I have previously explored many aspects of "Hegesippus" here:
http://peterkirby.com/chasing-hegesippus.html
More people should be aware of the details involved in trying to date the work of "Hegesippus."
Book IV, Chapter 6 [of Eusebius], discusses the revolt under Hadrian. Chapter 7 discusses heretics from Pius to Anicetus in Rome and leads into some of the subsequent orthodox writers,
Hegesippus and Justin Martyr. Book IV, Chapter 8, discusses Justin Martyr, saying he wrote in the reign of Antoninus. Chapter 9 continues quoting from Justin Martyr, and Chapter 10 discusses bishops in Rome and Alexandria
in the reign of Antoninus.
Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 4.7.15 – 4.8.3. Nevertheless, in those times the truth again called forth many champions who fought in its defense against the godless heresies, refuting them not only with oral, but also with written arguments.
Among these Hegesippus was well known. We have already quoted his words a number of times,
relating events which happened in the time of the apostles according to his account. He records in five books the true tradition of apostolic doctrine in a most simple style, and
he indicates the time in which he flourished when he writes as follows concerning those that first set up idols: “To whom they erected cenotaphs and temples, as is done to the present day.
Among whom is also Antinoüs, a slave of the Emperor Adrian, in whose honor are celebrated also the Antinoian games, which were instituted in our day. For he [i.e. Adrian] also founded a city named after Antinoüs, and appointed prophets.” At the same time also Justin, a genuine lover of the true philosophy, was still continuing to busy himself with Greek literature.
He indicates this time in the Apology which he addressed to Antonine, where he writes as follows: “We do not think it out of place to mention here Antinoüs also, who lived in our day, and whom all were driven by fear to worship as a god, although they knew who he was and whence he came.” (link)
Ὅμως δ’ οὖν κατὰ τοὺς δηλουμένους αὖθις παρῆγεν εἰς μέσον ἡ ἀλήθεια πλείους ἑαυτῆς ὑπερμάχους, οὐ δι’ ἀγράφων αὐτὸ μόνον ἐλέγχων, ἀλλὰ καὶ δι’ ἐγγράφων ἀποδείξεων κατὰ τῶν ἀθέων αἱρέσεων στρατευομένους· ἐν τούτοις ἐγνωρίζετο Ἡγήσιππος, οὗ πλείσταις ἤδη πρότερον κεχρήμεθα φωναῖς, ὡς ἂν ἐκ τῆς αὐτοῦ παραδόσεως τινὰ τῶν κατὰ τοὺς ἀποστόλους παραθέμενοι. ἐν πέντε δ’ οὖν συγγράμμασιν οὗτος τὴν ἀπλανῆ παράδοσιν τοῦ ἀποστολικοῦ κηρύγματος ἁπλουστάτῃ συντάξει γραφῆς ὑπομνηματισάμενος, καθ’ ὃν ἐγνωρίζετο σημαίνει χρόνον, περὶ τῶν ἀρχῆθεν ἱδρυσάντων τὰ εἴδωλα οὕτω πως γράφων· »οἷς κενοτάφια καὶ ναοὺς ἐποίησαν ὡς μέχρι νῦν· ὧν ἐστιν καὶ Ἀντίνοος, δοῦλος Ἁδριανοῦ Καίσαρος, οὗ καὶ ἀγὼν ἄγεται Ἀντινόειος, ὁ ἐφ’ ἡμῶν γενόμενος. καὶ γὰρ πόλιν ἔκτισεν ἐπώνυμον Ἀντινόου καὶ προφήτας». κατ’ αὐτὸν δὲ καὶ Ἰουστῖνος, γνήσιος τῆς ἀληθοῦς φιλοσοφίας ἐραστής, ἔτι τοῖς παρ’ Ἕλλησιν ἀσκούμενος ἐνδιέτριβεν λόγοις. σημαίνει δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς τουτονὶ τὸν χρόνον ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ἀντωνῖνον ἀπολογίᾳ ὧδε γράφων· »οὐκ ἄτοπον δὲ ἐπιμνησθῆναι ἐν τούτοις ἡγούμεθα καὶ Ἀντινόου τοῦ νῦν γενομένου, ὃν καὶ ἅπαντες ὡς θεὸν διὰ φόβον σέβειν ὥρμηντο, ἐπιστάμενοι τίς τε ἦν καὶ πόθεν ὑπῆρχεν». (TLG)
This explicitly mentions an interest in determining the date in which the author flourished (most naturally understood as the time in which he composed his texts), comes in a discussion of the Antonine period, sets the text of Hegesippus next to Justin Martyr chronologically, and quotes a very similar passage to the one in Justin in order to support the conclusion that
Hegesippus flourished in the reign of Antoninus. We may suppose that here, above all, is where Eusebius took the most care in figuring out what he thinks about the date of Hegesippus. The answer is that Hegesippus comes from the Antonine period.
