Übersetzung
ausblenden
The Church History of Eusebius
Chapter X.--Valerian and the Persecution under him.
1. Gallus and the other rulers, 1 having held the government less than two years, were overthrown, and Valerian, with his son Gallienus, received the empire. The circumstances which Dionysius relates of him we may learn from his epistle to Hermammon, 2 in which he gives the following account:
2. "And in like manner it is revealed to John; For there was given to him,' he says, a mouth speaking great things and blasphemy; and there was given unto him authority and forty and two months.' 3
3. It is wonderful that both of these things occurred under Valerian; and it is the more remarkable in this case when we consider his previous conduct, for he had been mild and friendly toward the men of God, for none of the emperors before him had treated them so kindly and favorably; and not even those who were said openly to be Christians 4 received them with such manifest hospitality and friendliness as he did at the beginning of his reign. For his entire house was filled with pious persons and was a church of God.
4. But the teacher and ruler of the synagogue of the Magi from Egypt 5 persuaded him to change his course, urging him to slay and persecute pure and holy men 6 because they opposed and hindered the corrupt and abominable incantations. For there are and there were men who, being present and being seen, though they only breathed and spoke, were able to scatter the counsels of the sinful demons. And he induced him to practice initiations and abominable sorceries and to offer unacceptable sacrifices; to slay innumerable children and to sacrifice the offspring of unhappy fathers; to divide the bowels of new-born babes and to mutilate and cut to pieces the creatures of God, as if by such practices they could attain happiness."
5. He adds to this the following: "Splendid indeed were the thank-offerings which Macrianus brought them 7 for the empire which was the object of his hopes. He is said to have been formerly the emperor's general finance minister 8 ; yet he did nothing praiseworthy or of general benefit, 9 but fell under the prophetic saying,
6. Woe unto those who prophesy from their own heart and do not consider the general good.' 10 For he did not perceive the general Providence, nor did he look for the judgment of Him who is before all, and through all, and over all. Wherefore he became an enemy of his Catholic 11 Church, and alienated and estranged himself from the compassion of God, and fled as far as possible from his salvation. In this he showed the truth of his own name." 12
7. And again, farther on he says: "For Valerian, being instigated to such acts by this man, was given over to insults and reproaches, according to what was said by Isaiah: They have chosen their own ways and their abominations in which their soul delighted; I also will choose their delusions and will render unto them their sins.' 13
8. But this man 14 madly desired the kingdom though unworthy of it, and being unable to put the royal garment on his crippled body, set forward his two sons to bear their father's sins. 15 For concerning them the declaration which God spoke was plain, Visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.' 16
9. For heaping on the heads of his sons his own evil desires, in which he had met with success, 17 he wiped off upon them his own wickedness and hatred toward God."
Dionysius relates these things concerning Valerian.
