such evils, who
would be at a loss to find it in the persecution against
us ? Especially as there was no cessation of this
XV. in fact, during the whole period of ten of persecution there was no respite in their plotting and warfare against each other. The seas were unnavigable, and none, no matter whence they sailed, could escape being subjected to all kinds of torments: stretched on the rack and having their sides torn, and being examined under all sorts οf tortures in case they should possibly be coming from the enemy of the contrary part, and in the end subjected to crucifixion οr punishment by fire. Moreover, every place was busy with the preparation of shields and armour, the getting ready of darts and spears and other warlike accoutrements, and of triremes and naval gear; and no one expected anything but an enemy attack all day long. Αnd subsequently the famine and pestilence broke out among them, about which we shall recount what is necessary at the proper time.
XVI. Such was the state of affairs that continued
throughout the whole persecution; which came
completely to an end, by the grace of God, in the
tenth year, 1 though indeed it began to abate after
the eighth year. For when the divine and heavenly
grace showed that it watched over us with kindly
and propitious regard, then indeed our rulers also,
those very persons who had long time committed
acts οf war against us, changed their mind in the
most marvellous manner, and gave utterance to a
recantation, quenching the fire of persecution that
had blazed so furiously, by means of merciful edicts
and the most humane ordinances. But this was not
due to any human agency nor to the pity, as one
and was wroth with him as the chief author of the
wickedness of the persecution as a whole. For
verily, though it was destined that these things
should come to pass as a divine judgement, yet the
Scripture says, “Woe, through whomsoever the
offence’’ 2 Α divinely-sent punishment, I say,
executed vengeance upon him, beginning at his very
flesh and proceeding to the soul. For all at once an
abscess appeared in the midst of his privy parts, then
a deeply-seated fistular ulcer; which could not be
cured and ate their way into the very midst οf his
entrails. Hence there sprang an innumerable multitude
οf worms, and a deadly stench was given off,
since the entire bulk οf his members had, through
gluttony, even before the disease, been changed into
an excessive quantity of soft fat, which then became
putrid and presented an intolerable and most fearful
sight to those that came near it. Αs for the physicians,
some of them were wholly unable to endure
the exceeding and unearthly stench, and were
butchered; others, who could not be of any assistance
since the whole mass had swollen and reached a
point where there was no hope of recovery, were put
to death without mercy.
XVII. Αnd wrestling with such terrible misfortunes
he was conscience-stricken for the cruel deeds he had
perpetrated agninst the godly. collecting, therefore,
his thoughts, he first openly confessed to the
God οf the universe; then he called those around
him, and commanded them without delay to cause
the persecution against Christians to cease, and by
an imperial law and decree to urge them to build
their churches and to perform their accustomed rites,
offering prayers on the Εmperor’s behalf. Action
immediately followed his word, and imperial ordinances
were promulgated in each city, containing the
recantation οf the [persecution edicts] of οur time,
after this manner: “The Emperor Caesar Galerius
Valerius Maximianus Invictus Augustus, Pontifex
Maximus, Germanicus Maximus, Aegyptiacus Maximus,
Thebaicus Maximus, Sarmaticus Maximus five
times, PErsicus Maximus twice, Carpicus Maximus
six times, Armeniacus Maximus, Medicus Maximus,
Adiabenicus Maximus, holding the Tribunician
Power for the twentieth time, Emperor for the nineteenth
time, 1 Consul for the eighth, Father of his
country, Proconsul: 2 . . . Αnd the Emperor Caesar
Flavius Valerius Constantinus Pius Felix Invictus
Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, holding the Tribunician
Power, Εmperοr for the fifth time, Consul, Father
οf his country, Proconsul: [And the Εmperor Caesar
Valerius Licinianus Licinius Pius Felix Invictus
Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, holding the Tribunician
“Among the other measures that we frame for
the use and profit of the state, it had been our own
wish formerly that all things should be set to rights
in accordance with the ancient laws and public order
of the Romans; and to make provision for this,
namely, that the Christians also, such as had abandoned. the
persuasion of their own ancestors, should
return to a sound mind ; seeing that through some
reasoning they had been possessed of such self-will
and seized with such folly 2 that, instead of following
the institutions of the ancients, which perchance
their own forefathers had formerly established, they
made for themselves, and were observing, laws merely
in accordance with their own disposition and as each
one wished, and were assembing various multitudes
in divers places: Therefore when a command of ours
soon followed to the intent that they should betake
themselves to the institutions of the ancients, very
many indeed were subjected to peril, while very
many were harassed and endured all kinds of death;
Αnd since the majority held to the same folly, and
we perceived that they were neither paying the
worship due to the gods of heaven nor honouring the
god of the Christians; having regard to our elemene y
and the invariable custom by which we are wont to
accord pardon to all men, we thought it right in this
such is the character of this edict in the Latin tongue, transhted into Greek as well as may be. Now it is time to consider carefully what happened subsequently.
But the author or the edict, arter such a confession,
was immediately, though not for long, released from
his pains, and so departed this life. It is reeorded
that this same person was the prime author of the
calamity of the persecution; since long before the
movement of the other emperors he had used force
to turn aside [from the faith] the Christians in the
—and, first of all, those in his own house —
degrading some from their military rank, and heaping
the most shameful insults on others; and since he
was already threatening others even with death, and,
finally, had stirred up his partners in the principate
to the general perseeution. Ιt is not possible to pass
over the ends of these same emperors in silence.
Four, then, had divided the supreme povwer between
them. Those who were the more advanced in age
and honour 2 retired from the principate not two whole
years after the persecution began, as we have already
stated, and passed the remainder of their existence
like ordinary, private citizens. The end of their lives
fell out thus. The one who had attained the chief
place in honour and age 3 fell a victim to a prolonged
and most painful infirmity of the body; while he who
held the second place to him 4 ended his life by
CONTENTS OF BOOK IX
The Ninth Book of the Ecclesiastical History contains the follorning:
I. On the feigned relaxation.
ΙΙ. οn the change for the worse that ensued.
III. on the new-made idol at Αntiοch.
IV. On the petitions against us.
v. On the forged memoirs.
