CHAPTER V

CHAPTER V

THE CHURCH HISTORY OF EUSEBIUS.

[VIII. 3.

diers, separating into tribes and purging those who were enrolled in the army, giving them the choice either by obeying to receive the honor which belonged to them, or on the other hand to be deprived of it if they disobeyed the command, a great many soldiers of Christ's kingdom, without hesitation, instantly preferred the confession of him to the seeming glory and prosperity which they were enjoying.

And one and another of them occasionally received in exchange, for their pious constancy,® not only the loss of position, but death.

But as yet the instigator of this plot proceeded with moderation, and ventured so far as blood only in some instances ; for the multitude of believers, as it is likely, made him afraid, and deterred him from waging war at once against all.

But when he made the attack more boldly,

it is impossible to relate how many and what sort of martyrs of God could be seen, among the inhabitants of all the cities and countries.* thing, when others said that he had sacrificed, went away, bearing the accusation in silence.

Another being taken up half dead, was cast aside as if already dead, and again a certain

one lying upon the ground was dragged a long distance by his feet and counted among those who had sacrificed.

One cried out and with a loud voice testified his rejection of the sacrifice ; another shouted that he was a Christian, being resplendent in the confession of the saving Name.

Another protested that he had not sacrificed and never would.

But they were struck in the mouth and silenced

by a large band of soldiers who were drawn

up for this purpose ; and they were smitten on the face and cheeks and driven away by force ; so important did the enemies of piety regard it, by any means, to seem to have accomplished their purpose.

But these things did not avail them against the holy martyrs; for an accurate description of whom, what word of ours could suffice ?

CHAPTER V.

CHAPTER IV.

Those in Nicomedias The Famous Martyrs of God, who filled Every IMMEDIATELY on the publication of the

decree against the churches in Nicomedia,? a certain man, not obscure but very highly honored with distinguished temporal dignities, moved with zeal toward God, and incited with ardent faith, seized the edict as it was posted openly and publicly, and tore it to pieces as a profane and impious thing ;° and this was done

Place with their Memory and won Vartous Crowns in behalf of Religion.

For we might tell of many who showed admirable zeal for the religion of the God of the universe, not only from the beginning of the general persecution, but long before

that time, while yet peace prevailed.

For though he who had received power was seemingly aroused now as from a deep sleep, yet from the time after Decius and Valerian, he had been plotting secretly and without notice against the churches.

He did not wage war against all of us at once, but made trial at first only of those in the army.

For he supposed that the others could be taken easily if he should first attack and subdue these.

Thereupon many of the soldiers were seen most cheerfully embracing private life, so that they might

At least, there is no reason to connect the act with Diocletian and to suppose it ordered by him.

All that we know of his relation to the Christians forbids such a supposition.

There may have been some particular occasion for such a move in the present instance, which evidently affected only a small part of the army, and resulted in only a few deaths (see the next paragraph).

Perhaps some insubordination was discovered among the Christiait soldiers, which led the commander to be suspicious of all of them, and hence to put the test to them, — which was always in order, —to prove their loyalty.

It is plain that he did not intend to put any of them to death, but only to dismiss such as refused to evince their loyalty by offering the customary sacrifices.

Some of the Christian soldiers, however, were not content with simple dismission, but in their eagerness to evince their Christianity said and did things which it was impossible for any commander to overlook (cf. the instances given by Mason, p41 sq.)It was such soldiers as these that suffered death; and they of course were executed, not because they were Christians, but because they were insubordinate.

Their death was brought on themselves by their foolish fanaticism; and they have no claim to be soncree as martyrs, although Eusebius evidently regarded them as such. wes We should 'rather say "' for their rash and unjustifiable fanaticism.' not deny their piety toward the Creator of

the universe.

For when the commander,} whoever he was," began to persecute the sol1 otparoredapxys.

2 In the Chrox. we are told of a commander by name Veturius, who is doubtless to be identified with the one referred to here. Why

Eusebius does not give his name in the History, we do not know.

There seems to be contempt in the phrase, "' whoever he was," and it may be that he did not consider him worth naming.

In Jerome's version of the Chron.

(sixteenth year of Diocletian) we read:

Veturius magister militie Christianos milites persequitur, parlatin ex illo jam tempore persecutione adversum nos incipiente 5 in the Armenian (fourteenth year): Veturzus magister mtlitie eos gutiinexercitu Christiant erant, clanculum opprimebat atgue ex hoc tnde tempore ubigue locorum persecutio se extendit.

Evidently the occurrence took place a few years before the outbreak of the regular persecution, but the exact date cannot be determined.

It is probable, moreover, from the way in which Eusebius refers to the man in the History that he was a comparatively insignificant commander, who took ihe course he did on his own responsibility.

4 In this sentence reference is made to the general persecution, which did not begin until some time after the events recorded in the previous paragraphs, Nicomedia, the capital city of Bithynia, became Diocletian's chief place of residence, and was made by him the Eastern capital ot the empire.

? The great church of Nicomedia was destroyed on Feb. 23, 303, and the First Edict was published on the following day (see above, chap.'

2, note 3).

' Lactantius relates this account in his De mort. pers. chap.

13, and expresses disapproval of the act, while admiring the spirit of the man.

He, too, is silent in regard to the name of the man, though, living as he did in Nicomedia, he can hardly have been ignorant of it.

We may perhaps imagine that he did not care to perpetuate the name of a man whom he considered to have acted rashly and illegally.

The old martyrologies give the man's

VIII. 6.]

MARTYRDOMS IN NICOMEDIA.

i ee 6-6 enn life while the tortures were still going on.

Such was the martyrdom of one of the servants of the palace, who was indeed well worthy of his name, for he was called Peter.? The martyr-

doms of the rest, though they were not inferior to his, we will pass by for the sake of brevity, recording onlythat Dorotheus and Gorgonius,*with many others of the royal household, after varied sufferings, ended their lives by strangling, and bore away the trophies of God-given victory. while two of the sovereigns were in the same city, — the oldest of all, and the one who held the fourth place in the government after him.*

But this man, first in that place, after distinguishing himself in such a manner suffered those things which were likely to follow such daring, and kept his spirit cheerful and undisturbed till death.

At this time Anthimus,' who then pre-

sided over the church in Nicomedia, was beheaded for his testimony to Christ.

A great multitude of martyrs were added to him, a conflagration having broken out in those very days in the palace at Nicomedia, I know not how, which through a false suspicion was laid to our

SS SS SS CHAPTER VI.

Those in the Palace. a Tus period produced divine and illustrious martyrs, above all whose praises have ever been sung and who have been celebrated for courage, whether among Greeks or barbarians, in the person of Dorotheus! and the servants that were with him in the palace. Although

3 mérpos, "arock."

It is clear from the account of Lactantius (chap. 15) that this man, and the others mentioned in this connection, suffered after the second conflagration in the palace and in consequence of it (see below, p. 400).

The two conflagrations led Diocletian to resort to torture in order to ascertain the guilty parties, or to obtain information in regard to the plots of the Christians.

Examination by torture was the common mode of procedure under such circumstances, and hence implies no unusual cruelty in the present case.

The death even of these men, therefore, cannot be looked upon as due to persecution.

Their offense was purely a civil one.

They were suspected of being implicated in a treasonable plot, and of twice setting fire to the palace.

Their refusal to sacrifice under such circumstances, and thus evince their loyalty at so critical a time, was naturally looked upon as practically a confession of guilt, — at any rate as insubordination on a most grave occasion, and as such fitly punishable by death.

Compare Pliny's epistle to Trajan, in which he expresses the opinion that "' pertinacious and inflexible obstinacy" ought at any rate to be punished, whatever might be thought of Christianity as such (see above, Bk. III. chap.

33, note 1); and at such a time as this Diocletian must have felt that the first duty of all his subjects was to place their loyalty beyond suspicion by doing readily that which was demanded. is impatience with the Christians must have been increasing under all these provocations, and thus the regular persecution was becoming ever more imminent. they received the highest honors from their masters, and were treated by them as their own children, they esteemed reproaches and trials for religion, and the many forms of death that were invented against them, as, in truth, greater riches than the glory and luxury of this life.

We will describe the manner in which one of them ended his life, and leave our readers to infer from his case the sufferings of the others.

Acertain man was brought forward in the above-mentioned city, before the rulers of whom we have spoken?

He was then commanded to sacrifice, but as he refused, he was ordered to be stripped and raised on high and beaten with rods over his entire body, until,

4 Gorgonius has been already mentioned in chap. 1, above.

See note 4 on that chapter. being conquered, he should, even against

his will, do what was commanded.

But as he was unmoved by these sufferings, and his bones were already appearing, they mixed vinegar with salt and poured it upon the man3 In a fragment preserved by the Chron. Paschale, and purporting to be a part of an epistle written from prison, shortly before his death, by the presbyter Lucian of Antioch to the church of that city, Anthimus, bishop of Nicomedia, is mentioned as having just suffered martyrdom (see Routh's Rel. Sac. IV. p. 5).

Lucian, however, was imprisoned and put to death during the persecution of Maximinus (A.D. 311 or 312).

See below, Bk. IX. chap. 6, and Jerome's de vrr, tl. chap. 77.

It would seem, therefore, if the fragment given in the Chron. Paschale be genuine, and there seems no good reason to doubt it, that Anthimus suffered martyrdom not under Diocletian, but under Maximinus, in 311 or 312.

In that case Eusebius is mistaken in putting his death at this early date, in connection with the members of the imperial household.

Indeed, we see no reason for his execution at this time, and should find it difficult to explain if we were to accept it.

In the time of Maximinus, however, it is perfectly natural, and of a piece with the execution of Peter of Alexandria and other notable prelates.

