EUSEBIUS OF THESSALONICA: Bishop of Thessalonica c. 600. He wrote a polemic work in ten books against one Andrew, a monk belonging to the Aphthartodocetae. That the Eusebius to whom Photius (Bibliotheca, codex clxii.) ascribes the work was Eusebius of Thessalonica is clearly shown by one of a number of letters which Gregory the Great wrote to this Eusebius (Epist., xi. 55 [74]).

G. Krüger.

Bibliography: Ceillier, Auteurs sacrés, xi. 527; DCB, 373-374.

EUSEBIUS OF VERCELLI: Bishop of Vercelli, one of the most determined opponents of Arianism in the reign of Constantius; d. 370. He was a Sardinian by birth; but what the traditional Vita relates as to his parents, his baptism by Pope Euesbius, his ordination by Pope Marcus, and his consecration by Pope Julius I. is either false or untrustworthy. All known is that he was a reader in Rome, and sent from that position to be bishop of a city entirely strange to him, probably some time before 354. He was the first bishop of Vercelli, besides which Novara, Ivrea and Tortona seem to have been under his jurisdiction. Practically nothing is known of his administration before 354, unless Tillemont's conclusion from the words of Ambrose (Epist., lxiii.) may be accepted, that the erection of a quasi-monastic house in Vercelli, in which Eusebius lived with his clergy, belongs to that period. This, at least, Ambrose says definitely, that Eusebius was the first in the West to combine the life of city clergy with monastic discipline. After the Synod of Arles (353), Liberius of Rome desired to gee the weak concession of his legates repaired by another synod, and Eusebius was a member of the embassy, headed by Lucifer of Cagliari, which approached the emperor with a petition to that effect. The new synod was held in Milan, probably in the spring of 355. Eusebius at first remained away; and when he appeared, in company of the Roman legates, the synod had practically reached its conclusion. Eusebiug, required to assent to the condemnation of Athanasius, asked for 'a discussion of the faith of the council, declaring himself willing to agree to any action which should be prefaced by an acceptance of the Nicene decrees. Dionysius of Milan was about to subscribe such a document when Valens snatched the pen and paper from his hand and withdrew with his party to the palace. The outcome of the proceedings for Eusebius was his banishment, first to Scythopolis in Palestine, then to Cappadocia, and finally to the neighborhood of Alexandria. After Julian's accession he took part in the Alexandrian synod of 362, and then went as a special envoy to the church of Antioch, where he was unable to prevent a schism, as Lucifer had already consecrated Paulinus. Not long after, he returned to Italy, where, with Hilary of Poitiers, he took a decided stand against the few Arians found in the West, especially Auxentius, the bishop of Milan. The legend which attributes his death to stoning at the hands of the Arians, although his epitaph calls him a martyr, is untrustworthy.

F. Loofs.

Bibliography: The three "Letters" of Eusebius are in Gallandi, Bibliotheca, v. 78, and in MPL, xii. Sources for a biography are: Jerome, De vir. ill., xcvi.; Socrates, Hist. eccl., iii. 5-6, 9, and Sozomen, Hist. eccl., iv. 9, v. 13 (both in NPNF, 2 ser., vol. ii.). F. Ughelli, Italia sacra, iv. 747-748, Venice, 1719; Tillemont, Mémoires, vii. 529-563, 771-780, Venice, 1732; DCB, ii. 374-375; KL, iv. 1013-15.