-
hoi amphi ton G?llon. Eusebius is undoubtedly referring to Gallus, Volusian, his son and co-regent, and Æmilian, his enemy and successor. Gallus himself, with his son Volusian, whom he made Caesar and co-regent, reigned from the latter part of the year 251 to about the middle of the year 253, when the empire was usurped by Æmilian, and he and his son were slain. Æmilian was recognized by the senate as the legal emperor, but within four months Valerian, Gallus' leading general,--who had already been proclaimed emperor by his legions,--revenged the murder of Gallus and came to the throne. Valerian reigned until 260, when his son Gallienus, who had been associated with him in the government from the beginning, succeeded him and reigned until 268. ↩
-
Upon this epistle, see above, chap. 1, note 3. ↩
-
Rev. xiii. 5. ↩
-
Philip was the only emperor before this time that was openly said to have been a Christian (see above, Bk. VI. chap. 34, note 2). Alexander Severus was very favorable to the Christians, and Eusebius may have been thinking of him also in this connection. ↩
-
viz. Macrianus, one of the ablest of Valerian's generals, who had acquired great influence over him and had been raised by him to the highest position in the army and made his chief counselor. Dionysius is the only one to tell us that he was the chief of the Egyptian magicians. Gibbon doubts the statement, but Macrianus may well have been an Egyptian by birth and devoted, as so many of the Egyptians were, to arts of magic, and have gained power over Valerian in this way which he could have gained in no other. It is not necessary of course to understand Dionysius' words as implying that Macrianus was officially at the head of the body of Egyptian magicians, but simply that he was the greatest, or one of the greatest, of them. He figures in our other sources simply as a military and political character, but it was natural for Dionysius to emphasize his addiction to magic, though he could hardly have done it had Macrianus' practices in this respect not been commonly known. ↩
-
The persecution which the Christians suffered under Valerian was more terrible than any other except that of Diocletian. Numerous calamities took place during his reign. The barbarians were constantly invading and ravaging the borders of the empire, and on the east the Persians did great damage. Still worse was the terrible plague which had begun in the reign of Decius and raged for about fifteen years. All these calamities aroused the religious fears of the emperor. Dionysius tells us that he was induced by Macrianus to have recourse to human sacrifices and other similar means of penetrating the events of the future, and when these rites failed, the presence of Christians--irreligious men hated by the gods--in the imperial family was urged as the reason for the failure, and thus the hostility of the emperor was aroused against all Christians. As a consequence an edict was published in 257 requiring all persons to conform at least outwardly to the religion of Rome on the penalty of exile. And at the same time the Christians were prohibited from holding religious services, upon pain of death. In 258 followed a rescript of terrible severity. Only the clergy and the higher ranks of the laity were attacked, but they were sentenced to death if they refused to repent, and the clergy, apparently, whether they repented or not. The persecution continued until Valerian's captivity, which took place probably late in 260. The dates during this period are very uncertain, but Dionysius' statement that the persecution continued forty-two months is probably not far out of the way; from late in the year 257 to the year 261, when it was brought to an end by Gallienus. In Egypt and the Orient the persecution seems to have continued a few months longer than elsewhere (see chap. 13, note 3). The martyrs were very numerous during the Valerian persecution, especially in Rome and Africa. The most noted were Cyprian and Xystus II. On the details of the persecution, see Tillemont, H. E. IV. p. 1 sq. ↩
-
i.e. the evil spirits. As Valesius remarks, the meaning is that since the evil spirits had promised him power, he showed his gratitude to them by inducing the Emperor Valerian to persecute the Christians. ↩
-