VI. On Those who were martvred at this time.
VII. On the document against us set up on tablets.
VIII. On the subsequent evcnts, the famine pestilence and wars.
IX. On the of of the tyrants᾿ lives, cxpressions they made use of before the end.
X. On the victory of the God-beloved Εmperors.
XI. On the final οn of the enemies οf godliness.
BOOK IX
Ι. THE recantation of the imperial will set forth above 1 was promulgated broadcast throughout Αsia and in the neighbouring provinces. Αfter this had thus been done, Maximin, the tyrant of the Εast, a monster οf imriety if ever there was one, who had been the bitterest enemy οf piety toward the God of the universe, Was by no means pleased with what was written, and instead οf making known the letter set forth above gave verbal commands to the rulers under him to relax the war against us. For since he might not otherwise gainsay the judgement of his superiors, he put in a corner the law set forth above ; and, taking measures how it might never see the light of day in the districts under him, by an οral direction he commanded the rulers under him to relax the persecution against us. Αnd they intimated to each other in writing the terms of the οrder. Sabinus, for instance, whom they had honoured with the rank of most excellent prefect, made known the Εmperοr’s decision to the provincial governors in a latin epistle. The translation of the same runs as follows :
“With a most eamest and devoted Ζeal the
DirivInity οf our most divine masters, the Εmperors,
has for a long time determined to lead all men’s
whereupon the rulers οf the provinces, having
concluded that the purport οf what had been written
II. This the tyrant could no longer endure, hater as he was of that which is good, and plotter against every virtuous man (he was the ruler, as we said, of the eastern parts) ; nor did he suffer matters thus to be carried on for six entire months. Sumerous, therefore, were his derivlees to overturn the peaee : at first he attempted on some pretext to shut us out from assembling in the cemeteries, 2 then through the medium of certain evil men he sent embassies to himself against us, having urged the citizens of Antioch to ask that they might obtain from him, as a very great boon, that he should in no wise permit any οf the Christians to inhabit their land, and to contrive that others should make the same suggestion. The originator of all this sprang up at Antioch itself in the person of Theotecnus, a clever cheat and an evil man, and quite unlike his name. 3 Ηe was accounted to hold the post of curator 4 in the city.
III. This man, then, many times took the field
against us ; and, having been at pains by every
method to hunt our people out of hiding-plaeeS as
if they were unholy thieves, having employed every
IV. This man was the first to act thus of set purpose, and all the other offieials who lived in the cities under the same rule hastened to make a like decision, the provincial governors having seen at a glance that it was pleasing to the Emperor, and having suggested to their subjects to do the very same thing. Αnd when the tyrant had given a most willing assent to their petitions 2 by a reseript, onee more the persecution against us was rekindled.
Marimin himself appointed as priests of the images
in each city and, moreover, as high priests, those who
were especially distinguished in the public services
and had made their mark in the entire course thereof.
These persons brought great zeal to bear on the
worship of the gods whom they served. Certainly,
the outlandish superstition of the ruler was inducing,
in a word, all under him, both governors and governed,
V. Having forged, to be sure, Memoirs of Pilate and our Saviour, full of every kind of blasphemy against Christ, with the approval of their chief they sent them round to every part οf his dominions, with edicts that they should be exhibited openly for everyone to see in every plaee, both town country, and that the primary teachers should give them to the children, instead οf lessons, for study and committal to memory.
While this was thus being carried οut, another person, a commander, whom the Romans style dux, 1 caused certain infamous women to be abducted from the market-place at Damascus in Phoenicia, and, by continually threatening them with the infliction of tortures, compelled them to state in writing that they were once actually Christians, and privy to their unhallowed deeds, and that the Christians practised in the very churches lewdness and everything else that he wished these women to say in defamation of our faith. Ηe also made a memorandum of their words and communicated it to the Emperor, and moreover at his command published this docmnent also in every place and city.
VI. But not long afterwards he, that is to say, the commander, died by his own hand, and thus paid the penalty for his wickedness.
But as for us, banishments and severe persecutions
were again renewed, and the rulers in every province
Of these, three in Emesa, a city of Phoenicia, were consigned to wild beasts as food, having declared themselves Christians. Among them was a bishop, Silvanus, exceedingly advanced in age, who had exercised his ministry for forty entire years.
Αt the same time Ρeter also, who presided with the greatest distinction over the communities at Alexandria—a truly divine example of a bishop on account of his virtuous life and his earnest study of the holy Scriptures—was seized for no reason at all quite unexpectedly ; and then immediately and unaccountably beheaded, as if by the command of Maximin. Αnd along with him many others οf the Egyptian bishops endured the same penalty.
Lucian, a most excellent man in every respect, οf temperate life and well versed in sacred learning, a presbyter of the community at Antioch, was brought to the city or Nicomedia, where the Emperor was then staying ; and, having made his defence before the ruler on behalf οf the doctrine which he professed, he was committed to prison and put to death.
so mightily, indeed, did that hater of the good, Maximin, contrive against us in a short space, that this persecution which he had stirred up seemed to us much more severe than the former one.
VII.
In fact, in the midst of the cities—a thing that
never happened before—petitions presented
us by cities, and rescripts containing imperial ordinances
Αt this point I think it necessary to insert this same doeument of Maximin that was set up on tablets, so as to make manifest at once the boastful, overweening arrogance of this hater of God, and the divine Justice that followed close upon his heels with its sleepless hatred of the evil in wicked men. Ιt was this which smote him ; and not long afterwards he reversed his policy with regard to us, and made a decree by laws in writing.
Copy of a Translation of the Rescript of Maximin in answer to Petitions against us, taken from the Tablet at Tyre.
“ Νow at length, the feeble boldness of the human
mind has shaken off and dispersed all blinding mists
of error, that error which hitherto was attacking the
senses of men not so much wicked as wretched, and
was wrapping them in the baneful darkness of ignorance;
and it has been enabled to recognize that it is
governed and established by the benevolent providence
of the immortal gods. Ιt passes belief to say
how grateful, how exceeding pleasant and agreeable,
it has proved to us that you have given a very great
proof of your godly disposition ; since even before
this none could be ignorant what regard and piety
you were displaying towards the immortal gods, in
After other remarks he adds: “Let them behold
in the broad plains the crops already ripe with waving
ears of corn, the meadows, thanks to opportune rains,
brilliant with plants and flowers, and the weather
that has been granted us temperate and very mild;
further, let all rejoice since through our piety, through
the sacrifices and veneration we have rendered, the
most powerful and intractable air has been propitiated,
and Ιet them take pleasure in that they therefore
enjoy the most serene peace securely and in
quiet. Αnd let as many as have been wholly rescued
from that blind folly and error and returned to a
right and goodly frame of mind rejoice indeed the
“Αnd that you may know how pleasing this your request has been to us, and how fully disposed to benevolence our soul is, of its own accord apart from petitioins and entreaties: we permit your Devotedness to ask whatsoever bounty you wish, return for this your godly intent. Αnd now let it be your resolve so to do and receive. For you will obtain your bounty without delay, the granting of which to your city will furnish a testimony for evermore of our godly piety towards the immortal gods, and a proof to your sons and descendants that you have met with the due meed οf reward from our benevolence on account of these your principles of conduct."
