E00139: Eusebius of Caesarea refers to a collection of early martyrdom accounts he compiled, probably in the 290s or 300s. Passages from his Ecclesiastical History, written in Greek in Palestine, in 311/325, with references to *Pionios (martyr of Smyrna, S00031), *Karpos, Papylos, and Agathonike (martyrs of Pergamon, S00051), the *Martyrs of Lyon (S00316), and *Apollonios (martyr of Rome, S00106).

Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 4.15.47-48; 5. Pref. 1-2; 5.4.3; 5.21.5.

4.15.47-48
(47.) τῶν γε μὴν τότε περιβόητος μάρτυς εἷς τις ἐγνωρίζετο Πιόνιος· οὗ τὰς κατὰ μέρος ὁμολογίας τήν τε τοῦ λόγου παρρησίαν καὶ τὰς ὑπὲρ τῆς πίστεως ἐπὶ τοῦ δήμου καὶ τῶν ἀρχόντων ἀπολογίας διδασκαλικάς τε δημηγορίας καὶ ἔτι τὰς πρὸς τοὺς ὑποπεπτωκότας τῷ κατὰ τὸν διωγμὸν πειρασμῷ δεξιώσεις παραμυθίας τε ἃς ἐπὶ τῆς εἱρκτῆς τοῖς παρ’ αὐτὸν εἰσαφικνουμένοις ἀδελφοῖς παρετίθετο, ἅς τε ἐπὶ τούτοις ὑπέμεινεν βασάνους, καὶ τὰς ἐπὶ ταύταις ἀλγηδόνας καθηλώσεις τε καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τῆς πυρᾶς καρτερίαν τήν τε ἐφ’ ἅπασιν τοῖς παραδόξοις αὐτοῦ τελευτὴν πληρέστατα τῆς περὶ αὐτοῦ γραφῆς περιεχούσης, τοὺς οἷς φίλον, ἐπὶ ταύτην ἀναπέμψομεν τοῖς τῶν ἀρχαίων συναχθεῖσιν ἡμῖν μαρτυρίοις ἐντεταγμένην. (48.) ἑξῆς δὲ καὶ ἄλλων ἐν Περγάμῳ πόλει τῆς Ἀσίας ὑπομνήματα μεμαρτυρηκότων φέρεται, Κάρπου καὶ Παπύλου καὶ γυναικὸς Ἀγαθονίκης, μετὰ πλείστας καὶ διαπρεπεῖς ὁμολογίας ἐπιδόξως τετελειωμένων.

'(47.) A certain Pionios was famous among the martyrs of those times [= persecutions under Marcus Aurelius]. The document about him contains a full account of each one of his confessions, and the boldness of his speech, and his apologies of the faith before the people and the magistrates, and his instructive addresses, and, moreover, his acceptance of those who had yielded to temptation in the persecution, and the words of encouragement which he addressed to the brethren who came to visit him in prison, and the tortures which he endured in addition, and, besides these, the sufferings and nailing, and his perseverance on the pyre, and his death with all its extraordinary aspects. We refer those interested to this document, since it is included in the Martyrdoms of the Ancients, collected by us. (48.) There are also memoirs extant of others who were martyred in the city of Pergamon in Asia, namely Karpos and Papylos and the woman Agathonike, who died gloriously after several and distinguished acts of confession.'

