Book 2 — Chapter 25 — Nero's Persecution and the Deaths of Paulos and Kepha
Eusebius portrays Nero as the first emperor to wage an overt campaign against the Christian movement at Rome. He cites Roman reputation for Nero's crimes and draws upon earlier ecclesial writers for the martyrdoms of Paulos and Kepha. Paulos is said to have been beheaded at Rome; Kepha is said to have been executed on a stake, with later tradition specifying that he requested inversion. Eusebius notes monuments or remembered burial places associated with both emissaries at Rome and quotes Gaius, a Roman churchman, who pointed to their “trophies” on the Vatican and Ostian roads. He also cites Dionysius of Qorinthos to connect both men with the planting of the Roman assembly. The chapter establishes the double apostolic martyrdom as foundational Roman memory.