Sophia Scriptura

Church History 8.14.9

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

Summary: Maximin persecuted more harshly, rebuilt temples, organized a pagan priesthood with provincial high priests, and rewarded sorcerers.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:374

οὗ χάριν καὶ τῷ καθʼ ἡμῶν σφοδρότερον ἤ οἱ πρόσθεν καὶ πυκνότερον ἐπετίθετο διωγμῷ, νεὼς κατὰ πάσαν πόλιν ἐγείρειν, καὶ τὰ χρόνου μήκει καθῃρημένα τεμένη διὰ σπουδῆς ἀνανεοῦσθαι προστάττων, ἱερέας τε εἰδώλων κατὰ πάντα τόπον καὶ πόλιν· καὶ ἐπὶ τούτων ἑκάστης ἐπαρχίας ἀρχιερέα, τῶν ἐν πολιτείαις ἕνα γέ τινα τὸν μάλιστα ἐμφανῶς διὰ πάσης ἐμπρέψαντα λειτουργίας, μετὰ στρατιωτικοῦ στίφους καὶ δορυφορίας ἐκτάσσων, ἀνέδην τε πάσι γόησιν, ὡσὰν εὐσεβέσι καὶ θεῶν προσφιλέσιν, ἡγεμονίας καὶ τὰς μεγίστας προνομίας δωρούμενος.

English · Claude translation

For this reason he pressed the persecution against us more violently and more continuously than those before him. He ordered temples to be raised in every city and the sacred precincts destroyed by length of time to be speedily restored, and he appointed priests of idols in every place and city, and over them in each province a high priest, one of those in public life who had been especially distinguished in every public office, with a military escort and bodyguard; and he freely granted governorships and the greatest privileges to all sorcerers, as though they were pious and dear to the gods.

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:374 · 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

Notes

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (wrong accent in the digital text): μέτα στρατιωτικοῦ → μετὰ στρατιωτικοῦ.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.14.9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8/14/9/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.14.9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8/14/9/).

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