EUSEBIUS, yu-se'bi-us: Pope 309. His pontificate lasted only from Apr. 18 to Aug. 17, after which, in consequence of disturbances within the Church which led to acts of violence, he was banished by the tyrant Maxentius, who had been the sole ruler of Rome since Apr., 308, and had at first shown himself friendly to the Christians. The difficulty arose, as in the case of his predecessor Marcellus, out of his attitude toward the Lapsed (q.v.), which represented the milder standpoint. He died in exile in Sicily, and was buried in the cemetery of Calixtus, his successor Damasus placing an epitaph of eight hexameters over his tomb; the epithet " martyr " contained in them is not to be taken in the strict sense.
(EDGAR HENNECKE.)BIBLIOGRAPHY: Liber pontificalis, ed. Duchesne, i. 167, Paris, 1886, ed. Mommsen, in MGH, Gest. pont. Rom., i (1898), 45; ASB, Sept., vii. 286-271; F. X. Kraus, Roma sotterranea, pp. 181 sqq., Freiburg, 1879; J. B. Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers, I., i. 297-299, London, 1890; Bower, Popes, i. 41: KL, iv. 997-999.
EUSEBIUS OF ALEXANDRIA: An author to whom are attributed certain extant homilies which enjoyed some renown in the Eastern Church in the sixth and seventh centuries. Their homiletical merit does not rise above mediocrity, and nothing is known of the author. At all events, he was not a patriarch of Alexandria, as is affirmed in as early biography (MPG, lxxxvi. 1, pp. 297-310), written by one Johannes, a notary, and stating that Euisebius was called by Cyril to be his successor in the episcopate. The discourses belong probably to the fifth or sixth century, and possibly originated in Alexandria. They deal with the life of the Lord and with questions of ecclesiastical life and practise, which they resolve in a monastic-ascetic way. Their literary character is not quite clear; while most of them are adapted for public delivery, not a few bear the character of ecclesiastical pronouncements. They are printed in MPG, lxxxvi. 1, pp. 287-482, 509-536, except four included among Chrysostom's works. The fragments preserved in the so-called Sacra parallela are to be found in K. Hall's Fragmente vornicanischer Kirchenvater (T U, new series, v. 2, Leipsic, 1899), pp. 314-332. A homily concerning the observance of Sunday is attributed by Zahn (see below) to Eusebius of Emesa.
G. KRUGER.Bibliography: J. C. Thilo, Ueber die Schriften des Eusebius von Alexandrien und des Eusebius von Emesa, Halle, 1832; T. Zahn, in ZKW, v (1884). 516-534; G. Morin, Sermo de dominicae observatione, Une ancienne adaptation latine d'un sermon attribue a Eusebe d' Alexandrie, in Revue Benedictine, 1907, pp. 530 sqq.; Ceillier, Auteurs sacres, viii. 383-384; DCB, ii. 305-307.
Calvin College. Last modified on 10/03/03. Contact the CCEL. |