NPNF2-01 Eusebius 189
189 9 Farther on he adds:
“But Jn never speaks as if referring to himself, or as if referring to another person.186 But the author of the Apocalypse introduces himself at the very beginning: ‘The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which he gave him to show unto his servants quickly; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John, who bare witness of the word of God and of his testimony, even of all things that he saw.’187
10 Then he writes also an epistle: ‘Jn to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace be with you, and peace.’188 But the evangelist did not prefix his name even to the Catholic Epistle; but without introduction he begins with the mystery of the divine revelation itself: ‘That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes.’189 For because of such a revelation the Lord also blessed Peter, saying, ‘Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my heavenly Father.’190
11 But neither in the reputed second or third epistle of John, though they are very short, does the name Jn appear; but there is written the anonymous phrase, ‘the elder.’191 But this author did not consider it sufficient to give his name once and to proceed with his work; but he takes it up again: ‘I, John, who also am your brother and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and in the patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus.’192 And toward the close he speaks thus: ‘Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book, and I, John, who saw and heard these things.’193
12 “But that he who wrote these things was called Jn must be believed, as he says it; but who he was does not appear. For he did not say, as often in the Gospel, that he was the beloved disciple of the Lord,194 or the one who lay on his breast,195 or the brother of James, or the eyewitness and hearer of the Lord.
13 For he would have spoken of these things if he had wished to show himself plainly. But he says none of them; but speaks of himself as our brother and companion, and a witness of Jesus, and blessed because he had seen and heard the revelations.
14 But I am of the opinion that there were many with the same name as the apostle John, who, on account of their love for him, and because they admired and emulated him, and desired to be loved by the Lord as he was, took to themselves the same surname, as many of the children of the faithful are called Paul or Peter.
15 For example, there is also another John, surnamed Mark, mentioned in the Ac of the Apostles,196 whom Barnabas and Paul took with them; of whom also it is said, ‘And they had also Jn as their attendant.’197 But that it is he who wrote this, I would not say. For it not written that he went with them into Asia, but, ‘Now when Paul and his company set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia and Jn departing from them returned to Jerusalem.’198
16 But I think that he was some other one of those in Asia; as they say that there are two monuments in Ephesus, each bearing the name of John.199
17 “And from the ideas, and from the words and their arrangement, it may be reasonably conjectured that this one is different from that one.200
18 For the Gospel and Epistle agree with each other and begin in the same manner. The one says, ‘In the beginning was the Word’;201 the other, ‘That which was from the beginning.’202 The one: ‘And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father’;203 the other says the same things slightly altered: ‘Which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes; which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the Word of life,—and the life was manifested.’204
190 19 For he introduces these things at the beginning, maintaining them, as is evident from what follows, in opposition to those who said that the Lord had not come in the flesh. Wherefore also he carefully adds, ‘And we have seen and bear witness, and declare unto you the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you also.’205
20 He holds to this and does not digress from his subject, but discusses everything under the same heads and names 21 some of which we will briefly mention. Any one who examines carefully will find the phrases, ‘the life,’ ‘the light,’ ‘turning from darkness,’ frequently occurring in both; also continually, ‘truth,’ ‘grace,’ ‘joy,’ ‘the flesh and blood of the Lord,’ ‘the judgment,’ ‘the forgiveness of sins,’ ‘the love of God toward us,’ the ‘commandment that we love one another,’ that we should ‘keep all the commandments’; the ‘conviction of the world, of the Devil, of Anti-Christ,’ the ‘promise of the Holy Spirit,’ the ‘adoption of God,’ the ‘faith continually required of us,‘ ‘the Father and the Son,’ occur everywhere. In fact, it is plainly to be seen that one and the same character marks the Gospel and the Epistle throughout.
22 But the Apocalypse is different from these writings and foreign to them; not touching, nor in the least bordering upon them; almost, so to speak, without even a syllable in common with them.