5. Pref. 1-2
(1.) Ὁ μὲν οὖν τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἐκκλησίας ἐπίσκοπος Σωτὴρ ἐπὶ ὄγδοον ἔτος ἡγησάμενος τελευτᾷ τὸν βίον· τοῦτον δωδέκατος ἀπὸ τῶν ἀποστόλων Ἐλεύθερος διαδέχεται, ἔτος δ’ ἦν ἑπτακαιδέκατον αὐτοκράτορος Ἀντωνίνου Οὐήρου· ἐν ᾧ κατά τινα μέρη τῆς γῆς σφοδρότερον ἀναρριπισθέντος τοῦ καθ’ ἡμῶν διωγμοῦ, ἐξ ἐπιθέσεως τῶν κατὰ πόλεις δήμων μυριάδας μαρτύρων διαπρέψαι στοχασμῷ λαβεῖν ἔνεστιν ἀπὸ τῶν καθ’ ἓν ἔθνος συμβεβηκότων, ἃ καὶ γραφῇ τοῖς μετέπειτα παραδοθῆναι, ἀλήστου μνήμης ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐπάξια ὄντα, συμβέβηκεν. (2.) τῆς μὲν οὖν περὶ τούτων ἐντελεστάτης ὑφηγήσεως τὸ πᾶν σύγγραμμα τῇ τῶν μαρτύρων ἡμῖν κατατέτακται συναγωγῇ, οὐχ ἱστορικὴν αὐτὸ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ διδασκαλικὴν περιέχον διήγησιν· ὁπόσα γέ τοι τῆς παρούσης ἔχοιτο πραγματείας, ταῦτ’ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἀναλεξάμενος παραθήσομαι.

'(1.) The bishop of the church of the Romans Soter ends his life after eight years of leadership. Eleutheros succeeds him, being the twelfth [bishop of Rome] after the apostles. It was the seventeenth year of the emperor Antoninus Verus [= Marcus Aurelius], when persecution against us was rekindled more fiercely in some parts of the world, and, judging from what happened in each one of the provinces, one may conclude that myriads of martyrs emerged from attacks of mobs in cities. These things happen to be preserved in writing for the future generations, since they truly deserve unfading remembrance. (2.) The entire document [or: Every document] of the full account of these things has been included by us in the Collection of Martyrs, for it contains not just an historical, but also edifying narrative. Nevertheless, I shall select and quote here as much as may be relevant to the present subject.'

5.4.3
τί δεῖ καταλέγειν τὸν ἐν τῇ δηλωθείσῃ γραφῇ τῶν μαρτύρων κατάλογον, ἰδίᾳ μὲν τῶν ἀποτμήσει κεφαλῆς τετελειωμένων, ἰδίᾳ δὲ τῶν θηρσὶν εἰς βορὰν παραβεβλημένων, καὶ αὖθις τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς εἱρκτῆς κεκοιμημένων, τόν τε ἀριθμὸν τῶν εἰς ἔτι τότε περιόντων ὁμολογητῶν; ὅτῳ γὰρ φίλον, καὶ ταῦτα ῥᾴδιον πληρέστατα διαγνῶναι μετὰ χεῖρας ἀναλαβόντι τὸ σύγγραμμα, ὃ καὶ αὐτὸ τῇ τῶν μαρτύρων συναγωγῇ πρὸς ἡμῶν, ὡς γοῦν ἔφην, κατείλεκται.

'What is the point of listing the catalogue of the martyrs given in the said text [the Letter of the Churches of Lyon and Vienne], separately listing those killed by beheading, and those cast to be eaten by the beasts, and then those that fell asleep in prison, and the number of the confessors that were still alive at that time? Anyone who is interested can readily find these things in their fullest by consulting the document itself, since this has also been included by me in the Collection of the Martyrs.'

5.21.5
τούτου μὲν οὖν τὰς ἐπὶ τοῦ δικαστοῦ φωνὰς καὶ τὰς ἀποκρίσεις ἃς πρὸς πεῦσιν πεποίητο τοῦ Περεννίου, πᾶσάν τε τὴν πρὸς τὴν σύγκλητον ἀπολογίαν, ὅτῳ διαγνῶναι φίλον, ἐκ τῆς τῶν ἀρχαίων μαρτύρων συναχθείσης ἡμῖν ἀναγραφῆς εἴσεται·

'Whoever is interested to know about his [= the martyr Apollonius'] speeches before the judge and the answers he gave to Perennius' interrogation, and his entire defence before the Senate, they will find these things in the record of the ancient martyrs, compiled by us.'

Text: Schwartz et al. 1999. Translation: Efthymios Rizos.