This was emblazoned against us in every province,
excluding every ray οf hope from our condition, at
least as far as human help is concerned; so that, in
accordance with the divine oracle itself, if possible
VIII. The customary rains, indeed, and showers οf the then prevailing winter season were withholding their usual downpour upon the earth, and we were visited with an unexpected famine, and on top of this a plague and an outbreak οf another kind of disease. This later was an ulcer, which on account of its fiery character was called an anthrax. 2 Spreading as it did οver the entire body it used to endanger greatly its victims ; but it was the eyes that it marked οut for special attack, and so it was the means of blinding numbers οf men as well as women and children.
In addition to this, the tyrant had the further trouble οf the war against the Armenians, men who from ancient times had been friends and allies of the Romans; but as they were Christians and exceedingly eamest in their piety towards the Deity, this hater of God, by attempting to compel them to sacrifice to idols and demons, made of them foes instead οf friends, and enemies instead οf allies.
The fact that all these things came together all at
οnce, at οne and the same time, served to refute
utterly the tyrant's insolent boasting against the
Deity ; for he used to affirm insolently that, on
Such were the wages received for the proud boasting of Maximin and for the petitions presented by the cities against us; while the proofs of Christians' zeal and piety in every respect were manifest to all the heathen. For example, they alone in such an evil state of affairs gave practical evidence of their sympathy and humanity: all day long some of them would diligently persevere in performing the last offices for the dying and burying them (for there were countless numbers, and no one to look after them); while others would gather together in a single assemblage the multitude of those who all throughout the city were wasted with the famine, and distribute bread to them all, so that their action was on all men's lips, and they glorified the God of the Christians, and, convinced by the deeds themselves, acknowledged that they ere truly pious and God-fearing.
Αfter these things were thus accomplished, God,
he great and heavenly Champion of the Christians,
hen Ηe had displayed Ηis threatening and wrath
gainst all men by the aforesaid means, in return for
heir exceeding great attacks against us, once again
estored to us the bright and kindly radianee of His
rovidential care for us. Most marvellously, as in
thick darkness, Ηe caused the light of peace to
hine upon us from Himself, and made it manifest
o all that God Himself had been watching over our
ffairs continually, at times scourging and in due
eason correcting Ηis people by means of misfortunes,
nd again on the other hand after sufficient chastisement
ΙX. Thus in truth Constantine, who, as aforesaid,1 was Emperor and sprung from an Emperor, pious and sprung from a most pious and in every respect most prudent father, and Licinius, who ranked next to him—both honoured for their and piety—were stirred up by the King of God of the universe and Saviour, two men beloved of God, against the two most impious tyrants; and when war was formally engaged, God proved their ally 2 in the most wonderful manner, and Maxentius fell at Rome at the hands of Constantine; while he 3 of the Εast did not long survive him, for he too perished by a most disgraceful death at the hands of Licinius, 4 who had not yet become mad. 4
But to resume. Constantine, the superior of the
Emperors in rank and dignity, vas the first to take
pity on those subjected to tyranny at Rome; and,
calling in prayer upon God who is in heaven, and His
Word, even Jesus Christ the Saviour of all, as his ally,
he advanced in full force, seeking to secure for the
Romans their ancestral liberty. Maxentius, to be
sure, put his trust rather in devices of magic than in
the goodwill of his subjects, and in truth did not dare
to advance even beyond the ’s gates, but with an
innumerable multitude of heavy-armed soldiers and
countless bodies of legionaries secured every place
and district and city that had been reduced to
slavery by him in the environs of Rome and in all
Thus verily, through the breaking of the bridge
οver the river, the passage across collapsed, and down
went the boats all at once, men and all, into the deep;
Αnd after this Constantine himself, and with him the emperor Licinius, 1 whose mind was not yet deranged by the madness into Which he afterwards fell, 1 having propitiated God as the Αuthor of all their good fortune, both with one will and purpose drew up a most perfect law2 in the fullest terms on behalf οf the Christans 3; and to Maximin, who was still ruler of the provinces of the East and playing at being their friend, they sent on an account of the marvellous things that God had done for them, as well as of their victory over the tyrant, and the law itself. Αnd he, tyrant that he was, was greatly troubled at the intelligence; but, not wishing to seem to yield to others, nor yet to suppress the command through fear of those who had enjoined it, as if of his own motion he penned perforce this first letter on behalf of the Christians to the governors under him; in which he belies himself, and feigns that he had done things he never had.
Copy of a Translation of the Epistle of the Tyrant
“Jovius Μaximinus Augustus to Sabinus. I am
persuaded that it is manifest both to thy Firmness
and to all men that our masters Diocletian and
Maximian, our fathers, when they perceived that
“ Therefore, although special letters have been
written to thy Devotedness before this time, and
likewise it has been laid down by ordinances that no
harsh measures should be adopted against provincials
who have a mind to persevere in such a custom, but
that men should deal with them in a long-suffering
and adaptable spirti : nevertheless that they may
not suffer insults or extortions at the hands of the
beneficiarii 3 or any others whatsoever, Ι think it
right by this letter also to put thy Firmness in mind
that thou shouldest cause our provincials to recognize
the attention they owe to the gods rather by
persuasive words and exhortations. Wherefore if
any should make it his resolve that the worship of
the gods should be recognized, it is fitting to welcome
sueh persons; but if some desire to follow their own
worship, thou shouldest leave it in their own power.
Since he issued these commands under the compulsion of necessity and not of his own free will, no one any longer regarded him as truthful or even trustworthy, because after a similar concession he had already on a former occasion showed himself to be changeable and false of disposition. Νone of our people therefore dared to convene an assembly or to present himself in public, beeause the letter did not allow him even this. This alone it laid down, that we should be kept from harsh treatment, but it gave no orders about holding meetings or erecting chureh-buildings or practising any of our customary acts. Αnd yet the adnocates of peace and piety, [Constantine had Licinius], had written to him to allow this, and had conceded it to all their subjects by means of edicts and laws. In truth, this monster of iniquity had resolved not to give in as regards this matter ; until he was smitten by the divine Justice, and at the last against his will forced to do so.
