The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Eusebius of Emesa
c. AD 300 – c. 359 · Bishop of Emesa · Exegete of the Antiochene school · Edessa → Emesa
The Nicene Age
Who Eusebius of Emesa was
The Edessa-born scholar, pupil of Eusebius of Caesarea, who declined the see of Alexandria when the Arian synod offered him Athanasius's chair — a refusal that says much — and took little Emesa instead, where his flock first drove him out as a mathematicus for his astronomy. A Homoian by court alignment but an exegete by vocation, admired by Jerome for talent and damned by him in the same breath for the party he kept. Typed with the court party here; the judgment call is noted.
Also listed in bishops beyond the great sees.
Common questions
When did Eusebius live?
Eusebius of Emesa is dated c. AD 300 – c. 359 in the archive, which places Eusebius in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
What did Eusebius write?
Eusebius of Emesa has 1 catalogued writing in the archive: Homilies (the Latin collection).
Which early sources mention Eusebius?
Eusebius of Emesa is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Jerome and Socrates Scholasticus. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Eusebius from?
The archive associates Eusebius of Emesa with Edessa, Emesa. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Writings (1)
Homilies (the Latin collection)
Nearly thirty sermons lost in Greek, recovered from an ancient Latin version only in 1953 — long buried under the pseudo-'Eusebius Gallicanus' tangle[The Antiochene court-preacher survives in translation; the Greek is gone]Read the interlinear source text →
Primary-source mentions (2)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
On Illustrious Men 91
c. AD 393Eusebius of Emesa, who had fine rhetorical talent, composed innumerable works suited to win popular applause… the historians say he followed the fortunes of the Arian party.Jerome · 91 · source text
Socrates, Ecclesiastical History II.9
c. AD 439When Eusebius, surnamed Emisenus, declined the bishopric of Alexandria, the synod appointed Gregory — Eusebius receiving Emesa instead.Socrates Scholasticus · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 301 · Hripsime and her company, AD 301
- AD 303 · The Great Persecution begins, AD 303
- AD 303 · The search of the church at Cirta, AD 303
- AD 306 · The Council of Elvira, AD 306
- AD 311 · Galerius’ edict of Serdica, AD 311
- AD 313 · The Edict of Milan, AD 313
- AD 314 · The Council of Arles, AD 314
- AD 320 · Silvanus tried before Zenophilus, AD 320
- AD 325 · The Council of Nicaea, AD 325
- AD 339 · The persecution of Shapur II, AD 339
- AD 343 · The Council of Serdica, AD 343
Place
Places served
The 2 places the sources put Eusebius, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.