144. Eusebius 1. viii. c. 4, c. 17. He limits the number of
military martyrs, by a remarkable expression (***), of which
neither his Latin nor French translator have rendered the
energy. Notwithstanding the authority of Eusebius, and the
silence of Lactantius, Ambrose, Sulpicius, Orosius, etc., it
has been long believed that the Thebaean legion, consisting
of 6000 Christians, suffered martyrdom by the order of
Maximian, in the valley of the Pennine Alps. The story was
first published about the middle of the fifth century, by
Eucherius bishop of Lyons, who received it from certain
persons, who received it from Isaac bishop of Geneva, who is
said to have received it from Theodore bishop of Octodurum.
The abbey of St. Maurice still subsists, a rich monument of
the credulity of Sigismund, king of Burgundy. See an
excellent Dissertation in the thirty-sixth volume of the
Bibliotheque Raisonnee, p. 427-454.