The Apologists · AD 130–180 · External witness
Basilides of Alexandria
fl. c. 120 – 145 (death unrecorded) · Gnostic teacher of Alexandria · Alexandria
External witness
Who Basilides of Alexandria was
An Alexandrian Gnostic of the reign of Hadrian, among the earliest of the great system-builders, who claimed to transmit secret teaching from the apostle Matthias and from a “Glaucias,” an interpreter of Peter. His cosmology multiplied heavens and emanations to the number 365 (the mystical word Abrasax) and, Irenaeus reports, taught that Simon of Cyrene was crucified in Jesus’ place — a docetism the church emphatically rejected. Clement of Alexandria, on his own ground, wrote against the Basilidians at length. His son Isidore continued the school. He survives entirely through his refuters.
Also listed in non-christian witnesses and heretics & schismatics.
Common questions
When was Basilides active?
Basilides of Alexandria is dated fl. c. 120 – 145 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places Basilides in the Apologists (AD 130–180). 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 Basilides?
Basilides of Alexandria is named in 4 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Irenaeus of Lyon, Clement of Alexandria, Hippolytus of Rome and Augustine of Hippo. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Basilides from?
The archive associates Basilides of Alexandria with Alexandria.
Who were Basilides’ contemporaries?
The archive links Basilides of Alexandria to 7 other figures, including Valentinus, Matthias the Apostle, Clement of Alexandria and Saturninus of Antioch. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (4)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Against Heresies I.24.4
c. AD 180Basilides, that he may appear to have discovered something more sublime, extends his doctrine to immensity… He held that Simon of Cyrene was compelled to bear the cross for him, and was crucified through ignorance and error.Irenaeus of Lyon · I.24.4 · source text
Stromateis IV.12 (the Exegetica quoted, book twenty-three)
c. AD 200Basilides, in the twenty-third book of the Exegetics, respecting those that are punished by martyrdom, expresses himself in the following language.Clement of Alexandria · Stromateis IV.12 · source text
Refutation of All Heresies VII.20–27 (the other Basilides of Hippolytus's dossier)
c. AD 225Basilides, therefore, and Isidorus, the true son and disciple of Basilides, say that Matthias communicated to them secret discourses, which, being specially instructed, he heard from the Saviour.Hippolytus of Rome · Refutation VII.20 · source text
On Heresies 4
c. AD 428Connected in the archive
People
- Valentinus
- Matthias the Apostle
- Clement of Alexandria
- Saturninus of Antioch
- Agrippa Castor
- Carpocrates of Alexandria
- Isidore, son of Basilides
Events in this lifetime
- AD 95 · Domitian’s reprisals, AD 95
- AD 96 · Rome writes to Corinth: 1 Clement, AD 96
- AD 112 · Pliny writes Trajan, AD 112
- AD 117 · Symeon and Ignatius martyred, AD 117
- AD 135 · Bar Kokhba crushed; Aelia Capitolina, AD 135
- AD 144 · Marcion expelled at Rome, AD 144
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Basilides.