The Apologists · AD 130–180
Flora
fl. c. 160 (death unrecorded) · Roman Christian woman · Addressee of Ptolemy's letter · Rome
The Apologists
Who Flora was
The Christian woman to whom the Valentinian teacher Ptolemy addressed his Letter to Flora, a suave exposition of how to read the Law of Moses — flattering her as ready for “the apostolic tradition which we too have received by succession.” Epiphanius preserved the letter whole to refute it. Nothing else of her is known: she stands for the educated Christian women whom the Gnostic schools courted, and for whose allegiance the church's teachers answered. Classed here with the external circle of the man who wrote to her, her own faith's final shape unrecorded.
Ptolemy's letter (via Panarion 33) only — an addressee, never again named.
Also listed in women.
Common questions
When was Flora active?
Flora is dated fl. c. 160 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places Flora 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 Flora?
Flora is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Ptolemy the Valentinian. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Flora from?
The archive associates Flora with Rome.
Who were Flora’s contemporaries?
The archive links Flora to 1 other figure, including Ptolemy the Valentinian. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (1)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Ptolemy, Letter to Flora (in Epiphanius, Panarion 33)
c. AD 160The Law established through Moses, my dear sister Flora, has not been understood by many persons, who have accurate knowledge neither of him who established it nor of its precepts.Ptolemy the Valentinian · source text
Connected in the archive
People
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
- AD 156 · The New Prophecy erupts, AD 156
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Flora.
- 1Rome