Eusebius of Caesarea, in his Ecclesiastical History (6.41-42), quotes a letter in Greek by Dionysios, bishop of Alexandria (Egypt), who, in 250/1, informs Phabios, bishop of Antioch (Syria), about martyrdoms in Egypt during the recent Decian persecution; 27 martyrs are named. Written in Greek in Palestine, 311/325.
Evidence ID
E00277
Type of Evidence
Literary - Letters
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Major author/Major anonymous work
Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.41-42
Summary:
The letter enumerates the cases and names of over 27 people, who died violently during outbreaks of violence in Alexandria and the rest of Egypt. The following names are mentioned: Metras, Kointa (Quinta), Paulos, Apollōnia, Serapiōn, Ioulianos, Kroniōn or Eunous, Ioulianos, Bēsas, Makar, Epimachos, Alexandros, Ammōnarion the virgin, Merkouria, Dionysia, Hērōn, Atēr, Isidōros, Dioskoros, Nemesiōn the Egyptian, an unnamed band of soldiers, Ammōn, Zēnōn, Ptolemaios, Ingenēs, Theophilos, Ischyriōn, and numerous unnamed martyrs. Several people perished in exile, fleeing to the wilderness or the mountains, such as the bishop of Neilopolis, Chairēmōn, and his wife, who fled into the mountains and never returned.
Text: Schwartz et al. 1999
Summary: E. Rizos
Non Liturgical ActivityComposing and translating saint-related texts
Composing and translating saint-related texts
Transmission, copying and reading saint-related texts
Source
Eusebius lived in Caesarea Maritima in Palestine between c. AD 260 and 340. He was a pupil and friend of the martyred Christian intellectual Pamphilus. Under Constantine, he emerged as one of the most influential Christian figures of the Roman Empire, and was ordained bishop of Caesarea.Written between 311 and 325, Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History is the first literary work to employ the methodology and objectives of classical historiography – which, since Herodotus and Thucydides, had traditionally focused on military and political events – in a novel field, the history of the Christian community. The first paragraphs of the work outline its chronological framework and thematic range: it is a narrative of events in the life of the Christian community from the times of Christ and the Apostles to the times of Eusebius (c. AD 260-340); it records the leaders of the most important communities (i.e. successions of bishops in Alexandria, Antioch, Rome and Jerusalem); it records the most notable exponents of Christian doctrine and their works, and also the main heresies and their proponents; it finally records persecutions and people that suffered and were martyred during them.
The Ecclesiastical History is mostly a synthesis of quotations and summaries from other sources, for which Eusebius often gives concrete references. Thus his work preserves excerpts from early Christian texts which do not survive in their full form. Eusebius’ source material consists mostly of Greek texts, originating from Christian communities in Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. These areas constitute the main geographical range of his narrative, while his information about Christianity in the western provinces of the Roman Empire (except Rome) is very limited. The text survives in several Greek manuscripts, in a Latin translation by Rufinus, and in Syriac and Armenian translations.
Discussion
Most of Book 6 of the Ecclesiastical History discusses events from Egypt, using Greek sources including an extensive dossier of letters by Dionysios, bishop of Alexandria. The letter of Dionysios to Phabios informing him about the woes of the Christian community in Egypt represents a standard practice among Christian communities of the early period, which kept in contact and informed each other of such incidents. In content, structure and themes, it is reminiscent of the Letter of the Churches of Lyon and Vienne (E00216). It opens with a short introduction revealing that hostility against Christians was kindled by an unnamed pagan priest even before the publication of the imperial decrees of Decius. The letter closes, much like the letter on the Martyrs of Lyon and Vienne, by stressing the lenient attitude of the martyrs towards those who lapsed into sacrificing during the persecution. The latter was a major point of disagreement between the catholic and various rigorist groupings from the late 2nd century onwards. It features prominently in both the Letter of the Churches of Lyon and Vienne (E00216) and the Martyrdom of Pionios (E00096).Despite the special attention given to this text by the church historian, the martyrs mentioned by the letter of Dionysios are not identifiable with any confidence in later hagiography.
Bibliography
Edition:Schwartz, E., Mommsen, T., and Winkelmann, F., Eusebius Werke II: Die Kirchengeschichte. 3 vols. (Die Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte NF 6/1-3; Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1999).
Translations:
Lake, K., Oulton, J.E.L., and Lawlor, H.J., Eusebius of Caesarea: The Ecclesiastical History. 2 vols. (Loeb Classical Library; London and Cambridge, MA: Heinemann and Harvard University Press, 1926).
Williamson, G.A., and Louth, A., Eusebius: The History of the Church from Christ to Constantine (London: Penguin, 1989).
Further reading:
Chesnut, G. The First Christian Histories: Eusebius, Socrates, Sozomen, Theodoret, and Evagrius. Atlanta: Mercer University, 1986.
Record Created By
Efthymios Rizos
Date of Entry
12/03/2015
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00045 | Metras, martyr of Alexandria | Μητρᾶς | Certain | S00046 | Kointa, martyr of Egypt | Κοΐντα | Certain | S00060 | Martyrs, unnamed or name lost | Certain | S00113 | Paulos, martyr of Egypt | Παῦλος | Certain | S00153 | Apollonia, martyr of Egypt | Ἀπολλωνία | Certain | S00154 | Serapiōn, martyr of Egypt | Σεραπίων | Certain | S00155 | Ioulianos, Decian martyr of Alexandria | Ἰουλιανὸς | Certain | S00219 | Kroniōn or Eunous, Decian martyr of Egypt | Κρονίων, Εὔνους | Certain | S00220 | Besas, Decian martyr of Egypt | Βησᾶς | Certain | S00221 | Makar, Decian martyr of Egypt | Μάκαρ | Certain | S00222 | Epimachos, of Pelusium, martyr of Alexandria | Ἐπίμαχος | Uncertain | S00223 | Alexandros, Decian martyr of Egypt | Ἀλέξανδρος | Certain | S00224 | Ammonarion, Decian martyr of Egypt | Ἀμμωνάριον | Certain | S00225 | Merkouria, Decian martyr of Egypt | Μερκουρία | Certain | S00226 | Dionysia, Decian martyr of Egypt | Διονυσία | Certain | S00227 | Hērōn, Decian martyr of Egypt | Ἥρων | Certain | S00228 | Atēr, Decian martyr of Egypt | Ἀτὴρ | Certain | S00229 | Isidoros, martyr of Egypt under Decius | Ἰσίδωρος | Certain | S00230 | Dioskoros, Decian martyr of Egypt | Διόσκορος | Certain | S00231 | Nemesiōn, Decian martyr of Egypt | Νεμεσίων | Certain | S00232 | Ammon, Decian martyr of Egypt | Ἄμμων | Certain | S00233 | Zenon, Decian martyr of Egypt | Ζήνων | Certain | S00234 | Ptolemaios, Decian martyr of Egypt | Πτολεμαῖος | Certain | S00235 | Ingenēs, Decian martyr of Egypt | Ἰγγένης | Certain | S00236 | Theophilos, Decian martyr of Egypt | Θεόφιλος | Certain | S00237 | Ischyrion, Decian martyr of Egypt | Ἰσχυρίων | Certain |
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