X. The following were the circumstance that
hemmed him in. Ηe was unable to carry on the
vast government with which he had been undeservedly
entrusted ; but, lacking a prudent and
But when he joined battle, he found himself
bereft of divine Providence, for, by the direction of
Ηim who is the one and only God of all, the victory
was given to Licinius who was then ruling. First of
all, the armed soldiers in whom he had trusted were
destroyed ; and when his bodyguard had left him
defenceless and wholly deserted, and had gone over
to him who was ruling,1 the wretched man
himself with all speed of the imperial insignia that
ill became him, and in a cowardly, base and unmanly
way quietly slipt into the crowd. Then he ran about
here and there, hiding himself in the helds and
villages ; and for all his courting of safety he escaped
with difficulty the hands of his enemies, his deeds
themselves proclaiming how very trustworthy and
true are the divine oracles, in which it has been said :
Νow the law issued by him was as follows :
Copy of a Translation of the Ordinance of the Tyrant οn behalf of the Christians, made from the Latin tongue into the Greek.
“ The Emperor Caesar Gaius Valerius Maximinus
Germanicus, Sarmaticus, Ρius Felix Invictus Augustus.
We beheve that no one is ignorant, nay that
every man who has recourse to the facts knows and
is conscious that it is manifest, that in every way we
take unceasing thought for the good of our provincials,
and desire to grant them such things as are
best calculated to secure the advantage of all, and
“ That, therefore, for the future all suspicion or
doubt arising from fear may be removed, we have
decreed that this ordinance be published, so that it
may be plain to all that those who desire to follow
These are the words of the tyrant that came less than a whole year after the ordinances against the Christians, set up by him on tablets ; and he who a short while previously looked upon us as impious and godless and the pests of society, so that we were not pennirted to dwen in, I will not say, a city, but even a spot in the counrty or a desert — this same person drew up ordinances and legislation on behalf οf the Christians ; and those who shortly before were being destroyed by fire and sword and given to wild beasts and birds for food before his eyes, and were enduring every kind of chastisement and punishment and loss of life in the most pitiable manner, as if they were godless and wicked, these he now allows both to observe their fonn worship and to build churches ; and the tyrant himself confesses that they possess certain rights !
Αnd when he had made these confessions, as if meeting with some kind of reward on this very account—that is, suffering less, to be sure, than behoved him to suffer—he was smitten all at once a stroke of God, and perished in the second οf the war. But the circumstances of his death were not such as fall to the lot of generah on a campaign, who time after time contend bravely on behalf of virtue and friends, and with a good courage meet a glorious end in battle ; but he suffered his due punishment like an impious enemy of God, skulking at home while his army was still stationed in battlearray on the neld. Αll at once he was smitten by a stroke of God over his whole body, with the result that he fell prone under the onslaught of terrible pains and agonies; he was wasted by hunger, and his flesh entirely consumed by an invisible, divinelysent fire; the form which his body once possessed wasted away and there and there remained only a form οf dry bones, like some phantom shape long since reduced to a skeleton, so that those present could not but think that his body become the tomb of his soul, which had been buried in what was now a corpse and completely wasted away. Αnd as the heat consumed him still more foerce;u in the very depths οf his marrow, his eyes projected, and falling from their sockets 1 left him blind. Yet he still breathed in this condition, and making confession to the Lord invoked death. So with his last breath he acknowledged that he suffered thus justly because of his violence against Christ ; and then gave up the ghost.
XI. when Maximin was thus removed — he who as the only οne left οf the enemies of godliness, d showed himself the worst of al — by the grace of Almightly God the renewal of the churches from the foundation was set on foot, and the word of Christ received a due increase upon its fonner freedom, and was clearly heard to the glory of the God of the universe; ; while the impiety οf the enemies of godlness was covered with the most abject shame and dishonour. For Maximin himself was the first to be proclaimed by the rulers as a common enemy οf all, and posted in public edicts on tablets as a most impious, most hateful and God-hating tyrant. As to the portraits which were set up in every city to his honour and that of his children, some were hurled from a height to the ground and smashed to pieces, others had their faces blackened over with darkcoloured paint and so rendered useless ; the statues likewise, as many as had been set up in his honour, were cast down and broken in the same manner, and lay as an object of merriment and sport to those who wished to insult or abuse them.
Next, all the honours of the other enemies of godliness
also were taken away, and all who were οf the
arty of Maximin were slain, especially those in
high government positions who had been honoured
by him, and who indulged in violent abuse against
our doctrine in order to fawn upon him. such was
Peucetius, a man whom he honoured and respected
above all, the truest of his friends, consul a second
and a third time, and appointed by him general
finance minister; such likewise was Culeianus, who
had gone through every grade of offiee in the government,
the same person who gloried in the murder
So it was that Theotecnus also was summoned by Justice, who in no wise consigned to oblivion what he did against the Christians. For after he had set up the idol 1 at Antioch, he seemed to be prospering, and had actually been deemed worthy of a governorship by Maximin; but when Licinius came to the city οf the Antiochenes, he made a search for charlatans, and plied with tortures the the prophets and priests of the new-made idol, to find out by what contrivance they were practising this deceit. Αnd when the infliction of the tortures made concealment impossible for them, and they revealed that the whole mystery was a deceit manufactured by the art of Theotecnus, he inflicted a just punishment upon them all, putting to death, arter a long series οf tortures, first neotecnus himself, and then also the partners in his charlatanry.
To all these were added the sons οf Maximin,
whom he had already caused to share the imperial
dignity and to be set up in paintings and pictures.2
Αnd those who formerly boasted kinship with the
tyrant and were moved by pride to lord it οver all
men underwent the same sufferings, accompanied
by the most abject disgrace, as those mentioned
above; for they received not correction, nor did
they know or understand the exhortatlon in the
sacred books which says : “ Ρut not your trust ln
princes, in the sons of men, in whom there is no help
His breath shall go forth and he shall return to his
CONTENTS OF BOOK X
The Τenth Book of the Ecclesiastical History contains the following:
I. On the peace vouchsafed to us from God.
II. On the restoration of the churches.
III. On the dedications in every place.
IV Panegyric οn the joyful condiition of affairs.
V. Copies of imperial laws having reference to the Christians.
VI. Οn the exemption from public service granted to the clerics.
VII. On the subsequent wiekedness οf Lieinius and his tragic end.
VIII. On the victory Constantine and the blessings which he was the means of procuring for the subjects of the Roman Empire.
BOOK X
I. Thanks be to God, the Almighty and King of the universe, for all things; and abundant thanks be also the Saviour and Redeemer of our souls, Jesus Christ, through whom we pray continually that peace from troubles without and troubles in the heart may be preserved for us stedfast and unidsturbed.
Αnd having now added, while we pray, the tenth tome also of the Ecclesiastical History to those which preceded it, we shall dedicate this tome to thee, my οst holy Paulinus, 1 invoking thee as the seal of the whole work; and fitly in a perfect number we shall here place the perfect and panegyrical discourse on the restoration of the churches, in obediencce to the divine Spirit who thus exhorts us: “O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: His right hand, and His holy arm, hath wrought salvation for him. The Lord hath made wn his salvation: His righteousness hath Ηe revealed in the sight of the heathen.
