Sophia Scriptura

Church History 6.39.5

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

Summary: Origen endured chains, the iron collar, and the stocks under Decius, the judge deliberately keeping him alive; his letters record it.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:280

τὰ μὲν οὖν Ὠριγένει κατὰ τὸν διωγμὸν συμβάντα οἷα καὶ ὅσα, καὶ ὁποίας ἔτυχε τελευτῆς, τοῦ πονηροῦ δαίμονος ἐφαμίλλως τῷ ἀνδρὶ πανστρατιᾷ παραταξαμένου, πάσῃ τε μηχανῇ καὶ δυνάμει κατʼ αὐτοῦ στρατηγήσαντος, παρὰ πάντας τε τοὺς τηνικάδε πολεμηθέντας διαφερόντως ἐπισκήψαντος αὐτῷ, οἷά τε καὶ ὅσα διὰ τὸν Χριστοῦ λόγον ὁ ἀνὴρ ὑπέμεινε δεσμὰ καὶ βασάνους τὰς κατὰ τοῦ σώματος, τάς τε ὑπὸ σιδηρῷ κλοιῷ καὶ μυχοῖς εἱρκτῆς τιμωρίας, καὶ ὡς ἐπὶ πλείσταις ἡμέραις τοὺς πόδας ὑπὸ τέσσαρα τοῦ κολαστηρίου ξύλου παραταθεὶς διαστήματα κατασπώμενος πυρός τε ἀπειλὰς καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα πρὸς τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἐπενεχθέντα καρτερῶς ἤνεγκεν, οἵου τε τὰ κατʼ αὐτὸν ἔτυχε τέλους, μηδαμῶς αὐτὸν ἀνελεῖν παντὶ σθένει τοῦ δικαστοῦ φιλονείκως ἐνστάντος, ὁποίας τε μετὰ ταύτα καταλείπει φωνὰς, καὶ αὐτὰς πλήρεις τοῖς ἀναλήψεως δεομένοις ὠφελείας, πλεῖσται ὅσαι τἀνδρὸς ἐπιστολαὶ τἀληθὲς ὁμοῦ καὶ ἀκριβὲς περιέχουσι.

English · Claude translation

What and how many things happened to Origen in the persecution, and what end he met — the evil demon arraying himself with all his forces against the man in rivalry, leading every device and power against him, and assailing him above all others who were attacked at that time; what and how many things the man endured for the word of Christ, bonds and bodily tortures, punishments under the iron collar and in the recesses of the prison; how for very many days he had his feet stretched four spaces in the stocks, and bore steadfastly threats of fire and all else inflicted by his enemies; what outcome his affairs had, the judge eagerly striving with all his might not to put him to death; and what words he left after this, full of help for those who need encouragement — all these are contained, truthfully and exactly, in the man's very many letters.

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:280 · 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)
Topics
Persecution, Martyrdom

Notes

Translation notes

  • Origen died a few years later, probably ca. 253/4.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 6.39.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/6/39/5/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 6.39.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/6/39/5/).

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