Listed 42 sub titles with search on: Religious figures biography for wider area of: "ISRAEL Country MIDDLE EAST" .
AKO (Ancient port) ISRAEL
Antiochus (Antiochos), bishop of Ptolemais in Palestine, was a Syrian by birth. At the beginning of the 5th century after Christ, he went to Constantinople, where his eloquent preaching attracted such attention, that he was called by some another Chrysostom. He afterwards took part warmly with the enemies of Chrysostom, and died not later than 408 A. D. Besides many sermons, he left a large work "against Avarice," which is lost. (Gennad. 20; Theodoret. Dial. ii. ; Phot. Cod. 288; Act. Concil. Ephes. iii.)
JERUSALEM (Town) ISRAEL
Antiochus (Antiochos), a Monk of the monastery of St. Saba, near Jerusalem, flourished
at the time of the taking of Jerusalem by the Persians (A. D. 614). He wrote,
besides other works of little importance, one entitled pandektes tes hagias graphes,
an epitome of the Christian faith, as contained in scripture, in 130 chapters.
This work was first published in Latin by Tilman, Paris, 1543, reprinted in the
Bibliotheca Patrum, Paris, 1579; Colon. 1618; Lugd. 1677. The original Greek was
first published by Fronto Ducaeus, in the Auctarii Bibl. Pair. Paris, 1624, reprinted
in Morell's Bibl. Pair. Paris, 1644.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Ebion, the real or supposed founder of the sect of Christians called Ebionites, by which name, at least after the time of Irenaeus, were designated all those who, though professing Christ's religion, thought it necessary to continue the observance of the Mosaic law. The Ebionite doctrine therefore was a mere engrafting of Judaism upon Christianity. Generally speaking, the followers of this sect considered our Lord as a man chosen by God to the office of Messiah, and furnished with the divine power necessary for its fulfilment at the time of his baptism, which rite was performed by John, as the representative of Elijah. They insisted on the necessity of circumcision, regarded the earthly Jerusalem as still God's chosen city, and denounced St. Paul as a latitudinarian and a heretic. It is, however, very difficult to distinguish accurately the various shades of these opinions, or to state at what time any particular form of them was prevalent. Irenaeus certainly confounded varieties of opinion almost sufficient to constitute their holders two distinct sects, whereas Origen (c. Cels. v. 61) divides the Ebionites into two classes, those who denied our Lord's miraculous conception, and those who allowed it; the latter admission of course implying, that the peculiar operation of the Holy Spirit on the man Jesus developed itself from the very commencement of his life, instead of first beginning to act at the particular time of his consecration to the Messianic mission. The first traces of Ebionism are doubtless to be found in the New Testament, where we recognize this doctrine as that of the Judaizing teachers in Galatia (Gal. iii. 1, &c.), the deniers of St. Paul's apostleship at Corinth (2 Cor. xi. 5, &c.), the heretics opposed in the Epistle to the Colossians, and perhaps of those mentioned by St. John (1 Joh. ii. 18). The "Clementines", a collection of homilies embodying these views, is probably a work of the 2nd century; and we find that the sect was flourishing in the time of Jerome (A. D. cir. 400), though with its opinions much modified and Christianized, inasmuch as it did not desire to force the ceremonial law upon the Gentiles, and fully admitted the authority of St. Paul. It is needless to trace its progress farther, for in fact Ebionism is only the type of a system which, in different forms, and adapted to various circumstances, has reappeared from time to time in almost all ages of the Church. With regard to Ebion himself, his existence is very doubtful. The first person who asserts it is Tertullian, who is followed by Augustine, Jerome, Epiphanius, and Theodoret. The latter, however (Haer. Fab. ii. 218), after saying, tautes tes phalangos erxen Ebion, adds, ton ptochon de outos hoi Hebraioi prosagoreuonsin, which may be compared with the derivation given for the name of the sect by Origen (contr. Cels. ii. 1), who considers it formed from the Hebrew word Ebion, poor, and knows of no such person as the supposed founder Ebion. Modern writers, especially Matter and Neander deny Ebion's existence; though Lightfoot says, that he is mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud as one of the founders of sects. The authorities on both sides of the question are given by Burton. If we reject the existence of Ebion, we must adopt Origen's derivation, though not with the explanation which he suggests, that it refers to the poverty of tile Ebionite creed; for such a name could not have been chosen by themselves, since it would have been in that sense a reproach; nor given by the Christians of Gentile origin, who would not have chosen a title of Hebrew derivation. It is better to suppose that the name Ebionites was originally applied to an ascetic sect, and gradually extended to all the Judaizing Christians. For some of the ascetic Ebionites thought it wrong to possess anything beyond that which was absolutely necessary for their daily subsistence, holding that the present world, not in its abuse, but in its very nature, is the exclusive domain of Satan. This is Neander's explanation.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Dec 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Elias I., was patriarch from A. D. 494 or 495 till his deposition by a council held at Sidon, whose decree was enforced, A. D. 513, by the emperor Anastasius I. He died in exile A. D. 518.
Elias II., was patriarch from A. D. 760, or earlier, to 797, with the exception of an interval, when he was expelled by an intrusive patriarch Theodorus. He was represented at the second general council of Nicaea, A. D. 787, by Joannes, a presbyter, and Thomas, principal of the convent of St. Arsenius near Babylon in Egypt: these ecclesiastics were also representatives of the patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch.
Elias III., was patriarch at least as early as 881, when he sent a letter to Charles le Gros and the prelates, princes, and nobles of Gaul. A Latin version of the letter of Elias to Charlemagne (for it is scarcely probable that the original was in that language) was published in the Spicilegium of D'Achery. Elias died about A. D. 907.
