Eusebius (died 361 AD) was a high-ranking officer of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

, holding the position of ''

praepositus sacri cubiculi The ''praepositus sacri cubiculi'' (Latin: "provost of the sacred bedchamber", in gr, πραιπόσιτος τοῦ εὐσεβεστάτου κοιτῶνος, praipositos tou eusebestatou koitōnos) was one of the senior palace offices in the L ...

'' during the rule of Emperor

Constantius II Constantius II (Latin: ''Flavius Julius Constantius''; grc-gre, Κωνστάντιος; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic ...

(337-361).

Biography

Eusebius held the position of ''

'' in 337, when

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...

died; he concealed the will of the Emperor. Eusebius became a supporter of

Arianism Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God ...

, influencing the empress and many other eunuchs. He entered then at the service of one of Constantine's sons and successors,

, with whom he shared the support for Arianism and on whom he exerted a great influence. In 354 Eusebius was sent by

to talk to

Pope Liberius Pope Liberius (310 – 24 September 366) was the bishop of Rome from 17 May 352 until his death. According to the ''Catalogus Liberianus'', he was consecrated on 22 May as the successor to Pope Julius I. He is not mentioned as a saint in t ...

and then attended at the meeting between the Emperor and the Pope. He sent money to the orator

Libanius Libanius ( grc-gre, Λιβάνιος, Libanios; ) was a teacher of rhetoric of the Sophist school in the Eastern Roman Empire. His prolific writings make him one of the best documented teachers of higher education in the ancient world and a criti ...

in exile and, in 355, helped those Arian bishops who plotted against

Athanasius of Alexandria Athanasius I of Alexandria, ; cop, ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲡⲓⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲓⲕⲟⲥ or Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲁ̅; (c. 296–298 – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, ...

. Eusebius followed Constantius into

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

(353-354) and then to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

(354). Here he plotted against Constantius' cousin, brother-in-law and

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

Constantius Gallus Flavius Claudius Constantius Gallus (326–354) was a statesman and ruler in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire from 351 to 354, as ''Caesar'' under emperor Constantius II (), his cousin. A grandson of emperor Constantius Chlorus () and ...

; Constantius ordered him to go to

Pula Pula (; also known as Pola, it, Pola , hu, Pòla, Venetian; ''Pola''; Istriot: ''Puola'', Slovene: ''Pulj'') is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, and the seventh-largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the I ...

, where Gallus was imprisoned, to question him about his rule in the East. Eusebius enriched himself taking the properties of those who were put to death on accusations of treason; when general Ursicinus refused to give him as a present his house in

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

, in 359, Eusebius had him recalled from his office as ''magister equitum'', having Sabinianus as a substitute. Eusebius was together with Constantius until the Emperor died, in 361. The new Emperor, Julian, set up the

Chalcedon tribunal Shortly after the death of Roman emperor Constantius II, his successor Julian held a tribunal at the city of Chalcedon, which was then a suburb of Constantinople. Saturninius Secundus Salutius, who was raised to the rank of Praetorian Prefect was g ...

to judge all those officers of Constantius' who had been suspected of corrupt conduct, in particular in the case of the trial and execution of Gallus (Julian's half-brother); Eusebius was accused of plotting against Gallus, was found guilty, and was put to death.Ammianus Marcellinus, xxi.15.4; xxii.3.12; Zonaras, xiii.12; Philostorgius, iv.1; ''Artemii Passio'', 21; Socrates, iii.1.46,49; Sozomen, v.5 8.

References

Sources

;Primary sources *

Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquity (preceding Procopius). His work, known as the ''Res Gestae ...

, ''Res gestae'' ("Roman History"). *

Athanasius Athanasius I of Alexandria, ; cop, ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲡⲓⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲓⲕⲟⲥ or Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲁ̅; (c. 296–298 – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, ...

, ''Historia Arianorum'' ("History of the Arians"). * Julian, ''Letter to the Athenians''. *

, ''Orationes'' ("Orations"). *

Palladius of Galatia Palladius of Galatia ( el, Παλλάδιος Γαλατίας) was a Christian chronicler and the bishop of Helenopolis in Bithynia. He was a devoted disciple of Saint John Chrysostom. He is best remembered for his work, the ''Lausiac History.' ...

, ''Historia Lausiaca'' ("

Lausiac History The ''Lausiac History'' ( grc-x-koine, Ἡ Λαυσαϊκή Ἱστορία, E Lavsaike Istoria) is a seminal work archiving the Desert Fathers (early Christian monks who lived in the Egyptian desert) written in 419-420 by Palladius of Galatia, ...

"). *

Philostorgius Philostorgius ( grc-gre, Φιλοστόργιος; 368 – c. 439 AD) was an Anomoean Church historian of the 4th and 5th centuries. Very little information about his life is available. He was born in Borissus, Cappadocia to Eulampia and Car ...

, ''Historia Ecclesiastica'' ("History of the Church"). *

Photius Photios I ( el, Φώτιος, ''Phōtios''; c. 810/820 – 6 February 893), also spelled PhotiusFr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., & Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Materia ...

, '' Bibliotheca'' *

Socrates Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no t ...

, ''Historia Ecclesiastica'' ("History of the Church"). *

Sozomen Salamanes Hermias Sozomenos ( grc-gre, Σαλαμάνης Ἑρμείας Σωζομενός; la, Sozomenus; c. 400 – c. 450 AD), also known as Sozomen, was a Roman lawyer and historian of the Christian Church. Family and home He was born aro ...

, ''Historia Ecclesiastica'' ("History of the Church"). *

Theodoret Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus ( grc-gre, Θεοδώρητος Κύρρου; AD 393 – 458/466) was an influential theologian of the School of Antioch, biblical commentator, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus (423–457). He played a pi ...

, ''Historia Ecclesiastica'' ("History of the Church"). * Zonaras, ''Epitome Historiarum'' ("Extracts of History"). ;Secondary sources * Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin,

John Robert Martindale John Robert Martindale (born 1935) is a British academic historian, specializing in the later Roman and Byzantine empires. Martindale's major publications are his magnum opus, the three volumes of '' Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', b ...

, John Morris, "Eusebius 11", ''

The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire ''Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'' (abbreviated as ''PLRE'') is a work of Roman prosopography published in a set of three volumes collectively describing many of the people attested to have lived in the Roman Empire from AD 260, the date ...

'', Cambridge University Press, 1992, {{ISBN, 0-521-07233-6, pp. 302–303. 361 deaths 4th-century Arian Christians 4th-century Romans Ancient Roman eunuchs Ancient Roman slaves and freedmen Byzantine Christians Byzantine courtiers Byzantine eunuchs Praepositi sacri cubiculi Year of birth unknown