Tormenting the Tormentors: A Reinterpretation of Eusebius of Vercelli's Letter from Scythopolis

摘要

WHEN the bishop of Vercelli recorded these sentiments in the fourthncentury, they had about them a familiar ring. Generations ofnChristians had viewed their sufferings in precisely these terms—as ancosmic battle with an impotent empire and ultimately with the devil himself.nBut Eusebius’s ordeal was no ordinary agon. Remarkable in this instance wasnthe context: Eusebius set forth these words under the reign of a Christiannemperor and in opposition to tormentors led by a fellow bishop.n3nJust as henclaimed, Eusebius did indeed oppose these forces by means of his body. Morenimportantly, though, he fought them with the pen. In so doing, he furnished later generations with a rich, even lurid, account of exile in the Christian RomannEmpire.