This is consistent with the evidence from Clement of Alexandria suggesting that Hegesippus (called there Josephus)
contained a chronological calculation involving the tenth year of Antoninus (concluding with that year). It is contra-indicated by an error of memory that Eusebius makes in an incidental reference to Hegesippus in his discussion of Justin Martyr, which leads most people to repeat the 170 AD date (which must actually be 175-189 AD for the chronology of Eleutherus in Eusebius) assigned to Hegesippus. Here is that reference:
Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 4.11.7. And in Rome Pius died in the fifteenth year of his episcopate, and Anicetus assumed the leadership of the Christians there. Hegesippus records that he himself was in Rome at this time, and that he remained there until the episcopate of Eleutherus. (link)
καὶ κατὰ τὴν Ῥωμαίων δὲ πόλιν πεντεκαιδεκάτῳ τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς ἐνιαυτῷ Πίου μεταλλάξαντος, Ἀνίκητος τῶν ἐκεῖσε προΐσταται· καθ’ ὃν Ἡγήσιππος ἱστορεῖ ἑαυτὸν ἐπιδημῆσαι τῇ Ῥώμῃ παρα μεῖναί τε αὐτόθι μέχρι τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς Ἐλευθέρου. (TLG)
It’s worth quoting from Philip Schaff’s note here:
Eusebius evidently makes a mistake here. That Hegesippus remained so long in Rome (Anicetus ruled from 154–168 (?), and Eleutherus from 177–190) is upon the face of it very improbable. And in this case we can see clearly how Eusebius made his mistake. In chap. 22 he quotes a passage from Hegesippus in regard to his stay in Rome, and it was in all probability this passage from which Eusebius drew his conclusion. But Hegesippus says there that he “
remained in Rome until the time of Anicetus,” &c. It is probable, therefore, that he returned to the East during Anicetus’ episcopacy. He does not express himself as one who had remained in Rome until the reign of Eleutherus; but Eusebius, from a hasty reading, might easily have gathered that idea.
It is with this misunderstanding now in our mind, which is demonstrably a misunderstanding in the mind of Eusebius, that we approach the passage that has misled so many regarding the date of the text of Hegesippus.
Eusebius, Eccleasiastical History, 4.21. At that time there flourished in the Church Hegesippus, whom we know from what has gone before, and Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, and another bishop, Pinytus of Crete, and besides these, Philip, and Apolinarius, and Melito, and Musanus, and Modestus, and finally, Irenæus. From them has come down to us in writing, the sound and orthodox faith received from apostolic tradition. (link)
Ἤκμαζον δ’ ἐν τούτοις ἐπὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας Ἡγήσιππός τε, ὃν ἴσμεν ἐκ τῶν προτέρων, καὶ Διονύσιος Κορινθίων ἐπίσκοπος Πινυτός τε ἄλλος τῶν ἐπὶ Κρήτης ἐπίσκοπος Φίλιππός τε ἐπὶ τούτοις καὶ Ἀπολινάριος καὶ Μελίτων Μουσανός τε καὶ Μόδεστος καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν Εἰρηναῖος, ὧν καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς τῆς ἀποστολικῆς παραδόσεως ἡ τῆς ὑγιοῦς πίστεως ἔγγραφος κατῆλθεν ὀρθοδοξία. (TLG)
Hegesippus in the five books of Memoirs which have come down to us has left a most complete record of his own views. In them he states that on a journey to Rome he met a great many bishops, and that he received the same doctrine from all. It is fitting to hear what he says after making some remarks about the epistle of Clement to the Corinthians. His words are as follows: “And the church of Corinth continued in the true faith until Primus was bishop in Corinth. I conversed with them on my way to Rome, and abode with the Corinthians many days, during which we were mutually refreshed in the true doctrine. And when I had come to Rome
I remained there until Anicetus.” His deacon was Eleutherus, and Anicetus was succeeded by Soter, and he by Eleutherus. In every succession, and in every city that is held which is preached by the law and the prophets and the Lord. (link)