Eusebius, as we have already seen, pays no attention to chronology in this Eighth Book, and hence there is no great weight to be placed upon his mention of the death of Anthimus at this particular place.

Mason (p. 324) says that Hunziker (p. 281) has conclusively shown gled parts of his body.

As he scorned these agonies, a gridiron and fire were brought forward.

And the remnants of his body, like flesh intended for eating, were placed on the fire, not at once, lest he should expire instantly, but a little at a time.

And those who placed him on the pyre were not permitted to desist until, after such sufferings, he should assent to the

things commanded.

But he held his purpose firmly, and victoriously gave up his tl es A ct Sai Eusebius' mistake at this point.

I have not seen Hunziker, and therefore cannot judge of the validity of his arguments, but, on the grounds already stated, have no hesitation in expressing my agreement with his conclusion.

Of Anthimus himself, we know nothing beyond what has been already intimated.

In chap. 13, § 1, below, he is mentioned again, but nothing additional is told us in regard to him. mame as John, That he deserved death is clear enough.

He was not a martyr to the faith, but a criminal, who was justly executed for treasonable conduct.

The first edict contemplated no violence to the persons of the Christians.

If they suffered death, it was solely jn consequence of their own rashness, as in the present case.

It 1s clear that such an incident as this would anger Diocletian and increase his suspicions of Christians as a class, and thus tend to preHaying observed Eusebius' mistake in regard to Anthimus, we realize that there is no reason to consider him any more accurate in respect to the other martyrdoms referred to in this paragraph.

In fact, it is clear enough that, in so far as his account is not.merely rhetorical, it relates to events that took place not at this early date, but during a later time, after the regular religious persecution had begun. o such " multitude" suffered in consequence of the conflagration as Eusebius thinks.

The martyrdoms of which he has heard belong rather to the time after the Fourth Edict (see below,

Mart. Pal. chap. 3, note 2), or possibly to the still later time when Maximinus was at Nicomedia, and was in the midst of his bloody career of persecution. cipitate a regular persecution.

It must have seemed to the authorities that the man would hardly commit such a foolhardy act unless he was conscious of the support of a large body of the populace, and so the belief in the wide extension of the plot which had caused the movement on the part of the emperors must have been confirmed.

See below, p398 sq.

4 i.e. Diocletian and Galerius.

1 On Dorotheus, see above, chap. 1, note 3.

2 i.e, in Nicomedia, before Diocletian and Galerius.

THE, CHURCH HISTORY OF EUSEBIUS.

[VIII. 6.

people.

Entire families of the pious in that place were put to death in masses at the royal command, some by the sword, and others by fire.

It is reported that with a certain divine and indescribable eagerness men and women rushed into the fire.

And the executioners bound a large number of others and put them tempted to usurp the government, a royal edict directed that the rulers of the churches everywhere " should be thrown into prison and bonds.

What was to be seen after this

exceeds all description.

A vast multitude were imprisoned in every place ; and the prisons everywhere, which had long before been prepared for murderers and robbers of graves, were filled with bishops, presbyters and deacons, readers and exorcists,® so that room was no longer left in them for those condemned for crimes.

And as other decrees followed

the first, directing that those in prison if they would sacrifice should be permitted to depart in freedom, but that those who refused should be harassed with many tortures," how could any one, again, number the multitude of martyrs in every province, and especially of those in Africa, and Mauritania, and Thebais, and Egypt?

From this last country many went into other cities and provinces, and became illustrious through martyrdom. on boats' and threw them into the depths of

the sea.

And those who had been esteemed their masters considered it necessary to dig up the bodies of the imperial servants, who had been committed to the earth with suitable burial, and cast them into the sea, lest any, as they thought, regarding them as gods, might worship them lying in their sepulchers.®

Such things occurred in Nicomedia at the

beginning of the persecution.

But not long after, as persons in the country called Melitene," and others throughout Syria," at6 Eusebius does not accuse Galerius of being the author of the conflagration, as Lactantius.does.

In fact, he seems to have known very little about the matter.

He mentions only one fire, whereas Lactantius distinctly tells us there were two, fifteen days apart

(chap. 14).

Eusebius evidently has only the very vaguest information in regard to the progress of affairs at Nicome

, and has no knowledge of the actual order and connection of events.

In regard to the effects of the fire upon Diocletian's attitude toward the Christians, see above, note 3, and Pepe

400. Constantine (Orat. ad Sanct. Coet. XXV. 2) many years afterwards referred to the fire as caused by lightning, which 'is clearly only a makeshift, for, as Burckhardt remarks, there could have been no doubt in that case how the fire originated.

And, moreover, such an explanation at best could account for only one of the fires,

The fact that Constantine dects it necessary to invent such an explanation gives the occur-

CHAPTER VII.

Lhe Egyptians in Phenicia.

THOsE of them that were conspicuous in

Palestine we know, as also those that were at Tyre in Phcenicia.1_ Who that saw them was rence a still more suspicious look, and one not altogether favorable to the Christians.

In fact, it must be acknowledged that the case against them is pretty strong.

11 Valesius identifies this usurpation in Syria with that of Eugenius. in Antioch, of which we are told by Libanius (in his Qratio ad

7 Literally, "' The executioners, having bound a large number of others atnates threw them into the depths of the sea" (Sjaavres

82 ot Syucoe GAAO Te TAROOS eri oxdpais, Tots Oadatrios évaméppurtov Bv@o0is), The construction is evidently a pregnant one, for it cannot be supposed that boats and all were thréwn into the depths of the sea. 'They seem to have bound the prisoners, and carried them out to sea on boats, and then thrown them overboard.

Compare the Passion of St. Theodotus (Mason, p. 362), where we are told that the "' President then bade them hang stones about their necks, and embark them on a small shallop and row them out to a spot where the lake was deeper; and so they were cast into the water at the distance of four or five hundred feet from the shore."

Crusé translates, '" binding another number upon planks," but cxédn will hardly bear that meaning; and even if it could, we should scarcely expect men to be bound to planks if the desire was to ''cast them into the depths of the sea."

Lactantius (chap. 15), in speaking of these same general occurrences, says, '' Servants, keving millstones tied about their necks, were cast into the sea."

Theodostum post reconciliationem, and in his Oratio ad Theod. de seditione Antioch., according to Valesius). The latter was but a affair, involving only a band of some five hundred soldiers, who. compelled their commander Eugenius, to assume the purple, but were entirely mjinagie by the people of the city within edi Ag hours..

See the note of Valesius ad locum, Tillemont's Hist. des Emp. 1X.

73 sq., and Mason, p. 124 sq.

This rebellion took place in the time of Diocletian, but there is no reason for connecting it with the wu nising mentioned here by Eusebius, The words of Eusebius pad seem to imply that he was thinking, not of a single rebellion, but of a number which took place in various parts of Syria.

In that case, the Antiochian affair may have been one of them, ToUs mavtaxdce THY éxKAnoLBY TpoecTarTas.

Upon this second edict, see above, chap. 2, note 7 18 It is evident enough from this clause alone that the word mpoegratas, "rulers," is to be taken in a broad sense.

See the note just referred to.

Closs remarks that drowning was looked upon in ancient times as the most disgraceful punishment, because it implied that the criminals were not worthy to receive burial.

8 Compare Bk. IV. chap. 15, § 41, above, and Lactantius, Div.

Inst. V.11.

That in the present case the suspicion that the Christians would worship the remains of these so-called martyrs was not founded merely upon knowledge of the conduct of Christians in general in relation to the relics of their mar rs, but upon actual experience of their conduct in connection with these articular martyrs is shown by the fact that the emperor first buried t em, and afterwar had them ug up.

Evidently Chnatians showed them such honor, and collected in such numbers about their tombs, that he believed it was necessary to take some such step in order to prevent the growth of a spirit of rebellion, which was constantly fostered by such dence strations.

Compare the remarks of Mason on P135.

® Part of the events mentioned in this cha ter occurred at the beginning; others, 4 considerable time later.

See note 5, above, 10 Melitene was the name of a district and a city in Eastern Cappadocia.

Upon the outbreak there we know only what can be gathered from this passage, although Mason (p126 sq.) connects it with a rebellion, of which an account is given in Simeon Metaphrastes.

Itis yee that the account of the Metaphrast is authentic, and that the uprising referred to here is to be identified with it, but more than that cannot be said.

There can be no doubt that the outbreak was one of the causes of the promulgation of the Second Edict, in which case of course it is clear that the hristians, whether rightly or wrongly, were held responsible for it. See above, chap, 2, note Te

1% The Third Edict of Diocletian.

Eusebius evidently looks upon the edict as a sharpening of the persecution, but is mistaken in his view.

The idea was not that those who refused to sacrifice should be punished by torture for not sacrificin

, but that torture should be applied in order to induce them to Ap ta and thus render it possible to release them.

The end sought 'was their release, not their punishment.

Upon the date and interpretation of this edict, see chap. 2, note 8, _ 35 Eusebius is probably again in error, as so often in this book, in connecting a " multitude of martyrs in every province" with this

Third Edict.

Wholesale persecution and persecution as such — aimed directly at the destruction of all Christians

— did not begin until the issue of the Fourth Edict (see below, Mart. Pal. chap. 3, note 2).

These numerous martyrdoms referred to here doubtless belong to the period after the issue of that edict, although in Africa and Mauritania, which were under Maximian, considerable blood was probably shed even before that time,

For it was possible, of course, for a cruel and irresponsible ruler like Maximian to fix the death penalty for refusal to deliver up the Christian books, or for other acts of obstinacy which the Christian would quite commonly commit.

