Marcus Julius Eugenius
(0357) Text: Μ(ᾶρκος) Ἰού(λιος) Εὐ[γέ]νιος Κυρίλλου Κέλερος Κουησσέως βουλ(ευτοῦ) | στρατευσ[ά]μενος ἐν τῇ κατὰ Πισιδίαν ἡγεμονικῇ τάξι | καὶ γήμας θυγατέρα Γαίου Νεστοριανοῦ συνκλητικοῦ | Φλ(αουίαν) Ἰουλ(ίαν) Φ[λ]αουιανὴν καὶ μετ᾿ ἐπιτει[μ]ίας στρατευσάμενον | ἐν δὲ τῷ [μ]εταξὺ χρόνῳ κελεύσεως [φ]οιτησάσης ἐπὶ Μαξιμίνου | τοὺς Χρ[ε]ιστιανοὺς θύειν καὶ μὴ ἀπα[λ]λάττεσθαι τῆς | στρατεί[α]ς πλείστας δὲ ὅσας βασάνο[υς] ὑπομείνας | ἐπὶ Διογέ[ν]ους ἡγεμόνος σπουδάσας [τ]ε ἀπαλλαγῆναι | τῆς στρατείας τὴν τῶν Χρειστιανῶν πίστιν φυλάσσων | χρόνον τ[ε] βραχὺν διατρείψαν ἐν τῇ Λαοδικέων πόλι | καὶ βουλήσ[ε]ι τοῦ παντοκράτορος θεοῦ ἐπίσκοπος | κατασταθ[ε]ὶς τοῦ εἴκοσι πέντε ὅλοις ἔτεσιν τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν | μετὰ πολ[λ]ῆς ἐπιτειμίας διο[κ]ήσας καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ἐκλησίαν | ἀνοικοδο[μ]ήσας ἀπὸ θεμελίων καὶ σύνπαντα τὸν περὶ αὐτὴν | κόσμον [τ]οῦτ᾿ ἐστιν στοῶν τε καὶ τ[ετ]ραστόων καὶ | ζωγραφιῶ[ν] καὶ κεντήσεων κὲ ὑδρείου καὶ προπύλου καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς | λιθοξοικοῖς ἔργοις καὶ πᾶ[σι ἁπ]αξαπλῶ(ς) κατασευά[σας λειψόμε]νός τε τὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων | βίον ἐποίησα ἐμαυτῷ πέ[λτα τ]ε καὶ σορὸν ἐν ᾗ τὰ [π]ρο[γεγραμμένα] ταῦτα ἐποίησα ἐπιγρ(α)φῖνε | [εἰς κόσ]μον τῆς τε ἐκλ[ησίας κ]ὲ τοῦ γένους μου.
Translation: Marcus Julius Eugenius, son of Cyrillus Celer of Kouessos, a member of the Laodicean senate, having served in the officium of the governor of Pisidia and having married Flavia Julia Flaviana, daughter of Gaius Julius Nestorianus, a man of Roman senatorial rank; and having served with distinction; and when command had meanwhile gone forth in the time of Maximinus that Christians should offer sacrifice and not quit the service, having endured very many tortures under Diogenes governor of Pisidia and having contrived to quit the service, maintain in the faith of the Christians; and having spent a short time in the city of the Laodiceans; and having been made bishop by will of Almighty God; and having administered the episcopate for 25 full years with great distinction; and having rebuilt from its foundation the entire church and all the adornment around it, consisting of stoai, tetrastoa, paintings, mosaics, a fountain and outer gateway; and having furnished it with all the construction in mansorny and, in a word, with everything; and being about to leave the life of this world; I made for myself a plinth and sarcophagus on which I caused the above to be engraved, for the distinction of the church and of my family.
Commentary: Though the inscription was produced after the reign of Constantine, Eugenius recounts his experience as a Christian officer earlier and the sufferings under Maximian in 310 CE.
Provenience: East Phrygia 335-345 CE
Bibliography: W. M. Calder, “Studies in Early Christian Epigraphy,” JRS 10 (1920): 42-59; Ronald J. Sider, The Early Church on Killing: A Comprehensive Sourcebook on War, Abortion, and Capital Punishment (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012), 149-150*.