This is an occasional series of readings from and brief notes
and commentary upon Eusebius of Caesarea’s The
Ecclesiastical History. Here is Book 5, chapter 1. Listen here.
Notes and Commentary:
Book 5 begins with a brief preface in which Eusebius, after
noting the succession of Eleutherus as bishop of Rome following Soter, explains
that whereas non-Christians historians write about victories in wars, triumphs
over enemies, and the exploits of generals, Christian historians write about
the martyrs, those “athletes of piety” who are “valiant for the truth.” The idea
of the martyrs as athletes engaged in a great contest of faith is a theme
throughout this chapter.
There then follows a very long and extended opening chapter.
Eusebius begins by citing a description of the martyrs of
Gaul (Lyons and Vienne) from his “collection of martyrs.”
These included Vettius Epagathus, called “the Comforter of
Christians.”
He records that some, under duress, failed in faithfulness.
Heathen household servants falsely accused the brethren of Thyestean Feasts
(eating children) and Oedipodean intercourse (incest).
Among the martyrs there was Blandina, a woman mercilessly
tortured but who confessed, “I am a Christian and nothing wicked happens among
us.”
There was also Sanctus, the deacon from Vienne, who despite
unspeakable tortures would only say, “I am a Christian.”
A woman named Biblis first denied Christ, but then rallied
and confessed faith to die as a martyr.
Those not immediately killed were thrown into prisons to
suffer and die.
Account is given of the sufferings and abuse of Pothinus, the
90 year-old bishop of Lyons, who died after just two days in prison. This recalls
the martyrdom of Polycarp.
Even those who initially denied Christ did not escape, but they
suffered shameful death in imprisonment.
Description is given of Marturus, Sanctus, Blandina, and
Attalus who were led to wild beasts. Marturus and Sanctus were first tortured
in the amphitheater by being roasted on an iron chair. Blandina was hung on a
stake, as if crucified. Attalus had a placard paraded before him which said, “I
am a Christian”, and he was railed against by the crowd.
Mention is made of Alexander, a Phrygian physician, who was
encouraging those who had initially denied the faith to be restored, till he was
also seized and cast into the amphitheater to join the martyrs.
On the last day of the gladiatorial sports, the still-suriving
Blandina and Ponticus, a fifteen-year old believer, were brought forward.
Blandina encouraged the youth till he met his end, then she was put in a net
and thrown to a bull.
The bodies of the saints were afterwards abused by the pagans
in their zeal and hatred. Those who died in prison had their bodies desecrated
and fed to the dogs, with the pagans mocking, “Where is their god and what good
to them was their worship, which they preferred above their lives?” After six
days the bodies of the martyrs were burned, and the ashes thrown in the Rhone
river so as to leave no relics. The account ends with pagans mocking their hope
in the resurrection: “now let us see if they will rise again….”, but the reader
knows the reality of this hope.
Conclusion:
This narrative not only describes the persecutions endured by
early Christians, but also the brutality and bloodthirstiness of the
pre-Christian Roman world. It also illustrates the early Christian interest in
the cult of the martyrs (cf. the epistles of Ignatius of Antioch and the
Martyrdom of Polycarp).
JTR
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