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[German version] Before his conversion to the Christian faith H. took lessons from the Platonic philosopher  Ammonius [9] Saccas (Euseb. Hist. eccl. 6,19,13) with his brother Plutarchus, who later died a martyr's death. After five years of instruction he met  Origenes there as a fellow student and then visited his class in Alexandria (Euseb. Hist. eccl. 6,3,2). At a certain point Origen made H. responsible for the beginning students (Euseb. Hist. eccl. 6,15). H. himself was a celebrated teacher (Euseb. Hist. eccl. 6,31,2) and apparently belonged to the presbyters who…

[German version] The writer of this treatise, written in the form of a letter, (CPG I 1050), who belongs to the so-called  Apostolic Fathers, does not give his name. The MSS as well as Christian theologians of the 2nd/3rd cents. like  Clemens and  Origenes (who regarded the letter as καθολικὴ ἐπιστολή: c. Cels. 1,63) state that the author is  Barnabas, the travelling companion of St. Paul. The first part (chs. 2-16) interprets holy Scripture (= the OT) in terms of God, Christ and the new people of…

Spanish ascetic and Christian theologian of Late Antiquity; term used for the ascetic movement he founded. [German version] I. Life of Priscillianus and history of Priscillianism A great deal of P.' biography remains unknown and has been distorted by a hostile tradition. P. was probably born prior to AD 350; he is believed to have been from a wealthy Spanish family. His training in rhetoric indicates an education befitting his class. In connection with his decision to lead an ascetic life, he chose to be baptized as an a…

[German version] After AD 343, bishop of Barcinona (modern Barcelona), died before 393; of his life practically nothing is known. Three letters from him to the Novatian Sympronianus survive, in which he opposes Novatianism (Novatianus) (CPL 561), also a pamphlet Paraenesis sive Exhortatorius Libellus ad Paenitentiam ( Exhortation to Penitence, CPL 562) and a Sermo de Baptismo ( Sermon on Baptism, CPL 563). A Cerv(ul)us ('Stag') against the pagan celebration of the new year, mentioned by Hieronymus  (Vir. ill. 106), is lost. The author was well educated and t…

[German version] (Ἀθηναγόρας; Athēnagóras) From Athens (2nd cent. AD). From this author surely comes an apologia bearing the inscription πρεσβεία ( presbeía) to the Emperors  Marcus Aurelius and  Commodus (CPG I 1070; [1]); whether the work mentioned at the end of this text, about the resurrection (§ 37), is identical to the one handed down in Paris. graec. 451 (CPG I 1071), is controversial. In addition to critical voices, which attribute this identification as well as the statement ‘Philosopher from Athens’ in the…

[German version] (Προαιρέσιος/ Pro(h)airésios). Christian Sophist (cf. Second Sophistic), born c. AD 276 in Caesarea (Cappadocia) to an Armenian family; studied in Antioch [1] and Athens (Eunap. VS 10,3,3-9), where he was subsequently a celebrated teacher for many years, reflecting the continuity of the education provided there. His provenience from Asia Minor apparently attracted students particularly from that part of the Roman Empire. Constans [1] honoured him numerous times; as a Christian, he did not…

[German version] A. Language Christian Palestinian is a dialect of  Aramaic, more precisely of Western Aramaic, to which belong Nabataean, Palmyrenian, Judaeo-Aramaic, Samaritan and the still extant New Western Aramaic (Maalūla linguistic enclave near Damascus, Syria). As it uses one of the older Syriac- (i.e. Estrangelō, in reality στρογγύλη; stroggýlē) related scripts, in the non-German language area it tends to be called Syro-Palestinian, although it lies closer to the Judaeo-Palestinian Aramaic of some targumim than to classical Syriac. It was evidently used in…

[German version] (Παπίας; Papías). Bishop or congregational leader in his home town of Hierapolis [1]. In around AD 125/130, he wrote an 'Exegesis of the oracles of the Lord in five books' (Λογίων κυριακῶν ἐξηγήσεως συγγράμματα πέντε), of which only fragments remain. The information contained in the foreword on the authors of the NT (Eus. HE 3,39,15f.) is significant but controversial. However, P. preferred the oral Jesus tradition; according to Eirenaeus [2] (different in Eusebius [7]), he was a student of Iohannes [1] and a ‘ companion’ (ἑταῖρος) of Polycarpus (Iren. Adversus h…

(Πολύκαρπος/ Polýkarpos). [German version] I. Life P. was one of the most important figures among the second generation of Christian teachers, who still had contact with the members of the first, 'apostolic' generation (Eirenaeus [2] according to Eus. HE 5,20,6). He is described as bishop of Smyrna in the correspondence of Ignatius [1] (Ignatius, Epistula ad Magnesios 15), while another letter is addressed to bishop P. himself ( Epistula ad Polycarpum). He was evidently regarded not only as a representative of the congregations of Asia Minor, but also as a guardia…

[German version] Salamanes Hermeias (Σῳζομενός/ Sōizomenós, Σαλαμάνης Ἑρμείας/ Salamánēs Hermeías), probably born in Bethelea near Gaza (possibly modern Bait Lāhiyā) into a well-to-do Christian family (cf. Phot. Cod. 30; Sozom. Hist. eccl. 5,15,14). The dates of his birth and death cannot be determined. The Palestinian and partially monastic context of his youth (Monasticism) characterizes his Ἐκκλησιαστικὴ ἱστορία/ Ekklēsiastikḕ Historía or 'History of the Church' (= HC; Sozom. Hist. eccl. 1,1,19), which was written between AD 439 and 450. After 425, …

