The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Leontius of Antioch
d. c. AD 357 · Arian bishop of Antioch · 'The Eunuch' · Ordainer of Aetius · Antioch
The Nicene Age
Who Leontius of Antioch was
The self-made eunuch — degraded from the presbyterate for it, Athanasius never tires of recalling — whom the Arian ascendancy nonetheless set on the great see of Antioch. Outwardly smooth (he would touch his white hair and say, 'When this snow melts, there will be much mud'), he kept the peace by mumbling the doxology inaudibly — and tipped his hand by ordaining Aetius, the Anomoean, to the diaconate.
Also listed in the bishops of Antioch and heretics & schismatics.
Common questions
When did Leontius die?
Leontius of Antioch is dated d. c. AD 357 in the archive, which places Leontius 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 Leontius?
Leontius of Antioch is named in 3 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Athanasius of Alexandria, Philostorgius and Theodoret of Cyrrhus. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Leontius from?
The archive associates Leontius of Antioch with Antioch.
Who were Leontius’ contemporaries?
The archive links Leontius of Antioch to 3 other figures, including Aetius of Antioch, Eudoxius of Antioch and Constantinople and Athanasius of Alexandria. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (3)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
History of the Arians 28
c. AD 350Leontius, who ought not to have been admitted even to lay communion, they made bishop of Antioch — and he, to gratify that impious sect, advanced Aetius the godless to the diaconate.Athanasius of Alexandria · 28 · source text
Church History III.15–18 (the ordainer of Aetius, in the Eunomian historian)
c. AD 430Ecclesiastical History II.24 (Flavian's antiphons under the Eunuch's eye)
c. AD 449Connected 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 one place the sources put Leontius.