EUSEBIUS, yu-sê'bî-us: Pope 309. His pontificate lasted only from Apr. 18 to Aug. 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 Apr., 308, and had at first shown himself friendly to the Christians. The difficulty arose, as in the case of his predecessor Marcellus, out of his attitude toward the Lapsed (q.v.), which represented the milder standpoint. He died in exile in Sicily, and was buried in the cemetery of Calixtus, his successor Damasus placing an epitaph of eight hexameters over his tomb; the epithet "martyr" contained in them is not to be taken in the strict sense.

(EDGAR HENNECKE.)