Fragment of a leaf from Eusebius of Caesarea, Historia ecclesiastica, in Latin, manuscript on vellum [France, 10th century]

125mm × 225 mm, preserving the upper 12 lines of text (cropped at the bottom, but preserving the three other margins), written in well-spaced caroline minuscule, with very few abbreviations, the text comprising Book 4, nos. 14–25 in the capitula list (“XIIII Que de Polycarpo discipulo apostolorum feruntur … XXV De Modesto”) and 4.2.2–4 (“tumultus exarsit. Quo magnus mox numerus gentis eius occubuit … [ prostravit] ac perculit. II”), chapter numbers in orange-red; recovered from use as the cover of a binding, with consequent damage and wear, with most of the spine area erased except for the upper two lines which were covered and thus protected by a title-piece, holes from fore-edge ties, vestiges of glue, etc.

Eusebius of Caesarea, ca. 260–340 CE, who was born in Palestine, became Bishop of Caesarea about 314. Author of several works, his fame rests mainly on the present one, written in Greek, a history of the Christian Church in ten books published in 324–325, the most important ecclesiastical history of ancient times, and a treasury of knowledge about the Church from its origins until the 4th century CE. The text here concerns the reign of the Roman emperor Trajan in the early 2nd century.