Church History 10.8.12

Summary: Licinius also overturned Roman laws on marriage and inheritance and burdened his subjects with taxes, land surveys, and levies even on the dead.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:484–485

τοιαῦται αἶ Λικιννίου διατάξεις. τί χρὴ τὰς περὶ γάμων καινοτομίας ἀπαριθμεῖσθαι, ἢ τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῖς τὸν βίον μεταλλάττουσι νεωτερισμοὺς αὐτοῦ, διʼ ὧν τοὺς παλαιοὺς ῾Ρωμαίων εὖ καὶ σοφῶς κειμένους νόμους περιγράψαι τολμήσας, βαρβάρους τινὰς καὶ ἀνημέρους ἀντεισῆγε νόμους, ἀνόμους ὡς ἀληθῶς καὶ παρανόμους; ἐπισκήψεις τε μυρίας κατὰ τῶν ὑποχειρίων ἐθνῶν ἐπενόει, χρυσοῦ τε καὶ ἀργύρου παντοίας εἰσπράξεις, ἀναμετρήσεις τε γῆς, καὶ τῶν κατʼ ἀγροὺς μηκέτʼ ὄντων ἀνθρώπων, πρόπαλαι δὲ κατοιχομένων, ἐπιζήμιον κέρδος.

English · Claude translation

Such were the ordinances of Licinius. Why should one list his innovations concerning marriage, or his novelties concerning those departing this life, by which he dared to set aside the ancient laws of the Romans, well and wisely established, and to introduce in their place certain barbarous and savage laws, truly lawless and unlawful? He also devised countless levies against the nations under him, all sorts of exactions of gold and silver, new surveys of land, and a profitable fine on account of people in the country who were no longer alive but had long since died.

About this passage

Source

Dindorf 4:484–485 · Wilhelm Dindorf, ed., Eusebii Caesariensis Opera, vol. 4: Historiae ecclesiasticae libri I–X (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871) · Greek text: W. Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Dindorf, Eusebii Opera 4. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1 (1890) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 10.8.12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/10/8/12/).

Plain text

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 10.8.12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/10/8/12/).

Greek text · Dindorf 4:484–485

English · Claude translation

About this passage

Notes

Translation notes

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