JUDAEA (Ancient country) ISRAEL
Alcimus. High-priest, the leader of the hellenizing party in the time of Judas Machabeus. By antagonizing the religious and national sentiments of his countrymen, he won favour at court, and though not of high-priestly stock, he was appointed high-priest by Lysias, the regent of Antiochus Eupator (162 B.C.); but the opposition to the Machabean party prevented him from exercising the office. He therefore went to Demetrius Soter, who in the meanwhile had overthrown Eupator and denounced Judas and his adherents as rebels and disturbers. Demetrius reappointed him to the high-priesthood and send Bacchides with an army to install him. But the perfidious slaughter of sixty prominent Assideans, the cruelties of Bacchides, and the excesses of Alcimus's followers strengthened the Machabean party, and Bacchides had hardly left the country when Alcimus was forced to appeal to the king for help. Demetrius first sent Nicanor with an army, and, after his defeat and death, Bacchides, in fighting against whom Judas died a heroic death at Laisa (Eleasa), 160 B.C. Alcimus now set to work to carry out his hellenizing policy and to persecute those faithful to the law. But that same year he was stricken with paralysis and died in great suffering.
F. Bechtel, ed.
Transcribed by: Michael Christensen
This text is cited Oct 2005 from The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent online edition URL below.
Alcimus (Alkimos), also called Jacimus, or Joachim (Iakeimos), one of the Jewish priests, who espoused the Syrian cause. He was made high priest by Demetrius, about B. C. 161, and was installed in his office by the help of a Syrian army. In consequence of his cruelties he was expelled by the Jews, and obliged to fly to Antioch, but was restored by the help of another Syrian army. He continued in his office, under the protection of the Syrians, till his death, which happened suddenly (B. C. 159) while he was pulling down the wall of the temple that divided the court of the Gentiles from that of the Israelites. (Joseph. Ant. Jud. xii. 9.7; 1 Maceab. vii. ix.)
This text is from: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Maccabaei (Makkabaioi), the name generally given to the descendants of the family
of the heroic Judas Maccabi or Maccabaeus, a surname which he obtained from his
glorious victories. (From the Hebrew, , makkab," a hammer;" see Wirner. Biblsches
Realworterbuch, vol. i. p. 745.) They were also called Asamonaci (Asamonaioi),
from Asamonaeus, or Chasmon, the greatgrandfather of Mattathias, the father of
Judas Maccabaeus, or, in a shorter form, Asmonaei or Hasmoonaei. This family,
which eventually obtained the kingly dignity, first occurs in history in B. C.
167, when Mattathias raised the standard of revolt against the Syrian kings. According
to Josephus (Ant. xiv. 16) the Asmonaean dynasty lasted for 126 years; and as
he places its termination in B. C. 37, the year in which Antigonus, king of Judaea,
was put to death by M. Antony, it would have commenced in B. C. 163, when Judas
Maccabaeus took Jerusalem, and restored the worship of the temple. At the death
of Antigonus there were only two members of the Asmonaean race surviving, namely,
Aristobulus and his sister Mariamne, the former of whom was put to death by Herod
in B. C. 35, and the latter was married to the murderer of her brother, to whom
she bore several children.
The history of the Maccabees is related at length by Josephus (xii.
6--xiv. 16), and the war of independence against the Syrian kings down to the
time of Simon in the first and second books of Maccabees. It is only necessary
here to give a brief account of the founders of this family, since the various
members of it, who obtained the kingly dignity, are given under their proper names.
A genealogical table of the whole family will be found in Vol. II. p. 543.
From the death of Alexander the Great the Greek language, religion,
and civilisation, which had been spread more or less throughout the whole of Asia,
from the Indus to the Aegaean, had been making a certain though slow progress
among the Jewish nation also. Under the sovereignty of the early Ptolemies and
Seleucidae, who had allowed the Jews liberty of religious worship, an influential
party had adopted the Greek religion and Greek habits; and their example would
probably have been followed by still greater numbers, had not the attempts of
Antiochus (IV.) Epiphanes to root out entirely by persecution the worship of Jehovah
roused the religious patriotism of the great body of the people, who still remained
stedfast to their ancient faith.
Antiochus IV. had sold the priesthood successively to Joshua, who
assumed the Greek name of Jason, and subsequently to Onias, who also changed his
name into that of Menelaus, under the condition of their introducing into Jerusalem
Greek rites and institutions. Onias, in order to obtain the money to pay for the
priesthood, had purloined the sacred vessels of the temple, and sold them at Tyre.
This act of sacrilege, united with other circumstances, caused a formidable insurrection
at Jerusalem, for which, however, the inhabitants had to pay dearly. Antiochus
was just returning from his Egyptian campaign when he heard of the revolt. He
forthwith marched against the city, which he easily took (B. C. 170), put to death
a vast number of the inhabitants, pillaged the temple, and profaned it by offering
a sow on the altar of burnt sacrifices. Two years afterwards, when he was forced
by the Romans to retire from Egypt, he resolved to root out entirely the Jewish
religion, and to put to death every one who still adhered to it. He again took
possession of Jerusalem, and commanded a general massacre of the inhabitants on
the Sabbath; he set fire to the city in many places, and built a strong fortress
in the highest part of Mount Sion, to command the whole of the surrounding country.
He then published an edict, which enjoined uniformity of worship throughout his
dominions; and the most frightful cruelties were perpetrated on those who refused
obedience.
