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| The Bishops of Rome and of Alexandria during the Reign of Antoninus.
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Chapter X.—The Bishops of Rome
and of Alexandria during the Reign of Antoninus.
Adrian having died after a reign of twenty-one years,1059
| 1059 Hadrian reigned from Aug. 8, 117, to July 10, 138 a.d. | was succeeded in the government of the
Romans by Antoninus, called the Pious. In the first year of his reign
Telesphorus1060
| 1060 On
Telesphorus, see above, chap. 5, note 13. The date given here by
Eusebius (138–139 a.d.) is probably (as
remarked there) at least a year too late. | died in the eleventh year of his
episcopate, and Hyginus became bishop of Rome.1061
| 1061 We
know very little about Hyginus. His dates can be fixed with tolerable
certainty as 137–141, the duration of his episcopate being four
years, as Eusebius states in the next chapter. See Lipsius’
Chron. d. röm. Bischöfe, p. 169 and 263. The Roman
martyrologies make him a martyr, but this means nothing, as the early
bishops of Rome almost without exception are called martyrs by these
documents. The forged decretals ascribe to him the introduction of a
number of ecclesiastical rites. |
Irenæus records that Telesphorus’ death was made glorious by
martyrdom,1062
| 1062 In
his Adv. Hær. III. 3. 3. The testimony of Irenæus
rests upon Roman tradition at this point, and is undoubtedly reliable.
Telesphorus is the first Roman bishop whom we know to have suffered
martyrdom, although the Roman Catholic Church celebrates as martyrs all
the so-called popes down to the fourth century. | and in the same connection he states
that in the time of the above-mentioned Roman bishop Hyginus,
Valentinus, the founder of a sect of his own, and Cerdon, the author of
Marcion’s error, were both well known at Rome.1063
| 1063 On
Valentinus, Cerdon, and Marcion, see the next chapter. | He writes as follows:1064
| 1064 Irenæus, Adv. Hær. III. 4. 3. | E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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