Church History 8.16.1

Summary: The persecution eased after eight years and ended in the tenth, when the rulers reversed themselves by kindly edicts.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:377

Τοιαῦτʼ ἦν τὰ διὰ παντὸς τοῦ διωγμοῦ παρατετακότα, δεκάτῳ μὲν ἔτει σὺν θεοῦ χάριτι παντελῶς πεπαυμένου, λωφᾶν γε μὴν μετʼ ὄγδοον ἔτος ἐναρξαμένου. ὡς γὰρ τὴν εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐπισκοπὴν εὐμενῆ καὶ ἵλεων ἡ θεία καὶ οὐράνιος χάρις ἐνεδείκνυτο, τότε δὴ καὶ οἱ καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἄρχοντες, αὐτοὶ δὴ ἐκεῖνοι διʼ ὧν πάλαι τὰ τῶν καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἐνηργεῖτο πολέμων, παραδοξότατα μεταθέμενοι τὴν γνώμην παλινῳδίαν ᾖδον, χρηστοῖς περὶ ἡμῶν προγράμμασι καὶ διατάγμασιν ἡμερωτάτοις τὴν ἐπὶ μέγα ἁφθεῖσαν τοῦ διωγμοῦ πυρκαϊὰν σβεννύντες.

English · Claude translation

Such were the things that continued throughout the whole persecution. By the grace of God it ceased entirely in the tenth year, but it had begun to slacken after the eighth. For when divine and heavenly grace showed its kind and gracious oversight of us, then indeed our rulers, the very men through whom the wars against us had long been waged, most unexpectedly changed their minds and sang a recantation, quenching the fire of persecution that had been kindled so high by favorable proclamations and most humane edicts concerning us.

About this passage

Source

Dindorf 4:377 · 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

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.16.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8/16/1/).

Plain text

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.16.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8/16/1/).

Greek text · Dindorf 4:377

English · Claude translation

About this passage

Notes

Notes on the original text

Cite this passage