epi ton katholou logon. The phrase is equivalent to the Latin Rationalis or Procurator summae rei, an official who had charge of the imperial finances, and who might be called either treasurer or finance minister. The position which Macrianus held seems to have been the highest civil position in the empire (cf. Valesius' note ad locum). Gibbon calls him Praetorian Prefect, and since he was the most famous of Valerian's generals, he doubtless held that position also, though I am not aware that any of our sources state that he did. ↩
-
The Greek contains a play upon the words katholou and logos in this sentence. It reads hos proteron men epi ton katholou logon legomenos einai basileos, ouden eulogon oude katholikon ephronesen. The play upon the word katholou continues in the next sentence, where the Greek runs to katholou me blepousin, and in the following, where it reads ou gar suneke ten katholou pronoian. Again in the next sentence the adjective katholike occurs: "his universal Church." ↩
-
Ezek. xiii. 3. ↩
-
katholikes, "catholic" in the sense of "general" or "universal," the play upon the word still continuing. ↩
-
Makrianos. The Greek word makr?n means "far," "at a distance." ↩
-
Isa. lxvi. 3, 4. ↩
-
i.e. Macrianus. ↩
-
Valerian reposed complete confidence in Macrianus and followed his advice in the conduct of the wars against the Persians. The result was that by Macrianus' "weak or wicked counsels the imperial army was betrayed into a situation where valor and military skill were equally unavailing." (Gibbon.) Dionysius, in chap. 23, below, directly states that Macrianus betrayed Valerian, and this is the view of the case commonly taken. Valerian fell into the hands of the Persians (late in 260 a.d.), and Macrianus was proclaimed emperor by his troops, and on account of his lameness (as both Dionysius and Zonaras put it) or his age, associated with him his two sons, Quietus and Macrianus. After some months he left his son Quietus in charge of Syria, and designing to make himself master of the Occident, marched with his son Macrianus against Gallienus, but was met in Illyrium by the Pretender Aureolus (262) and defeated, and both himself and son slain. His son Quietus meanwhile was besieged in Edessa by the Pretender Odenathus and slain. Cf. Tillemont's Histoire des Empereurs, III. p. 333 sq. and p. 340 sq. ↩
-
Ex. xx. 5. ↩
-
eutuchei. Three mss., followed by Stephanus, Valesius, Burton, Stroth (and by the translators Closs, Crusè, and Salmond in the Ante-Nicene Fathers, VI. p. 107), read etuchei, "failed" ("in whose gratification he failed"). eutuchei, however, is supported by overwhelming ms. authority, and is adopted by Schwegler and Heinichen, and approved by Valesius in his notes. It seems at first sight the harder reading, and is, therefore, in itself to be preferred to the easier reading, etuchei. Although it seems harder, it is really fully in accord with what has preceded. Macrianus had not made himself emperor (if Dionysius is to be believed), but he had succeeded fully in his desires, in that he had raised his sons to the purple. If he had acquired such power as to be able to do that, he must have given them the position, because he preferred to govern in that way; and if that be so, he could hardly be said to have failed in his desires. ↩
Übersetzung
ausblenden
Histoire ecclésiastique
CHAPITRE X : VALERIEN ET SA PERSECUTION
[1] Le parti de Gallus n'avait pas possédé le pouvoir deux années entières, et il disparut; Valérien et son fils Gallien lui succédèrent à l'empire.1 2 [2] Ce que dit Denys à ce sujet, on peut encore l'apprendre dans la lettre à Hermamon où il en parle ainsi : « A Jean aussi, cela a été pareillement révélé ; il lui a en effet été donné, dit-il, une bouche pour dire de grandes choses et un blasphème, puis il lui a été donné le pouvoir et quarante-deux mois. » [3] Il faut admirer l'un et l'autre en Valérien et mieux encore, il faut penser de quelle façon étaient les affaires avant lui ; comment lui-même était doux et bon pour les hommes de Dieu; car aucun autre parmi les empereurs qui l'ont précédé n'a été disposé d'une façon aussi bienveillante et aimable à leur égard ; même ceux qu'on disait ouvertement être chrétiens ne les accueillaient pas d'une manière 315 aussi manifestement sympathique et favorable que lui à son début ; toute sa maison était pleine d'hommes pieux; elle était une