Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 260–c. 339 CE) was a bishop, scholar and historian in Roman Palestine. He lived through the Great Persecution and the Constantinian settlement, and wrote biblical scholarship, apologetic works and imperial panegyric. His Ecclesiastical History is the first major surviving history of the Christian church.
The History of the Church tells the story of Christianity from the apostles to Eusebius’ own fourth-century world, where persecution gives way to imperial favor. Eusebius organizes the past through succession: bishops, teachers, heresies, writings, persecutions and martyrs.