The Nicene Age · AD 313–400

Anthony the Great

c. 251 – 356 · Father of monasticism · Coma → the Egyptian desert

The Nicene Age

Anthony the Great — historical depiction 1
Anthony the GreatMichael Damaskinos · Public domain · Commons
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Anthony the Great — historical depiction 1

Anthony the GreatMichael Damaskinos · Public domain · Commons

Anthony the Great — historical depiction 2
Anthony the GreatUnknown author Unknown author · Public domain · Commons
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Anthony the Great — historical depiction 2

Anthony the GreatUnknown author Unknown author · Public domain · Commons

Anthony the Great — historical depiction 3
Anthony the GreatEmmanuel Tzanes · Public domain · Commons
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Anthony the Great — historical depiction 3

Anthony the GreatEmmanuel Tzanes · Public domain · Commons

Anthony the Great — historical depiction 4
Anthony the GreatAttributed to Michelangelo · Public domain · Commons
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Anthony the Great — historical depiction 4

Anthony the GreatAttributed to Michelangelo · Public domain · Commons

Anthony the Great — historical depiction 5
Anthony the GreatThompson, Edward Maunde,(1840-1929). · Public domain · Commons
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Anthony the Great — historical depiction 5

Anthony the GreatThompson, Edward Maunde,(1840-1929). · Public domain · Commons

Who Anthony the Great was

An Egyptian farmer’s son who heard “sell what thou hast and give to the poor” read in church and simply did it, Anthony walked out of the village economy around 270 and kept walking — to the tombs, to an abandoned desert fort for twenty years, finally to his “inner mountain” by the Red Sea. He came out twice: in 311 to stand with the martyrs in Alexandria’s courts, and around 338 to argue against the Arians. Disciples colonized the desert around him — “the desert became a city,” his biographer wrote. He died at 105; Athanasius’s Life of Antony carried the monastic idea to the whole Mediterranean within a generation. Seven of his letters, spiritual counsel of unexpected sophistication, survive.

Common questions

When did Anthony live?

Anthony the Great is dated c. 251 – 356 in the archive, which places Anthony in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.

What did Anthony write?

Anthony the Great has 2 catalogued writings in the archive: Letters and Life of Antony (by Athanasius).

Which early sources mention Anthony?

Anthony the Great is named in 5 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Athanasius of Alexandria, Jerome of Stridon, Augustine of Hippo and Palladius of Galatia. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Where was Anthony from?

The archive associates Anthony the Great with Coma, the Egyptian desert. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.

Writings (2)

Letters

c. 330–355
I no longer fear God, but I love Him: for love casteth out fear. — his saying, recorded among the Fathers of the desert

Earliest witness · Georgian, Latin, Coptic & Arabic versions (6th c. onward)

Read the interlinear source text →

Life of Antony (by Athanasius)

c. 357
He came forth as out of a shrine, as one initiated into sacred mysteries and filled with the Spirit of God… through him the Lord healed many, and the desert was made a city by monks.

Earliest witness · Greek tradition (c. 165 manuscripts) (10th c. onward)

Read the interlinear source text →

Primary-source mentions (5)

Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

The Life of Antony (Vita Antonii)

c. AD 350
Antony, as from a shrine, came forth initiated in the mysteries and filled with the Spirit of God… He persuaded many to embrace the solitary life; and so from that time there were monasteries in the mountains, and the desert was made a city by monks.
Athanasius of Alexandria · source text

Life of Paul the Hermit (Antony as pilgrim to the older hermit)

c. AD 376
Jerome of Stridon · Life of Paul 7–16 · source text

Confessions VIII.6 (Ponticianus's tale — the Life of Antony converting Augustine's Trier friends)

c. AD 397
Ponticianus told us of Antony, the Egyptian monk, whose name was in high repute among Thy servants, though to that hour unknown to us.
Augustine of Hippo · Confessions VIII.6 · source text

Lausiac History 21–22 (the Antony of Palladius's informants)

c. AD 420
Palladius of Galatia · Lausiac History 21 · source text

Sayings of the Desert Fathers (the independent Antony tradition, 38 sayings)

c. AD 450
The desert tradition · Antony 1–38 · source text

Connected in the archive

His Life was written by Athanasius; the book’s readers in Milan triggered Augustine’s conversion crisis

People

Events in this lifetime

Place