top Quadratus
1 Τραϊανοῦ δὲ ἐφ' ὅλοις ἔτεσιν εἴκοσι τὴν ἀρχὴν μησὶν ἕξ δέουσι κρατήσαντος, Αἴλιος Ἁδριανὸς διαδέχεται τὴν ἡγεμονίαν.
τούτῳ Κοδρᾶτος λόγον προσφωνήσας ἀναδίδωσιν, ἀπολογίαν συντάξας ὑπὲρ τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς θεοσεβείας, ὅτι δή τινες πονηροὶ ἄνδρες τοὺς ἡμετέρους ἐνοχλεῖν ἐπειρῶντο.
εἰς ἔτι δὲ φέρεται παρὰ πλείστοις τῶν ἀδελφῶν, ἀτὰρ καὶ παρ' ἡμῖν τὸ σύγγραμμα,
ἐξ οὗ κατιδεῖν ἔστιν λαμπρὰ τεκμήρια τῆς τε τοῦ ἀνδρὸς διανοίας καὶ τῆς ἀποστολικῆς ὀρθοτομίας. 		When Trajan had reigned for nineteen and a half years, Aelius Hadrianus succeeded to the imperial authority.
To him, Quadratus addressed a treatise, composing an apology for our religion because some evil men were trying to trouble the Christians.
It is still extant among many of the brothers, and we ourselves have a copy.
From it can be seen the clear proof of his intellect and apostolic orthodoxy.
2 ὁ δ' αὐτὸς τὴν καθ' ἑαυτὸν ἀρχαιότητα παραφαίνει, δι' ὧν ἱστορεῖ ταῦτα ἰδίαις φωναῖς·
Τοῦ δὲ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν τὰ ἔργα ἀεὶ παρῆν ἀληθῆ γὰρ ἦν, οἱ θεραπευθέντες, οἱ ἀναστάντες ἐκ νεκρῶν, οἳ οὐκ ὤφθησαν μόνον θεραπευόμενοι καὶ ἀνιστάμενοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀεὶ παρόντες, οὐδὲ ἐπιδημοῦντος μόνον τοῦ σωτῆρος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπαλλαγέντος ἦσαν ἐπὶ χρόνον ἱκανόν, ὥστε καὶ εἰς τοὺς ἡμετέρους χρόνους τινὲς αὐτῶν ἀφίκοντο. 		He reveals his early date by what he says in his own words as follows:
“But the works of our Saviour were always present, for they were true; those who were healed and those who rose from the dead were seen not only when they were healed and when they were raised, but also were constantly present, and not only while the Saviour was living, but even after he had gone they were alive for a long time, so that some of them survived to our own time.”
3 Τοιοῦτος μὲν οὗν οὗτος. καὶ Ἀριστείδης δέ πιστὸς ἀνὴρ τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς ὁρμώμενος εὐσεβείας τῷ Κοδράτῳ παραπλησίως ὑπὲρ τῆς πίστεως ἀπολογίαν ἐπιφωνήσας Ἁδριανῷ καταλέλοιπε. σῴζεται δέ γε εἰς δεῦρο παρὰ πλείστοις καὶ ἡ τούτου γραφή. That is what this is all about. And Aristides believed in the man of ours, who had come to respect for Quadratus, in the name of the faith, and in the faith of Adrian, he concluded. There is no such writing in the second place, but it is also written in the same way.
Summary
In this historical account, Eusebius records the earliest post-New Testament formal Christian "Apologies" (defenses of the faith) addressed to Roman political authority—specifically Emperor Hadrian (reigned 117–138 CE).

The passage highlights two early Christian apologists: Quadratus and Aristides of Athens.

Eusebius preserves the only surviving fragment of Quadratus’s lost work, in which Quadratus argues for the historical reality of Jesus’s miracles by noting that eyewitnesses who were physically healed or raised from the dead by Christ lived long lives, some surviving into Quadratus’s own generation (late 1st / early 2nd century).
Significant Greek Expressions
ἀπολογίαν συντάξας (Having composed an apology / defense): Uses apologia in its classical legal and formal sense—a reasoned defense against public accusations or hostile misrepresentations (πονηροὶ ἄνδρες) brought against the Christian community (θεοσέβεια).

ἀποστολικῆς ὀρθοτομίας (Apostolic orthodoxy / upright teaching): Combines apostolikos with orthotomia (literally "cutting straight," drawing on 2 Timothy 2:15). It serves as a key patristic benchmark for doctrinal continuity and faithfulness to the original teaching of the apostles.

τὰ ἔργα ἀεὶ παρῆν· ἀληθῆ γὰρ ἦν (His works were always present, for they were true): The core thesis of Quadratus’s fragment. He contrasts genuine, verifiable divine miracles (erga) with ephemeral, fraudulent magic tricks or mythical tales.

εἰς τοὺς ἡμετέρους χρόνους τινὲς αὐτῶν ἀφίκοντο (Some of them survived even down to our own times): A crucial historical claim anchoring Quadratus’s life in the sub-apostolic era (circa 120–125 CE), placing him within living memory of those touched by Jesus’s ministry.

τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς ὁρμώμενος εὐσεβείας (Devoted to our religion / piety): A standard patristic phrase used by early historians to designate the Christian faith (eusebeia) as a distinct religious community.
Quadratus