Eusebius of Caesarea, in his Martyrs of Palestine (7.1-2), narrates the martyrdom of *Theodosia from Tyre (martyr of Caesarea of Palestine, S00161), on 2 April 308. Written in Greek at Caesarea in 311; a longer version of the text survives only in a later Syriac translation.
E00301
Literary - Hagiographical - Accounts of martyrdom
Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea, Martyrs of Palestine, 7.1-2
Summary:
On 2 April 308, the young woman Theodosia, who led a life of virginity in the city of Tyre, approached and publicly greeted the imprisoned Christians while they were sitting in the governor's court. She was at once arrested and brought before Urbanus, the governor in Caesarea. After Theodosia refused to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods, she was severely tortured. When the governor saw that the tortures could not break the martyr's spirit, he ordered her to be executed by being cast alive into the sea. Following that, Urbanus mitigated the punishment for those Christian confessors, on whose behalf Theodosia had suffered, by sending them to the copper mines in Palestine.
Summary: Sergey Minov
Saint’s feast
Non Liturgical ActivityComposing and translating saint-related texts
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesWomen
Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Officials
Source
In this work Eusebius presents an account of the suffering and death of Christian martyrs executed during the eight years of the Diocletianic (or Great) persecution, i.e. 303-311. Most of the martyrdoms described by Eusebius took place in Palestine, with the provincial capital city of Caesarea as the most prominent setting.Martyrdom of Theodosia: ed. Cureton 1861, pp. 23*-25* (long recension); ed. Schwartz et al. 1999, vol. 2, pp. 921-923 (short recension); English trans. Lawlor and Oulton 1927-1928, vol. 1, pp. 358-360.
For the Greek version of the Martyrdom of Theodosia from Tyre see also BHG 1775.
For a full discussion of the Martyrs of Palestine, see E00294.
Discussion
This entry, typical of Eusebius' description of the martyrs of Palestine, consists of a brief account of torture and death, with no reference to miraculous events. Although there is no explicit reference to the martyr's commemoration, the record of the date of her death might suggest that she was commemorated in Caesarea in an annual celebration on that day.Bibliography
Editions and translations:Cureton, W. (ed.), History of the Martyrs in Palestine, by Eusebius, Bishop in Caesarea, Discovered in a Very Ancient Syriac Manuscript (London / Edinburgh: Williams and Norgate / Paris: C. Borrani, 1861).
Lawlor, H.J., and Oulton, J.E.L. (trans.), The Ecclesiastical History and the Martyrs of Palestine. 2 vols (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1927-1928).
Schwartz, E., Mommsen, T., and Winkelmann, F. (eds.), Eusebius Werke, Band 2, Teil 2 (Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten Jahrhunderte NF 6/2; 2nd ed.; Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1999).
Sergey Minov
16/02/2015
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00161 | Theodosia from Tyre, martyr of Caesarea of Palestine | Θεοδοσία | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Sergey Minov, Cult of Saints, E00301 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00301