Chronicle of Eusebius

From the Catholic Encyclopedia

Consists of two parts: the first was probably called by Eusebius the "Chronograph" or "Chronographies"; the second he terms the "Canon", or "Canons", and also the "Chronological Canons". It is brought down to the year 225, and as Eusebius alludes to it at an earlier date in the "Eclogæ Propheticæ" and "Præparatio Evangelica" there must have been two editions. The original is lost, but both parts are preserved in an Armenian version of which two rival translations by Zohrab and Aucher, respectively, were published in 1818. Both these editions are superseded by Schoene's. The "Canons", moreover, are preserved in St. Jerome's translation. Two Syriac epitomes have also been published, one from a MS. in the British Museum, which was translated by Roediger for Schoene's edition, another edited by Siegfried and Gelzer (Eusebii Canonum Epitome ex Dionysii Telmaharensis Chronico petita, Leipzig, 1884). Considerable extracts from the original were also preserved by later writers, especially by Syncellus. These it has been possible to identify since the discovery of the Armenian version. They will be found in Schoene.

The "Chronography" is an epitome of universal history. It is divided into five parts: (1) the history of the Chaldeans, and the Assyrians, followed by lists of the Assyrian, Median, Lydian, and Persian kings; (2) Old Testament history; (3) Egyptian history; (4) Grecian history; (5) Roman history. It is, like the "Præparatio Evangelica", full of quotations from lost authors. As an illustration of its value in one particular province we may turn to the third chapter of Smith's "Chaldean Account of Genesis", entitled "Chaldean Legends transmitted through Berosus and other Authors". The longest and most important extracts here given, containing, e.g. the Babylonian story of the Creation and the Flood, owe their preservation to Eusebius. The "Canons" are a series of chronological tables with short historical notices. The years of Abraham, beginning from the supposed date of his birth, form the backbone. Alongside of these are placed the regnal years of the monarchs of different kingdoms as they rose and fell. A single extract will, however, serve better than any description to give the reader an idea of the character and the contents of the "Canons". We have shown above the value of the "Chronicle" to an Assyriologist; our second example will illustrate its importance for classical scholars. On almost the first page of Jebb's edition of the newly discovered poems of Bacchylides, the notices in the "Chronicle" concerning the poet are discussed. There are two such notices. We give the first with its context, as it is found in the facsimile of the Bodleian MS. of St. Jerome's version:-