Eusebius of Caesarea, in his Martyrs of Palestine (8.1), narrates the story of ninety-seven confessors, taken from the porphyry quarries of the Egyptian Thebaid, tried in Diocaesarea (Palestine), mutilated, and condemned to the copper mines of Palestine. Written in Greek at Caesarea (Palestine), in 311; a longer version of the text survives only in a later Syriac translation.
Evidence ID
E00382
Type of Evidence
Literary - Hagiographical - Accounts of martyrdom
Major author/Major anonymous work
Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea, Martyrs of Palestine, 8.1
Summary:
In the sixth year of the Great Persecution [= 309], a group of ninety-seven Christians, men, women and children, who were serving in the porphyry quarries in the Thebaid in Egypt, were transferred to Palestine, under the authority of the governor Firmilianus. Their trial took place in the city of Diocaesarea [Sepphoris]. It was witnessed by the local Jews, who comprised a significant part of the city's population. After the tendons of their left ankles were destroyed with hot irons and their left eyes plucked out, the confessors were dispatched to the copper mines in Palestine.
Summary: Sergey Minov.
Non Liturgical Activity
Composing and translating saint-related texts
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.Ed. Cureton 1861, pp. 28*-30* (long recension); ed. Schwartz et alii 1999, vol. 2, pp. 924-925 (short recension); English trans. Lawlor and Oulton 1927-1928, vol. 1, pp. 364-366.
For a full discussion of the Martyrs of Palestine, see E00294.
Discussion
This entry, typical of Eusebius' description of the martyrs and confessors of Palestine, consists of a brief mention of their trial and punishment, with no reference to miraculous events.For a full discussion of the Egyptian Christians sentenced to the copper mines of Palestine, see E02383.
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).
Record Created By
Sergey Minov
Date of Entry
13/04/2015
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00184 | Confessors, unnamed or name lost | Certain |
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