23 Nay more, the Epistle—for I pass by the Gospel — does not mention nor does it contain any intimation of the Apocalypse, nor does the Apocalypse of the Epistle. But Paul, in his epistles, gives some indication of his revelations,206 though he has not written them out by themselves.
24 “Moreover, it can also be shown that the, diction of the Gospel and Epistle differs from that of the Apocalypse.
25 For they were written not only without error as regards the Greek language, but also with elegance in their expression, in their reasonings, and in their entire structure. They are far indeed from betraying any barbarism or solecism, or any vulgarism whatever. For the writer had, as it seems, both the requisites of discourse,—that is, the gift of knowledge and the gift of expression,—as the Lord had bestowed them both upon him.
26 I do not deny that the other writer saw a revelation and received knowledge and prophecy. I perceive, however, that his dialect and language are not accurate Greek, but that he uses barbarous idioms, and, in some places, solecisms.
27 It is unnecessary to point these out here, for I would not have any one think that I have said these things in a spirit of ridicule, for I have said what I have only with the purpose of showing dearly the difference between the writings.”
1 Besides these, many other epistles of Dionysius are extant, as those against Sabellius,207 addressed to Ammon,208 bishop of the church of Bernice, and one to Telesphorus,209 and one to Euphranor, and again another to Ammon and Euporus. He wrote also four other books on the same subject, which he addressed to his namesake Dionysius, in Rome.210
2 Besides these many of his epistles are with us, and large books written in epistolary form, as those on Nature,211 addressed to the young man Timothy, and one on Temptations,212 which he also dedicated to Euphranor.
191 3 Moreover, in a letter to Basilides,213 bishop of the parishes in Pentapolis, he says that he had written an exposition of the beginning of Ecclesiastes.214 And he has left us also various letters addressed to this same person. Thus much Dionysius.
But our account of these matters being now completed, permit us to show to posterity the character of our own age.215
1 After Xystus had presided over the church of Rome for eleven years,216 Dionysius,217 namesake of him of Alexandria, succeeded him. About the same time Demetrianus218 died in Antioch, and Paul of Samosata219 received that episcopate.
2 As he held, contrary to the teaching of the Church, low and degraded views of Christ, namely, that in his nature he was a common man, Dionysius of Alexandria was entreated to come to the synod.220 But being unable to come on account of age and physical weakness, he gave his opinion on the subject under consideration by letter.221 But all the other pastors of the churches from all directions, made haste to assemble at Antioch, as against a despoiler of the flock of Christ.
1 Of these, the most eminent were Firmilianus,222 bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia; the brothers Gregory223 and Athenodorus, pastors of the churches in Pontus; Helenus224 of the parish of Tarsus, and Nicomas225 of Iconium moreover, Hymenaeus,226 of the church of Jerusalem, and Theotecnus227 of the neighboring church of Caesarea; and besides these Maximus,228 who presided in a distinguished manner over the brethren in Bostra. If any should count them up he could not fail to note a great many others, besides presbyters and deacons, who were at that time assembled for the same cause in the above-mentioned city.229 But these were the most illustrious.
2 When all of these assembled at different times and frequently to consider these matters, the arguments and questions were discussed at every meeting; the adherents of the Samosatian endeavoring to cover and conceal his heterodoxy, and the others striving zealously to lay bare and make manifest his heresy and blasphemy against Christ.
3 Meanwhile, Dionysius died in the twelfth year of the reign of Gallienus,230 having held the episcopate of Alexandria for seventeen years, and Maximus231 succeeded him.
4 Gallienus after a reign of fifteen years232 was succeeded by Claudius,233 who in two years delivered the government to Aurelian.
192 1 During his reign a final synod234 composed of a great many bishops was held, and the leader of heresy235 in Antioch was detected, and his false doctrine clearly shown before all, and he was excommunicated from the Catholic Church under heaven.236
2 Malchion especially drew him out of his hiding-place and refuted him. He was a man learned in other respects, and principal of the sophist school of Grecian learning in Antioch; yet on account of the superior nobility of his faith in Christ he had been made a presbyter of that parish. This man, having conducted a discussion with him, which was taken down by stenographers and which we know is still extant, was alone able to detect the man who dissembled and deceived the others.
