Chronicon written by Eusebius and Translated by Jerome

Background and Biography

Biography - Eusebius

Biography - Jerome

Excerpts

English translation of Jerome's Latin translation of Eusebius' Chronicon Book Two

• 4th year of the 270th Olympiad
• from tertullian.org

270th Olympiad

...

2320 19 (a jubilee according to most) (Margin Note - 304 AD)

After Theonus, Peter is ordained the 21st bishop of the Church of Alexandria, who later in the ninth year of the persecution accomplished a glorious martyrdom.

Diocletian and Maximian Augusti celebrated a triumph at Rome with notable pomp. Before their chariot went the wife, sisters and children of Narses, and all the booty, which they had looted from the Parthians.

In a horrible earthquake at Tyre and Sidon, many edifices were ruined and an immense number of people were crushed.

In the nineteenth year of Diocletian, during the month of March, in the days of Easter, the churches were destroyed. However in the 4th year of the persecution, Constantine began to reign.

English translation of Jerome's Latin translation of Eusebius' Chronicon Book Two - embedded

• see 4th year of the 270th Olympiad
• from tertullian.org

Chronology

If we discard the outlier of 300 CE and assume the date of the earthquake was 2 April, the above passage suggests the earthquake struck between 303 and 305 CE.

Year	Reference	Corrections	Notes
1 July 304 CE to 30 June 305 CE	4th year of the 270th Olympiad	none	Calculated with CHRONOS alternatively Fall 304 to Fall 305 or 1 Jan 304 -31 Dec 304. Although the Olympiad years started in the summer, Eusebius is thought to have started Olympiad years in the fall. Later authors following in Eusebius Chronicle tradition are suspected to have started the Olympiad Year in January in sync with the Julian Calendar. As these texts were copied numerous times before becoming the translated manuscript we have access to, it is possible that scribes "corrected" dates according to what they thought they should be.
303 CE to 305 CE	The Year of Abraham 2330	corrected to 2320	Calculated with CHRONOS Year of Abraham 2330 is listed but 2320 gives a date which fits within the Diocletianic Persecutions
304 CE	Margin note	none
20 Nov. 302 to 19 Nov. 303 CE	19th year of Diocletian	none	Calculated with CHRONOS Diocletian ruled alone from 20 November 284 – 1 April 286 CE and co-reigned from 1 April 286 – 1 May 305 CE
late 300 CE	Peter is ordained the 21st bishop of the Church of Alexandria	none

Seismic Effects

• In a horrible earthquake at Tyre and Sidon, many edifices were ruined and an immense number of people were crushed

Locations

• Tyre
• Sidon

Online Versions and Further Reading

References