These cases, however, must be looked upon as exceptional at this stage of affairs, and certainly rare,

1 From the Martyrs A Palestine, chap. 8 sq. (more fully in the Syriac; Cureton's English translation, p. 26 sq.), we learn that in the sixth and following years of the persecution, many Egyptian

Christians were sent to Palestine to labor in the mines there, and that they underwent the severest tortures in that country.

No men-

VIII. 9.]

MARTYRDOMS AT TYRE AND IN EGYPT.

=. /0). oo ci ee ecrhaapeaninand directions with his horns, and breathed rage and threatening on account of the irritation of the burning irons, he was, nevertheless, held back by the sacred Providence.

And as he in nowise harmed them, they let loose other wild beasts upon them.

Finally, after these

terrible and various attacks upon them, they were all slain with the sword ; and instead of being buried in the earth they were committed to the waves of the sea. not astonished at the numberless stripes, and at the firmness which these truly wonderful athletes of religion exhibited under them? and at their contest, immediately after the scourging, with bloodthirsty wild beasts, as they were cast before leopards and different kinds of bears and wild boars and bulls goaded with fire'and red-hot iron? and at the marvelous endurance of these noble men in the face of all sorts of wild beasts ?

We were present ourselves when these things occurred, and have put on record the divine power of our martyred Saviour Jesus

Christ, which was present and manifested itself mightily in the martyrs.

For a long time the man-devouring beasts did not dare to touch or draw near the bodies of those dear to God, but rushed upon the others who from the outside irritated and urged them on.

And they would not in the least touch the holy athletes, as they stood alone and naked and shook their hands at them to draw them toward themselves, — for they were commanded to do this.

But whenever they rushed at them, they were restrained

CHAPTER VIII.

Those in Egypt.

Sucu was the conflict of those Egyptians

who contended nobly for religion in Tyre.

But we must admire those also who suffered martyrdom in their native land; where thousands of men, women, and children, despising the present life for the sake of the teaching of our Saviour, endured various deaths.

Some of them, after scrapings and rackings

and severest scourgings, and numberless other kinds of tortures, terrible even to hear of, were committed to the flames; some were drowned in the sea; some offered their heads bravely to those who cut them off; some died under their tortures, and others perished with hunger.

And yet others were crucified ; some according to the method commonly employed for malefactors; others yet more cruelly, being nailed to the cross with their heads downward, and being kept alive until they perished on the cross with hunger. as if by some diviner power and retreated

again.

This continued for a long time, and occasioned no little wonder to the spectators.

And as the first wild beast did nothing, a second and a third were let loose

against one and the same martyr.

One could not but be astonished at the invincible firmness of these holy men, and the enduring and immovable constancy of those whose bodies were young.

You could have seen a youth not twenty years of age standing unbound and stretching out his hands in the form of a cross, with unterrified and untrembling mind, engaged earnestly in prayer to God, and not in the least going back or retreating from the place where he stood, while bears and leopards, breathing rage and death, almost touched his flesh.

And yet their mouths were restrained, I know not how, by a divine and incomprehensible power, and they ran back again to their place.

CHAPTER IX.

Those in Thebais} Ir would be impossible to describe the

outrages and tortures which the martyrs in Thebais endured.

They were scraped over the entire body with shells instead of hooks until they died.

Women were bound by one foot and raised aloft in the air by machines, and with their bodies altogether bare and uncovered, presented to all beholders this most shameful, cruel, and inhuman spectacle.

Others being

bound to the branches and trunks of trees perished.

For they drew the stoutest branches Such an one was he.

Again you might have seen others, for they were five in all, cast before a wild bull, who tossed into the air with his horns those who approached from the outside, and mangled them, leaving them to be taken up half dead ; but when he rushed with rage and threatening upon the holy martyrs, who were standing alone, he was unable to come near them; but though he stamped with his feet, and pushed in all ee eS eae 1 No part of Christendom suffered more severely during these years than the territory of the tyrant Maximinus, who became a Czsar in 30s, and who ruled in Egypt and Syria.

Thebais, or the territory a 'Thebes, was one of the three great divisions of Egypt, lying between lower Egypt on the north and ZEthiopia on the south.

From § 4, below, we learn that Eusebius was himself an eye-witness of at least some of the martyrdoms to which he refers in the present chapter.

Reasons have been given on p. 10, above, for supposing that he did not visit Egypt until the later years of the persecution, indeed not until toward the very end of it; and it is therefore to this period that the events described in this chapter are to be ascribed. tion is made of such persons in the Martyrs Palestine previous to the sixth year.

Those in Tyre to whom Eusebius refers very likely suffered during the same period; not under Diocletian, but under Maximinus, when the persecution was at its height.

Since in his Martyrs of Palestine Eusebius confines himself to those who suffered in that country (or were natives of it), he has nothing to say about those referred to in this chapter, who seem, from the opening of the next chapter, to have suffered, all of them, in Tyre.

THE. CHURGH. HISTORY: OF (SUSEBIUS:

(VILL. 9.

together with machines, and bound the limbs of the martyrs to them; and then, allowing the branches to assume their natural position, they eminent on account of his patriotism and the services rendered by him to his country, and also on account of his philosophical learning.

These persons, although a multitude of

relatives and other friends besought them, and many in high position, and even the judge himself entreated them, that they would have compassion on themselves and show mercy to their children and wives, yet were not in the least induced by these things to choose the love of life, and to despise the ordinances of our

Saviour concerning confession and denial.

But with manly and philosophic minds, or rather with pious and God-loving souls, they persevered against all the threats and insults of the judge ; and both of them were beheaded. tore asunder instantly the limbs of those

for whom they contrived this.

All these things were done, not for a few days ora short time, but for a long series of years.

Sometimes more than ten, at other times above twenty were put to death.

Again not less than thirty, then about sixty, and yet again a hundred men with young children and women, were slain in one day, being condemned to various and diverse torments.

We, also, being on the spot ourselves, have observed large crowds in one day ; some suffering decapitation, others torture by fire ; so that the murderous sword was blunted, and becoming weak, was broken, and the very executioners grew weary and relieved each

other.

And we beheld the most wonderful ardor, and the truly divine energy and zeal of those who believed in the Christ of God.

CHAPTER X.

The Writings of Phileas the Martyr describing the Occurrences at Alexandria.

For as soon as sentence was pronounced against the first, one after another rushed to the judgment seat, and confessed themselves Christians.

And regarding with indifference the terrible things and the multiform tortures, they declared themselves boldly and undauntedly for the religion of the God of the universe.

And they received the final sentence of death with joy and laughter and cheerfulness; so that they sang and offered up hymns and thanksgivings to the God of the universe till their very last

SINCE we have mentioned Phileas as hav-

ing a high reputation for secular learning, let him be his own witness in the following extract, in which he shows us who he was, and at the same time describes more accurately than we can the martyrdoms which occurred in his time at Alexandria :} " Having before them all these examples

and models and noble tokens which are given us in the Divine and Sacred Scriptures, the blessed martyrs who were with us did not hesitate, but directing the eye of the soul in sincerity toward the God over all, and having their mind set upon death for religion, they adhered firmly to their calling.

For they understood that our Lord Jesus Christ had become man on our account, that he might cut off all sin and furnish us with the means of entrance into eterbreath.

These indeed were wonderful; but yet more wonderful were those who, being distinguished for wealth, noble birth, and honor, and for learning and philosophy, held everything secondary to the true religion and to faith

in our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ.

Such an one was Philoromus, who held a high office under the imperial government at Alexandria,' and who administered justice every day, attended by a military guard corresponding to his rank and Roman dignity.

Such also was Phileas,' bishop of the church of Thmuis, a man I er SE len in the former a considerable part of his epistle to the people of his diocese is quoted.

Jerome mentions him in his de vir. zl. chap.

78, where he says: elegantissimum ithrum de martyrum laude comtposutt, et disputatione actorum habita adversum Judicem, a ule sacrificare cogebat, pro Christo capite truncatur.

The ook referred to by Jerome seems to be identical with the epistle quoted by Eusebius in the next chapter, for we have no record of another work on this subject written by him.

There is extant, however, the Latin version of an epistle pu orting to have been written by the imprisoned bishops Hesychius, Pachymius, Theodorus, and Phileas, to Meletius, author of the Meletian schism,

There seems to be nothing in the epistle to disprove its genuineness, and it is accepted by Routh and others.

The authorship of the epistle is commonly ascribed to Phileas, both because he is known to us as a writer, and also because his name stands last in the opening of the epistle.

Eusebius says nothing of such an epistle (though the names of all four of the bishops are mentioned in chap. 13, below).

Jerome's silence in regard to it signifies nothing, for he only follows Eusebius.

This epistle, and also the fragment of the one quoted in the next chapter by Eusebius, are given by Routh, Re/. Sac. IV.

"ich a and an English translation in the Ayte-Nicene Fathers, 2 apxiv tive ov Thy TYvxXodCaY THs Kar' *"Adekavdperav BacrAtKis Stoucyoews eyKexerpiauévos.

Walesius says that Philoromus was the Rationalis, seu procurator summarum Egypt, i.e. the general finance minister of Egypt (see above, Bk. iL chap. ro, note 8), But the truth is, that the use of the tiva implies that Eu. sebius is not intending to state the particular office which he held, but simply to indicate that he held some high office, and this is all that we can claim for Philoromus.

We know no more of him than is told us here, though Acts of St. Phileas and St. Philoromus are extant, which contain an account of his martyrdom, and are printed by the Bollandists and by Ruinart (interesting extracts given by Tillemont, H. &. V. p. 486 sq., and by Mason, p. 290 sq.).

Tillemont (zbzd. p. 770) and others defend their genuineness, but Lardner doubts it, ( Aogrt chap. 60).

I have examined only the extracts printed by Tillemont and Mason, and am not prepared to xpress an opinion in the matter, - Pp» 161 sq.

