Book 2 — Chapter 5 — Philo's Embassy to Gaius on Behalf of the Yehudim
Eusebius introduces Philo of Alexandria, a learned Yehudi philosopher from a distinguished family. During the crisis under Gaius Caligula, when hostility toward Yehudim intensified and imperial self-divinization threatened ancestral worship, Philo leads an embassy from Alexandria to the emperor. Eusebius summarizes Philo's own account of the humiliation of the delegation and Gaius's contempt. He praises Philo's literary and philosophical stature and values him as a near-contemporary external witness. The episode shows the precarious condition of Yehudi communities within the empire even before the later wars in Yehudah and demonstrates how imperial cult demands could become direct threats to communities committed to worship of one Elohim.