The barbarities committed in every part of Judaea soon produced a
reaction. At Modin, a town not far from Lydda, on the road which leads from Joppa
to Jerusalem, lived Mattathias, a man of the priestly line and of deep religious
feeling, who had five sons in the vigour of their days, John, Simon, Judas, Eleazar,
and Jonathan. When the officer of the Syrian king visited Modin, to enforce obedience
to the royal edict, Mattathias not only refused to desert the religion of his
forefathers, but with his own hand struck dead the first renegade who attempted
to offer sacrifice on the heathen altar. He then put to death the king's officer,
and retired to the mountains with his five sons (B. C. 167). Their numbers daily
increased; and as opportunities occurred, they issued from their mountain fastnesses,
cut off detachments of the Syrian army, destroyed heathen altars, and restored
in many places the synagogues and the open worship of the Jewish religion. Within
a few months the insurrection at Modin had grown into a war for national independence.
But the toils of such a war were too much for the aged frame of Mattathias, who
died in the first year of the revolt, leaving the conduct of it to Judas, his
third son.
1. JUDAS, who assumed the surname of Maccabaeus, as has been mentioned above,
carried on the war with the same prudence and energy with which it had been commenced.
Antiochus had collected a powerful army to put down the revolt, but being called
to the eastern provinces of his empire (B. C. 66), he left the conduct of it to
his friend and minister Lysias, who was also entrusted with the guardianship of
his son and the government of the provinces from the Euphrates to the sea. Lysias
sent against the Jews a large force under the command of Ptolemy, the son of Dorymenes,
Nicanor, and Gorgias, but they were entirely defeated by Judas near Emmaus in
B. C. 165. In the next year (B. C. 164) Lysias took the field in person with a
still larger army, but he met with the same fate as his generals, and was overthrown
a little to the north of Hebron. The death of Antiochus Epiphanes, which happened
in this year at Tabae in Persia, and the struggle which arose between Lysias and
Philip for the guardianship of the young Antiochus Eupator and for the administration
of the empire, paralysed for the time the exertions of the Syrians. Judas and
his brothers entered Jerusalem in B. C. 163 and purified the temple; they then
proceeded to expel the Syrians and Hellenising Jews from every part of Judaea.
Meantime, however, Lysias, with the aid of the apostate Jews, had again collected
a formidable army, with which he marched against Judas, accompanied by the young
king. His forces were arrested by the strong fortress of Bethsura, which commands
the narrow passes that lead to Jerusalem; and notwithstanding an heroic battle
near this place, in which Eleazar, the brother of Judas, perished, the town was
obliged to capitulate and Judas to retire to Jerusalem. Here Judas shut himself
up, and successfully resisted all the attempts of Lysias to take the place; but
as both parties suffered dreadfully from famine, and the approach of Philip made
Lysias anxious to be at liberty to oppose his rival, a treaty was concluded between
Judas and Lysias, and the latter withdrew his troops.
This peace, however, was of short duration. Demletrius, who was the
rightful heir to the throne of Syria, had escaped front Rome, where he had been
a hostage, and on his arrival in Syria succeeded in getting into his power Lysias
and the young Antiochus, both of whom he put to death, B. C. 162. He then proceeded
to sow dissension along the patriotic party in Judaea, by proclaiming Alcimus
high-priest. Several of the zealots for the law declared in favour of the latter,
and his claims were supported by a Syrian army. But as Judas would not own the
authority of a highpriest who owed his appointment to the Syrians, the war broke
out again. At first the Maccabee met with great success; he defeated the Syrians
under Nicanor in two successive battles, and then sent an embassy to Rome to form
an alliance with the republic. His offer was eagerly accepted by the Roman senate;
but before this alliance became known, he was attacked by an overwhelming Syrian
force under the command of Bacchides, and having only 800 men with him, fell in
battle after performing prodigies of valour, B. C. 160. He was succeeded in the
command of the patriotic party by his brother,
JONATHAN. As Bacchides and Alcimus were in possession of almost the whole of the
country, Jonathan was obliged to act on the defensive. He took up a strong position
in the wilderness of Tekoah, and in conjunction with his brother Simon carried
on a harassing and desultory warfare against the Syrians. About the same time
another of the brothers, John, fell in battle. Jonathan, however, gradually grew
in strength; and Bacchides, who had met with several disasters, at length concluded
a peace with Jonathan, although Jerusalem and several other important towns still
continued in the possession of the Syrian party. A revolution in the Syrian monarchy
in B. C. 152 gave Jonathan still greater power. In that year an adventurer, Alexander
Balas, laid claim to the throne of the Seleucidae. Alexander and the reigning
monarch, Demetrius Soter, eagerly courted the assistance of Jonathan. He espoused
the side of Alexander, who offered him the highpriesthood, and various immunities
and advantages. As Alexander eventually drove Demetrius out of his kingdom, Jonathan
shared in his good fortune, and became recognised as the high-priest of the Jewish
people. After the death of Alexander, which followed soon after, Jonathan played
a distinguished part in the struggle for the Syrian throne between Demetrius Nicator,
the son of Soter, and Antiochus VI., the youthful son of Alexander Balas. He first
supported the former; but subsequently espoused the side of Antiochus; and it
was mainly owing to his energy and ability that Demetrius was obliged to take
to flight, and yield the throne to his young rival. Tryphon, the minister of Antiochus,
wished, however, to supplant his master, and obtain the Syrian throne for himself;
and finding Jonathan the chief obstacle to his ambitious views, he treacherously
got him into his power, B. C. 144, and put him to death in the following year.
Jonathan was succeeded in the high-priesthood by his brother,
3. SIMON. Simon immediately declared for Demetrius, and was confirmed by the latter
in the high-priesthood. He was the most fortunate of the heroic sons of Mattathias.