Αnd verily, in accordance with the oracle, which
thus bids us, let us now cry aloud the new song, since,
after those terrible and gloomy spectacle and
narratives, we were accounted worthy now to behold
The whole race of God's enemies had verily been
moved even as we have stated, 1 and in a moment
lotted out of men's sight; so that once more a divine
ying hath fulfilment, that which says: “I have seen
e wicked in great power, and lifted up like the cedars
f Leganon. Αnd I passed by, and, lo, he was not:
d I sought his place, and it was not ”
nd how henceforth a day bright and radiant with
ys of heavenly light, overshadowed by never a
ud, shone down upon the churches of Christ
ughout the whole world ; nor were even those
utisde οur society 2 grudged, if not the equal enjoyment
II. So the whole human race was freed from the oppression οf the tyrants. Αnd, delivered from his former ills, each one after his own fashion acknowledged as the only true God Him who was the Champion of the pious. But we especially, who had fixed οur hopes upon the Christ of God, had gladness kable, and a divine joy blossomed in the hearts of us as we beheld every place, which a short time re had been laid in ruins by the tyrants' deeds, now reviving as if after a long and deadly destruction, and temples rising once more from their foundations to a boundless height, and receiving in far greater measure the magnificence of those that formerly had been destroyed.
Yea, and Emperors, the most exalted, by successive enacbnents on bahalf of the Christians, confirmed still further and more widely God's bounty towards us; and bishops constantly received even personal letters from the Emperor, and honours and gifts οf money. It may not be unfitting at the proper place in this work, as on a sacred monument, to insert in this book the text of these documents, translated from Latin into Greek, so that they may also be preserved in remembrance by all those who come after us.
III. After this there was brought about that
spectacle for which we all prayed and longed:
festivals of dedication in the cities and consecrations
οf the newly-built houses of prayer, assemblages of
bishops, comings together of those from far off
foreign lands, kindly acts on the part of laity towards
laity, union between the members οf Crist's body
Moreover every one of the Church's rulers that were present, accorffing to his ability, delivered panegyrical orations, inspiring the assembly.
IV. Αnd a certain one of moderate parts 1 advanced into the midst, having composed a discourse; and, in the presence of very many pastors who gave it a quiet and orderly hearing as in a chureh assembly, he delivered the following oration, addressed personally to a single bishop who was in every respect most excellent and beloved of God, by whose zeal and enthusiasm the temple in Tyre, surpassing in splendour all οthers in Phoenicia, had been erected:
Panegyric on the building of the churches, addressed to Paulinus, bishop of the Tyrians:
“Ο friends of God and priests who are clothed with
the holy robe1 and the celestial crown of glory, the
divine unction and the Ρriestly garb of the Holy
Spirit; and thou, Ο youthful pride of God's holy
temple, honoured indeed by God with revered wisdom,
yet noted for the choiee deeds and acts of a
youthful virtue that cometh to its prime, upon whom
Ηe who compasseth the whole world hath bestowed
the especial honour of building Ηis house upon earth,
and restoring it for Christ Ηis only-begotten
firstborn Word and for Christ's holy and reverend
Bride-whether one should call thee a new
the architeet of a divine tabernacle, or Solomon the
king of a new and far goodlier Jerusalem, or even a
new Zerubbabel who bestowed upon the temple of
God that glory which greatly exceeded the former;
and you also, ye nurslings of the sacred flock of Christ,
–place of goodly words, school of sobriety,
auditory of godliness grave and dear to God: Long
ago, as we listened to the reading aloud of those
passages of Holy Writ which told of the miraculous
signs that God gave and the wondrous deebs that the
Lord wrought for the serviee of men we could
hymns and songs to God and say, even as we were
taught: ‘We have heard with our ears, Ο God, our
fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their
days, in the days of old.’ But now indeed no
longer by hearing or by report do we learn of the
stretched out arm and the heavenly right hand of
“Αnd may we never cease to praise aloud in these
Words the Father οf the universe. But as for Him who
is the second cause of our good things, Who brought
men to the knowledge of God, the Teacher of true
piety, the Destroyer of the wicked, the Slayer of
tyrants, the Εmender οf human life, our saviour
when we were in despair, even Jesus, let us honour
Ηis name upon our lips; for Ηe alone, as being the
οne only, all-gracious Son of an all-gracious
since the Father in His love for man so ordained it,
right willingly put οn the nature of us, even of
those who anywhere lay low in corruption. And
like some excellent physician, who, to save those
who are sick, ‘though he sees the ills yet touches
the foul spots, and for another's misfortunes reaps
suffering for himself,’1 so Ηe by Ηimself saved
the very abyss of death us who were not merely
sick or oppressed by grievous sores and wounds already
putrifying, but even lying among the dead; for none
“Αnd when at this great grace and benefaction
the envy that hateth the good, even the demon that
loveth the evil, was torn asunder with wrath, so to
speak, and was marshalling all his death-dealing
forces against us, at first raging like a dog which
gnaweth with his teeth at the stone hurled at him
and venteth on the lifeless missiles hls fury agamst
those who would drive him away, he ffirected his
ferocious madness against the stones of the houses
οf prayer and the lifeless materials of which the buildings
were composed, to work (as at least he thought
within himself) the ruin οf the churches; then he
emitted his dread hissings and serpent-like sounds, at
“Αnd rightly so. For what king ever attained to
so much virtue as to ml the ears and tongues of all
mankind upon earth with his name 7. what king,
when he had laid down laws so good and wise, Was
powerful enough to cause them to be published from
the ends of the earth and too the bounds οf the whole
world in the hearing of all mankind? who abolished
the barbarous and uncivilized customs of uncivilized
nations by his civilized and most humane laws ?
Who, when warred on by all men for whole ages, gave
such proof of superhuman might as to flourish daily
and remain young throughout his entire life? Who
established a nation never even heard οf since time
hegan, which now lieth not hidden in some obscure
corner οf the earth but extendeth wherever the sun
shineth? Who so defended his soldiers with the
weapons of piety that their souls proved harder than
adamant when they contended with their adversaries ?
Which of the king exerciseth so great a sway,
taketh the Reld after death, triumpheth οver enemies,
and filleth every plaee and district and city, both
Greek and barbarian, with votive offerings οf his
royal houses and divine temples, such as the fair
ornaments and offerings that we see in this temple ?
