Eusebius Book 9, Section 11

Passages / Book 9 / Section 11

9.11.1

Xl. Οὕτω δῆτα Mαξιμίνου ἐκποδὼν γενομένου, ὃς μόνος ἔτι λείπων τῶν τῆς θεοσεβείας ἐχθρῶν, ἁπάντων χείριστος ἀναπέφηνεν, τὰ μὲν τῆς τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ἀνανεώσεως ἐκ θεμελίων χάριτι θεοῦ τοῦ παντοκράτορος ἠγείρετο ὅ τε τοῦ χριστοῦ λόγος, εἰς δόξαν τοῦ τῶν ὅλων θεοῦ διαλάμπων, μείζονα τῆς τρόσθεν ἀπελάμβανεν παρρησίαν, τὰ δὲ τῆς δυσσεβείας τῶν τῆς θεοσεβείας ἐχθρῶν αἰσχύνης ἐσχάτης καὶ ἀτιμίας ἐνεπίμπλατο. πρῶτός τε γὰρ Μαξιμῖνος αὐτὸς κοινὸς ἁπάντων πολέμιος ὑπὸ τῶν κρατούντων ἀναγορευθείς, δυσσεβέστατος καὶ δυσωυμώτατος καὶ θεομισέστατος τύραννος διὰ προγραμμάτων δημοσίων ἀνεστηλίτευτο, γραφαί τε ὅσαι εἰς τιμὴν αὐτοῦ τε καἰ τῶν αὐτοῦ παίδων κατὰ πᾶσαν ἀνέκειντο πόλιν, αἰ μὲν ἐξ ὕφους εἰς ἔδαφος ῥιπτούμεναι συνετρίβοντο, αἰ δὲ τὰς προσόψεις ἠχρειοῦντο σκοτεινῷ χρώματι καταμελανούμεναι, ἀνδριάντων τε ὁμοίως ὁπόσοι εἰς αὐτοῦ τιμὴν διανεστήκεσαν, ὡσαύτως ῥιπτούμενοι συνετρίβοντο, γέλως καὶ παιδιὰ τοῖς ἐνυβρίζειν καὶ ἐμπαροινεῖν ἐθέλουσιν ἐκκείμενοι.

AI English cleanup, gpt-5.4-mini, 2026-05-28

XI. when Maximin was thus removed — he who as the only one left of the enemies of godliness showed himself the worst of all — by the grace of Almighty God the renewal of the churches from the foundation was set on foot, and the word of Christ received a due increase upon its former freedom, and was clearly heard to the glory of the God of the universe; while the impiety of the enemies of godliness was covered with the most abject shame and dishonour. For Maximin himself was the first to be proclaimed by the rulers as a common enemy of all, and posted in public edicts on tablets as a most impious, most hateful, and God-hating tyrant. As to the portraits which were set up in every city to his honour and that of his children, some were hurled from a height to the ground and smashed to pieces, others had their faces blackened over with dark-coloured paint and so rendered useless; the statues likewise, as many as had been set up in his honour, were cast down and broken in the same manner, and lay as an object of merriment and sport to those who wished to insult or abuse them.

9.11.2

Εἶτα δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῆς θεοσεβείας ἐχθρῶν πᾶσαι τιμαὶ περιῃροῦντο, ἐκτείνοντο δὲ καὶ πάντες οἱ τὰ Μαξιμίνου φρονοῦντες, ὅσοι μάλιστα τῶν ἐν ἀρχικοῖς ἀξιώμασιν ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ τετιμημένοι τῇ πρὸς αὐτὸν κολακείᾳ σοβαρῶς ἐνεπαροίνησαν τῷ καθ’ ἡμᾶς λόγῳ· οἷος ἢν ὁ παρὰ πάντας αὐτῷ τιμιώτατος καὶ αἰδεσιμώτατος ἑταίρων τε γνησιώτατος Πευκέτιος, δὶς ὕπατος καὶ τρὶς ὕπατος καἰ τῶν καθόλου λόγων ἔπαρχος πρὸς αὐτοῦ καθεσταμένος, Κουλκιανός τε ὡσαύτως διὰ πάσης ἀρχικῆς προελθὼν ἐξουσίας, ὁ καὶ αὐτὸς μυρίοις τοῖς κατ’ Αἴγυπτον χριστιανῶν ἐλλαμπρυνάμενος αἵμασιν, ἄλλοι τε ἐπὶ τούτοις οὐκ ὀλίγοι, δι’ ὧν μάλιστα τὰ τῆς Μαξιμίνου τυραννίδος ἐκραταιοῦτό τε καὶ ηὔξετο.

AI English cleanup, gpt-5.4-mini, 2026-05-28

Next, all the honours of the other enemies of godliness also were taken away, and all who were of the party of Maximin were slain, especially those in high government positions who had been honoured by him, and who indulged in violent abuse against our doctrine in order to fawn upon him. Such was Peucetius, a man whom he honoured and respected above all, the truest of his friends, consul a second and a third time, and appointed by him general finance minister; such likewise was Culeianus, who had gone through every grade of office in the government, the same person who gloried in the murder of countless Christians in Egypt; and in addition to these not a few others, who were the chief means of confirming and increasing Maximin's tyranny.

