Eusebius of Laodicea

Eusebius Of Laodicea, a native of Alexandria, and therefore sometimes called Eusebius of Alexandria. As deacon in Alexandria, he accompanied his bishop, Dionysius, in the Valerian persecution of Christians before the proconsul AEmilianus (257), and by nursing the imprisoned Christians and burying the martyrs gave a shining testimony of his undaunted faith. When (from 260 to 263) a terrible epidemic and civil war devastated Alexandria, Eusebius again distinguished himself by his zeal in nursing the sick, 'both pagan and Christian, and, in union with his friend Anatolius, procured relief to thousands of inhabitants who were threatened with starvation.' In 264 he attended, as the representative of bishop Dionysius, whom old age and sickness retained in Alexandria, the Synod of Antioch, which was to take action on the heresy of Paul of Samosata. Subsequently he became bishop of Laodicea in Syria, where he died in 270. He was succeeded by his friend Anatolius. Herzog, Real-Encyklop. 4:240; Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. 7:32. (A.J.S.)