[Footnote182:EusebiusdeMartyr。Palestin。c。13。HecloseshisnarrationbyassuringusthatthesewerethemartyrdomsinflictedinPalestine，duringthewholecourseofthepersecution。The9thchapterofhisviiithbook，whichrelatestotheprovinceofThebaisinEgypt，mayseemtocontradictourmoderatecomputation；butitwillonlyleadustoadmiretheartfulmanagementofthehistorian。ChoosingforthesceneofthemostexquisitecrueltythemostremoteandsequesteredcountryoftheRomanempire，herelatesthatinThebaisfromtentoonehundredpersonshadfrequentlysufferedmartyrdominthesameday。ButwhenheproceedstomentionhisownjourneyintoEgypt，hislanguageinsensiblybecomesmorecautiousandmoderate。Insteadofalarge，butdefinitenumber，hespeaksofmanyChristians，andmostartfullyselectstwoambiguouswords，whichmaysignifyeitherwhathehadseen，orwhathehadheard；

　　eithertheexpectation，ortheexecutionofthepunishment。

　　Havingthusprovidedasecureevasion，hecommitstheequivocalpassagetohisreadersandtranslators；justlyconceivingthattheirpietywouldinducethemtopreferthemostfavorablesense。

　　TherewasperhapssomemaliceintheremarkofTheodorusMetochita，thatallwho，likeEusebius，hadbeenconversantwiththeEgyptians，delightedinanobscureandintricatestyle。SeeValesiusadloc。

　　[Footnote!:Thiscalculationismadefromthemartyrs，ofwhomEusebiusspeaksbyname；butherecognizesamuchgreaternumber。

......

购买会员看全站小说，或者下载APP免费观看所有作品 点击立即下载，搜索"History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empir",免费读到尾