1 The pastors who had assembled about this matter, prepared by common consent an epistle addressed to Dionysius,237 bishop of Rome, and Maximus238 of Alexandria, and sent it to all the provinces. In this they make manifest to all their own zeal and the perverse error of Paul, and the arguments and discussions which they had with him, and show the entire life and conduct of the man. It may be well to put on record at the present time the following extracts from their writing:
2 “To Dionysius and Maximus, and to all our fellow-ministers throughout the world, bishops, presbyters, and deacons, and to the whole Catholic Church under heaven,239 Helenus,240 Hymenaeus, Theophilus, Theotecnus, Maximus, Proclus, Nicomas, Aelianus, Paul, Bolanus, Protogenes, Hierax, Eutychius, Theodorus,241 Malchion, and Lucius, and all the others who dwell with us in the neighboring cities and nations, bishops, presbyters, and deacons, and the churches of God, greeting to the beloved brethren in the Lord.”
3 A little farther on they proceed thus: “We sent for and called many of the bishops from a distance to relieve us from this deadly doctrine; as Dionysius of Alexandria242 and Firmilianus243 of Cappadocia, those blessed men. The first of these not considering the author of this delusion worthy to be addressed, sent a letter to Antioch,244 not written to him, but to the entire parish, of which we give a copy below.
4 But Firmilianus came twice245 and condemned his innovations, as we who were present know and testify, and many others understand. But as he promised to change his opinions, he believed him and hoped that without any reproach to the Word what was necessary would be done. So he delayed the matter, being deceived by him who denied even his own God and Lord,246 and had not kept the faith which he formerly held.
5 And now Firmilianus was again on his way to Antioch, and had come as far as Tarsus because he had learned by experience his God-denying wickedness. But while we, having come together, were calling for him and awaiting his arrival, he died.”247
6 After other things they describe as follows the manner of life which he248 led:
7 “Whereas he has departed from the rule of faith,249 and has turned aside after base and spurious teachings, it is not necessary,—since he is without,—that we should pass judgment upon his practices: as for instance in that although formerly destitute and poor, and having received no wealth from his fathers, nor made anything by trade or business, he now possesses abundant wealth through his iniquities and sacrilegious acts, and through those things which he extorts from the brethren,250 depriving the injured of their rights and promising to assist them for reward, yet deceiving them, and plundering those who in their trouble are ready to give that they may obtain reconciliation with their oppressors,
8 ‘supposing that gain is godliness’;251 —or in that he is haughty, and is puffed up, and assumes worldly dignities, preferring to be called ducenarius252 rather than bishop; and struts in the market-places, reading letters and reciting them as he walks in public, attended by a body-guard, with a multitude preceding and following him, so that the faith is envied and hated on account of his pride and haughtiness of heart;
193 9 —or in that he practices chicanery in ecclesiastical assemblies, contrives to glorify himself, and deceive with appearances, and astonish the minds of the simple, preparing for himself a tribunal and lofty throne,253 —not like a disciple of Christ,—and possessing a ‘secretum,’254 —like the rulers of the world,—and so calling it, and striking his thigh with his hand, and stamping on the tribunal with his feet;—or in that he rebukes and insults those who do not applaud, and shake their handkerchiefs as in the theaters, and shout and leap about like the men and women that are stationed around him, and hear him in this unbecoming manner, but who listen reverently and orderly as in the house of God;—or in that he violently and coarsely assails in public the expounders of the Word that have departed this life, and magnifies himself, not as a bishop, but as a sophist and juggler,
10 and stops the psalms to our Lord Jesus Christ, as being the modern productions of modern men, and trains women to sing psalms to himself in the midst of the church on the great day of the passover, which any one might shudder to hear, and persuades the bishops and presbyters of the neighboring districts and cities who fawn upon him, to advance the same ideas in their discourses to the people.
