Library of Eusebius at Caesarea
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THE LIBRARY OF EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA SUPPLEMENTS TO VIGILIAE CHRISTIANAE Formerly Philosophia Patrum TEXTS AND STUDIES OF EARLY CHRISTIAN LIFE AND LANGUAGE EDITORS J. DEN BOEFT — J. VAN OORT — W.L. PETERSEN D.T. RUNIA — C. SCHOLTEN — J.C.M. VAN WINDEN VOLUME LXVII THE LIBRARY OF EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA BY ANDREW CARRIKER BRILL LEIDEN • BOSTON 2003 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Carriker, Andrew. The library of Eusebius of Caesarea / by Andrew Carriker. p. cm. — (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae, ISSN 0920-623X ; v. 67) Revision of the author’s thesis—Columbia University. Includes bibliographical references (p. ). ISBN 90-04-13132-9 (alk. paper) 1. Eusebius, of Caesarea, Bishop of Caesarea, ca. 260-ca. 340—Books and reading. 2 Libraries—Israel—Caesarea—History—To 400. I. Title. II. Series. BR1720.E8C37 2003 016.2701—dc21 2003049559 ISSN 0920-623X ISBN 90 04 13132 9 © Copyright 2003 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Brill provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910 Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands Optimis Parentibus This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS Acknowledgements ...................................................................... ix Abbreviations .............................................................................. xi Preface ........................................................................................ xiii I. Caesarea and the History of the Library ...................... 1 II. Eusebius’ Use of Sources ................................................ 37 A. Chronology of Eusebius’ Life and Works ................ 37 B. Eusebius’ Use of Sources Firsthand .......................... 45 Appendix: The Phrase lÒgow (kat)°xei in the Historia Ecclesiastica ...................................................... 63 C. Sources Outside Caesarea .......................................... 69 III. Philosophical Works ........................................................ 75 A. Presocratics .................................................................. 75 B. Other Authors ............................................................ 77 C. Some Additional Philosophical Works Used by Origen .................................................................... 125 IV. Works of Poetry and Oratory ........................................ 131 A. Poetry .......................................................................... 131 B. Oratory ........................................................................ 137 V. Historical Works ................................................................ 139 VI. Jewish Literature ................................................................ 155 VII. Christian Literature and Documents ................................ 179 VIII. Contemporary Documents ................................................ 279 A. Official Documents in the Historia Ecclesiastica .......... 279 B. Materials in the Vita Constantini .................................. 286 IX. Summary List of the Contents of Eusebius’ Library ... 299 Bibliography ................................................................................ 317 General Index .............................................................................. 339 Index Locorum .......................................................................... 351 This page intentionally left blank ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book is a revision of the dissertation by the same name that I completed at Columbia University. I am especially grateful to the members of my dissertation committee for their advice and criticism: William V. Harris, who served as sponsor; Roger S. Bagnall, my second reader; Alan Cameron; Robert Somerville; and John A. McGuckin (of Union Theological Seminary). Other scholars at Columbia also generously either read my work, discussed my pro- ject with me, or gave me offprints of their work: Alexander Alexakis, Raffaella Cribiore, Dirk Obbink, and James Rives. I must also thank Leonardo Tarán for introducing me to the topic itself, although I know that he would have approached it very differently. Brian Deimling kindly helped me with the Syriac text of Aristides’ Apology, and Sara Frear translated most of the Japanese text of K. Toyota’s article for me. Gabriel Reynolds obligingly checked an important reference for me at Yale. Anton Orlich and Robert and Jennifer Miller provided much sound general advice. I am also grateful to David T. Runia and the other members of the editorial board of Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae for accepting this book for publica- tion. Professor Runia and the other, anonymous readers for the press provided numerous helpful criticisms. All of these scholars have helped to make this a better book than it would otherwise be. None of them, of course, ought to be blamed for the mistakes that remain; for these I am alone responsible. The Department of History at Columbia University and the United States Department of Education deserve my gratitude for support- ing my education until I was well along on my dissertation. I am likewise grateful to the staffs of Butler Library at Columbia and of Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary for their assistance in using such fine collections of books. I thank my parents and brothers for their unstinting support through my many years of schooling. It may be impossible to express the debt of gratitude I owe my wife for her support, but I never- theless record my thanks to her here. I am indebted to my children for providing me with many happy diversions from hard work. x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Lastly, I thank the Rev. Fredric W. Schlatter, S. J. for introducing me to the study of antiquity. He will, I expect, be unsurprised to see that this book has the mark of the caterpillar, rather than the butterfly (as Ihor ”ev‘enko identified them in 1969 in an article in History and Theory), but I hope that it will nonetheless be of interest to him and to any other reader who opens it. ABBREVIATIONS ACW Ancient Christian Writers AGB Archiv für Geschichte des Buchwesens AHR American Historical Review AJAH American Journal of Ancient History AJP American Journal of Philology ANRW Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt ASP American Studies in Papyrology BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research BETL Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium BICS Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies CP Classical Philology CQ Classical Quarterly CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum DCB Dictionary of Christian Biography DHGE Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie ecclésiastique DMOA Documenta et monumenta orientis antiquae DOP Dumbarton Oaks Papers EEC Encyclopedia of the Early Church EPRO Études préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l’empire romain FGrH F. Jacoby, Fragmente der griechischen Historiker (Berlin, 1923– 1958) FHG C. Müller, Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum (Paris, 1841–1870) FPhG F. Mullach, Fragmenta Philosophorum Graecorum (Paris, 1860– 1881) GCS Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller GRBS Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies HTR Harvard Theological Review JAC Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum JEH Journal of Ecclesiastical History JJS Journal of Jewish Studies JRA Journal of Roman Archaeology JRH Journal of Religious History JRS Journal of Roman Studies JTS Journal of Theological Studies xii ABBREVIATIONS PG J.-P. Migne, Patrologia, series graeca PL J.-P. Migne, Patrologia, series latina PTS Patristische Texte und Studien RAC Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum RE Realencyclopädie der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft REG Revue des études grecques RHR Revue d’histoire des religions RSLR Rivista di storia e letteratura religiosa SBLSP Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers SC Sources chrétiennes SO Symbolae Osloenses SVF J. von Arnim, Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta (Leipzig, 1903–1924) TU Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur VP [Porphyry,] Vita Plotini YCS Yale Classical Studies ZAC Zeitschrift für antikes Christentum ZKG Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte ZNTW Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft ZPE Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik PREFACE The purpose of this book is to establish the contents of Eusebius’ library at Caesarea Maritima in Palestine. Founded by Origen to support his biblical criticism and teaching, the library survived to furnish Eusebius with materials for his own scholarship. Its impor- tance as a Christian center of education and scholarship lies in its collection of Christian and Jewish texts, but also in its collection of Greek literature, primarily philosophical and historical works. Eusebius lived at a point of transition from the pagan Graeco-Roman world to the Christian Roman Empire. This investigation of Eusebius’ library offers a glimpse of Greek Christian culture at one moment in this transition. It thus aims to examine what kind of literature was available at a library created and used by Christian scholars in Palestinian Caesarea in the early fourth century, at the time when Constantine gained sole possession