9.11.3

Εκάλει δὲ ἄρα καὶ Θεότεκνον ἡ δίκη, οὐδαμῶς τὰ κατὰ Χριστιανῶν αὐτῷ πεπραγμένα λήθη παραδιδοῦσα. ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τῷ κατ’ Ἀντιόχειαν ἱδρυθέντι πρὸς αὐτοῦ ξοάνῳ δόξας εὐημερεῖν, ἤδη καὶ ἡγεμονίας ἠξίωτο παρὰ Μαξιμίνου, Λικίννιος δ’ ἐπιβὰς τῆς Ἀντιοχέων πόλεως φώραν τε γοήτων ποιησάμενος, τοὺς τοῦ νεοπαγοῦς ξοάνου προφήτας καὶ ἱερεῖς βασάνοις ᾐκίζετο, τίνι λόγῳ τὴν ἀπάτην καθυποκρίνοιντο, πυνθανόμενος· ὡς δ’ ἐπικρύπτεσθαι αὐτοῖς πρὸς τῶν βασάνων συνελαυνομένοις ἀδύνατον ἢν, ἐδήλουν δὲ τὸ πᾶν μυστήριον ἀπάτην τυγχάνειν τέχνῃ τῇ Θεοτέκνου μεμηχανημένην, τοῖς πᾶσιν τὴν ἀξίαν ἐπιθεὶς δίκην, πρῶτον αὐτὸν Θεότεκνον, εἶτα δὲ καὶ τοὺς τῆς γοητείας κοινωνοὺς μετὰ πλείστας ὅσας αἰκίας θανάτῳ παραδίδωσιν.

AI English cleanup, gpt-5.4-mini, 2026-05-28

So it was that Theotecnus also was summoned by Justice, who in no wise consigned to oblivion what he did against the Christians. For after he had set up the idol at Antioch, he seemed to be prospering, and had actually been deemed worthy of a governorship by Maximin; but when Licinius came to the city of the Antiochenes, he made a search for charlatans, and plied with tortures the prophets and priests of the new-made idol, to find out by what contrivance they were practising this deceit. And when the infliction of the tortures made concealment impossible for them, and they revealed that the whole mystery was a deceit manufactured by the art of Theotecnus, he inflicted a just punishment upon them all, putting to death, after a long series of tortures, first Theotecnus himself, and then also the partners in his charlatanry.

9.11.4

τούτοις ἅπασιν προσετίθεντο καὶ οἱ Μαξιμίνου παῖδες, οὓς ἤδη καὶ τῆς βασιλικῆς τιμῆς τῆς τε ἐν πίναξιν καὶ γραφαῖς ἀναθέσεως πεποίητο κοινωνούς· οἱ συγγένειαν δὲ τοῦ τυράννου τὸ πρὶν αὐχοῦντες καὶ πάντας ἀνθρώπους καταδυναστεύειν ἐπηρμένοι τὰ αὐτὰ τοῖς προδεδηλωμένοις μετὰ τῆς ἐσχάτης ἀτιμίας ἔπασχον, ἐπεὶ μὴ ἐδέξαντο παιδείαν μηδὲ ἔγνωσαν μηδὲ συνῆκαν τὴν φάσκουσαν ἐν ἱεροῖς λόγοις παρακέλευσιν “ μὴ πεποίθετε ἑ ἐπ’ ἄρχοντας, ἐπὶ υἱοὺς ἀνθρώπων, οἷς οὐκ ἔστιν σωτηρία· ἐξελεύσεται τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀποστρέψει τὴν γῆν αὐτοῦ· ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῆ ἡμέρᾳ ἀπολοῦνται πάντες οἱ διαλογισμοὶ αὐτῶν.” οὕτω δῆτα τῶν δυσσεβῶν ἐκκαθαρθέντων, μόνοις ἐφυλάττετο τὰ τῆς προσηκούσης βασιλείας βέβαιά τε καὶ ἀνεπίφθονα Κωνσταντίνῷ καὶ Λικιννίῳ· οἳ τῶν πρόσθεν ἁπάντων ἐκκαθάραντες τοῦ βίου τὴν θεοεχθρίαν, τῶν ἐκ θεοῦ πρυτανεθέντων ἀγαθῶν αὐτοῖς ᾖσθημένως τὸ φιλάρετον καὶ θεοφιλὲς τό τε πρὸς τὸ θεῖον εὐσεβὲς καὶ εὐχάριστον διὰ τῆς ὑπὲρ χριστιανῶν ἐνεδείξαντο νομοθεσίας. 1

AI English cleanup, gpt-5.4-mini, 2026-05-28

To all these were added the sons of Maximin, whom he had already caused to share the imperial dignity and to be set up in paintings and pictures. And those who formerly boasted kinship with the tyrant and were moved by pride to lord it over all men underwent the same sufferings, accompanied by the most abject disgrace, as those mentioned above; for they received not correction, nor did they know or understand the exhortation in the sacred books which says: “Put not your trust in princes, in the sons of men, in whom there is no help. His breath shall go forth and he shall return to his earth. In that day all his thoughts shall perish.” Thus verily, when the impious ones had been purged away, the kingdom that belonged to them was preserved stedfast and undisputed for Constantine and Licinius alone; who, when they had made it their very first action to purge the world of enmity against God, conscious of the good things that He had bestowed upon them, displayed their love of virtue and of God, their piety and gratitude towards the Deity, by their enactment on behalf of the Christians.