11 For to anticipate something of what we shall presently write, he is unwilling to acknowledge that the Son of God has come down from heaven. And this is not a mere assertion, but it is abundantly proved from the records which we have sent you; and not least where he says ‘Jesus Christ is from below.’255 But those singing to him and extolling him among the people say that their impious teacher has come down an angel from heaven.256 And he does not forbid such things; but the arrogant man is even present when they are uttered.
12 And there are the women, the ‘subintroductae,’257 as the people of Antioch call them, belonging to him and to the presbyters and deacons that are with him. Although he knows and has convicted these men, yet he connives at this and their other incurable sins, in order that they may be bound to him, and through fear for themselves may not dare to accuse him for his wicked words and deeds.258 But he has also made them rich; on which account he is loved and admired by those who covet such things.
13 We know, beloved, that the bishop and all the clergy should be an example to the people of all good works. And we are not ignorant how many have fallen or incurred suspicion, through the women whom they have thus brought in. So that even if we should allow that he commits no sinful act, yet he ought to avoid the suspicion which arises from such a thing, lest he scandalize some one, or lead others to imitate him.
14 For how can he reprove or admonish another not to be too familiar with women,—lest he fall, as it is written,259 —when he has himself sent one away already, and now has two with him, blooming and beautiful, and takes them with him wherever he goes, and at the same time lives in luxury and surfeiting?
15 Because of these things all mourn and lament by themselves; but they so fear his tyranny and power, that they dare not accuse him.
16 But as we have said, while one might call the man to account for this conduct, if he held the Catholic doctrine and was numbered with us,260 since he has scorned the mystery and struts about in the abominable heresy of Artemas261 (for why should we not mention his father?), we think it unnecessary to demand of him an explanation of these things.”
17 Afterwards, at the close of the epistle, they add these words:
“Therefore we have been compelled to excommunicate him, since he sets himself against God, and refuses to obey; and to appoint in his place another bishop for the Catholic Church. By divine direction, as we believe, we have appointed Domnus,262 who is adorned with all the qualities becoming in a bishop, and who is a son of the blessed Demetrianus,263 who formerly presided in a distinguished manner over the same parish. We have informed you of this that you may write to him, and may receive letters of communion264 from him. But let this man write to Artemas; and let those who think as Artemas does, communicate with him.”265
18 As Paul had fallen from the episcopate, as well as from the orthodox faith, Domnus, as has been said, became bishop of the church at Antioch.
194 19 But as Paul refused to surrender the church building, the Emperor Aurelian was petitioned; and he decided the matter most equitably, ordering the building to be given to those to whom the bishops of Italy and of the city of Rome should adjudge it.266 Thus this man was driven out of the church, with extreme disgrace, by the worldly power.
20 Such was Aurelian’s treatment of us at that time; but in the course of his reign he changed his mind in regard to us, and was moved by certain advisers to institute a persecution against us.267 And there was great talk about this on every side.
21 But as he was about to do it, and was, so to speak, in the very act of signing the decrees against us, the divine judgment came upon him and restrained him at the very verge268 of his undertaking, showing in a manner that all could see clearly, that the rulers of this world can never find an opportunity against the churches of Christ, except the hand, that defends them permits it, in divine and heavenly judgment, for the sake of discipline and correction, at such times as it sees best.
22 After a reign of six years,269 Aurelian was succeeded by Probus. He reigned for the same number of years, and Carus, with his sons, Carinus and Numerianus, succeeded him. After they had reigned less than three years the government devolved on Diocletian, and those associated with him.270 Under them took place the persecution of our time, and the destruction of the churches connected with it.