Phileas' learning is praised very highly by Eusebius and Jerome, and his scholarly character is emphasized in his Acts.

The date of his death cannot be determined with exactness, but we may be confident that it did not, at any rate, take place before 306, and very likely not before 307.

The epistle quoted in the next chapter was writen shortly before his martyrdom, as we learn from § x1 of that chapter, .

* Phileas, bishop of Thmuis (an important town in lower Egypt, Situated between the Tanite and Mendeaian branches of the Nile), occupies an important place among the Diocletian martyrs.

The extant Acts of his martyrdom have been referred to in the revious note.

He is mentioned again by Eusebius in chavs. 10 and 13, and ? On this epistle, see the previous chapter, note 3.

VIII. 11.]

EPISTLE

.OF "(PHILEAS:

were compelled to lie on their backs on the stocks, being unable to keep themselves up on account of the fresh wounds with which their entire bodies were covered as a result of the scourging.

Others were thrown on the ground and lay there under the accumulated infliction of tortures, exhibiting to the spectators a more terrible manifestation of severity, as they bore on their bodies the marks of the various and diverse punishments which had been invented.

As this went on, some died under the tor-

tures, shaming the adversary by their constancy.

Others half dead were shut up in prison, and suffering with their agonies, they died in a few days; but the rest, recovering under the care which they received, gained confidence by time and their long detention in prison.

When therefore they were ordered to choose whether they would be released from molestation by touching the polluted sacrifice, and would receive from them the accursed freedom, or refusing to sacrifice, should be condemned to death, they did not hesitate, but went to death cheerfully.

For they knew what had been declared before by the Sacred Scriptures.

For it is said,® ' He that sacrificeth to other gods shall be utterly destroyed,'* and, 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me.'"® nal life.

For 'he counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant ; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself unto

death, even the death of the cross.'? Wherefore also being zealous for the greater gifts, the Christ-bearing martyrs endured all trials and all kinds of contrivances for torture ; not once only, but some also a second time.

And although the guards vied with each other in threatening them in all sorts of ways, not in words only, but in actions, they did not give up their resolution ; because ' perfect love casteth out fear.'®

"What words could describe their courage and manliness under every torture?

For as liberty to abuse them was given to all that wished, some beat them with clubs, others with

rods, others with scourges, yet others with

thongs, and others with ropes.

And the spectacle of the outrages was varied and exhibited great malignity.

For some, with their hands bound behind them, were suspended on the stocks, and every member stretched by certain machines.

Then the torturers, as commanded, lacerated with instruments * their entire bodies ; not only their sides, as in the case of murderers, but also their stomachs and knees and cheeks.

Others were raised aloft, suspended from the porch by one hand, and endured the most terrible suffering of all, through the distension of their joints and limbs.

Others were bound face to face to pillars, not resting on their feet, but with the weight of their bodies bearing ll Such are the words of the truly philosophical and God-loving martyr, which, before the final sentence, while yet in prison, he addressed to the brethren in his parish, showing them his own circumstances, and at the same time exhorting them to hold fast, even after his approaching death, to the religion of Christ.

But why need we dwell upon these things, and continue to add fresh instances of the conflicts of the divine martyrs throughout the world, especially since they were dealt with no longer by common law, but attacked like enemies of war? on their bonds and drawing them tightly.

And they endured this, not merely as long as the governor talked with them or was at leisure, but through almost the entire day.

For when he passed on to others, he left officers under his authority to watch the first, andobserve if any of them, overcome by the tortures, appeared to yield.

And he commanded to cast them into chains without mercy, and afterwards

when they were at the last gasp to throw them

to the ground and drag them away.

For he said that they were not to have the least concern for us, but were to think and act as if we no longer existed, our enemies having invented this second mode of torture in addition

CHAPTER XI.

Those in Phrygia.

A sMaLL town! of Phrygia, inhabited

solely by Christians, was completely surto the stripes.

"Some, also, after these outrages, were placed on the stocks, and had both their good MSS., and is adopted by all the other editors and translators, and seems necessary in the present case.

Upon the instrument referred to here, see above, Bk. 1V. chap. 16, note 9, It would seem that '' four holes" constituted in ordinary cases ae extreme limit.

But in two cases (Bk. V. chap. 1, § 27, and Mart. Pal. chap. 2) we are told of a ''fifth hole."

It is possible that the instruments varied in respect to the number of the holes, for the way in which the "four" is used here and elsewhere seems to indicate that the extreme of torture is thought of. feet stretched over the four' holes, so that they nee EE 2 Phil. ii. 6-8.

3 x John iv. 18.

4 tois auvvtypiows.

The word apxuvtyprov means literally a weapon of defense, but the word seems to indicate in the present case some kind of a sharp instrument with claws or hooks.

Rufinus translates «7gu/@, the technical term for an instrument of torture of the kind just described.

Valesius remarks, however, that these auvvrnpia seem to have been something more than zngula, for Hesychius interprets auvytnptov as Eidos Siatomor, i.e. a ' twoedged sword."

_ 5 The majority of the MSS., followed by Laemmer and Heinichen, omit terodpwr, "four."

The word, however, is found in a few 6 gat: " He says," or " the Scripture saith,"

7 Ex. xxii. 20.

8 Ex. xx. 3.

11 read moAtxvyv with the majority of MSS. and editors.

A number of MSS. read woAvv, which is supported by Rufinus (urbe guandam) and Nicephorus, and is adopted by Laemmer and Heinichen: but it would certainly be more natural for a copyist to exaggerate than to understate his original.

2 Lactantius (Dzo zust. V. 11), in speaking of persecutions in general, says, '' Some were swift to slaughter, as an individual in

33"

THE CHURCH HISTORY OF EUSEBIUS.

(VIII. 11.

broken, as in Cappadocia.

Some, raised on high by the feet, with their heads down, while a gentle fire burned beneath them, were suffocated by the smoke which arose from the burning wood, as was done in Mesopotamia.

Others were mutilated by cutting off their noses and ears and hands, and cutting to pieces the other members and parts of their bodies, as in Alexandria.!. Why need we revive the recol-

lection of those in Antioch who were roasted on grates, not so as to kill them, but so as to subject them to a lingering punishment?

Or of others who preferred to thrust their right hand into the fire rather than touch the impious sacrifice?

Some, shrinking from the trial, rather than be taken and fall into the hands of their enemies, threw themselves from lofty houses, considering death pureferable to the cruelty of the impious. rounded by soldiers while the men were in it.

Throwing fire into it, they consumed them with the women and children while they were calling upon Christ.

This they did because all. the inhabitants of the city, and the curator himself, and the governor, with all who held office, and the entire populace, confessed themselves Christians, and would not in the least obey those who commanded them to worship idols.

There was another man of Roman dignity named Adauctus,? of a noble Italian family, who had advanced through every honor under the emperors, so that he had blamelessly filled even the general offices of magistrate, as they call it, and of finance minister.'

Besides all this he excelled in deeds of piety and in the confession of the Christ of God, and was adorned with the diadem of martyrdom.

He endured the conflict for religion while still holding the office of finance minister.

A certain holy person, —in soul admira-

ble for virtue, in body a woman, — who was illustrious beyond all in Antioch for wealth and family and reputation, had brought up in the principles of religion her two daughters, who were now in the freshness and bloom of life.

Since great envy was excited on their account, every means was used to find them in their concealment ; and when it was ascertained that they were away, they were summoned deceitfully to Antioch.

Thus they were caught in the nets of the soldiers.

When the woman saw herself and her daughters thus helpless, and knew the things terrible to speak of that men would do to them, —and the most unbearable of all terrible things, the threatened violation of their chastity,,—she exhorted herself and the maidens that they ought not to submit even to hear of this.

For, she said, that to surrender their souls to the slavery of demons was worse than all deaths and destruction; and she set before them the only deliverance from all these things, — escape to Christ. They then

listened to her advice.

And after arranging their garments suitably, they went aside from the middle of the road, having requested of the guards a little time for retirement, and cast themselves into a river which was flowing

CHAPTER XII.

Many Others, both Men and Women, who suffered in Various Ways.

Wuy need we mention the rest by name, or number the multitude of the men, or picture the various sufferings of the admirable martyrs of Christ?

Some of them were slain with the axe, as in Arabia.

The limbs of some were Phrygia who burnt an entire people, together with their place of meeting (universum populum cum ipso pariter conventiculo)."

This apparently refers to the same incident which Eusebius records in this chapter.

Gibbon contends that not the city, but only the church with the people in it was burned; and so Fletcher, the translator of Lactantius in the Ante-Nicene Fathers, understands the passage ("'who burnt a whole assembly of people, together with their place of meeting").

Mason, on the other hand, contends that the population of the entire city is meant.

The Latin would seem, however, to support Gibbon's interpretation rather than Mason's; but in view of the account in Eusebius, the latter has perhaps most in its favor.

If the two passages be interpreted differently, we can hardly determine which is the true version of the incident.

Mason has 'no hesitation" in referring this episode to the period immediately following the First Edict of Diocletian, at the time when the rebellions in Melitene and Syria were taking place.

It may have occurred at that time, but I should myself have constderadle hesitation in ies | it definitely to any particular perind of the persecution.

If Eusebius' statement at the close of this paragraph could be relied upon, we should be obliged to put the event after the issue of the fourth edict, for not until that time were Christians in general called upon to offer sacrifices.

But the statement may be merely a conclusion of Eusebius' own; and since he does not draw a clear distinction between the various steps in the persecution, little weight can be laid upon it.

? Rufinus connects this man with the town of Phrygia just referred to, and makes him one of the victims of that catastrophe.

But Eusebius does: not intimate any such connection, and indeed seems to separate him from the inhabitants of that city by the special mention of him as a martyr.