IIe renewed the alliance with the Romans, fortified many towns, and expelled eventually
the Syrian garrison from the fortress in Jerusalem. Under his fostering care the
country began to recover from the ravages of the long protracted wars, and gradually
increased in wealth and prosperity. Still he was not destined to end his days
in peace. In B. C. 137, Antiochus VII., who had succeeded his brother Demetrius
Nicator, unwilling to lose Judaea, which had now become an independent state,
sent an army, under his general Cenbedeus, to invade the country. The aged Simon
entrusted the conduct of the war to his sons Judas and Joannes Hyrcanus, who conquered
Cenbedeus, and drove him out of the country. But Simon did not long enjoy the
fruits of his victory. His son-in-law Ptolemy, the governor of Jericho, instigated
by Antiocius, formed a plot to obtain the government of Judaea. He treacherously
seized Simon at a banquet, and put him to death with two of his sons, Judas and
Mattathias, B. C. 135. His other son Joannes Hyrcanus escaped, and succeeded his
father.
4. JOANNES HYRCANUS 1. was high-priest B. C. 135-106. He did not assume the title
of king, but was to all intents and purposes an independent monarch. His life
is given under HYRCANUS. He was succeeded by his son,
5. ARISTOBULUS I. who was the first of the Maccabees who assumed the kingly title,
which was henceforth borne by his successors. His reign lasted only a year (B.
C. 106--105).He was succeeded by his brother,
6. ALEXANDER JANNAEUS, who reigned B. C. 105-78. He was succeeded by his widow,
7. ALEXANDRA, who appointed her son Hyrcanus II. to the priesthood, and held the
supreme power B. C. 78--69. On her death in the latter year her son,
8. HYRCANUS II., obtained the kingdom, B. C. 69, but was supplanted almost immediately
afterwards by his brother,
9. ARISTOBULUS II., who obtained the throne B. C. 68. For the remainder of the
history of the house of the Maccabees see HYRCANUS II. and HERODES I
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Graptus, (Graptos), Theodorus and Theophanes, two ecclesiastical writers, commemorated
in the Greek church, in the office for the 27th Dec. as saints and confessors.
They were the sons of pious parents, and natives of Jerusalem. Theodore, who was
some years older than his brother, was distinguished, when a boy, by the seriousness
of his deportment and the excellence of his character. He was educated in the
monastery of St. Saba, near Jerusalem, and, according to his biographer, received
ordination from the bishop of Sion, that is, as we understand it, the patriarch
of Jerusalem. Theophanes is said to have emulated the devotion of his brother,
but we have no account of his education or ordination. The iconoclastic controversy
was raging, and the brothers were sent by the patriarch of Jerusalem to remonstrate
with the emperor Leo V., the Armenian, a zealous iconoclast, who reigned from
A. D. 813 to 820. The accomplishments and boldness of Theodore excited the emperor's
admiration, but the pertinacious resistance of the brothers to his proceedings
provoked his anger, and they were scourged, and banished from Constantinople.
After the murder of Leo V., they were at first allowed by Michael II. the Stammerer
(who reigned from A. D. 820 to 829) to return to that city, but were shortly afterwards
again banished. Under Theophilus, the son of Michael (who reigned from A. D. 829
to 842), they were still more severely treated. In addition to a third banishment
from Constantinople, or rather imprisonment (we do not find when they had returned
from their second exile), they had a long inscription of opprobrious iambic verses
carved on their faces; the verses are given by the author of the life of Theodore,
as well as by the continnator of Theophanes, by Symeon Magister, by George the
Monk, and by Cedrenus. From this punishment they received the surname of Grapti
(Graptoi), "Inscribed." Their place of exile was Apameia, in Bithynia,
on the shore of the Propontis, according to the biographer of Theodore, or the
harbour of Carta, according to Symeon Magister. Here the exiles, or rather prisoners,
were enabled, by means of a faithful fisherman, to communicate with Methodius,
afterwards patriarch of Constantinople, who was shut up in a sepulchre near the
place of their confinement. Theodore died in exile; but Theophanes survived, and,
on the restoration of images under the empress Theodora, widow of Theophilus,
and guardian of her son, Michael III., became archbishop of Nicaea, in Bithynia.
Of the death of Theophanes we have no account. The continuator of Theophanes calls
Theophanes Graptus bishop of Smyrna; and he and Cedrens make Theodore to have
survived until the administration of the empress Theodora: but these statements
are at variance with better authorities.
Theodore wrote, 1. A Letter to Joannes, Bishop of Cyzicus, giving
an account of his own and his brother's sufferings. This letter is incorporated
in the life of Theodore referred to below. 2. bios Nikephorou tou hagiotatou patriairchou
Konstantinoupoleos, The Life of Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople. The whole
of this appears to be extant in MS.; and an extract from it, giving an account
of the patriarch's disputation with Leo the Armenian, is printed by Combefis,
in his Originum Rerumque CPolitanarum Manipulus. 3. (Uper tes amometon ton Christianon
pisteos, De inculpata Christianorum fide, of which also Combefis gives an extract.
4. Oratio in Dormientibus, of which some extracts, preserved in the Synopsis Dogmatum
of Gregorius Hieromonachus, are quoted by Allatius in his De Purgatorio.
Theophanes Graptus is chiefly known as a Melodus, or hymn writer.
His known works are, 1. A Kanon, Canon, or Hymn, in commemoration of his brother
Theodore, embodied in the Menaea of the Greek church in the service for the 27th
Dec., the day on which the Grapti are honoured. It is given by Combefis as above.
