Primary source · Koine Greek
The Letter of the Churches of Lyon and Vienne
The churches of Lyon & Vienne (to the churches of Asia) · AD 177
What this text is
The eyewitness encyclical of the Rhône churches recounting the persecution of 177 — the deaths of Pothinus, Sanctus, Attalus, Ponticus, and Blandina — preserved whole by Eusebius.
Interlinear passages
Word-for-word glosses of the original; the complete public-domain translation is linked below.
The opening address (Eusebius, EH V.1.3)
ΟἱTheἐνinΒιέννῃVienneκαὶandΛουγδούνῳLyonτῆςofΓαλλίαςGaulπαροικοῦντεςsojourningδοῦλοιservantsΧριστοῦof Christ
Public-domain translations
A. C. McGiffert (NPNF, 1890)
The servants of Christ residing at Vienne and Lyons, in Gaul, to the brethren throughout Asia and Phrygia, who hold the same faith and hope of redemption, peace and grace and glory from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Manuscript witnesses
Eusebius, Church History V.1–4 (carrier)
c. 325 (medieval copies)The churches' letter on Blandina, Pothinus, and their companions survives only as Eusebius's long transcription.
Provenance
Lyon and Vienne to Asia and Phrygia, AD 177
Editions & scholarship
Critical editions and standard translations behind the text above.
- The Acts of the Christian MartyrsHerbert Musurillo, 1972Text and translation of the letter.
- Les martyrs de Lyon (177) — Colloque internationalJ. Rougé & R. Turcan (eds.), 1978The standard historical studies.