Eusebius of Caesarea, in his Martyrs of Palestine (3.1-4), narrates the martyrdom of *Eight martyrs of Caesarea (martyrs of Caesarea of Palestine, S00198), on 24 March 305. Written in Greek at Caesarea, in 311; a longer version of the text survives only in a later Syriac translation.
E00375
Literary - Hagiographical - Accounts of martyrdom
Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea, Martyrs of Palestine, 3.1-4
Summary:
At the conclusion of his account of the martyrdom of *Timotheos from Gaza (E00299), Eusebius relates that on the same day that this martyr was executed in Gaza, two other Christians from this city, *Agapios (S00188) and *Thekla (S00189), were condemned to be thrown to the wild beasts. When a group of the Christians of Caesarea, comprised of six young men – Timolaos from Pontos, Dionysios from Tripolis, Romulos from Diospolis, Paesis and Alexandros from Egypt, and Alexandros from Gaza – heard about their sentence, they decided to challenge the city governor Urbanus. They accosted him as he entered the theatre and declared themselves to be Christians, and asked to be also thrown to the wild beasts. They were arrested and imprisoned for a long time. While in prison, they were joined by two more men, who ministered to them there, Agapios and Dionysios. This group of eight men was executed together by beheading on 24 March 305.
Summary: Sergey Minov
Saint’s feast
Non Liturgical ActivityComposing and translating saint-related texts
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesOfficials
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 the eight martyrs: ed. Cureton 1861, pp. 11*-12* (long recension); ed. Schwartz et al. 1999, vol. 2, pp. 910-911 (short recension); English trans. Lawlor and Oulton 1927-1928, vol. 1, pp. 341-343.
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 concise account of arrest and execution, with no reference to miraculous events. Although there is no explicit reference to the martyrs' commemoration, the record of the date of their deaths might suggest that they were commemorated in an annual celebration in Caesarea.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
11/04/2015
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00198 | Eight martyrs of Caesarea in Palestine | Τιμόλαος, Διονύσιος, Ῥωμύλος, Πάησις, Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀγάπιος, Διονύσιος | Certain |
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