Pope Eusebius
Eusebius was a
Pope in the year
309. His pontificate lasted only from
April 18 to
August 17, after which, in consequence of disturbances within the Church which led to acts of violence, he was banished by the tyrant
Maxentius, who had been the sole ruler of
Rome since April
308, and had at first shown himself friendly to the
Christians. The
difficulty arose, as in the case of his predecessor
Pope Marcellus I, out of his attitude toward the Lapsed, which represented the milder standpoint.
Eusebius died in exile in Sicily and was buried in the cemetery of Calixtus. Pope Damasus I placed an epitaph of eight hexameters over his tomb; the epithet "martyr" contained in them is not to be
taken in the strict sense.
His feast is on September 26.
Initial text from Schaff-Herzog Encyc of Religion