E00301: Eusebius' Martyrs of Palestine includes the story of the martyrdom of *Theodosia from Tyre (martyr of Palestine, S00161). Written in 311 in Caesarea (Palestine); written in Greek, but parts of the text survive only in Syriac.

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posted on 2015-02-16, 00:00 authored by pnowakowski

Eusebius of Caesarea, Martyrs of Palestine, 7.1-2

Summary:
On 2 April 308, the young woman Theodosia, who led a life of virginity in the city of Tyre, approached and publicly greeted the imprisoned Christians while they were sitting in the governor's court. She was at once arrested and brought before Urbanus, the governor of Caesarea. After Theodosia refused to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods, she was severely tortured. When the governor saw that the tortures could not break the martyr's spirit, he ordered her to be executed by being cast alive into the sea. Following that, Urbanus mitigated the punishment for those Christian confessors, on whose behalf Theodosia had suffered, by sending them to the copper mines in Palestine.

Summary: Sergey Minov

History

Evidence ID

E00301

Saint Name

Theodosia from Tyre, martyr in Palestine, ob. 308 : S00161

Saint Name in Source

Θεοδοσία

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Theodosia_from_Tyre_martyr_of_Palestine/13729564

Type of Evidence

Literary - Hagiographical - Accounts of martyrdom

Language

Greek

Evidence not before

311

Evidence not after

340

Activity not before

308

Activity not after

340

Place of Evidence - Region

Palestine with Sinai

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Caesarea Maritima

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Caesarea Maritima Caesarea Maritima Καισάρεια Kaisareia Caesarea Kayseri Turris Stratonis

Major author/Major anonymous work

Eusebius of Caesarea

Cult activities - Festivals

Saint’s feast

Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs

Composing and translating saint-related texts

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Women Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits Officials

Source

In this work Eusebius presents an account of the suffering and death of Christian martyrs executed during the eight years of the Diocletianic (or Great) persecution, i.e. 303-311. Most of the martyrdoms described by Eusebius took place in Palestine, with the provincial capital city of Caesarea as the most prominent setting. Martyrdom of Theodosia: ed. Cureton 1861, pp. 23*-25* (long recension); ed. Schwartz et al. 1999, vol. 2, pp. 921-923 (short recension); English trans. Lawlor and Oulton 1927-1928, vol. 1, pp. 358-360. For the Greek version of the Martyrdom of Theodosia from Tyre see also BHG 1775. For a full discussion of Martyrs of Palestine, see E00294.

Discussion

This entry, typical of Eusebius' description of the martyrs of Palestine, consists of a brief account of torture and death, with no reference to miraculous events. Although there is no explicit reference to the martyr's commemoration, the record of her death by Eusebius might suggest that she was commemorated in Caesarea.

Bibliography

Editions and translations: Cureton, W. (ed.), History of the Martyrs in Palestine, by Eusebius, Bishop in Caesarea, Discovered in a Very Ancient Syriac Manuscript (London / Edinburgh: Williams and Norgate / Paris: C. Borrani, 1861). Lawlor, H.J., and Oulton, J.E.L. (trans.), The Ecclesiastical History and the Martyrs of Palestine. 2 vols (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1927-1928). Schwartz, E., Mommsen, T., and Winkelmann, F. (eds.), Eusebius Werke, Band 2, Teil 2 (Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten Jahrhunderte NF 6/2; 2nd ed.; Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1999).

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Keywords

S00161 History

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CC0

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