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E01102: The Liber Pontificalis, written in Latin in Rome in the 530s, and re-edited before 546, in its account of *Eusebius (bishop of Rome, S00545), states that he was buried in the cemetery of Callixtus on the via Appia outside Rome, on 2 October [c. AD 310].

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posted on 2016-02-01, 00:00 authored by robert
Liber Pontificalis 32

First edition (as reconstructed by Duchesne)

Eusebius, natione Grecus, ex medico, sedit ann. VI m. I d. III. Fuit [autem] temporibus Constantini... [Qui etiam] sepultus est in cimiterio Caliisti, via Appia, VI non. octob.

'Eusebius, born in Greece, formerly a doctor, held the see 6 years 1 month 3 days. He was bishop in the time of
Constantine... He was buried in the cemetery of Callixtus on the via Appia on the 6th day before the Nones of October [2 October].'


Second edition

Eusebius, natione Grecus, ex medico, sedit ann. VI m. I d. III. Fuit autem temporibus Constantis... Qui etiam sepultus est in cymiterio Caliisti, via Appia, VI non. octob.

'Eusebius, born in Greece, formerly a doctor, held the see 6 years 1 month 3 days. He was bishop in the time of
Constans... He was buried in the cemetery of Callixtus on the via Appia on the 6th day before the Nones of October [2 October].'


Text: Duchesne 1886, 75 and 167. Translation: Davis 2010, 13, lightly modified.

History

Evidence ID

E01102

Saint Name

Eusebius, bishop of Rome, ob. c. 308 : S00545

Saint Name in Source

Eusebius

Type of Evidence

Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)

Language

  • Latin

Evidence not before

530

Evidence not after

546

Activity not before

308

Activity not after

311

Place of Evidence - Region

Rome and region

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Rome

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Rome Rome Rome Roma Ῥώμη Rhōmē

Major author/Major anonymous work

Liber Pontificalis

Cult activities - Festivals

  • Saint’s feast

Cult activities - Places

Burial site of a saint - cemetery/catacomb

Source

The Liber Pontificalis consists of a series of very short lives of popes. The preface attributes it to pope Damasus (366-384), but this attribution is obviously false. According to Louis Duchesne, the first modern editor of the Liber Pontificalis, the original series of lives was written in Rome by an anonymous author, probably a member of the lesser clergy, in the 530s, and contained the lives from *Peter the Apostle to Felix IV (ob. 530). Shortly after, before 546, the text was re-edited by another anonymous author and only this edition survives. The first edition, however, can be reconstituted on the basis of its two epitomes (and the second edition). The second edition started to be continued systematically from the time of pope Honorius (625–638). It should be noted that Theodor Mommsen dated both editions of the Liber Pontificalis to the 7th century, but his opinion is widely rejected and the commonly accepted dating is that of Duchesne. For the pre-Constantinian period (before 312), the credibility of the Liber Pontificalis is very low. The chronology is confused, and details concerning the personal lives, decisions and ordinations of the bishops of Rome at best reflect what people in the 6th century trusted to be true, at worst are a pure invention of the author. The situation changes with the later lives. Already the information of 4th-century papal foundations and offerings are generally trustworthy. The early 6th-century evidence, based on the author's first hand knowledge is even better, though still imperfect.

Discussion

The first edition dates Eusebius' death to the reign of Constantine, the second to that of Constans. The latter is wrong, the former - inexact. Constantine was the emperor (or Caesar) already in 309, but he did not rule in Italy which was then in the hands of Maxentius. The date of Eusebius' burial differs from that which is given by the Depositio episcoporum (27 September, see: E01051).

Bibliography

Edition: Duchesne, L., Le Liber pontificalis. 2 vols (Paris: E. Thorin, 1886-1892). (With substantial introduction and commentary). Translation: Davis, R., The Book of Pontiffs (Liber Pontificalis) (Translated Texts for Historians 6; 3rd ed.; Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2010).

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    Evidence -  The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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