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[German Version] (329/330, Caesarea – Jan 1, 370, Caesarea) was the brother of Gregory of Nyssa and a friend of Gregory of Nazianzus. Born into an aristocratic family in which the spirituality of Origen and the spirit of the martyrs were very much alive, Basil was educated at eminent schools (esp. Athens), as befitted his social standing. He chose to be …

[German Version] (died 250/251). Babylas died as an imprisoned bishop under emperor Decius (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. VI, 39.4). In the 4th century, he was the most revered Antiochene martyr (Persecutions of Christians) after Ignatius. His relics were moved several times to various sites (initially under Caesar Gallus, 351–354; the first recorded translation of relics in the h…

[German Version] I. Ptolemaic Period – II. Ancient Judaism – III. Early Church – IV. Patriarchate I. Ptolemaic Period Egypt. Rhakotis, Arab. Iskandariya, on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, established 332/31 bce by Alexander the Great west of the Canopic branch of the Nile between the sea and Lake Mareotis. Exact topography is uncertain because of later rebuilding, destruction, and changes in water level. Laid out on a rectangular grid by th…

[German Version] (c. 330 – c. 433), originally a monk, was consecrated bishop of Beroea (= Aleppo) in 378. He first came to prominence in church politics as an adherent of Meletius of Antioch (also as a participant in the Council of Constantinople in 381), he was to be found later among the opponents of John Chrysostom (probably because of his rigorism). He so…

[German Version] The term “Alexandrian theology” refers to two different, yet related, theological tendencies, one older, represented especially by Clement of Alexandria and Origen (primarily oriented toward “apologetics”), and a younger one, shaped primarily by Athanasius and Cyril, which represents a “very self-conscious and high church-clerical orthodoxy” (Chadwick), but could be considered increasingly less “Alexandrian” in the strict geographical sense. The precondition for both, especially for the older Alexandrian theology, was the specifically “Alexandria…

[German Version] I. Antiquity – II. Early Church – III. Patriarchate I. Antiquity Modern Antakya, Turkey, was initially founded in 307 bce as Antigoneia on the Orontes (c. 7km upstream). It was refounded on May 22, 300 by Seleucus I. Nicator (Seleucids) on the present site and renamed in honor of his father, Antiochus. It was well situated at a commercial junction of road networks from Asia Minor and the Orient, with a harbor in Seleukeia Piereia located to the southwest 25km downstream. It was the capital of the Seleucid Empire. After Pompey conquered it in 64 bce, it became the capital …