The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Basil the Elder
d. c. AD 350 · Christian rhetor of Neocaesarea · Father of the Cappadocians · Neocaesarea, Pontus
The Nicene Age
Who Basil the Elder was
Rhetorician and landowner of Pontus, son of a confessor and father of a household without parallel in the church — among his children Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Peter of Sebaste, and Macrina the Younger. Gregory of Nazianzus praises him in the funeral oration for his friend Basil; Gregory of Nyssa's Life of Macrina paints the pious house he made.
Also listed in roman emperors.
Common questions
When did Basil die?
Basil the Elder is dated d. c. AD 350 in the archive, which places Basil 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.
Which early sources mention Basil?
Basil the Elder is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Basil from?
The archive associates Basil the Elder with Neocaesarea, Pontus. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Who were Basil’s contemporaries?
The archive links Basil the Elder to 1 other figure, including Gregory Thaumaturgus. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (2)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 43, the funeral oration on Basil the Great (AD 382; original Greek, working translation)
c. AD 380The marriage of Basil's parents was a union of virtue no less than of bodies; his father's house was famous through all Pontus for piety proved under the persecutors, and the father himself was esteemed by the whole province as a common teacher of virtue.Gregory of Nazianzus · source text
Gregory of Nyssa, Life of Macrina 2–3 (c. AD 382; original Greek, working translation)
c. AD 380Her father was renowned for his temperance, and had a great name in Pontus as advocate and teacher of eloquence; in his own day he was without rival in reputation.Gregory of Nyssa · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 301 · Hripsime and her company, AD 301
- AD 303 · The Great Persecution begins, AD 303
- AD 303 · The search of the church at Cirta, AD 303
- AD 306 · The Council of Elvira, AD 306
- AD 311 · Galerius’ edict of Serdica, AD 311
- AD 313 · The Edict of Milan, AD 313
- AD 314 · The Council of Arles, AD 314
- AD 320 · Silvanus tried before Zenophilus, AD 320
- AD 325 · The Council of Nicaea, AD 325
- AD 339 · The persecution of Shapur II, AD 339
- AD 343 · The Council of Serdica, AD 343
Place
Places served
The 2 places the sources put Basil, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.
- 1Neocaesarea
- 2Pontusprovince only