Moreover, the official titles given to him are hardly such as we should expect the citizen of an insignificant Phrygian town to bear.

He is said, in fact, to have held the highest imperial — not merely municipal — offices.

We know nothing more about the man than is told us here; nor do we know when and where he suffered.

1 The barbarous mutilation of the Christians which is spoken of here and farther on in the chapter, began, as we learn from the artyrs of Palestine, in the sixth year of the persecution (A.D. 308). he tyrant Maximin seems to have become alarmed at the number of deaths which the persecution was causing, and to have hit upon this atrocious expedient as a no less effectual means of punishment.

It was practiced apparently throughout Maximin's dominions; we are told of numbers who were treated in this way, both in Egypt and Palestine (see Mart. Pal. chap.

8 sq.).

2 This abominable treatment o' sels Christians formed a feature of the persecutions both of Maximian and Maximin, who were alike monsters of licentiousness.

It was entirely foreign to all the principles of Diocletian's government, and could never have been allowed by him. It began apparently in Italy under Maximian, after the publication by him of the Fourth Edict (see Mart. Pal. chap. 3, note 2), and was continued in the East by Maximin, when he came into power.

We have a great many instances given of this kind of treatment, and in many cases, as in the present, suicide relieved the victims of the proposed indignity, 3 ras kadAou Stocxyoets THs map' avTois KaAoumerns baytotpoTHTOS TE Kai KaBoALKETHTOS, e second office (xaQoAtkérns) is apparently to be identified with that mentioned in Bk. VII. chap. ro,

§ 5 (see note 8 on that chapter).

We can hardly believe, however, that Adauctus (of whom we hear nowhere else) can have held so high a position as is meant there, and therefore are forced to conclude that he was but one of a number of such finance ministers, and had the administration of the funds only of a particular district in his hands.

VIII. 13.)

MUTILATION OF CHRISTIANS.

limbs.

For such things were humane in their sight, and the lightest of punishments for us.

So that now on account of this kindly treatment accorded us by the impious, it was impossible to tell the incalculable number of those whose right eyes had first been cut out with the sword, and then had been cauterized with fire ; or who had been disabled in the left foot by burning the joints, and afterward condemned to the provincial copper mines, not so much for service as for distress and hardship.

Besides all these, others encountered other trials, which it is impossible to recount ; for their manly endurance surpasses all description.

these conflicts the noble martyrs of Christ shone illustrious over the entire world, and everywhere astonished those who beheld their manliness ; and the evidences of the truly divine and unspeakable power of our Saviour were made manifest through them.

To mention each by name would be a long task, if not indeed impossible.

by. Thus they destroyed themselves.* But there were two other virgins in the same city of Antioch who served God in all things, and were true sisters, illustrious in family and distinguished in life, young and blooming, serious in mind, pious in deportment, and admirable for zeal.

As if the earth could not bear such excellence, the worshipers of demons commanded to cast them into the sea.

And this was done to them.

In Pontus, others endured sufferings horrible to hear.

Their fingers were pierced with sharp reeds under their nails.

Melted lead, bubbling and boiling with the heat, was poured down the backs of others, and they were roasted in the most sensitive parts of the body.

Others endured on their bowels and privy members shameful and inhuman and unmentionable torments, which the noble and law-observing judges, to show their severity, devised, as more honorable manifestations of wisdom.

And new tortures were continually invented, as if they were endeavorwi ing, by surpassing one another, to gain

prizes in a contest.

But at the close of these calamities, when finally they could contrive no greater cruelties, and were weary of putting to death, and were filled and satiated with the shedding of blood, they turned to what they considered merciful and humane treatment,

CHAPTER XIII.

The Bishops of the Church that evinced by their Blood the Genuineness of the Religion which they preached.

As for the rulers of the Church that suffered

martyrdom in the principal cities, the first martyr of the kingdom of Christ whom we shall mention among the monuments of the pious is

Anthimus,! bishop of the city of Nicomedia, who was beheaded.

Among the martyrs at Antioch was Lucian,' a presbyter of that parish, whose entire life was most excellent.

At Nicomedia, in the presence of the emperor, he proclaimed the heavenly kingdom of Christ, first in an oral defense, and afterwards by deeds as well.

Of the martyrs in Phoenicia

the most distinguished were those devoted pastors of the spiritual flocks of Christ: Tyrannion,® bishop of the church of Tyre ; Zenobius, a presbyter of the church at Sidon; and Silvanus,' bishop of the churches about Emesa. so that they seemed to be no longer devis-

ing terrible things against us.

For they said that it was not fitting that the cities should be polluted with the blood of their own people, or that the government of their rulers, which was kind and mild toward all, should be

defamed through excessive cruelty; but that rather the beneficence of the humane and royal authority should be extended to all, and we should no longer be put to death.

For the infliction of this punishment upon us should be stopped in consequence of the humanity of the rulers.

Therefore it was commanded that our eyes should be put out, and that we should be maimed in one of our

3 Eusebius evidently approved of these women's suicide, and it must be confessed that th had great provocation.

The views of the early Church on the subject of suicide were in ordinary cases 1 On Anthimus, see above, chap.

6, note 5.

2 On Lucian of Antioch, see below, Bk. tx. chap. 6, note 4.

3 Of Tyrannion and Zenobius, we know only what is told us here and in the next paragraph.

All of the martyrs of whom Eusebius tells us in this and the following books are commemorated in the Martyrologies, and accounts of the passions of many of them are given in various Acts, usually of doubtful authority.

I shall not attempt to mention such documents in my notes, nor to give references to the Martyrologies, unless there be some special reason for it in connection with a case of particular interest.

Wherever we have farther information in regard to any of these martyrs, in Eusevery decided.

They condemned it malonate as a crime, and thus made a decided advance upon the position held by many eminent Pagans of that age, especially among the Stoics. In two cases, however, their opinion of suicide was somewhat uncertain.

There 'existed in many quarters a feeling of admiration for those who voluntarily rushed to martyrdom and needlessly sacrificed their lives.

The wiser and steadier minds, however, condemned this practice unhesitatingly (cf. p. 8, above).

The second case in connection with which the opinions of the Fathers were divided, was that which meets us in the present passage.

The majority of them evidently not only justified but commended suicide in such an extremity.

'The first Father ag condemn the practice was Augustine (De civ. Dez. 1. 22-27).

He takes strong ground on the subject, and while admiring th bravery and chastity of the many famous women that had rescued themselves by taking their own lives, he denounces their act as sinful under all circumstances, maintaining bius himself or other early Fathers, I shall endeavor to give the needed references, passing other names by unnoticed.

Tillemont (H. E. V.) contains accounts of all these men, and all the necessary references to the Martyrologies, the Bollandist Acts, etc.

To his work the curious reader is referred.

4 Silvanus is mentioned again in Bk. TX. chap. 6, and from that passage we learn that he was a very old man at the time of his death, and that he had been bishop forty years.

It is, moreover, directly stated in that passage that Silvanus suffered martyrdom at that suicide is neyer anything else than a crime against the law of God.

The view of Augustine has very generally prevailed since his time.

Cf. Lecky's History of European Morals, 3d edition (Appleton, New York), Vol. II. p. 43 sq.

THE CHURCH HISTORY OF EUSEBIUS.

PVilien3.

sons who are commemorated by the parishes of their country and region.

The last of these, with others, was made food for wild beasts at Emesa, and was thus received into the ranks of martyrs.

The other two glorified the word of God at Antioch through patience unto death.

The bishop' was thrown into the depths of the sea.

But Zenobius, who was a very skillful physician, died through severe It is not for us to describe the conflicts of those who suffered for the divine religion throughout the entire world, and to relate accurately what happened to each of them.

This would be the proper work of those who were eyewitnesses of the events. I will describe for posterity in another work ™ those which I myself witnessed.

But in the present book' I will

add to what I have given the revocation issued by our persecutors, and those events that occurred at the beginning of the persecution, which will be most profitable to such as shall read them. tortures which were applied to his sides.

Of the martyrs in Palestine, Silvanus,° bishop of the churches about Gaza, was beheaded with thirty-nine others at the copper mines of Pheno.'

There also the Egyptian bishops, Peleus and Nilus,® with others, suffered

death by fire.

Among these we must mention Pamphilus, a presbyter, who was the great glory of the parish of Czesarea, and among the men of our time most admirable.

The virtue of his manly deeds we have recorded

in the proper place.

Of those who suffered death illustriously at Alexandria and throughout Egypt and Thebais, Peter,"® bishop of Alexandria, one of the most excellent teachers of the religion of Christ, should first be mentioned ; and of the presbyters with him Faustus," Dius and Ammonius, perfect martyrs of Christ; also Phileas," Hesychius,* Pachymius and Theodorus, bishops of Egyptian churches, and besides them many other distinguished perWhat words could sufficiently describe the

greatness and abundance of the prosperity of the Roman government before the war against us, while the rulers were friendly and peaceable toward us?

'Then those who were highest in the government, and had held the position ten or twenty years, passed their time in tranquil peace, in festivals and public games and most joyful pleasures and cheer.

While thus their authority was growing uninterruptedly, and increasing day by day, suddenly they changed their peaceful attitude toward us, and began an implacable war.

But the second year of this movement was not yet past, when a

the same period with Peter of Alexandria, namely, in the year 312 or thereabouts.

This being the date also of Lucian's martyrdom, mentioned just above, we may assume it as probable that all mentioned in this chapter suffered about the same time.

14 Eusebius refers here to his Martyrs of Palestine.

See above, . 29

Sq. be ete Tov mapdvTa Adyov.

Eusebius seems to refer here to the eighth book of his Wzstory,; for he uses Adyos frequently in referring to the separate books of his work, but nowhere else, so far as I am aware, in referring to the work asa whole.