23 Shortly before this, Dionysius,271 bishop of Rome, after holding office for nine years, died, and was succeeded by Felix.272
1 At this time, the madman,273 named from his demoniacal heresy, armed himself in the perversion of his reason, as the devil, Satan, who himself fights against God, put him forward to the destruction of many. He was a barbarian in life, both in word and deed; and in his nature demoniacal and insane. In consequence of this he sought to pose as Christ, and being puffed up in his madness, he proclaimed himself the Paraclete and the very Holy Spirit;274 and afterwards, like Christ, he chose twelve disciples as partners of his new doctrine.
2 And he patched together false and godless doctrines collected from a multitude of long-extinct impieties, and swept them, like a deadly poison, from Persia to our part of the world. From him the impious name of the Manicheans is still prevalent among many. Such was the foundation of this “knowledge falsely so-called,”275 which sprang up in those times.
1 At this time, Felix,277 having presided over the church of Rome for five years, was succeeded by Eutychianus,278 but he in less than ten months left the position to Caius,279 who lived in our day. He held it about fifteen years, and was in turn succeeded by Marcellinus,280 who was overtaken by the persecution.
2 About the same time Timaeus281 received the episcopate of Antioch after Domnus,282 and Cyril,283 who lived in our day, succeeded him. In his time we became acquainted with Dorotheus,284 a man of learning among those of his day, who was honored with the office of presbyter in Antioch. He was a lover of the beautiful in divine things, and devoted himself to the Hebrew language, so that he read the Hebrew Scriptures with facility.285
195 3 He belonged to those who were especially liberal, and was not unacquainted with Grecian propaedeutics.286 Besides this he was a eunuch,287 having been so from his very birth. On this account, as if it were a miracle, the emperor288 took him into his family, and honored him by placing him over the purple dye-works at Tyre. We have heard him expound the Scriptures wisely in the Church.
4 After Cyril, Tyrannus289 received the episcopate of the parish of Antioch. In his time occurred the destruction of the churches.
5 Eusebius,290 who had come from the city of Alexandria, ruled the parishes of Laodicea after Socrates.291 The occasion of his removal thither was the affair of Paul. He went on this account to Syria, and was restrained from returning home by those there who were zealous in divine things. Among our contemporaries he was a beautiful example of religion, as is readily seen from the words of Dionysius which we have quoted.292 Anatolius293 was appointed his successor; one good man, as they say, following another. He also was an Alexandrian by birth. In learning and skill in Greek philosophy, such as arithmetic and geometry, astronomy, and dialectics in general, as well as in the theory of physics, he stood first among the ablest men of our time, and he was also at the head in rhetorical science. It is reported that for this reason he was requested by the citizens of Alexandria to establish there a school of Aristotelian philosophy.294
7 They relate of him many other eminent deeds during the siege of the Pyrucheium295 in Alexandria, on account of which he was especially honored by all those in high office; but I will give the following only as an example.
8 They say that bread had failed the besieged, so that it was more difficult to withstand the famine than the enemy outside; but he being present provided for them in this manner. As the other part of the city was allied with the Roman army, and therefore was not under siege, Anatolius sent for Eusebius,—for he was still there before his transfer to Syria, and was among those who were not besieged, and possessed, moreover, a great reputation and a renowned name which had reached even the Roman general,—and he informed him of those who were perishing in the siege from famine.
9 When he learned this he requested the Roman commander as the greatest possible favor, to grant safety to deserters from the enemy. Having obtained his request, he communicated it to Anatolius. As soon as he received the message he convened the senate of Alexandria, and at first proposed that all should come to a reconciliation with the Romans. But when he perceived that they were angered by this advice, he said, “But I do not think you will oppose me, if I counsel you to send the supernumeraries and those who are in nowise useful to us, as old women and children and old men, outside the gates, to go wherever they may please. For why should we retain for no purpose these who must at any rate soon die? and why should we destroy with hunger those who are crippled and maimed in body, when we ought to provide only for men and youth, and to distribute the necessary bread among those who are needed for the garrison of the city?”
