Clement of Alexandria and Early Christian Views of Martyrdom

Introduction We cannot begin to understand Clement’s stance on martyrdom without first considering the context in which he lived. The setting is late second-century Alexandria, a Roman epicenter of trade and education situated on the northwest coast of Egypt. According to Strabo, the city was erected in 331 BCE by Alexander the Great on the site of the Egyptian village Rhakotis. When Alexander’s Hellenistic Empire was divided among three of his generals following his death, Ptolemy I became the ruler of Egypt and began the Ptolemaic dynasty. During his reign, Alexandria replaced Memphis as the capital of Egypt and prospered as an economic and educational hub. Since archaeological evidence from Alexandria preceding the fourth century CE is scarce, much of our insight about Christianity in second- and third-century Alexandria is derived from textual evidence. One of the largest contributors of this evidence is Eusebius, an author whose validity is often called into question due to his failure to witness firsthand many of the events he describes, the frequency with which he stakes claims that have no support from other sources, and the possibility that he falsified his records in order to assert his own agenda. There is evidence that Eusebius’ accounts are blemished by a variety of fallacies; for example, his Church History is peppered with anachronisms and postulations that we have good reason to doubt. Be that as it may, we would have little to no knowledge of Alexandrian Christianity if it were not for the information we are able to glean from Eusebius’ documentation. If held to the same high standards that scholars criticize Eusebius for failing to meet, many sources would likely be deemed unreliable and we would be forced to discard multitudes of crucial documents that constitute the very foundation upon which our understanding of history is built. Therefore, I will treat Eusebius as a source from which some knowledge about Christians in second- and third-century Alexandria can be gathered.Bachelor of Art