This would seem to indicate that he was thinking at this time of writing only eight books, and of bringing his Hzstory to an end with the toleration edict of Galerius, which he gives in chap. 17, below.

Might it be supposed that the present passage was written immediately after the publication of the edict of Galerius, and before the renewal of the persecution by Maximin?

If that were so, we might assume that after the close of that persecution, in consequence of the victory of Constantine and Licinius, the historian felt it necessary to add yet a ninth book to his work, not contemplated at the time he was writing his eighth; as he seems still later, after the victory of Constantine over Licinius, to have found it necessary to add a tenth book, in order that his work might cover the entire period of persecution and include the final triumph of the Church.

His motive, indeed, in adding the tenth book seems not to have been to bring the histo down to the latest date possible, for he made no additions during his later years, in spite of the interesting and exciting events which took place after 325 A.D., but to bring it down to the final triumph of the Church over her pagan enemies.

Had there been another persecution and another toleration edict between 325 and 338, we can hardly doubt that Eusebius would have added an account of it to his W7story.

In view of these considerations, it is possible that some time may have elapsed between the composition of the eighth and ninth books, as wattne between the composition of the ninth and tenth.

5 i.e. Tyrannion.

6 Silvanus, bishop of Gaza, is mentioned also in Mart. Pai. chaps. 7 and 13.

From the former chapter we learn that he became a confessor at Pies in the fifth year of the persecution (A.D. 307), while still a presbyter; from the latter, that i suffered martyrdom in the seventh year, at the very close of the persecution in Palestine, and that he had been eminent in his confessions from the beginning of the persecution.

7 Phzeno was a village of Arabia Petrzea, between Petra and Zoar, and contained celebrated copper mines, which were worked by condemned criminals.

8 Peleus and Nilus are mentioned in Mart. Pal. chap. 13, from which passage we learn that they, like Silvanus, died in the seventh ear of the persecution.

An anonymous presbyter, and a man named Patereiuilius, are named there as perishing with them in the flames.

% On Pamphilus, see above, Bk. VII. chap. 32, note 40.

Eusebius refers here to his Lzfe of Pamphilus (see above, p. 28).

10 On Peter of Alexandria, see above, Bk. VII. chap. 32, note 54.

11 Faustus is probably to be identified with the deacon of the same name, mentioned above in Bk, VI. chap. 40 and in Bk. VII. chap.

11.

At any rate, we learn from the latter chapter that the Faustus mentioned there lived to a great age, and died in the persecution of Diocletian, so that nothing stands in the way of identifying the two, though in the absence of all positive testimony, the identification cannot be insisted upon.

Of Dius and Ammonius we know nothing.

12 On Phileas, see above, chap. g, note 3.

18 A Latin version of an epistle purporting to have been written ty these four bishops is still extant (see above, chap. 9, note 3).

It must be admitted, however, that a serious objection to this supposition lies in the fact that in chaps, r5 and 16, below, the tenth year of the persecution is spoken of, and in the latter chapter the author is undoubtedly thinking of the Edict of Milan, which was issued in Re after the renewal of Maximin's persecution described in Book [X.

I am, nevertheless, inclined to think that Eusebius, when he wrote the present passage, was expecting to close his work with the present book, and that the necessity for another book made itself manifest before he finished the present one.

It may be that the words in chaps. 15 and 16 are a later insertion.

I do not regard this as probable, but knowing the changes that were made in the ninth book in a second edition of the History, it must be admitted that such changes in the eighth book are not impossible (see above, p30 and 45). At the same time I prefer the former alternative, that the necessity for another book became manifest before he finished the present one. A slight confirmation of the theory that the ninth book was a later addition, necessitated by the persecution of Maximin's later years, may be found in the appendix to the eighth book which is found in many MSS, See below, p, __, note r. e know nothing more about the last three named here.

It has been customary to identify this Hesychius with the reviser of the text of the LX.X and the Gospels which was widely current in Egypt in the time of Jerome, and was known as the Hesychian recension

(see Jerome, Pref. zx Paralipom., Apol. adv. Ruf. i. 27, Pref. tnx quattuor Evangelia ; and cf. Comment. in Isatam, LVIII. 11).

We know little about this text; but Jerome speaks of it slightingly, as does also the Decretal of Gelasius, VI. § 15 (according to Westcott's Hist. of the Canon, 5th ed. p. 392, note 5). The identification of the two men is quite possible, for the recension referred to belonged no doubt to this period; but no positive arguments beyond agreement in name and country can be urged in support of it.

Fabricius proposed to identify our Hesychius with the author of the famous Greek Lexicon, which is still extant.

But this identification 1s now commonly rejected; and the author of the lexicon is regarded as a pagan, who lived in Alexandria during the latter part of the fourth century, See Smith's Dict. of Greek and Roman BiograPhy and Smith and Wace's Dict. of Christ. Biog. s.v.

VIII. 13.]

CHANGES IN THE GOVERNMENT.

the first that was ranked by them among the gods, and received after death every honor which one could pay to an emperor.

He was the kindest and mildest of emperors, and

the only one of those of our day that passed all the time of his government in a manner worthy of his office.

Moreover, he conducted himself toward all most favorably and beneficently.

He took not the smallest part in the war against us, but preserved the pious that were under him unharmed and unabused.

He neither threw down the church buildings," nor did he devise anything else against us.

The end of his life was honorable and thrice blessed.

He alone at death left his empire happily and gloriously to his own son as his successor, — one who was in all respects most prudent and pious. revolution took place in the entire govern-

ment and overturned all things.

For a severe sickness came upon the chief of those of whom we have spoken, by which his understanding was distracted; and with him who was honored with the second rank, he retired into private life.®

Scarcely had he done this when the entire empire was divided; a thing which is not recorded as having ever occurred before."

Not long after, the Emperor Constantius, who through his entire life was most kindly and favorably disposed toward his subjects, and most friendly to the Divine Word, ended his life in the common course

of nature, and left his own son, Constantine, as emperor and Augustus in his stead.

He was

His son Constantine entered on the government at once, being proclaimed supreme emperor and Augustus by the soldiers, and long before by God himself, the King of all.

He showed himself an emulator of his father's piety toward our doctrine.

Such an one was he.

But after this, Licinius was declared emperor and Augustus by a common vote of the rulers"!

These things grieved Maximinus greatly, for until that time he had been entitled by all only Cesar.

He therefore, being exceedingly imperious, seized the dignity for himself, and became Augustus, being made such by himself"

In the mean time he whom we 16 The abdication of Diocletian and Maximian, the two Augusti, took place on May 1, 305, and therefore a little more, not a little less, than two years after the publication of Diocletian's First Edict.

The causes of the abdication have been given variously by different writers, and our original authorities are themselves in no better agreement.

I do not propose to enter here into a discussion of the subject, but am convinced that Burckhardt, Mason, and others are correct in looking upon the abdication, not as the result of a sudden resolve, but as a part of Diocletian's great plan, and as such long resolved upon and regarded as one of the fundamental requirements of his system to be regularly observed by his successors, as well as by himself.

The abdication of Diocletian and Maximian raised the Czsars Constantius and Galerius to the rank of Augusti, and two new Czsars, Maximinus Daza in the East, and Severus in the West, were appointed to succeed them.

Diocletian himself retired to Dalmatia, his native province, where he passed the remainder of his life in rural pursuits, until his death in 313.

17 Eusebius is correct in saying that the empire had never been divided up to this time.

For it had always been ruled as one whole, even when the imperial power was shared by two or more princes.

And even the system of Diocletian was not meant to divide the empire into two or more independent parts.

The plan was simply to vest the supreme power in two heads, who should be given lieutenants to assist them in the government, but who should jointly represent the unity of the whole while severally administering their respective territories.

Imperial acts to be valid had to be joint, not individual acts, and had to bear the name of both Augusti, while the Czesars were looked upon only as the lieutenants and representatives of their respective superiors.

Finally, in the last analysis, there was theoretically but the one supreme head, the first Augustus.

While Diocletian was emperor, the theoretical unity was a practical thing.

doubtless, with a conviction that there was nothing essentially vicious or dangerous in Christianity.

19 Not the first of Roman emperors to be so honored, but the first of the four rulers who were at that time at the head of the empire.

It had been the custom from the beginning to decree divine honors to the Roman emperors upon their decease, unless their characters or their reigns had been such as to leave universal hatred behind them, in which case such honors were often denied them, and their memory publicly and officially execrated, and all their public monuments destroyed.

The ascription of such honors. to Constantius, therefore, does not in itself imply that he was superior to the other three rulers, nor indeed superior to the emperors in general, but only that he was not a monster, as some had been. The Jast emperor to receive such divine honors was Diocletian himself, with whose death the old pagan régime came finally to an end.

20 This is a mistake; for though Constantius seems to have proceeded as mildly as possible, he did destroy churches, as we are directly informed by Lactantius (de Mort. pers. 15), and as we can learn from extant Acts and other sources (see Mason, p. 146 sq.)Eusebius, perhaps, knew nothing about the matter, and simply drew a conclusion from the known character of Constantius and his general tolerance toward the Christians.

So long as his strong hand was on the helm, Maximian, the other Augustus, did not venture to do anything in pyecmtion to his wishes, and thus the great system worked smoothly.

But with Diocletian's abdication, everything was changed. pinenee cen Constantius was the first Augustus, but Galerius, not Constantius, had had the naming of the Czsars; and there was no intention on Galerius' part to acknowledge in any way his inferiority to Constantius.

In fact, being in the East, whence the government had been carried on for twenty years, it was natural that he should be entirely independent of Constantius, and that thus, as Eusebius says, a genuine division of the empire, not theoretical but pina snould be the result.