10 With such arguments he persuaded the assembly, and rising first he gave his vote that the entire multitude, whether of men or women, who were not needful for the army, should depart from the city, because if they remained and unnecessarily continued in the city, there would be for them no hope of safety, but they would perish with famine.
11 As all the others in the senate agreed to this, he saved almost all the besieged. He provided that first, those belonging to the church, and afterwards, of the others in the city, those of every age should escape, not only the classes included in the decree, but, under cover of these, a multitude of others, secretly clothed in women’s garments; and through his management they went out of the gates by night and escaped to the Roman camp. There Eusebius, like a father and physician, received all of them, wasted away through the long siege, and restored them by every kind of prudence and care.
12 The church of Laodicea was honored by two such pastors in succession, who, in the providence of God, came after the aforesaid war from Alexandria to that city.
13 Anatolius did not write very many works; but in such as have come down to us we can discern his eloquence and erudition. In these he states particularly his opinions on the passover. It seems important to give here the following extracts from them.296
14 From the Paschal Canons of Anatolius. “There is then in the first year the new moon of the first month, which is the beginning of every cycle of nineteen years,297 on the twenty-sixth day of the Egyptian Phamenoth;298 but according to the months of the Macedonians, the twenty-second day of Dystrus,299 or, as the Romans would say, the eleventh before the Kalends of April.
196 15 On the said twenty-sixth of Phamenoth, the sun is found not only entered on the first segment,300 but already passing through the fourth day in it. They are accustomed to call this segment the first dodecatomorion,301 and the equinox, and the beginning of months, and the head of the cycle, and the starting-point of the planetary circuit. But they call the one preceding this the last of months, and the twelfth segment, and the final dodecatomorion, and the end of the planetary circuit. Wherefore we maintain that those who place the first month in it, and determine by it the fourteenth of the passover, commit no slight or common blunder.
16 And this is not an opinion of our own; but it was known to the Jews of old, even before Christ, and was carefully observed by them. This may be learned from what is said by Philo, Josephus, and Musaeus;302 and not only by them, but also by those yet more ancient, the two Agathobuli,303 surnamed ‘Masters,‘ and the famous Aristobulus,304 who was chosen among the seventy interpreters of the sacred and divine Hebrew Scriptures305 by Ptolemy Philadelphus and his father, and who also dedicated his exegetical books on the law of Moses to the same kings.
17 These writers, explaining questions in regard to the Exodus, say that all alike should sacrifice the passover offerings after the vernal equinox, in the middle of the first month. But this occurs while the sun is passing through the first segment of the solar, or as some of them have styled it, the zodiacal circle. Aristobulus adds that it is necessary for the feast of the passover, that not only the sun should pass through the equinoctial segment, but the moon also.
18 For as there are two equinoctial segments, the vernal and the autumnal, directly opposite each other, and as the day of the passover was appointed on the fourteenth of the month, beginning with the evening, the moon will hold a position diametrically opposite the sun, as may be seen in full moons; and the sun will be in the segment of the vernal equinox, and of necessity the moon in that of the autumnal.
19 I know that many other things have been said by them, some of them probable, and some approaching absolute demonstration, by which they endeavor to prove that it is altogether necessary to keep the passover and the feast of unleavened bread after the equinox. But I refrain from demanding this sort of demonstration for matters from which the veil of the Mosaic law has been removed, so that now at length with uncovered face we continually behold as in a glass Christ and the teachings and sufferings of Christ.306 But that with the Hebrews the first month was near the equinox, the teachings also of the Book of Enoch show.’307
20 The same writer has also left the Institutes of Arithmetic, in ten books,308 and other evidences of his experience and proficiency in divine things.
21 Theotecnus,309 bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, first ordained him as bishop, designing to make him his successor in his own parish after his death. And for a short time both of them presided over the same church.310 But the synod which was held to consider Paul’s case311 called him to Antioch, and as he passed through the city of Laodicea, Eusebius being dead, he was detained by the brethren there.
