Library › Eusebius of Caesarea › History of the Martyrs in Palestine

History of the Martyrs in Palestine

Eusebius of Caesarea, tr. Cureton, 1861; longer recension

The Confession of Silvanus, and of Those with Him

This blessed Silvanus came from Gaza, and he was one of the veteran soldiers; and when his freedom from service proved to be contrary to his habits, he enlisted himself as a good soldier of Christ. For he was a perfectly meek man, and of bright turn of mind, and used his faith with simplicity and purity. And he was a presbyter of the church in the city of Gaza,¹ and conducted himself there with great propriety. And because the conflict for life was proclaimed against the soldiers of Christ, he, an old man, of a noble person, went down to the Stadium, and there, in his first confession before the people of Cæsarea, he acquitted himself valiantly, being tried with scourgings. And when he had endured these bravely, he fought in a second conflict, in which the old man endured the combs on his sides like a young man. And at the third conflict he was sent to the copper mines; and during a life of much length he exhibited great probation. He was also deemed worthy of the office of the episcopate, and also rendered himself illustrious in this office of his ministry. But on the fourth day of Iyar the great gate of heaven was fully opened to him, and this blessed man went up with a company of martyrs, not being left alone, for a great assembly of brave men followed him. And suddenly a mandate of wickedness was issued,² and command was given that all those in the mines who were become enfeebled through old age or sickness, and those who were not able to work, should be put to death by the sword; and God’s martyrs, being all together forty in number,³ were beheaded all in one day. And many of them were Egyptians,⁴ but their leader and guide was this same martyr and bishop of martyrs, Silvanus, a man truly blessed and beloved of God.

Being now arrived at this place in our narrative, we will inform you how God in a short time took vengeance upon those wicked rulers, and they speedily experienced the punishment of their crimes. For he that was excited against these martyrs of God in a barbarous manner, like some fierce wild beast, suffered a wretched punishment; and by the command of him who possessed the power of the time, perished after the manner of a cruel wild beast.⁵ And all the rest perished by various kinds of deaths, and received that punishment which they deserved for their crimes.

So, then, we have described and made known the things which were done during the whole time of the persecution among the people in Palestine. And all these were blessed martyrs of God, who triumphed in our time; who made light of this temporary life, and prized the worship of God far above every other thing, and have received the hidden hope of those good things which are invisible to the bodily eyes.

Oh! the blessed confessors of the kingdom of Christ, who were tried like gold in the excellence of their righteousness, and obtained through the conflict in which they were set the heavenly life of angels, and laid hold upon the promises of the hidden good things of the victory of the high calling—For eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for them that love him.

Here end the chapters of the narrative of the victories of the holy confessors in Palestine.

Notes

“Presbyter of the Church in the city of Gaza.” The Greek has, ων ηγειτο εκ της Γαζαιων επισκοπος ορμωμενος Σιλβανος. And in the Ecc. Hist. Book 8, ch. 13:—επισκοπος των αμφι την Γαζαν εκκλησιων. And in the Greek of the Mart. Palest., ch. 7, he gives the same account of him as in this place, that he was at that time presbyter of Gaza, and afterwards was promoted to the episcopate:—Σλβανον ετι δη τοτε οντα πρεσβυτερον, ομολογησαντα, ον ουκ εις μακρον επισκοπῃ τιμηθηναι συνεβη.
“And suddenly a mandate of wickedness was issued.” The Greek states that this order was given by Maximinus.
“Forty in number.” The Greek says “thirty-nine.”
“Many of them were Egyptians.” The Greek adds in this place the account of one John, who had learned the Scriptures so thoroughly by heart, that Eusebius states, that when he saw him standing up and repeating portions of the Scripture to the congregation, he supposed that he had been reading, till he drew near, and discovered that he was quite blind.
“For he that was excited against us ..... perished after the manner of a cruel wild beast.” It does not appear to whom this applies. Probably he means Firmillianus, of whose savage disposition and extreme cruelty he had spoken above in such strong terms, see p. 27, 29; some account of whose death he gives in the Greek, although omitted here. See note above, on P. xlv. l. 32, p. 84. Or he may mean the Maximinus whose death he describes in the Ecclesiastical History, b. xi. ch. 10.