The principle remained the same; but West and East seemed now to stand, not under one great emperor, but under two equal and independent heads.

) be 18 Constantius Chlorus died at York, in Britain, July 25, 306.

According to the system of Diocletian, the Caesar Severus should regularly have,succeeded to his place, and a new Czsar should have been appoirted to succeed Severus.

But Constantine, the oldest son of Constantius, who was with his father at the time of his death, was at once proclaimed his successor, and hailed as Augustus by the army.

This was by no means to Galerius' taste, for he had far other plans in mind; but he was not in a position to dispute Constantine's claims, and so made the best of the situatiun by recognizing Constantine not as Augustus, but as second Czsar, while he raised Severus to the rank of Augustus, and made his own Czesar

Maximin first Cesar.

Constantine was thus theoretically subject to Severus, but the subjection was only a fiction, for he was practically independent in his own district from that time on.

; Our sources are unanimous in giving Constantius an amiable and pious character, unusually free from bigotry and cruelty. Although he was obliged to show some respect to the persecuting edicts of his superiors, Diocletian and Maximian, he seems to have been averse to persecution, and to have gone no further than was necessary in that direction, destroying some churches, but apparently subjecting none of the Christians to bodily injury.

We have no hint, however, that he was a Christian, or that his generous treatment of the Christians was the result in any way of a belief in their religion.

It was simply the result of his natural tolerance and humanity, combined, 21 The steps which led to the appointment of Licinius are omitted by Eusebius.

Maxentius, son of the old Augustus Maximian, spurred on by the success of Constantine's move in Britain, attempted to follow his example in Italy.

He won the support of a considerable portion of the army and of the Roman people, and in October of the same year (306) was proclaimed emperor by soldiers. and people.

Severus, who marched against the usurper, was defeated and slain, and Galerius, who endeavored to revenge his fallen colleague, was obliged to retreat without accomplishing anything,

This left Italy and Africa in the hands of an independent ruler, who was recognized by none of the others.

Toward the end of the year 307, Licinius, an old friend and comrade-in-arms of Galerius, was appointed Augustus to succeed Severus, whose death had occurred a number of months before, but whose place had not yet been filled.

The appointment of Licinius took place at Carnuntum on the Danube, where Galerius, Diocletian, and Maximian met for consultation.

Inasmuch as Italy and Africa were still in the hands of Maxentius, Licinius was given the Illyrian provinces with the rank of second Augustus, and was thus nominally ruler of the entire West.

#2 Barly in 308 Maximinus, the first Cesar, who was naturally incensed at the promotion of a new man, Licinius, to a position above himself, was hailed as Augustus by his troops, and at once notified

THE,-CHURGH: HISTOR

Y(OF ;

EUSEBIUS.

[VIII. 13.

have mentioned as having resumed his dignity after his abdication, being detected in conspiring against the life of Constantine, perished by a most shameful death.* He was the first whose decrees and statues and public monuments were destroyed because of his wickedness and impiety." in complaisance and flattery toward the Roman people.

On this account he commanded his subjects to cease persecuting the Christians, pretending to religion that he might appear merciful and mild beyond his predecessors.

But he did not prove in his deeds

to be such a person as was hoped, but ran into all wickedness and abstained from no impurity or licentiousness, committing adulteries and indulging in all kinds of corruption.

For having separated wives from their lawful consorts, he abused them and sent them back most dishonorably to their husbands.

And he not only practiced this against the obscure and unknown, but he insulted especially the most prominent and distinguished members of the Roman senate.

All his subjects, people and rulers,

honored and obscure, were worn out by grievous oppression.

Neither, although they kept quiet, and bore the bitter servitude, was there any relief from the murderous cruelty of the tyrant.

Once, on a small pretense, he gave the people to be slaughtered by his guards ; anda great multitude of the Roman populace were slain in the midst of the city, with the spears and arms, not of Scythians and barbarians, but of their own fellow-citizens.

It would be

impossible to recount the number of senators who were put to death for the sake of their wealth; multitudes being slain on various pretenses.

To crown all his wickedness,

the tyrant resorted to magic.

And in his divinations he cut open pregnant women, and 'again inspected the bowels of newborn infants.

He slaughtered lions, and performed various execrable acts to invoke demons and avert war.

For his only hope was that, by these means, victory would be secured to him.

It is impossible to tell the ways in

which this tyrant at Rome oppressed his subjects, so that they were reduced to such an extreme dearth of the necessities of life as has never been known, according to our contemporaries, either at Rome or elsewhere.

CHAPTER. XIV.

The Character of the Enemies of Religion. ay Maxenttus his son, who obtained the government at Rome,' at first feigned our faith,

Galerius of the fact.

The latter could not afford to quarrel with Maximinus, and therefore bestowed upon him the full dignity of an Augustus, as upon Constantine also at the same time.

There were thus four independent Augusti (to say nothing of the emperor Maxentius), and the system of Diocletian was a thing of the past.

The reference is to the Augustus Maximian.

After his abdication he retired to Lucania, but in the following year was induced by his son, Maxentius, to leave his retirement, and join him in wresting pat and Africa from Severus.

It was due in large measure to his military skill and to the prestige of his name that Severus was vanquished and Galerius repulsed. After his victories Maximian went to Gaul, to see Constantine and form an alliance with him.

He bestowed upon him the title of Augustus and the hand of his daughter Fausta, and endeavored to induce him to join him in a campaign against Galerius.

This, however, Constantine refused to do; and Maximian finally returned to Rome, where he found his son Maxentius entrenched in the affections of the soldiers and the people, and bent upon ruling for himself.

After a bitter quarrel with him, in which he attempted, but failed, to wrest the purple from him, he left the city, attended the congress of Carnuntum, and acquiesced in the appointment of Licinius as second Augustus, which of course involved the formal renunciation of his own claims and those of his son.

He then betook himself again to Constantine, but during the latter's temporary absence treacherously had himself proclaimed Augustus by some of the troops.

He was, however, easily overpowered by Constantine, but was forgiven and granted his liberty again, About two years later, unable to resist the desire to reign, he made an attempt upon Constantine's life with the hope of once more securing the power for himself, but was detected and allowed to ehoose the manner of his own death, and in February, 310, strangled himself.

The general facts just stated are well made out, but there is some uncertainty as to the exact order of events, in regard to which our sources are at variance.

Compare especially the works of Hunziker, Burckhardt, and Mason, and the respective articles in Smith's Dict. of Greek and Roman Biog.

Eusebius' memory plays him false in this passage; for he has not mentioned, as he states, Maximian's resumption of the imperial dignity after his abdication.

A few important MSS., followed by Heinichen, omit the entire clause, '' whom we have mentioned as having resumed his dignity after his abdication."

But the words are found in the majority of the MSS. and in Rufinus, and are accepted by all the other editors.

There can, in fact, be no doubt that 'Eusebius wrote the words, and that the omission of them in some codices is due to the fact that some scribe or scribes perceived his slip, and consequently omitted the clause,

Valesius understands by this ye in § 12, above), the first of the four emperors.

But we find in Lactantius (dd. chap. 42) the distinct statement that Diocletian (whose statues were thrown down in Rome with those of Maximian, to which they were joined, Janusfashion) was the fi:st emperor that had ever suffered such an indignity, and there is no hint in the text that Eusebius means any less than that in making his statement, though we know that it is incorrect.

But Maximinus, the tyrant in the East,

having secretly formed a friendly alliance with the Roman tyrant as with a brother in wickedness, sought to conceal it for a long time.

But being at last detected, he. suffered merited punishment?

It was wonderful

1 See the previous chapter, note 2r, The character which Eusebius gives to Maxentius in this chapter is borne out by all our sources, both heathen and Christian, and seems not to be greatly overdrawn.

It has been sometimes disputed whether he persecuted the Christians, but there is no ground to suppose that he did, though they, in common with all his subjects, had to suffer from his oppression, and therefore hated him as 2 On the alliance of Maximinus with Maxentius, his war with Licinius, and his death, see below, Bk. IX. chaps. 9 and 10,

Upon his accession to the Czsarship, and usurpation of the title of Augustus, see above, chap. 13, notes 16 and 22. deeply as the others did.

His failure to persecute the Christians as such, and his restoration to them of the rights which they had enjoyed before the beginning of the great persecution, can hardly be looked upon as a result of a love or respect for our religion.

It was doubtless in part due to hostility to Galerius, but chiefly to political considerations.

He apparently saw what Constantine later saw and profited by, — that it would be for his profit, and would tend to eee his government, to gain the friendship of that large body of his subjects which had been so violently handled under the reign of his father.

And, no doubt, the universal toleration which he offered was one of the great sources of his strength at the beginning of his reign.

Upon his final defeat by Constantine, and his death, see below, Bk. IX. chap. 9.

Maximinus Daza was a nephew of Galerius, who owed his advancement, not to his own merits, but solely to the favor of his uncle, but who, nevertheless, after acquirin power, was by no means the tool Galerius had expected him to Se

Eusebius seems not to have exaggerated his wickedness in'the least.

He was the most abandoned and vicious of the numerous rulers of the time, and was utterly without redeeming qualities, so far as we can ascertain.

Under him the Christians suffered more severely than under any of his colleagues, and even after the toleration edict and death of GaleTius (A.D. 311), he continued the

) persecution for more than a year.

His territory comprised Egypt and Syria, and consequently the

VIII. 14.]

TYRANNY OF MAXIMINUS AND MAXENTIUS.

4ST san 2 nn es een and cutting off of limbs, and burnings, and pricking and digging out of eyes, and mutilations of the entire body, and besides these, hunger and mines and bonds.

In all they showed patience in behalf of religion rather than transfer to idols the reverence due to God.