2. Canon Epinicius sive Victorialis, employed in the matin service of the Greek
church for the first Sunday in Lent; it is given, with a Latin version, by Baronius,
Annales ad Ann. 842, No. xxviii. These hymns, though not in verse, are acrostich,
the first letters of the successive paragraphs forming a sentence, which serves
as a motto to the piece. 3. Canon Paracleticus ad B. Deipatram, mentioned by Fabricius.
(Vita Theodori Grapti, by a contemporary writer, printed in the Orig. Rerumque
CPolit. Manip. of Combefis; Theophanes Continuatus, iii. De Theophilo Michaelis
Fil. 14, iv.; De Michaele Theophili Fil. 11; Symeon Mag. De Theophil. c. 22, 23,
De Michaele et Theodora, c. 5; Georg. Monach. De Theophilo, c. 25; Cedrenus, vol.
i., vol. ii., ed. Bonn.; Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. viii., vol. x., vol. xi.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Hesychius. Hierosolymitanus, or of Jerusalem, an early Christian writer of considerable
repute in his day, many of whose writings are extant. The date of his life and
his official rank in the church have been much disputed. Cyril of Scythopolis,
in his life of St. Euthymius (Bios tou hagiou patros hemon Euthumiou, Cotel. Eccles.
Graec. Monum. vol. iv.), speaks of Hesychius, "presbyter and teacher of the
church," as being with Juvenal patriarch of Jerusalem, when he dedicated
the church of the " Laura," or monastery of Euthymius, A. D. 428 or
429. Theophanes records the probole, advancement (i.e. ordination ?) of Hesychius,
"the presbyter of Jerusalem," A. M. 5906, Alex. era (= A. D. 414); and
notices him again as eminent for learning (enthei tais didaskaliais) the year
following, A. D. 415. He gives him no higher title when recording his death, A.
M. 5926, Alex. era,= A. D. 434. Photius, who has described some of his works,
also calls him" Hesychius, presbyter of Jerusalem," but without mentioning the
time when he lived. Yet, notwithstanding these tolerably clear intimations, Miraeus
(Auctarium de Scriptor. Eccles. No. clxxv.), Possevinus (Apparatus Sacer, vol.
i., ed. Col. 1608 ), Cave, and Thorschmidt (Comment. de Hesychio Milesio), consider
Hesychius the writer to be identical with the Isysius or Isacius (Isakios), bishop
or patriarch of Jerusalem, to whom pope Gregory the Great wrote an epistle (Epistol.
xi. 40.; Opera, vol. ii. col. 1133, ed. Benedict.), and whose death occurred,
according to the Alexandrian or Paschal chronicle, in A. D. 609. (Chron. Pasch.,
ed. Paris, vol. i., ed. Bonn.) But the absence of any higher designation than
presbyter in Photius and Theophanes forbid the supposition that their Hesychius
ever attained episcopal rank; and the want of any distinguishing epithet leads
us to conclude that there was no other Hesychius of Jerusalem who had acquired
distinction as a writer. The account of Hesychius in the Greek Menology is probably
correct in its general outline. According to it, he was born and educated at Jerusalem,
where, by meditating on the Scriptures, he acquired a deep acquaintance with divine
things. He afterwards left Jerusalem, and followed a monastic life "in the
deserts" (it is not stated in what desert, but it was probably in Palestine),
gathering from the holy fathers there, with beelike industry, the flowers of virtue.
He was ordained presbyter, against his will, by the patriarch of Jerusalem, and
spent the rest of his life in that city, or in other places where the Lord Jesus
Christ had suffered. Trithemius, who calls him Esytius (De Scriptor. Eccles. No.
lxxxii), and Sixtus of Sena (Bibl. Sancta, lib. iv., ed. Col. 1586), say, but
we know not on what authority, that he was a disciple of Gregory Nazianzen, which
is hardly probable.
His principal writings are, 1. In Leviticum Libri septem. A Latin
version of this was published fol. Basel, 1527, and 8vo. Paris, 1581, and is reprinted
in the Bibliotheca Patrum (vol. xii., ed. Lyon. 1677). The authorship and original
language of this work have been much disputed. In some passages the writer evidently
speaks as one to whom the Latin tongue was vernacular; and in some of the MSS.
he is called Isychius, presbyter of Salona, not to be confounded with the Hesychius
the correspondent of Augustin (Augustin, Ep. 197, 198, 199; Opera, vol. ii. col.
737, &c., ed. Benedict. 1679, and vol. ii., ed. Paris, 1836), whom Augustin addresses
as his "coepiscopus;" but Tillemont thinks that the original was in
Greek, and that there are internal indications that the writer lived at Jerusalem;
and Cave suggests that the passages in which the writer speaks as a Latin are
the interpolations of the translator, whom he supposes to have been Hesychius
of Salona. The work is cited as the work of Hesychius of Jerusalem by Latin writers
of the ninth century. The Latin version is ancient, though subsequent to the time
when the Latin version of the Scriptures by Jerome came into general use in the
church. Considerable pains are taken in the work to confute the opinions of Nestorius,
and, as is thought by many, of Eutyches. Now, as the heresy of the latter was
not denounced until A. D. 448, fourteen years after the death of Hesychius of
Jerusalem, according to Theophanes, this circumstance would appear fatal to his
claims to the authorship. But Tillemont thinks that the opinions controverted
are not those of Eutyches, but the nearly similar errors of the Apollinarists.
2. Sticheron (or Kephalaia) toW ib' propheton kai Esaion, Sticheron (or (Cupita)
in duodecim Prophetas Minores et Esaiam. This was published by David Hoeschel
with the Eisagoge, Isagoge, of Adrian, 4to. Augsburg, 1602. It is contained also
in the Critci Sacri (vol. viii., ed. London, 1660). 3. Antirretika or Euktika.