Truly venerable and great are these Same things,
worthy οf amazement and wonder, and in themselves
clear proofs of the sovereignty of οur saviour: for
even now Ηe spake, and they were made; Ηe
“But they verily, engaging like giants in battle
against God, have thus brought their lives to a miserable
end; while the issue of that godly enduranee
on the part of her who was deserted and rekected
by men was such as we have seen; so that the
propheey of Isaiah ealleth aloud unto her in these
words: ‘Be glad, Ο thirsty desert; let the desert rejoice
and blossom as a lily; and the desert places shall
blossom forth and rejoice. . . . Be strong, ye hands that
“Now these things, foretold long ago had been
recorded in the sacred books in words; howbeti the
deeds have come down to us no longer by hearsay,
but in actual fact. This desert, this waterless plaee,
this widowed and defenceless one, whose gates they
cut down with axes as in a thicket of trees; whom
together with hatchet and hammer they brake down;
whose books also they destroyed and set ond frie the
sanetuary of God; they profaned the dwelling-place
of His name to the ground; whom all they which
pass by the way did pluck, having before broken down
her fences, whome the boar out of the wood did ravage
and on whom the solitary wild beast did feed:
now by the miraculous power of Christ, when Ηe
willeth it, hath become as a lily. For at that time
also by His command, as of a careful father, she was
chastened. For whom the Lord loveth Ηe chasteneth,
and scourgeth every son whom Ηe receiveth. So
then, after being corrected in due measure, once
more again She is bidden anew to rejoice, alld she,
blossoms forth as a lily and breathes upon all men of
her divine, sweet odour; for, saith he, water broke
out in the desert, the streams of the divine regeneration
that the washing of salvation bestoweth; and
that which a short time before was deert hath now
become marsh-meadows, and a fountain of living
water hath burst forth upon the thirsty ground; and
“Thus, then, the whole area that he enclosed was
uch larger. 2 The outer enclosure he made strong
“But verily, passing by this spectacle, he hath own οpen passages to the temple by means of nermost porches in still greater numbers, once again der the rays οf the sun placing three gates on οne de, upon the middle one of which he hath bestowed height and side that far surpasseth the two on either ide, and hath singled it out for special adornment ith bronze fastenings bound with iron and varied bossed work, making the others a bodyguard, as were, beneath it as their queen. Αnd after the e manner he hath also ordered the number of the rches for the colonnades on either side of the tire temple; and above them hath derised as well parate opening into the building to give still further ght; and for these also he hath wrought a varied ornment with delicately-carved wood.
‘‘Νow as to the royal house, 1 he hath builded it of thundant and still richer materials, eagerly desiring spare no expenses. I deem it superfluous for me to escribe here the length and breadth of the edifice, recount in full the brilliant beauty, the magnitude words can express, and the dazzling appearance οf e workmanship, yea, and the loftniness that reacheth eaven, and the costly cedars of Lebanon that are hced above; the mention of which even the divine acle doth not pass over in silence, sayinn: ‘The ees of the Lord shall be glad, even the cedars οf banon which he hath planted.’
“Why need I now speak more partieularly οf the
perfect widom and art with which the building hath
been ordered, and the surpassing beauty οf every
part, when the witness of the eyes leaveth no plaee
for the instruction that cometh through the ears?
“Νor did even the pavement, as one might suppose, escape his care. This also, for example, he hath made exceeding brilliant with every kind of fair marble; and then, finally, passing on outside the temple as well, he hath construeted chambers and building on either side, very large, the which he hath skilfully μnited together to the sides ofthe royal house,1 and These with the openings into the central building. These also were wrought by our most peaceful solomon, who builded the temple of God, for those who still have need of cleansing and sprinkling with water and the Ηoly spirit, insomuch that the aforesaid said prophecy 2 is no longer a word only, but is become a fact. For the latter glory of this house hath become, and in truth even now is, greater than the fonner.
“For it was meet and right that, as her shepherd
and Lord had suffered οnce for all death on her behalf,
and after the Ρassion had changed the foul body with
which Ηe had clothed Ηinself for her sake into His
splendid and glOrious body, and brought the very
flesh that was dissoleved from corruption into incor-
“With these words, then, she danceth. But with
hat words the Bridegroom also, even the heavenly
ord, Jesus Christ Ηimself, answereth her, hear the
rd as Ηe saith: ‘Fear not for that thou hast been
ut to shame; neither dread for that thou hast
en put to reproach: for thou shalt forget thy everything
shame, and the reproach of thy widowhood
“These things Isaiah prophesied, these things had οf οld been recorded concerning us in sacred books; but it was neeessary that somehow we should come to learn their truthfulness at some time by facts. Moreover, since the Brdegroom, even the Word, thus addresseth Ηis Bride, the sacred and Ηοly church, fittingly did this paranymph 1 streteh out your hands in the common prayers of you all, and awake and raise up her who was desolate, who lay like a corpse, οf whom men despaired, by the will of God the universal King and the manifestation οf the power οf Jesus Christ; and having raised he restored her to be such as he learnt from the record of the sacred oracles.
“Α mightly wonder truly is this, and surpassing all
amazement, especially in the eyes of such as take
heed only to the appearance of outward things. But
more wonderful than wonders are the archetypes,
the rational prototypes of these things, and their
divine models, 2 I mean the renewal οf the God-given,
spirtual edince in our souls. This edifice the Son of
God Himself created in Ηis own image, and everywhere
and in all things hath bestowed upon it the
divine likeness, an incorruptible nature, an essence
incorporeal, spiritual, a stranger to all earthly matter
and endowed with intelligence of its οwn; once for
all at the first Ηe fonned it into being from that which
was not, and hath made it a holy bride and an allsacred
temple for Himself and the Father. Αnd this
“But when through the envy and jealousy οf demon which loveth evil she became of her own free choice a lover of that which is sensual and evil, and the Deity departed from her, leaving her bereft οf a protector, she fell an easy capture and prey to the snares of those who long had enried her; and, laid low by the engines and machines of her invisible enemies and spiritual foes, she fell a tremendous fall, so that not even one stone upon another of her virtue remained standing in her; nay, she lay her full length upon the ground, absolutely dead, altogether deprived of her inborn thoughts concerning God. Yea, verily, as she lay fallen there, she who was made in the image of God, it was not that boar οut of the wood which we can see that ravaged her, but some death-dealing demon and spiritual wild beasts, who also have inflamed her with their passions as with fiery darts of their οwn wickedness, and have set the truly divine sanctuary of God on fire, and have profaned the dwelling-place of Ηis name to the ground; then they buried the hapless οne in a great heap οf earth, and brought her to a state bereft of all hope of salvation.
