Eusebius of Caesarea, in his Martyrs of Palestine (8.13), narrates the story of one hundred and thirty confessors from Egypt, who suffered in Palestine and Cilicia in 309. Written in Greek at Caesarea (Palestine) in 311; a longer version of the text survives only in a later Syriac translation.
Evidence ID
E00472
Type of Evidence
Literary - Hagiographical - Accounts of martyrdom
Major author/Major anonymous work
Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea, Martyrs of Palestine, 8.13
Summary:
In the sixth year of the Great Persecution, a group of one hundred and thirty Christians were transferred from Egypt to Palestine. After the tendons of their left ankles were destroyed with hot irons and their left eyes plucked out, some of these confessors were dispatched to the copper mines in Palestine, while others were sent to Cilicia, 'to be chastised with wicked and shameful sufferings'.
Summary: Sergey Minov
Non Liturgical Activity
Transmission, copying and reading 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.One hundred and thirty confessors from Egypt: ed. Cureton 1861, p.33* (long recension); ed. Schwartz et al. 1999, vol. 2, p. 927 (short recension); English trans. Lawlor and Oulton 1927-1928, vol. 1, p. 371.
For a full discussion of 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 torture, 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
05/06/2015
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00184 | Confessors, unnamed or name lost | Certain |
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