This work is considered to be the one mentioned by Photius (Cod. 198)) as the
last piece in a collection of ascetic writings described by him. It was printed
with the Opuscscula of Marcus Eremita, 8vo. Paris, 1563, and reprinted by Ducaeus
(Du Duc) in the Biblioth. Patrum Gr. Lat. (commonly cited by the title of Auctarium
Ducaeanum) vol. i., Paris, 1624. A Latin version of it is given in the Bibliotheca
Patrum (vol. xii.), with the title Ad Theodulum Sermo Cowpendiosus animae perutilis,
de Temperantia et Virtute, quae dicuntur antirretika kai euktika, hoc est, de
ratione reluctandi ac precandi. 4. Homiliae de Sancta Maria Deipara ; these two
discourses on the Virgin Mary were published by Ducaeus in the Bibliotheca Patrum
Gr. Lat. vol. ii. p. 417, and a Latin version by Joannes Picus of Paris in the
Bibl. Patrum (vol. xii.) 5. To eis ton hagion Andrean enkomion, Oratio demonstratixa
in S. Andream Apostolum. Several extracts from this piece are given by Photius
(Cod. 269), from whom we take the title, in which Bekker, on the authority of
a MS. at Paris, and on internal evidence, has properly restored tile word Andrean
in place of the common reading Thoman. A Latin version of the whole is in the
Bibllioth. Patr. vol. xii. 6. De Resurrectione Domini Nostri Christi, ascribed
in some MSS. to Gregory Nuyssen, and printed in some editions of his works. 7.
De Hora Tertia et Sexta, quibus Dominus fuisse crucifixus dicitur, or Qua Hora
crucifixus est Dominus? These two pieces are contained in the Novum Aucatrium
of Combefis, vol. i. fol. Paris, 1648, and a Latin version in the Bibl. Patrum,
vol. xii. 8. Eis Iakobon ton Adelphon tou Kuriou kai Dabid ton Theopatora, Sermo
in S. Jacobum Fratrem Domini, et in Davidem ton Theopatora. Extracts from this
are given by Photius (Cod. 275). 9. Marturion tou hagiou kai endoxou Marturos
tou Christou Longinou tou Hekatontarchou, Acta S. Longini Centurionis. This piece
is of very doubtful genuineness: it is given in the Acta Sanctorum of Bollandus,
Martii, vol. ii. (a. d. xv), a Latin version in the body of the work at p. 368,
and the Greek original, in the Appendix, p. 736. 10. In Christi Nativitatem. An
extract from this is given by Ducange in his illustrations of the Paschal Chronicle,
subjoined to that work in the Paris and Bonn editions (vol. ii.) of the Byzantine
writers; and by Hody, in the Proleg. c. xxiv. prefixed to the Chronicon of Jo.
Malalas, Oxon. 1691; and a part of this extract is cited by Cave, Hist. Litt.
vol. i., ed. Oxford, 1740-1743. 11. Euangelikge Sumphonia, Consonantia Exangelica.
Some fragments of this are published in the Noxum Auctarium of Combefis, vol.
i., Paris, 1648. 12. Sunagoge aporion kai epiluseon eklegeisa en epitomei ek tes
Euangelikes Sumphonias, Collectio Difficultatum et Solutionum, excerpta per compendium
ex Exangelica Consonantia. An abridgment of No. 11, published in the Ecclses.
Graec. Monum. of Cotelerius (vol. iii.). 13. In Canticum Habacuc et Jonae. Some
fragments of this are given by Cardinal Antonio Caraffa in his Catena Veterum
Patrum in Cantica Veteris et Noui Testamenti.
These are all the works of Hesychius, of which the whole or any considerable
fragments have been published. He wrote also, 14. Commentarius in Psalmos a Ps.
77 ad 107, inclusive, et in Ps. 118, extant in MS, and sometimes ascribed to Chrysostom,
from whose published commentary on the Psalms it is altogether different. Anselmo
Banduri promised to publish this commentary of Hesychius, but did not. Several
other pieces are extant in MS., but some of the most important of this writer?s
works are lost, including, 15. Ecclesiastica Historia. A Latin version of a passage
in this is cited in the Collatio of the fifth oecumenical or second Constantinopolitan
council (Labbe asid Cossart. Concil. vol. v. col. 470). The work is also cited
in the Chron. Paschale (ed. Paris, vol. i., ed. Bonn). 16. Comnmentarius in Epistolam
ad Hebraeos et in Ezekielem. 17. Hypotheses in Libros Sacros. Cotelerius speaks
of this work (Eccles. Graec. Monumenta, vol. iii.) as having been mentioned by
Usher, but does not give a reference to the place in Usher's works. (Phot. Bibl.
ll. cc., ed. Bekker; Theophanes, Chronog. vol. i., ed. Paris, vol. i., ed. Bonn;
with the notes of Goarus in loc. in both editions; Acta Sanct. ll. c. and Martii,
vol. iii.; Menolog. Graec. jussu Imp. Basil. edit. (ad Mart. xxviii.) pt. iii.;
Cotelerius, Eccles. Gr. Monum. ll. cc.; Cave, Hist. Litt. l. c., and vol. i.,
ed. Oxford, 1740-43; Tillemont, Memoires, &c., vol. xiv.; Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol.
vii.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
d. third century, feastday: January 30
St. Cyrillus (Kurillos), bishop of Jerusalem, was probably born at Jerusalem, A. D. 315. He
was ordained deacon by Macarius in the church of his native place, about 334 or
335; and, by Maximus, who succeeded Macarius, he was elected presbyter, 345. When
Maximus died, he was chosen to fill the episcopal chair, 351, in the reign of
Constantius. It was about the commencement of his episcopate, on the 7th of May,
351, about 9 o'clock, a. m., that a great luminous cross, exceeding in brightness
the splendour of the sun, appeared for several hours over mount Golgotha, and
extended as far as the mount of Olives. His letter to Constantius, which is preserved,
gives a full account of this phenomenon. Soon after, he became involved in disputes
with Acacius, the Arian bishop of Caesareia, which embittered the greater part
of his subsequent life. The controversy between them arose about the rights of
their respective sees; but mutual recriminations concerning the faith soon followed.
