Chapters

Book Chapter

8. Eusebius’ Commentary on the Psalms and Its Place in the Origins of Christian Biblical Scholarship, Michael J. Hollerich

8. Eusebius’ Commentary on the Psalms and Its Place in the Origins of Christian Biblical Scholarship Michael J. Hollerich Eusebius’ Commentary on the Psalms (hereafter CPs) is probably the longest book he ever wrote. It came late in his career, at a time when the Church was basking in the emperor’s favor and when the party of those with misgivings about the Council of Nicaea felt… Read more

Book Chapter

7. The Life of Constantine: The Image of an Image, Peter Van Nuffelen

7. The Life of Constantine: The Image of an Image Peter Van Nuffelen In her 1991 classic, Christianity and the Rhetoric of Empire, Averil Cameron commented that Eusebius’ Life of Constantine (also referred to as the VC) is “a work over-criticized on historical grounds and understudied as a literary text.” [1] This statement still holds true. To cite but one example,… Read more

Book Chapter

6. Propaganda Against Propaganda: Revisiting Eusebius’ Use of the Figure of Moses in the Life of Constantine, Finn Damgaard

6. Propaganda Against Propaganda: Revisiting Eusebius’ Use of the Figure of Moses in the Life of Constantine Finn Damgaard Introduction In the last two decades there has been an increasing interest in the literary aspects of the Life of Constantine (VC) and a number of recent studies have touched on Eusebius’ use of the figure of Moses in this work. [1]… Read more

Book Chapter

5. A Eusebian Reading of the Testimonium Flavianum, Ken Olson

5. A Eusebian Reading of the Testimonium Flavianum Ken Olson In his laudatory Life of Constantine, written shortly after the emperor’s death in 337, Eusebius of Caesarea gives an account of a battle Constantine fought against his colleague and rival, Licinius, the emperor of the eastern part of the empire. Eusebius presents a speech that he claims Licinius made to his troops just before he was… Read more

Book Chapter

4. The History of the Caesarean Present: Eusebius and Narratives of Origen, Elizabeth C. Penland

4. The History of the Caesarean Present: Eusebius and Narratives of Origen Elizabeth C. Penland When Eusebius presents the life of Origen in Book 6 of the Ecclesiastical History, he interrupts the narrative framework to present an extended biographical sub-narrative focused on Origen with interspersed details from other sources and from Origen’s writings. [1] Unlike the other books, where biographical details… Read more

Book Chapter

3. Mothers and Martyrdom: Familial Piety and the Model of the Maccabees in Eusebius of Caesarea’s Ecclesiastical History, James Corke-Webster

3. Mothers and Martyrdom: Familial Piety and the Model of the Maccabees in Eusebius of Caesarea’s Ecclesiastical History [1] James Corke-Webster Stories concerning family relationships in life-or-death situations possess both a peculiar magnetism and a surprising longevity. This is nowhere more true than the martyrdom of the Maccabean mother and her seven sons, which became a favorite literary motif of… Read more

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2. Genre and Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History: Toward a Focused Debate, David J. DeVore

2. Genre and Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History: Toward a Focused Debate [1] David J. DeVore Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History is universally acknowledged as a watershed in historiographical presentation, the most innovative history since the fifth century BC: it quotes previous texts promiscuously, avoids placing orations into characters’ mouths, incorporates literary history, and lacks causal relations between successive episodes. But it is a priori… Read more

Book Chapter

1. Introduction, Aaron P. Johnson

1. Introduction Aaron P. Johnson Current study of the cultures and literatures of late antiquity continues to find attractive the interpretive polarity of tradition and innovation. [1] The spectrum containing these two poles has fruitfully functioned to gauge the complex ways in which the history, literature, and thought of late antiquity can be identified as a coherent and distinctive age. This… Read more

Book Chapter

Abbreviations

Abbreviations C. Hier. Eusebius, Contra Hieroclem (Against Hierocles) C. Marc. Eusebius, Contra Marcellum (Against Marcellus)CCSL Corpus Christianorum Series Latina Chron. Eusebius, Chronicon (Chronicle)Chron. Can. Eusebius, Chronici Canones (Chronological Canons)CI Eusebius, Commentarius in Isaiam (Commentary on Isaiah)CPG Clavis Patrum Graecorum CPs Eusebius, Commentaria in Psalmos (Commentary on the Psalms) DE Eusebius, Demonstratio Evangelica (Gospel Demonstration/Demonstration of the Gospel)Eccl. Read more

Book Chapter

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments The editors wish to thank the members of the press, especially Scott F. Johnson and Jill Curry Robbins for enthusiasm, perceptiveness, and diligence. We are also most grateful to the contributors of this volume for providing intellectual energy, attentive insights, and new ideas both in the original presentation of the papers as well as in the print versions contained herein, as well as patience and good… Read more