Eusebius was a
Pope in the year 309 A.D. 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.