David DeVore: Eusebius' Un-Josephan History: Two Portraits of Philo of Alexandria and the Sources of Ecclesiastical Historiography

Most scholars who have studied the original historiographical forms in Eusebius’ Historia Ecclesiastica [HE] assert that Eusebius’ chief Vorbild was Flavius Josephus’ Antiquitates Judaicae [AJ]. This paper probes the limits of Eusebius’ use of Josephus through a case study, a comparison of how each historian represented Philo of Alexandria.

Josephus mentions Philo just once in the AJ, when the philosopher defended the Judeans of Alexandria before Caligula (18.259f.). Such sparse coverage of Philo is striking because description of the great Judean’s philosophical activity would have enhanced the Judean glories exhibited in the AJ. Far richer is Eusebius’ portrayal of Philo: not only does Philo’s political service come up in the HE (2.6), but Eusebius also compliments Philo’s erudition (2.4), notes purported encounters with Peter and Mark (2.16), reproduces the philosopher’s description of a purportedly Christian ascetic community (2.17), and catalogues his writings (2.18): in short, Eusebius foregrounds Philo’s philosophical achievements alongside the political.

That Eusebius stressed Philo’s literary and philosophical activities, as well as the political service narrated by Josephus, illustrates how the Vorbilder for the pioneer of church history included philosophical biography along with Josephan national historiography. The paper concludes by showing that the topoi Eusebius deployed in representing Philo are paralleled in Diogenes Laertius’ Lives and Opinions of the Famous Philosophers, the best surviving example of philosophical historiography. Eusebius’ display of Philo’s intellectual accomplishments through biographical topoi both reinforced the Jewish philosopher’s credibility as an admirer of Christianity and encouraged comparison between Philo and the Christian intellectuals portrayed throughout the HE.