“But her Guardian, the Word, the divinely-bright
and saving one, when she had paid the just penalty
for her sins, once more again rertored her, hearkening
to the living-kindness οf an all-gracious Father.
“Building verily in righteousness, 1 he duly divided
the whole people according to their several abilities;
with some he fenced the outer enclosure and this
alone, surrounding it with a wall of unerring faith
(and this was the great multitude of the people who
were unable to support a mightier structure); to
others he entrusted the entrances to the house,
setting them to haunt the doors and guide the steps
of those entering, wherefore they have not unnaturally
been reckoned as gateways of the temple;
he supported with the first outer pillars that are
about the quadrangular courtyard, bringing them to
their first acquaintance with the letter of the four
Gospels. Others he joineth closely to the royal
house on either side, still indeed under instruction
and in the stage of progressing and advancing, yet
not far off nor greatly separated from the faithful
who possess the divine vision of that which is innermost.
Taking from the number of these last the
pure souls that have been cleansed like gold by the
divine washing, he then supporteth some of them
with pillars much greater than the outermost, from
the innermost mystic teachings of the Scriptures,
while others he illumineth with apertures towards
the light. The whole temple he adorneth with a
single, mighty gateway, even the praise of the οne
and only God, the universal King; and on either
side of the Father's sovereign power he provideth
the secondary beams of the light of Christ and the
Ηoly Spirit. Αs to the rest, throughout the whole
house he showeth in an abundant and much varied
manner the clearness and splendour of the truth that
is in each one, in that everywhere and from every
source he hath included the living and firmly set and
“Νow there are also in this fane thrones and countless
benches and seats, as manv as are the souls on
which the gifts of the divine Spirit find their restingplace;
such as long ago appeared to the sacred
Apostles and those that were with them, to whom
there were manifested tongues parting asunder, like
as of fire ; and it sat upon each one of them. But
while in the ruler of all, as is right, the entire Christ
hath taken Ηis seat, in those who have the second
place after him [this bounty] is proportioned to each
one's capacity, by gifts of the power of Christ and of
the Ηoly Ghost. Αnd the souls of some might be
the seats even of angels, of of those to whom the instruction
and guarding of each several person hath been
committed. But as to the reverend, mighty and
unique altar, what might it be save the spotless
holy of holies of the common priest of all ? 1 Standing
beside it on the right hand the great High Ρriest of
the universe, even Jesus, the only-begotten of
receiveth with joyful countenance and uptunrned
hands the sweet-smelling incense from all, and
bloodless and immaterial sacrifices offered in prayer,
and sendeth them on their way to the heavenly
Father and God of the universe; Whom He Himself
first adoreth and alone rendereth to His Father the
honour that is due; after which Ηe also beseecheth
“Such is the great temple which the Word, the
great Creator of the universe, hath builded throughout
the whole world beneath the sun, forming again
this spiritual image upon earth of those vaults beyond
the vaults of heaven; so that by the whole creation
and by the rational, living creatures upon earth His
Father might be honoured and revered. But as for
the region above the heavens and the models there
of things on this earth, and the Jerusalem that is
above, as it is called, and the mount Ζion the
heavenly mount, and the supramundane city of the
living God, in which innumerable hosts of angels in
general assembly and the church οf the firstborn who
are enrolled in heaven honour their Maker and the
Sonereign of the universe, proclaiming Ηis praises in
unutterable words of which we cannot conceive:
these no mortal man can worthily hymn, for in truth
eye saw not, and ear heard not, nor did there enter
into the heart of man those same things which God
prepared for them that love Ηim. Of these things
now in part deemed worthy, let us all together, men
with women and children, small and great, with one
spirit and one soul, never cease to praise and acclaim
Him who is the Αuthor of so great blessings to us ;
who is very merciful to all our iniquities, who healeth
all our diseases, who redeemeth our life from destruction,
who crowneth us with mercy and pities, who
satisfieth our desire with good things; for Ηe hath
not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us after
‘‘Let us rekindle the memories οf these things both now and for all time hereafter; yea, and let us keep our minds night and day, through every and, one might say, in every breath, the Αuthor the present assembly, and this happy and most lorious day, even the Ruler of the assembly Himself; let us cherish and revere Him with the whole wer οf our soul; and now let us rise and beseech in loud accents, as befitteth our earnest desire, at at He would shelter and preserve us to the end in is fold, and award us that eternal peace, unbroken undisturbed, which cometh cometh from Him, in Christ esus our Saviour, through whom to Him be glory for er and ever. ”
V. But come, let us now quote also the translations made from the Latin of the imperial ordinances of nstantine and Licinus.
Copy of Imperial Ordinances translated from the Latin tongue.1
In our watchfulness in days gone by that freedom
f worship should not be denied, but that each οne
rding to his mind and purpose should have
uthority given him to care for divine things in the
“ When I Constantine Αugustus and I Lincinius
gustus had come under happy auspices to Milan,
d discussed all matters that concemed the public
vantage and good, among the other things that
eemed to be of benefit to the many 3—or rather,
first and foremost — we resolved to make sueh decrees
should secure respect and reverenee for the Deity Deity ;
namely, to grant both to the Christians and to all
free choice of following whatever form οf worship
ey pleased, to the intent that all the dirine and
eavenly powers that be might be favourable to us
d all those living under our authority. Therefore
with sound and most upright reasoning we resolved
this 4 counsel : that authority be refused to no οne
homsoever to follow and choose the observanee or
rm of worship that Christians use, and that authority
e granted to each one to give his mind to that form
f worship which he deems sritable to himself, to
e intent that the Dininity 5 . . . may in all things
ord us his wonted care and generosity. It was
omitting to send a rescript that this is οur pleasure, in
er that when those conditions had altogether been
at authority has been given to others also, who
h to follow their own observance and form of
rship—a thing clearly suited to the
our times—so that each one may have
choose and observe whatever form he pleases.
is has been done by us, to the intent that we
would not seem to have detraeted in any way from
y rith 2 or form of worship.
“Αnd this, moreover, with special regard to the
istians, we resolve: That their places, at which
was their former wont to assemble, coneerning
ich also in the former letter dispatched to thy
evotedness a definite ordinance 3 had been formerly
d down, if any should appear to have bought them
ther from our treasury οr from any οther source —
at these they should restore to these same
ristians without payment οr any demand for compensation.
“Αnd inasmuch as these same Christians had not only those places at whieh it was their wont to assemble, but also are known to have had Other, belonging not to indiniduals among them, but to the lawful property of their corporation, that is, of the Christians, all these, under the provisions of the law set forth above, thou wilt give orders to be restored without any question whatsoever to these same Christians, that is, to their corporation and assembly; provided always, of course, a aforesaid, that those persons who restoie the same without compensation, as we have mentioned above, may look for indemnification, as far as they are concerned, from our generosity.
