[iv.21] 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.

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 έχει ὡς ὁ νόμος κηρύσσει καὶ οἱ προφῆται καὶ ὁ κύριος».

[22] καὶ ἕτερα δὲ πλεῖστα γράφει, ὧν ἐκ μέρους ἤδη πρότερον ἐμνημονεύσαμεν, οἰκείως τοῖς καιροῖς τὰς ἱστορίας παραθέμενοι, ἔκ τε τοῦ καθ᾿ Ἑβραίους εὐαγγελίου καὶ τοῦ Συριακοῦ καὶ ἰδίως ἐκ τῆς Ἑβραΐδος διαλέκτου τινὰ τίθησιν, ἐμφαίνων ἐξ Ἑβραίων ἑαυτὸν πεπιστευκέναι, καὶ ἄλλα δὲ ὡς ἐξ Ἰουδαϊκῆς ἀγράφου παραδόσεως μνημονεύει. οὐ μόνος δὲ οὗτος, καὶ Εἰρηναῖος δὲ καὶ ὁ πᾶς τῶν ἀρχαίων χορὸς πανάρετον Σοφίαν τὰς Σολομῶνος Παροιμίας ἐκάλουν. καὶ περὶ τῶν λεγομένων δὲ ἀποκρύφων διαλαμβάνων, ἐπὶ τῶν αὐτοῦ χρόνων πρός τινων αἱρετικῶν ἀναπεπλάσθαι τινὰ τούτων ἱστορεῖ.

At that time there flourished in the church Hegesippus, whom we know from former passages, and Dionysius bishop of Corinth, and another bishop Pinytus in Crete, and beside these Philip, and Apolinarius and Melito, also Musanus and Modestus, and lastly Irenaeus. From these has come down to us in writing the true doctrine of sound faith received from the apostolic tradition. Hegesippus then, in the five books of Memoirs which have come down to us, has left a very full record of his own opinion. In these he shows how he made acquaintance with a great many bishops when he made a journey as far as Rome, and that he received the same teaching from them all. At any rate, we can hear what he says after some words about the Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians. He goes on –

'And the church of Corinth remained in the right faith till Primus was bishop in Corinth. I made acquaintance with them on my voyage to Rome, and stayed many days with the Corinthians, io and together with them found refreshment in the right faith. And when I came to Rome I made a list of succession till the time of Anicetus, whose deacon was Eleutherus. Anicetus was succeeded by Soter, and after him Eleutherus. But in every succession and in every city things are ordered according to the preaching of the law and the prophets and the Lord.'

And he writes many other things, which we have in part already mentioned, setting forth the stories at their proper places. And from the Gospel according to the Hebrews and from the Syriac (Gospel), and in particular from (writings in) the Hebrew tongue, he sets down certain passages, showing that he was himself a convert from the Hebrews; and he mentions other things as coming from unwritten Jewish tradition. And not only he, but Irenaeus also and the whole company of the ancients called the Proverbs of Solomon All-virtuous Wisdom. And discoursing of the books called Apocryphal, he relates that some of these were composed in his own times by certain heretics.