Acacius accused Cyril of affirming, that the Son was like the Father in regard
to essence, or that he was consubstantial with Him. During two successive years
Cyril was summoned by his opponent to appear before a proper tribunal, but did
not obey the call. Exasperated no doubt by this steadfast disregard of his authority,
the Caesarean bishop hastily got together a council, which deposed Cyril in 358.
The charge against him was, that he had exposed to sale the treasures of the church,
and in a time of famine applied the proceeds to the use of the poor. Among these
treasures was specified a sacred garment woven with golden threads and presented
by Constantine the Great, which afterwards came into the possession of an actress.
The excommunicated prelate, however, appealed to a larger council; and Constantius
himself assented to the justice of the appeal. After his deposition, he went to
Antioch, in which city he found the church without a pastor, and thence to Tarsus.
There he lived on terms of intimacy with Sylvanus the bishop, and frequently preached
in his church to the people, who were delighted with his discourses. The larger
council to which he appealed was held at Seleuceia, consisting of more than 160
bishops. Before it Acacius was summoned by Cyril to appear, but he refused. The
latter was restored by the council. But his persevering adversary inflamed the
mind of the emperor against him, and in conformity with the wish of Acacius a
synod was summoned at Constantinople; Cyril was again deposed and sent into banishment
in 360. At this council former charges were raked up against him, and new ones
added by Acacius. On the death of Constantius, Cyril was recalled from exile,
and restored a second time to his episcopate in 362. In the year 363, when attempts
were made by Julian to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem, he is said to have predicted,
from a comparison of the prophecies in Daniel and the New Testament, that the
enterprise would be defeated. Under Jovian and in the beginning of Valens's reign,
he lived in the quiet possession of his office. On the death of Acacius, he appointed
Philumenus over the church at Caesareia; but the Eutychians deposed the newly
chosen bishop, and substituted one Cyril in his place. The bishop of Jerusalem,
however, deposed him who had been elevated by the Eutychian party, and set over
the Caesarean church Gelasius, his sister's son. Soon after, by order of Valens,
Cyril was banished a third time from Jerusalem, in 367. On the emperor's death,
he returned to his native place, and reassumed the functions of his office the
third time, 378. Under Theodosius he continued in the undisturbed possession of
the episcopal chair till his death. He seems, however, to have incurred the displeasure
of his own church, rent and disfigured as it was with schisms, heresies, and moral
corruption. Perplexed and uneasy, he asked assistance from the council of Antioch.
(379.) Accordingly, Gregory of Nyssa was deputed by the council to go to Jerusalem
and to pacify the church in that place. But the peace-maker departed without accomplishing
the object of his mission. Cyril was present at the second general council held
at Constantinople in 381, in which he was honoured with a high eulogium. It is
supposed that he attended the council of Constantinople in 383. His death took
place in 386.
Hi s works consist of eighteen lectures to catechumens (Katecheseis
photizomenon), and five to the newly-baptized (mustagopsikai katecheseis pros
tous neophotistous). These were delivered about the year 347, in his youth, as
Jerome says, and when he was still presbyter. The first eighteen are chiefly doctrinal,
consisting of an exposition of the articles in the creed of the church; while
the last five respect the rights of baptism, chrism, and the Lord's supper. These
treatises have very great value in the eyes of the theologian, inasmuch as they
present a more complete system of theology and a more minute description of the
rites of the church at that early period than are to be found in any other writer
of the same age. In their style and language there is nothing florid or oratorical;
the composition is plain, didactic, and inelegant. The authenticity of these catecheses
has been questioned by some, especially by Oudinus (de Script. Eccl. Ant. vol.
i. p. 459, et seq.), yet no good ground has been adduced for entertaining such
doubts. It has been thought, with reason, that Cyril was once a Semi-Arian, and
[p. 920] that after the Nicene creed had been generally adopted, he approved of
and embraced its dogmas. Epiphanius speaks in express terms of his Semi-Arianism,
and even Touttee acknowledges the fact. His coldness towards the Nicenians and
his intinmacy with the Eusebians, give colour to this opinion. But he was by no
means disposed to carry out doctrines beyond the written word, or to wander into
the regions of speculation. His published writings attest his orthodoxy and firm
belief in the Nicene creed.
Among his works are also preserved a homily on the case of the paralytic
man (John v. 1-16), and a letter to the emperor Constantius, giving an account
of the luminous cross which appeared at Jerusalem, 351.
His writings were published in Latin at Paris, 1589, and his Catecheses
in Greek at the same place, 1564; in Greek and Latin at Cologne, 1564. Prevotius
edited them all in Greek and Latin at Paris in 1608; and afterwards Dion Petavius
at Paris, 1622. They were reprinted from Prevotius's edition, at Paris in 1631,
along with the works of Synesius of Cyrene. A much better edition than any of
the preceding was that of Thomas Milles, in Greek and Latin, Oxford, 1703. The
best is that of the Benedictine monk, A. A. Touttee, Paris, 1720. The preface
contains a very elaborate dissertation on the life and writings of Cyril.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
d.c. 180, feastday: April 7
Feastday: January 7and June 24
d.c. 350, feastday: May 5
d.c. 98, feastday: January 23
d. 1st century, feastday: April 9
Feastday: December 27
d. 1st century, feastday: July 12
d. first century, feastday: November 15
d.c. 120, feastday: January 30 (Catholic). Bishop of Jerusalem. He was of Jewish heritage, and he governed that see in a troubled era of oppression by the Roman government and political upheaval in Palestine owing to the severe Jewish uprising against Roman occupation.