“In all these things thou Shouldest use all the
diligence in thy power for the above-mentioned
corporation of the Christians, that this our command
may be fulfilled with all speed, so that in this
also, through our kindness, thought may be taken
for the common and publie peace. For by this
method, as we have also said before, the divine
Copy of another Imperial Ordinance which he also made, indicating that the bounty had been granted to the Catholic Church alone.
‘‘Greeting, Anulinus, our most honoured Sir.
It is the custom of οur benevolence, that we will
that whatsoever appertains by right to another
should not only not suffer harm, but even be restored,
most honoured Anulinus. Wherefore we will that,
when thou receivest this lerter, if aught of those
things that belonged to the catholic Church 2 of the
Christians in any city, or even in other plaees, be
now in the possession either of citizens or οf any
οthers: these thou shouldest cause to be restored
forthwith to these same churches, inasmueh as it has
been our determination that those things which
these same churches possessed formerly should be
restored to them as their right. Since, therefore,
thy Devotedness perceives that the order of this
our command is most explicit, do thy diligence that
Copy of an Imperial Letter, in which he commands holding of a Synod of bishops at Rome οn behalf of the union and concord of the churches.
“Constantine Augustus to Miltiades bishop of the
, and to Mark. Inasmuch as documents of
such a nature have been sent to me in numbers by
Anulinus, the right honourable proconsul of Africa,
m which it appears that Caecilian,1 the bishop of the
ity οf the Carthaginians, is called to aecount οn
many charges by some of his colleagues in Africa;
d inasmuch as it seems to me to be a very serious
tter that in those prorinces, which Dinine Pronience
has chosen to entrust to my Denotedness,
and where there is a great number of people, the
ultitude should be found pursring the worse course
f action, splitting up, as it were, and the bishops at
ariance mnong themselves: it seemed good to me
t Caecilian himself, with ten bishops, who seem
call him to account, and such ten others as he
ay deem necessary to his suit, should set sail for
me, that there a hearing may be granted him in
the presence of yourselves, and moreover οf Reticius
d Maternus and Marinus also, your colleagues
aditor, i.e. had surrendered up the Scriptures to the pagan
Copy of an Imperial Letter, in which he gives orders for the holding of a second Synod for the purpose of removing all dinision among the bishops.
“Constantine Αugustus to Chrestus bishop of the
Syracusans. Already on a former occasion, when
some in a base and perverse manner began to create
divisions with regard to the worship of the holy and
heavenly Ρower and the Catholic religion, in my
desire to cut short such dissensions among them,
I had given orders to the effect that certain bishops
should be sent from Gaul, nay further, that the
opposing parties, who were contending stubbornly
VI. Copy of an Imperial Letter in which grants of money are made to the churches.
“ Constantine Augustus to Caecilian bishop of
Carthage. Forasmuch as it has been our pleasure in
all provinces, namely the African, the Numidian and
the Mauretanian, that somewhat be contributed for
expenses to certrin specified ministers of the lawful
and most holy Catholic religion, I have dispatched a
letter to Ursus, the most distinguished finance
minister οf Africa, and have notified to him that he
be careful to pay οver to thy Firmness three thousand
folles.2 Do thou therefore, when thou shalt secure
delivery of the aforesaid sum of money, give orders
that this money be distributed among all the above-mentioned
persons in accordance with the schedule
VII. Copy of an Imperial Letter, in which he gives orders that presidents of the chursches be released from all public offices.
‘‘Greeting, Anulinus, our most honoured Sir.
Since from many facts it appears that the setting at
VIII. Such then were the gifts that the divine and
heavenly grace of our Saviour bestowed upon us by
Ηis appearing, and such was the abundance of good
things that the peace which came to us procured for
all mankind. Αnd thus Our happy state was celebrated
with rejoicings and festive assemblies. Nevertheless
First, he drove away every Christian from his
palace; thus by his own aet depriving himself,
wretched man, of the prayeis to God on his behalf,
which after the eustom of their fathers they are
taught to make for all men. Then he gave orders
that the soldiers in cities were to be singled out and
deprived of honourable rank, unless they chose to
sacrifce to demons.
And, moreover, these were but small matters when
judged by comparison with graver measures. What
need is there to mention singly and successively the
things done by this hater of God: how, to wit, this
most lawless οf men invented lawless laws? In fact,
with regard to those who were suffering under imprisonment,
he laid down a law that no one should
treat them humanely by distributing food, or have
pity on those who were perishing of hunger in bonds ;
and that no one should be kindly at all, or do any
kindly action, even When they were moved by mere
natural feeling to sympathize with their neighbours.
Αnd of his laws this one at least was quite openly
shameless and the harshert οf all, in its putting aside
of every civilized, natural feeling, by which also it was
enacted as a punishment that those who showed pity
should suffer the same as those whom they pitied, and
that those who humanely ministered should endure
the same punishment as those who were undergoing
it, and be consigned to bonds and imprisonment.
such were the ordinances of Lincinius. Why should
one recount his innovations with regard to marriage,
οr his revolutionary changes in respect of those who
were departing this life, wherein he dared to annul
the aneient laws of the Romans well and wisely laid
down, and in their stead brought in certain that were
For when Licinius had carried his madness to the
Thus was licinius cast down prostrate. But Constantine the most mighty Victor, resplendent with every virtue that godliness bestows, together with his son Crispus, an Emperor most dear to God and in all respects like unto his father, recovered the Εast that belonged to them, and formed the Roman Εmpire, as in the days of old, into a single united whole, bringing under their peaceful rule all of it, from the rising sun round about in the two directions, north as well as south, even to the uttermost limits of the declining day. So then, there was taken away from men all fear of those who formerly oppressed them; they celebrated brilliant festivals; all things were filled with light, and men, formerly downcast, looked at each other with smiling countenanees and beaming eyes; with daneing and hymns in city and country alike they gave honour first of all to God the universal King, for this they had been instrueted to do, and, then to the pious Emperor with his sons beloved of God; old ills were forgotten and oblivion cast on every deed of impiety; present good things were enjoyed, with the further hope of those which were yet for to come. Αnd, in short, there ẁ̀ere promulgated in every plaee ordinances of the victorious Emperor full of love for humanity, and las that betokened munificence and true piety. Thus verily, when all tyranny had been purged away, the kingdom that belonged to them was preserved stedfast and undisputed for Constantine and his sons alone;