Sophia Scriptura

Church History 4.15.21

Eusebius of Caesarea · Church History · ca. 300–325 · Caesarea · Read in context

Summary: The Martyrdom (quoted): Polycarp declared, “I am a Christian,” and offered to explain the faith.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:157–158

ἐπιμένοντος δὲ πάλιν αὐτοῦ καὶ λέγοντος “‘ὄμοσον τὴν Καίσαρος τύχην; ὁ Πολύκαρπος ῾ εἰ κε “νοδοξεῖςʼ φησὶν, ‘ἵνα ὀμόσω τὴν Καίσαρος τύχη “ὡς λέγεις, προσποιούμενος ἀγνοεῖν ὅστις εἰμὶ, μεη παρρησίας ἄκουε· Χριστιανός εἰμι. εἰ δὲ θέλεις το “τοῦ Χριστιανισμοῦ μαθεῖν λόγον, δὸς ἡμέραν κα ‘ἄκουσον.’

English · Claude translation

When he persisted again and said, ‘Swear by the fortune of Caesar,’ Polycarp said, ‘If you vainly suppose that I will swear by the fortune of Caesar, as you say, pretending not to know who I am, hear plainly: I am a Christian. And if you wish to learn the doctrine of Christianity, give me a day and listen.’

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:157–158 · 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)
Extrabiblical texts
  • Mart. Pol. 10.1 (Martyrdom of Polycarp) · quotation, high confidence
Topics
Martyrdom

Notes

Translation notes

  • Quotation from Mart. Pol. 10.1.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.15.21 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/4/15/21/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.15.21 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/4/15/21/).

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