The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313
Hegesippus
c. 110 – c. 180 · Historian of the apostolic succession · Palestine → Rome
The Ante-Nicene Church
Who Hegesippus was
A converted Jew of the eastern churches — his easy use of Hebrew and Aramaic traditions, and of the Gospel “according to the Hebrews,” marks his origin — Hegesippus travelled to Rome around 155, compiling on the way the succession-lists of the churches he passed through as a test of apostolic continuity against the Gnostics: “in each succession and in each city things are as the Law and the Prophets and the Lord preach.” His five books of Memoirs (Hypomnemata) are the first attempt at a history of the church, and though lost, they survive in the passages Eusebius quarried — including the priceless accounts of James the Just’s martyrdom and of the grandsons of Jude before Domitian. He is, in a real sense, the father of church history a lifetime before Eusebius.
Common questions
When did Hegesippus live?
Hegesippus is dated c. 110 – c. 180 in the archive, which places Hegesippus in the Ante-Nicene Church (AD 180–313). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
What did Hegesippus write?
Hegesippus has 1 catalogued writing in the archive: Memoirs (Hypomnemata), Book V — fragments.
Which early sources mention Hegesippus?
Hegesippus is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Eusebius of Caesarea and Jerome of Stridon. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Hegesippus from?
The archive associates Hegesippus with Palestine, Rome. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Writings (1)
Memoirs (Hypomnemata), Book V — fragments
c. 165–180And after James the Just had suffered martyrdom, as had the Lord also on the same account, again Symeon the son of Clopas… was made bishop, whom they all put forward, being a cousin of the Lord.Read the interlinear source text →
Primary-source mentions (2)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Ecclesiastical History IV.22
c. AD 325Hegesippus in the five books of Memoirs which have come down to us has left a most complete record of his own views… he records the unerring tradition of the apostolic preaching.Eusebius of Caesarea · IV.22 · source text
On Illustrious Men 22
c. AD 392Hegesippus, who lived at a period not far from the apostolic age, wrote a history of all ecclesiastical events from the passion of our Lord down to his own period.Jerome of Stridon · On Illustrious Men 22 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 112 · Pliny writes Trajan, AD 112
- AD 117 · Symeon and Ignatius martyred, AD 117
- AD 135 · Bar Kokhba crushed; Aelia Capitolina, AD 135
- AD 144 · Marcion expelled at Rome, AD 144
- AD 156 · The New Prophecy erupts, AD 156
- AD 177 · Persecution at Lyon and Vienne, AD 177
- AD 180 · The Scillitan martyrs, AD 180
Place
Places served
The 2 places the sources put Hegesippus, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.