église de Dieu. [4] Mais son maître qui était le chef des mages d'Egypte lui persuada de se débarrasser d'eux ; il l'engagea à faire mourir et à persécuter ces homme purs et saints, comme étant des gens hostiles et des obstacles à ses incantations tout à fait honteuses et répugnantes ; (ils sont, en effet, et étaient capables, par leur présence et leur regard, ou même seulement par leur souffle et leur voix, de rompre les machinations des démons néfastes). Il suggéra, d'autre part, d'accomplir des rites impurs et des pratiques de sorcellerie détestables, et des cérémonies religieuses réprouvées par la divinité, d'égorger des enfants malheureux, de sacrifier ceux dont les pères étaient misérables, de déchirer les entrailles des nouveau-nés, de couper, d'éventrer les créatures de Dieu, comme s'ils devaient par là obtenir du bonheur. »3
[5] Et il ajoute à cela : « Macrien offrit donc à ces démons de beaux témoignages de gratitude pour l'empire qu'il espérait : tout d'abord lui qui était appelé l'intendant universel des comptes de l'empereur, il n'eut aucun dessein raisonnable ni universel, mais il tomba sous la malédiction du prophète qui dit : « Malheur à ceux qui prophétisent de leur propre cœur et qui ne regardent pas le bien de tous ».4 [6] Il ne faisait pas en effet attention à la Providence universelle et ne se méfiait pas du jugement de celui qui est avant tout, en tout et sur tout; voilà pourquoi encore, il devint l'ennemi de son Eglise universelle, il se rendit 317 étranger à la miséricorde de Dieu, rompit avec elle et le plus qu'il put, s'éloigna de son salut, réalisant en cela son propre nom »5
[7] Et Denys dit encore après autre chose : « Car Valérien poussé par lui à cela, fui abandonné aux insultes et aux railleries, selon la parole d'Isaïe : « Et ceux-ci ont choisi leurs voies et les abominations que leur âme a désirées et moi je choisirai pour eux les moqueries et je leur rendrai leurs péchés. » [8] Macrien, malgré son indignité, avait la manie de l'empire et comme il ne pouvait pas revêtir les insignes impériaux, à cause de son corps estropié, il mit en avant ses deux fils en qui était déjà la responsabilité des méfaits de leur père. En eux fut clairement réalisée la prophétie que Dieu a faite : « Rétribuant les fautes des pères dans les enfants jusqu'à la troisième et quatrième génération pour ceux qui me haïssent. »6 [9] Macrien accumula donc les mauvais désirs qu'il n'avait pas réalisés sur la tête de ses fils, il fit passer en eux sa malice et sa haine pour Dieu. »7
Voilà ce que raconte Denys concernant Valérien.
-
οἱ ἀμφὶ τὸν Γάλλον : Gallus, son fils et associé Volusien, Emilien, ennemi et meurtrier des deux précédents. Chronologie : Gallus (251-252), Gallus et Volusien (252-253), Emilien (253), Valérien (253), Valérien et Gallien (253-259), Gallien (259-268). Voy. GOYAU, Chronologie de l'Empire romain, p. 300 suiv. Sur la chronologie de la période très obscure qui va de la mort de Dèce à celle des fils de Gallien, voy. Une série d'articles de la Numismatische Zeitschrift, nouv.sêr.,t. 1 (1908), par W.Kubilschek, O. Voelter et K. Regling. - Sur la persécution de Valérien, voy. P. J.HEALY, The Valerian persecution, Londres, 1905. ↩
-
2-9 = FELTOE,p. 70, 12 - 76, 8. — ὁμοίως suppose une citation antérieure analogue ; Hort conjecture DAN., viii, 25. ↩
-
ὁ διδάσκαλος : Macrianus, nommé plus loin, § 5. - L'infanticlde est le crime traditionnel des magiciens (voy. HORACE, Épodes, v) ; d'où cette accusation contre les chrétiens et les juifs. ↩
-
Macrianus était Rationalis ou Procurator summae rei priuatae. Denys joue sur les mots καθόλου et λόγων. Il serait peut-être imprudent d'attacher une grande importance à τῆς καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας du 6. Tout le morceau est, d'ailleurs, d'une rhétorique apprêtée : cf. ἀρχιουνάγωγος 546 § 4; les.phrases redondantes, du même §; et ce qui suit. ↩
-
ὄνομα: Denys rattache Macrianus à μακρός, « long, éloigné». ↩
-
Les deux fils de Macrianus furent empereurs, Macrianus le jeune et Quictus. En 202, les deux Macrianus furent défaits et tués en Illyricum par Aureolus ; Quietus, assiégé dans Edesse, par Odenath, périt aussi. Macrianus éait estropié des deux jambes (ZONARAS, XII, xxiv). ↩
-
ἠτύχει BD. SYNCELLE, .εἰ τύχοι M (confusion due à l'itacisme), ηὐτύχει AERT arm. Voy. SCHWARTZ, p. LXXVII. ↩