And the

women were not less manly than the men in behalf of the teaching of the Divine Word, as they endured conflicts with the men, and bore away equal prizes of virtue.

And when they were dragged away for corrupt purposes, they surrendered their lives to death rather than their bodies to impurity.* how akin he was in wickedness to the tyrant at Rome, or rather how far he surpassed him in it.

For the chief of sorcerers and magicians were honored by him with the highest rank.

Becoming exceedingly timid and superstitious, he valued greatly the error of idols and demons.

Indeed, without soothsayers and oracles he did not venture to move even a

finger, so to speak.

Therefore he persecuted us more violently and incessantly than his predecessors.

He ordered temples to be erected in every city, and the sacred groves which had been destroyed through lapse of time to be speedily restored.

He appointed idol priests in every place and city; and he set over them in every province, as high priest, some political

One only of those who were seized for

adulterous purposes by the tyrant, a most distinguished and illustrious Christian woman in Alexandria, conquered the passionate and intemperate soul of Maximinus by most heroic firmness.

Honorable on account of wealth and family and education, she esteemed all of these inferior to chastity.

He urged her many times, but although she was ready to die, he could not put her to' death, for his desire was stronger than his anger.

He therefore punished her

with exile, and took away all her property.

Many others, unable even to listen to the threats of violation from the heathen rulers, endured every form of tortures, and rackings, and deadly punishment. official who had especially distinguished himself in every kind of service, giving him a band of soldiers and a body-guard.

And to all jugglers, as if they were pious and beloved of the gods, he granted governments and the greatest

privileges.

From this time on he distressed and harassed, not one city or country, but all the provinces under his authority, by extreme exactions of gold and silver and goods, and most grievous prosecutions and various fines. He took away from the wealthy the property which they had inherited from their ancestors, and bestowed vast riches and large sums of

money on the flatterers about him.

And he went to such an excess of folly: and drunkenness that his mind was deranged and crazed in his carousals; and he gave commands when intoxicated of which he repented afterward when sober.

He suffered no one to surpass him in debauchery and profligacy, but These indeed should be admired.

But far the most admirable was that woman at Rome, who was truly the most noble and modest of all, whom the tyrant Maxentius, fully resembling

Maximinus in his actions, endeavored to abuse.

For when she learned that those

who served the tyrant in such matters were at the house (she also was a Christian), and that her husband, although a prefect of Rome, would suffer them to take and lead her away, having requested a little time for adorning her body, she entered her chamber, and being alone, stabbed herself with a sword.

Dying immediately, she left her corpse to those who had come for her.

And by her deeds, more powerfully than by any words, she has shown to all men now and hereafter that the virtue which prevails among Christians is the only invincible and indestructible possession.' made himself an instructor in wickedness to those about him, both rulers and subjects.

He urged on the army to live wantonly in every kind of revelry and intemperance, and encouraged the governors and generals to abuse their subjects with rapacity and covetousness, almost

as if they were rulers with him.

Why need we relate the licentious, shameless deeds of the man, or enumerate the multitude with whom he committed adultery?

For he could not pass through a city without continually corrupting women and ravishing vir-

gins.

And in this he succeeded with all except the Christians.

For as they despised death, they cared nothing for his power.

Such was the career of wickedness which

was carried forward at one and the same time by the two tyrants who held the East and the West. Who is there that would hesitate, after careful examination, to pronounce the persecution against us the cause of such evils? Especially since this extreme confusion of affairs did not cease until the Christians had obtained liberty.

SSS ee a a For the men endured fire and sword and crucifixion and wild beasts and the depths of the sea,

_ Dias. ee SSS. ee greater part of the martyrdoms recorded by Eusebius in his Martyrs of Palestine took place under him.

(See that work, for the details.) oi, on the so-called Fifth Edict, which was issued by him in 308, see

'vt. Pal. chap. 9, note r.

Upon his treatment of the Christians after the death of Galerius, and upon his final toleration edict, see

Bk. IX. chap. 2 sq. and cha) ap. g Sq4 Compare chap.

12, note 3, above.

3 Literally, 'a Eagersnatt" (ovuxos). mp 1a 3» 5 Jbid.

THE "CHURCH. HISTORY

/OF EBUSEBIVS:

[VIII. 1s.

us favorable and propitious oversight, then truly our rulers, and the very persons" by whom the war against us had been earnestly prosecuted, most remarkably changed their minds, and issued a revocation, and quenched the great fire of persecution which had been kindled, by merciful proclamations and ordinances concerning us.

But this was not due to any

human agency ; nor was it the result, as one might say, of the compassion or philanthropy of our rulers ;—far from it, for daily from the beginning until that time they were devising more and more severe measures against us, and continually inventing outrages by a greater variety of instruments ;— but it was manifestly due to the oversight of Divine Providence, on the one hand becoming reconciled to his people, and on the other, attacking him* who instigated these evils, and showing anger toward him as the author of the cruelties of the entire persecution.

For thoth it was necessary that $3 these things should take place, according to the divine judgment, yet the Word saith, "Woe to him through whom the offense cometh."* Therefore punishment from God came upon him, beginning with his flesh, and proceeding to his soul'

For an ab-

scess suddenly appeared in the midst of the secret parts of his body, and from it a deeply perforated sore, which spread irresistibly into his inmost bowels.

An indescribable multitude of worms sprang from them, and a deathly odor arose, as the entire bulk of his body had, through his gluttony, been changed, before his sickness, into an excessive mass of soft fat, which became putrid, and thus presented an awful and intolerable sight to those who came near.

Some of the physicians, being wholly

unable to endure the exceeding offensiveness of the odor, were slain ; others, as the entire mass had swollen and passed beyond hope of restoration, and they were unable to render any help, were put to death without mercy. a Se

CHAPTER XV.

The Events which happened to the Heathen}

Durinc the entire ten years? of the persecution, they were constantly plotting and warring against one another.?

For the sea could not be navigated, nor could men sail from any port without being exposed to all kinds of outrages ; being stretched on the rack and lacerated in their sides, that it might be ascertained through various tortures, whether they came from the enemy ; and finally being subjected

to punishment by the cross or by fire.

And besides these things shields and breastplates were preparing, and darts and spears and other warlike accoutrements were making ready, and galleys and naval armor were collecting in every place.

And no one expected anything else than to be attacked by enemies any day.

In addition to this, famine and pestilence came upon them, in regard to which we shall relate what is necessary in the proper place.!

CHAPTER XVI.

The Change of Affairs for the Better. iL SucH was the state of affairs during the entire persecution.

But in the tenth year, through the grace of God, it ceased altogether, having begun to decrease after the eighth year.

For when the divine and heavenly grace showed 1 rots exTos.

2 Diocletian's First Edict was issued on Feb. 24, 303; and the persecution was brought to a final end by Constantine and Licinius' edict of toleration, which was issued at Milan late in the year 312 se below, Bk. IX. chap. 9, note 17).

The persecution may there- 'ore be said to have lasted altogether ten years; although of course there were many cessatibns during that period, and in the West it really came to an end with the usurpation of Maxentius in 306, and in the East (except in Maximin's dominions) with the edict of Galerius in 311.

8 This passage is largely rhetorical.

It is true that enough plotting and warring went on after the usurpation of Maxentius in 306,

Pe after the death of Galerius in 311, to justify pretty strong statements, Gibbon, for instance, says: and Maximian was succeeded by eighteen years of discord and confusion,

The empire was afflicted by five civil wars; and the remainder of the time was not so much a state of tranquillity as a suspension of arms between several hostile monarchs, who, viewing eaca other with an eye of fear and hatred, strove to increase their respective forces at the expense of their subjects" (chap. xiv.).

At the same time, during the four years between 307 and 311, though there was not the harmony which had existed under Diocletian, and though the interests of the West and East were in the main hostile, yet the empire was practically at peace, barring the persecution of the Christians.

"The abdication of Diocletian ? The plural here seems a little peculiar, for the edict was issued only in the name of Galerius, Constantine, and Licinius, not in the name of Maximin.

We have no record of Licinius as a persecutor before this time, and Eusebius' words of praise in the ninth book would seem to imply that he had not shown himself at all hostile to the Church. And in fact Licinius seems ruled out by § 2, below, where

"they " are spoken of as having " from the beginning devised more and more severe measures against us."

And yet, since Constantine did not persecute, we must suppose either that Licinius is included in Eusebius' plural, or what is perhaps more probable, that Eusebius thinks of the edict as proceeding from all four emperors though bearing the names of only three of then: It is true that the latter is rather a violent supposition in view of Eusebius' own words in the first chapter of Bk. IX.

I confess that I find no satisfactory explanation of the apparent inconsistency.

« See below, Bk. IX, chap. 8.

1 The edict of Milan, issued by Constantine and Licinius toward the close of the year 312 (upon the date, see Mason, p. 333, note) put an end to the persecution in its tenth year, though complete toleration was not proclaimed by Maximin until the following spring.

Very soon after the close of the eighth year, in April, 311, Galerius issued his edict of toleration, which is given in the next chapter.

It is, therefore, to the publication of this edict that Eusebius refers when he says that the persecution had begun to decrease after the eighth year.

Maximin yielded reluctant and partial consent to this edict for a few months, but before the end of the year he began to persecute again; and during the year 312 the Christians suffered severely in his dominions (see Bk. Tx. chap. 2 sq.).

3 i.e. Galerius.

4 Matt. xviii. 7.

5 Galerius seems to have been smitten with the terrible disease, which Eusebius here refers to, and which is described by Lactantius at considerable length (De mort. pers. chap. 33) and with many imaginative touches (e.g. the stench of his disease pervades ''not only the palace, but even the whole city"? !), before the end of the year 310, and his death took place in May of the following year.

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