Macarius I. became bishop in A. D. 313 or 314, on the death of Hermon, and died in or before A. D. 333. He was computed to be the thirty-ninth bishop of the see. His episcopate, therefore, coincides with one of the most eventful periods in ecclesiastical history. There is extant in Eusebius (De Vita Constantin. iii. 30-32) and in Theodoret (H. E. i. 17), a letter from Constantine the Great to Macarius, concerning the building of the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. Socrates (H.E. i. 17), Sozomen (H. E. ii. 1), and Theodoret (H. E. i. 18), also ascribe to him the discovery, by testing its miraculous efficacy, of the true cross, which had been dug up, with the two on which the thieves had suffered, near the Holy Sepulchre. Macarius was present at the council of Nice (Sozomen, H. E. i. 17; comp. Concilia, vol. i. col. 313, 314, ed. Hardouin); and, according to the very doubtful authority of Gelasius of Cyzicus (apud Concilia, col. 417), took part in the disputations against the Arian philosophers. He separated himself from the communion of Eusebius, the historian, bishop of Caesareia, who was his ecclesiastical superior, on account of his supposed Arianism. (Sozomen, H. E. ii. 20; Fabric. Bibl. Gr. vol. viii. p. 369; Bolland. Acta Sanctor. Martii, vol. ii. p. 34, and Maii, vol. iii. Tractatus Praelim. pp. xvi. xvii.; Tillemont, Memoires, vol. vi.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Macarius II. was first appointed to the see A. D. 544, by the influence of the monks of Neolaura, "the new monastery," on the death of Petrus or Peter; but his election was disallowed by the emperor Justinian I., because it was reported that he avowed the obnoxious opinions of Origen, and Eustochius was appointed in his room, who bitterly persecuted the Origenists, who were numerous in the monasteries of Palestine. Eustochius was, however, afterwards deposed, but in what year, or from what cause, is not clear and Macarius was restored, after purging himself from suspicion of heresy, by pronouncing an anathema on the opinions of Origen. Victor of Tunes places his restoration in the thirty-seventh year of Justinian (A. D. 563 or 564), and Theophanes in the reign of Justin II., who succeeded Justinian in A. D. 567. He died about A. D. 574, and was succeeded by Joannes. A homily, De Inventione Capitis Praecursoris, by Macarius, bishop of Jerusalem, is extant in MS.; but it is not known by which it was written, though probably by Macarius II. (Evagr. H. E. iv. 37, 39, v. 16; Cyril Scyth. Sabae Vita, c. 90, apud Coteler. Eccles. Graec. Monum. vol. iii. p. 373; Le Quien, Oriens Christ. vol. iii. col. 235, &c.; Bolland. Acta Sanctor. Maii, vol. iii. Tractat. Praelim. pp. xxviii. xxix.; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. viii. p. 369.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Cosmas (Kosmas), of Jerusalem, a monk, the friend and companion of John of Damascus, and afterwards bishop of Maiuma in Palestine (about A. D. 743), was the most celebrated composer of hymns in the Greek church, and obtained the surname of meloidos. Among his compositions was a version (ekphrasis) of the Psalms of David in Iambic metre. Many of his hymns exist in MS., but no complete edition of them has been published. Fabricius mentions, as a rare book, an Aldine edition of some of them. Thirteen of them are printed in Gallandi's Biblioth. Patrum. Several of the hymns of Cosmas are acrostics. (Suid. s. v. Ioannes ho Damaskenos)
Lucianus of Caphargamala (a village in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem), more commonly called HJEROSOLYMITANUS, or of JERUSALEM, an ecclesiastic of the fifth century. There is extant in a Latin version an epistle of his addressed to the whole church or body of Christians in all the world, giving an account of the appearance to him, as he slept one night in the baptistery of the church, as was his custom, of Gamaliel (the teacher of the apostle Paul), who revealed to him the burial-place of his own relics and those of his son Abibus or Abibas, his nephew Nicodemus (the same that came to Jesus Christ by night), and of the protomartyr Stephen. The Latin version was made by Avitus of Bracara, now Braga, in Portugal, a contemporary of Lucian, who dictated it to Avitus in Greek (it is doubtful if he wrote it in that language); and is usually accompanied by a prefatory letter of Avitus to Palchonius or Balconius, bishop of Bracara. A brief abstract of an account of the vision of Lucian by Chrysippus, an ecclesiastic of Jerusalem, is given by Photius (Bibl. Cod. 171) from the work of Eustratius on the state of the soul after death. Of the Latin version of Lucian's Epistola there are two copies, differing in several respects from each other. That published by Ulimmerius, and commonly designated from him, is given by Surius (De Probatis Sanctor. Vitis, ad diem II. August.); and in the Appendix to the editions of Augustin by the Theologians of Louvain (vol. x. p. 630, &c.) and the Benedictines (vol. vii.) According to this copy, the vision of Lucian took place 3d Dec. 415. The other copy, which omits the date of the vision, is also given by the Benedictines, in parallel columns, to facilitate comparison. (Gennadius, De Viris Illustr. 46, 47; Photius, l. c.; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. x. p. 327; Cave, Hist. Litt. ad ann. 415.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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