22 And after Anatolius had departed this life, the last bishop of that parish before the persecution was Stephen,312 who was admired by many for his knowledge of philosophy and other Greek learning. But he was not equally devoted to the divine faith, as the progress of the persecution manifested; for it showed that he was a cowardly and unmanly dissembler rather than a true philosopher.
23 But this did not seriously injure the church, for Theodotus313 restored their affairs, being straightway made bishop of that parish by God himself, the Saviour of all. He justified by his deeds both his lordly name314 and his office of bishop. For he excelled in the medical art for bodies, and in the healing art for souls. Nor did any other man equal him in kindness, sincerity, sympathy, and zeal in helping such as needed his aid. He was also greatly devoted to divine learning. Such an one was he.
24 In Caesarea in Palestine, Agapius315 succeeded Theotecnus, who had most zealously performed the duties of his episcopate. Him too we know to have labored diligently, and to have manifested most genuine providence in his oversight of the people, particularly caring for all the poor with liberal hand.
25 In his time we became acquainted with Pamphilus,316 that most eloquent man, of truly philosophical life, who was esteemed worthy of the office of presbyter in that parish. It would be no small matter to show what sort of a man he was and whence he came. But we have described, in our special work concerning him,317 all the particulars of his life, and of the school which he established, and the trials which he endured in many confessions during the persecution, and the crown of martyrdom with which he was finally honored. But of all that were there he was indeed the most admirable.
197 26 Among those nearest our times, we have known Pierius,318 of the presbyters in Alexandria, and Meletius,319 bishop of the churches in Pontus, — rarest of men.
27 The first was distinguished for his life of extreme poverty and his philosophic learning, and was exceedingly diligent in the contemplation and exposition of divine things, and in public discourses in the church. Meletius, whom the learned called the “honey of Attica,”320 was a man whom every one would describe as most accomplished in all kinds of learning; and it would be impossible to admire sufficiently his rhetorical skill. It might be said that he possessed this by nature; but who could surpass the excellence of his great experience and erudition in other respects?
28 For in all branches of knowledge had you undertaken to try him even once, you would have said that he was the most skillful and learned. Moreover, the virtues of his life were not less remarkable. We observed him well in the time of the persecution, when for seven full years he was escaping from its fury in the regions of Palestine.
29 Zambdas321 received the episcopate of the church of Jerusalem after the bishop Hymenaeus, whom we mentioned a little above.322 He died in a short time, and Hermon,323 the last before the persecution in our day, succeeded to the apostolic chair, which has been preserved there until the present time.324
30 In Alexandria, Maximus,325 who, after the death of Dionysius,326 had been bishop for eighteen years, was succeeded by Theonas.327 In his time Achillas,328 who had been appointed a presbyter in Alexandria at the same time with Pierius, became celebrated. He was placed over the school of the sacred faith,329 and exhibited fruits of philosophy most rare and inferior to none, and conduct genuinely evangelical.
31 After Theonas had held the office for nineteen years, Peter330 received the episcopate in Alexandria, and was very eminent among them for twelve entire years. Of these he governed the church less than three years before the persecution, and for the remainder of his life he subjected himself to a more rigid discipline and cared in no secret manner for the general interest of the churches. On this account he was beheaded in the ninth year of the persecution, and was adorned with the crown of martyrdom.
32 Having written out these books the account of the successions from the birth of our Saviour to the destruction of the places of worship, — a period of three hundred and five years,331 — permit me to pass on to the contests of those who, in our day, have heroically fought for religion, and to leave in writing, for the information of posterity, the extent and the magnitude of those conflicts).
Book VIII.
Introduction.
As we have described in seven books the events from the time of the apostles,1 we think it proper in this eighth book to record for the information of posterity a few of the most important occurrences of our own times, which are worthy of permanent record. Our account will begin at this point.
NPNF2-01 Eusebius 189