(Ἀκάκιος; Akákios). [German version] [1] Rhetorician and poet from Caesarea Rhetorician and poet from Caesarea, contemporary of  Libanius, who mentions A. numerous times in his letters, also known through Eunapius (Vitae Sophist. 497, cf. PLRE s. v. Acacius 6-8). After completing his studies in Athens, A. taught in Antioch [1]. He is said to have been superior to Libanius because of his natural talent. A. may have authored Ὠκύπους (Lib. Ep. 1380 W. = 1301 f.), the parody of a tragedy that was passed down …

(Ἁδριανός; Hadrianós) [1]. [German version] [1] Rhetor Sophist from Tyre, at 18 years of age a favourite pupil of  Herodes Atticus (Philostr. VS 2,10,585-586). With  Flavius Boethus (also from Phoenicia) he attended the anatomy lectures of  Galen in Rome in AD 162-166 (Gal. 14,627; 629 Kuhn). He may perhaps have been the target of mockery in Lucian's Pseudologístēs [1]. He taught in Ephesus (Philostr. VS 2,23,605) and (163-169) [2] honoured his patron there, the consular Cn.  Claudius [II 64] Severus, with a statue and a poem [3; 4]. From 176 at the l…

[German version] [1] of Sicca Christian Rhetor of the 3rd/4th cent. AD Christian rhetor in Sicca Veneria (Jer. Vir. ill. 79), author of seven books: Adversus Nationes (only Cod. Paris. 1661, 9th cent., and the copy in Brussels 10847, 11th cent.) c. AD 297-303, certainly before 311 [3. 30-34]. The opinion that the work is unfinished and that A. therefore died before 311 is unfounded [4. 24]. Teacher of  Lactantius; however, the precise relationship is disputed, as Lactantius does not quote A. [5. 367]. The style is very emphatic, with a…

(Ἐπιφάνιος; Epiphánios). [1] of Salamis Ascetic and priest [German version] A. Biography E. was born between 310 and 320 in the Palestinian Beṯ Guvrin/Eleutheropolis (short biography in GCS Epiphanius 1,1 Holl), more precisely in the nearby village of Besanduke/Beṯ Zedek (= Dair Saad?), probably as the son of Christian parents. He became an ascetic early on in his life, and in conjunction with that may have spent longer periods in Egypt (Sozom. Hist. eccl. 6,32,3); at the age of about 20, he founded a mona…

[1] H. of Poitiers 4th cent. AD [German version] A. Biography H. was probably born in Poitiers in the first quarter of the 4th cent. and baptized as an adult (De synodis 91). He became bishop of Poitiers before 356; H. is the first known bishop of this place, in which there cannot have been many Christians. In 356, at a synod in Béziers, H. was sent into exile in Asia Minor on the orders of the later emperor  Julianus [11]. Whereas formerly only a lengthy resistance activity against the line of ecclesiasti…

[German version] [1] Greek grammarian (Εἰρηναῖος; Eirēnaîos). Grammarian, student of Heliodorus the metrician, 1st cent. AD ( terminus ante quem due to the quotation in the Hippocratic lexicon by Erotianus, 116,8 Nachmanson). He probably taught also in Rome under the Latin name of Minucius Pacatus (perhaps the rhetor Pacatus in Sen. Controv. 10, praef. 10). He was not a freedman [2]. The Suda mentions him in the praefatio and s.v. ‘E.’ (ει 190) as well as s.v. ‘Pacatus’ (π 29), and lists numerous titles of grammatical and lexicographical writ…

(Νεῖλος/ Neîlos, Latin Nilus). [German version] [1] N. of Ancyra Author of monastic letters and stories, c. 400 A number of monastic letters, stories, apophthegmata, treatises and fragments are attributed to a N. of Ancyra or an ascetic N. in MSS. The question of authorship is hardly fully resolved in any of the texts. If the autobiographical data in the Dihēgḗmata [1. 6044] are not held to be authentic (but so in [4]), little more is known of N. than that he lived in Galatia at the turn of the 4th and 5th cents. AD  (but cf. the critique of this in [7. …

[German version] [1] Greek official The lexical meaning of epískopos equates to ‘supervisor’. In the Greek world, episkopos habitually referred to an official, similar to   epimelētaí and   epistátai , but used less frequently. The Delian League sent epískopoi, who were Athenian officials, into allied cities, e.g. in order to set up a democratic constitution (Erythrae: ML 40; cf. Aristoph. Av. 1021-1034). Rhodian officials also included episkopoi (Syll.3 619), Massilia appointed an episkopos for its colony of Nicaea (ILS 6761), and Mithridates VI sent one to Ephesus …

[German version] [1] F. Mythographus Christian, about AD 500, author of several prose works (also F. Afer, Fabius Planciades F., Fabius Claudius Gordianus). Several prose works are extant by the Christian F. who lived around AD 500 and whose identification with  Fulgentius [2] is a matter of discussion [3]: De aetatibus mundi et hominis is an episodic outline of world history in which a particular letter of the alphabet is meant to be avoided (lipogram) in each of the planned 23 lemmata (of which only 14 were written). Lemmata 10, 11 and 14 deal w…

(Μακάριος; Makários). I. Greek [German version] [1] Spartiate, in 426/5 BC in the council of war of Eurylochus Spartiate, in 426/5 BC he took part in the council of war of Eurylochus [2] in the campaign of the armed forces of Spartan allies against Naupactus and the Acarnanians and fell in battle at Olpae (Thuc. 3,100,2; 109,1). Welwei, Karl-Wilhelm (Bochum) Bibliography J. Roisman, The General Demosthenes and his Use of Military Surprise, 1993, 27ff. [German version] [2] M. of Alexandria Monk, 4th cent. AD According to the Historia monachorum in Aegypto [1. § 23], a certain M. (4th …