Ὁ μὲν οὖν Ἡγήσιππος ἐν πέντε τοῖς εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐλθοῦσιν ὑπομνήμασιν τῆς ἰδίας γνώμης πληρεστάτην μνήμην καταλέλοιπεν· ἐν οἷς δηλοῖ ὡς πλείστοις ἐπισκόποις συμμίξειεν ἀποδημίαν στειλάμενος μέχρι Ῥώμης, καὶ ὡς ὅτι τὴν αὐτὴν παρὰ πάντων παρείληφεν διδασκαλίαν. ἀκοῦσαί γέ τοι πάρεστιν μετά τινα περὶ τῆς Κλήμεντος πρὸς Κορινθίους ἐπιστολῆς αὐτῷ εἰρημένα ἐπιλέγοντος ταῦτα· »καὶ ἐπέμενεν ἡ ἐκκλησία ἡ Κορινθίων ἐν τῷ ὀρθῷ λόγῳ μέχρι Πρίμου ἐπισκοπεύοντος ἐν Κορίνθῳ· οἷς συνέμιξα πλέων εἰς Ῥώμην καὶ συνδιέτριψα τοῖς Κορινθίοις ἡμέρας ἱκανάς, ἐν αἷς συνανεπάημεν τῷ ὀρθῷ λόγῳ· γενόμενος δὲ ἐν Ῥώμῃ, διαδοχὴν ἐποιησάμην μέχρις Ἀνικήτου·» οὗ διάκονος ἦν Ἐλεύθερος, καὶ παρὰ Ἀνικήτου διαδέχεται Σωτήρ, μεθ’ ὃν Ἐλεύθερος. ἐν ἑκάστῃ δὲ διαδοχῇ καὶ ἐν ἑκάστῃ πόλει οὕτως ἔχει ὡς ὁ νόμος κηρύσσει καὶ οἱ προφῆται καὶ ὁ κύριος. (TLG)
The adjustments I’ve made to the translation by Philip Schaff are to move the quotation marks (which, obviously, do not form part of the Greek manuscript) and to change the division of sentences (another thing not clear in Greek). It is a sensible option simply on the grounds that
the entire construction is awkward if attributed to Hegesippus but natural if attributed to Eusebius, who is harmonizing his faulty statement made from memory with the manuscript now before him. Earlier Eusebius stated that Hegesippus stayed in Rome until Eleutherus, but now Hegesippus states that he stayed in Rome until Anicetus. Instead of the comment immediately following, “his deacon was Eleutherus,” being taken as evidence for a second century practice of pairing bishops with special deacons, it should be taken as a way for Eusebius to harmonize the idea that Hegesippus remained there down to Anicetus with his earlier statement that Hegesippus remained there down to Eleutherus. The next sentence is then necessary to explain that Eleutherus did not succeed Anicetus but that Soter came between them. The whole construction is just ill-considered, so Eusebius rounds it out with a panegyric to the apostolic succession being in agreement in every city before returning to the text in front of him.
There is a bit of a textual issue with the Greek phrase “διαδοχὴν ἐποιησάμην μέχρις Ἀνικήτου,” which others have taken to mean that the author wrote down a list of the bishops up through Anicetus upon his arrival in Rome. Schaff writes in his note:
But the words διαδοχήν ἐποιησ€μην, if they can be made to mean anything at all, can certainly be made to mean nothing else than the composition of a catalogue, and hence it seems necessary to make some correction in the text. It is significant that Rufinus at this point reads permansi ibi, which shows that he at least did not understand Hegesippus to be speaking of a list of bishops. Rufinus’ rendering gives us a hint of what must have stood in the original from which he drew, and so Savilius, upon the margin of his ms., substituted for διαδοχὴν the word διατριβήν, probably simply as a conjecture, but possibly upon the authority of some other ms. now lost. He has been followed by some editors, including Heinichen, who prints the word διατριβήν in the text. Val. retains διαδοχὴν in his text, but accepts διατριβήν as the true reading, and so translates. This reading is now very widely adopted; and it, or some other word with the same meaning, in all probability stood in the original text. In my notice of Lightfoot’s article, I suggested the word διαγωγήν, which, while not so common as διατριβήν, is yet used with ποιεῖσθαι in the same sense, and its very uncommonness would account more easily for the change to the much commoner διαδοχὴν, which is epigraphically so like it.
I have followed Rufinus and Schaff here. There is thus
no evidence that the text of Hegesippus originally contained a list of Roman bishops, which also is the most natural explanation, as Schaff himself notes, why no bishop lists are referred to Hegesippus by Eusebius himself, who would be proud to have such an ancient authority.
Long story short, the strongest associations are for this period:
Antoninus Pius, emperor (11 July 138 – 7 March 161)
Anicetus, bishop of Rome (around 157-168, or thereabouts)
What we would call the "mid second century."
(To be clear, you can believe whatever you want; you could claim this is all fabrication. I am writing about what Eusebius wrote. We have to start there, with an accurate account and an accurate understanding. We can then add our own opinions and corrections.)
"... almost every critical biblical position was earlier advanced by skeptics." - Raymond Brown