Church History 6.28.1 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Dindorf 4:273

Τόν γε μὴν Ῥωμαίων αὐτοκράτορα Ἀλέξανδρον τρισὶν ἐπὶ δέκα ἔτεσι τὴν ἀρχὴν διανύσαντα Μαξιμῖνος Καῖσαρ διαδέχεται, ὃς δὴ κατὰ κότον τὸν πρὸς τὸν Ἀλεξάνδρου οἶκον, ἐκ πλειόνων πιστῶν συνεστῶτα, διωγμὸν ἐγείρας, τοὺς τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ἄρχοντας μόνους ὡς αἰτίους τῆς κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον διδασκαλίας ἀναιρεῖσθαι προστάττει. τότε καὶ Ὠριγένης τὸν περὶ μαρτυρίου συντάττει, Ἀμβροσίῳ καὶ Πρωτοκτήτῳ πρεσβυτέρῳ τῆς ἐν Καισαρείᾳ παροικίας ἀναθεὶς τὸ σύγγραμμα, ὅτι δὴ ἄμφω περίστασις οὐχ ἡ τυχοῦσα ἐν τῷ διωγμῷ κατειλήφει, ἐν ᾗ καὶ διαπρέψαι κατέχει λόγος ἐν ὁμολογίᾳ τοὺς ἄνδρας, οὐ πλείονος ἢ τριετοῦς χρόνου τῷ Μαξιμίνῳ διαγενομένου. σεσημείωται δὲ τουτονὶ τοῦ διωγμοῦ τὸν καιρὸν ἔν τε τῷ δευτέρῳ καὶ εἰκοστῷ τῶν εἰς τὸ κατὰ Ἰωάννην ἐξηγητικῶν καὶ ἐν διαφόροις ἐπιστολαῖς Ὠριγένης.

English · Claude translation

When Alexander, emperor of the Romans, had completed thirteen years of rule, he was succeeded by Maximin Caesar. Out of grudge against the house of Alexander, which consisted mostly of believers, he raised a persecution and ordered that only the leaders of the churches be killed, as responsible for the teaching of the gospel. Then Origen composed his work On Martyrdom, dedicating it to Ambrose and Protoctetus, a presbyter of the community at Caesarea, since both had fallen into no ordinary distress in the persecution; the report is that the men distinguished themselves in confession during it, Maximin not lasting more than three years. Origen has noted the time of this persecution in the twenty-second book of his exegesis of the Gospel according to John and in various letters.

About this passage

Source

Dindorf 4:273 · 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

Origen, Mart. (Exhortation to Martyrdom) · allusion, high confidence

Topics

Persecution, Martyrdom, Church office

Notes

Translation notes

Maximin reigned 235–238.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (stray mark in the digital text): κ·αὶ Πρωτοκτήτῳ → καὶ Πρωτοκτήτῳ.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 6.28.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/6/28/1/).

Plain text

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 6.28.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/6/28/1/).