Journal of Late Antiquity

Over the past two decades, Eusebius of Caesarea (d. 339) has received a great deal of scholarly attention, leading to a reassessment of his significance, particularly with respect to his somewhat neglected exegetical and apologetic works. James Corke-Webster seeks to contribute to this ongoing reevaluation of Eusebius as an important participant in the shaping of late antique Christian discourse through a methodical and bold re-examination of Eusebius's celebrated and extensively studied magnum opus, the pioneering Ecclesiastical History. Previous scholarship has discussed various apologetic aspects of the History, but Corke-Webster now proposes to see it as an integral part of Eusebius's grand apologetic project comprising the Preparation of the Gospel and the Demonstration of the Gospel, combined with the Ecclesiastical History. The three-part book, a revision of his dissertation, argues for a fresh evaluation of Eusebius's creative vision through an innovative study of his historiography, presenting its importance in shaping central topics of his thought, especially his social and political outlook. This is both a highresolution study of the role of Eusebius's major work in his overall Christian out-look and a re-examination of his ideal of Christian identity in a turbulent age of historical transition.

The introduction surveys recent scholarship on Eusebius, emphasizing the need for a new monograph on the History that treats his writing and editing skills as well as his historical context. The book is thus primarily an attempt to determine and contextualize Eusebius's construction methods and motivations in writing this work. Corke-Webster then provides a biographical sketch of Eusebius and his Caesarean background, indicating his mild assessment of the Great Persecution and ascribing to him a tendency to harmonize Christianity and Rome, followed by an overview of his writings and Caesarean-Alexandrian scholarship. The author states here his view of Eusebius's essential independence as a writer, especially regarding Origen—yet noting the considerable impact of Clement of [End Page 444] Alexandria on the History—and emphasizes that the work should be considered together with his rich and manifold literary output, but particularly with the Preparation and the Demonstration, written at the time.

Chapter 2 constitutes an overview of the History's dating, audience, purpose and form, and contemplates its writing as a tool for constructing Eusebius's vision of Christianity as best representing Roman values and thus ideally positioned to inherit Rome. The author concludes that the projected audience was primarily clerical and that Eusebius idealized its role in Christian history and an intellectual, Caesarean-Alexandrian, moderate type of Christianity. He further argues that the History's wider apologetic context sought to synthesize a version of Christian history that would assuage the anxieties of elite members in light of past pagan offensives, especially that of Celsus, suggesting that Eusebius considered Origen's famous refutation insufficient—contrary to his own explicit statement—thereby resorting frequently to Clement. The principal form of the work, Corke-Webster contends, is a series of character or biographical sketches, partly inspired by Greek antecedents. It is through these model lives of temperate leadership and moral authority that Eusebius hoped to reassure his target readership.

Part 2, comprising four similarly structured chapters, forms the more innovative core of the book. Here Corke-Webster embarks on an investigation tracing four aspects of this traditional elite ethos. Chapter 3 discusses Eusebius's prioritization of Christian intellectuals and his strategy of institutionalizing the free thinkers among them to provide the foundation for Christian paideia virtues. Chapter 4 examines Eusebius's treatment of ascetics, marginalizing extreme forms in favor of moderate abstinence. Chapter 5 looks at his representation of Christian families as models of familial piety, in contrast to negative attitudes in early Christian literature. Chapter 6 studies his revision of the martyrs and how he reinterpreted their virtues. In each of these chapters, Corke-Webster strives to demonstrate how Eusebius's representation of the...