PROLEGOMENA

THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF EUSEBIUS OF CÆSAREA

CHAPTER I

THE LIFE OF EUSEBIUS

§ 1. Sources and Literature.

[...continuing from previous section...] it is necessary to distinguish him from others of the same name. Smith and Wace’s Dictionary of Christian Biography mentions 137 men of the first eight centuries who bore the name Eusebius, and of these at least forty were contemporaries of our author. The best known among them were Eusebius of Nicomedia (called by Arius the brother of Eusebius of Cæsarea), Eusebius of Emesa, and Eusebius of Samosata.

The exact date of our author’s birth is unknown to us, but his Ecclesiastical History contains notices which enable us to fix it approximately. In H. E. V. 28, he reports that Paul of Samosata attempted to revive again in his day (original: "καθ' ἡμᾶς" Greek for "in our time") the heresy of Artemon. But Paul of Samosata was deposed from the bishopric of Antioch in 272, and was condemned as a heretic at least as early as 268, so that Eusebius must have been born before that latter date if his words are to be strictly interpreted. Again, according to H. E. III. 28, Dionysius was bishop of Alexandria in Eusebius’ time (original: "καθ' ἡμᾶς"). But Dionysius was bishop from 247 or 248 to 265, and therefore, if Eusebius’ words are to be interpreted strictly here as in the former case, he must have been born before 265. On the other hand, because his death occurred about 340, we cannot place his birth much earlier than 260. It is true that the references to Paul and to Dionysius do not prove conclusively that Eusebius was alive in their day, for his words may have been used in a loose sense. However, in H. E. VII. 26, just before proceeding to give an account of Paul of Samosata, he draws the line between his own generation and the preceding one, declaring that he is now about to relate the events of his own age (original: "τὴν καθ' ἡμᾶς"). This further confirms the other indications, and we shall consequently be safe in concluding that Eusebius was born not far from the year 260 A.D.

His birthplace cannot be determined with certainty. The fact that he is called “Eusebius the Palestinian” by Marcellus (Euseb. lib. adv. Marcell. I. 4), Basil (Lib. ad. Amphil. de Spir. Sancto, c. 29), and others, does not prove that he was a Palestinian by birth; for the epithet may be used to indicate merely his place of residence (he was bishop of Cæsarea in Palestine for many years). Moreover, the argument urged by Stein and Lightfoot in support of his Palestinian birth—namely, that it was customary to elect a native of the city to the episcopate in preference to an outsider—does not carry much weight. All that seems to have been demanded was that a man should already be a member of the specific church over which he was to be made bishop, and even this rule was not universal (see Bingham’s Antiquities, II. 10, 2 and 3). The fact that he was bishop of Cæsarea would at most warrant us in concluding only that he had resided in Cæsarea for some time before his election to that office. Nevertheless, although neither of these arguments proves his Palestinian birth, it is very probable that he was a native of that country, or at least of that region. He was acquainted with Syriac as well as Greek, which, when taken in connection with his ignorance of Latin (see below, p. 47), points to the region of Syria as his birthplace. Moreover, we learn from his own testimony that he was in Cæsarea while still a youth (Life of Constantine, I. 19), and in his epistle to the church of Cæsarea (see below, p. 16) he says that he was taught the creed of the Cæsarean church in his childhood (or at least at the beginning of his Christian life: original: "ἐν τῇ κατηχήσει" Greek for "in the instruction/catechism") and that he accepted it at baptism. It would seem, therefore, that he must have lived as a child either in Cæsarea itself or in the neighborhood, where his creed was in use. Although no one—except Theodorus Metochita of the fourteenth century—directly states that Eusebius was a Palestinian by birth, we have every reason to suppose him such.

His parents are entirely unknown. Nicephorus Callistus (H. E. VI. 37) reports that his mother was a sister of Pamphilus. He does not mention his authority for this statement, and it is extremely unlikely that it is true, given the silence of Eusebius himself and all other writers. It is far more probable that the relationship was later assumed to account for the close intimacy of the two men. Arius, in an epistle addressed to Eusebius of Nicomedia (contained in Theodoret’s Ecclesiastical History I. 5), calls Eusebius of Cæsarea the latter’s brother. It is objected that Eusebius of Nicomedia refers to Eusebius of Cæsarea on one occasion as his