The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Naucratius of Annisa
c. 331 – c. 357 · Ascetic hermit · Brother of Basil · Annisa, Pontus
The Nicene Age
Who Naucratius of Annisa was
The second son of Emmelia and elder brother of Gregory of Nyssa, a gifted young man who abandoned a promising public career to live as a hermit by the Iris river, supporting a community of the poor and aged by his own hunting and fishing. He died suddenly in a hunting accident at about twenty-six, a grief that tested and deepened the whole family’s faith — Gregory made his death and their mother’s composure under it a theme of the Life of Macrina. The brother who chose the desert life before Basil did, and did not live to see the family’s fame.
Also listed in desert fathers & mothers.
Common questions
When did Naucratius live?
Naucratius of Annisa is dated c. 331 – c. 357 in the archive, which places Naucratius 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 Naucratius?
Naucratius of Annisa 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 Naucratius from?
The archive associates Naucratius of Annisa with Annisa, Pontus. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Who were Naucratius’ contemporaries?
The archive links Naucratius of Annisa to 5 other figures, including Emmelia of Caesarea, Macrina the Younger, Basil the Great and Peter of Sebaste. 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, Epitaphs on Naucratius (the hunter-hermit mourned in verse)
c. AD 380[An epitaph for the young hunter who went into the wilderness at Annisa and died there — the only account of his end in verse.]Gregory of Nazianzus · Epitaph on Naucratius
Gregory of Nazianzus's epitaphs and epigrams are printed in Migne, Patrologia Graeca 38. Many of them, though not all, were gathered as book VIII of the Palatine Anthology, for which the standard text with facing English is W. R. Paton, The Greek Anthology, vol. 2, Loeb Classical Library 68 (1917), public domain.
Life of Macrina
c. AD 380Naucratius, the second of the brothers… forsaking the pursuits of the world, went off into solitude, living alone with one companion, Chrysapius, ministering to a company of poor and infirm old men.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 Naucratius, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.