The Apostolic Age · AD 4–70 · External witness
Philo of Alexandria
c. 20 BC – c. AD 50 · Jewish philosopher · Witness of the Alexandrian community · Alexandria
External witness
Who Philo of Alexandria was
The great Jewish Platonist whose Logos-theology gave the fathers a vocabulary. Eusebius preserves the tradition that he met Peter at Rome under Claudius, and reads his account of the Therapeutae as a portrait of the first Egyptian Christians — a cherished, if doubtful, identification.
Also listed in non-christian witnesses.
Common questions
When did Philo live?
Philo of Alexandria is dated c. 20 BC – c. AD 50 in the archive, which places Philo in the Apostolic Age (AD 4–70). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
What did Philo write?
Philo of Alexandria has 1 catalogued writing in the archive: The Philonic corpus.
Which early sources mention Philo?
Philo of Alexandria is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Eusebius of Caesarea and Jerome. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Philo from?
The archive associates Philo of Alexandria with Alexandria.
Writings (1)
The Philonic corpus
Allegorical commentaries, the Embassy to Gaius, On the Contemplative Life — the Jewish library the church adopted as its own[Complete public-domain translation: C. D. Yonge, 1854–55]Read the full text ↗
Primary-source mentions (2)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Ecclesiastical History II.17
c. AD 325It is said that under Claudius, Philo came to Rome and had converse with Peter, then preaching there… his words concerning the ascetic life seem plainly to describe the churches of our own religion.Eusebius of Caesarea · II.17 · source text
On Illustrious Men 11
c. AD 393Philo the Jew… I place among the ecclesiastical writers because, writing of the first church of Mark the evangelist at Alexandria, he writes to our praise.Jerome · 11 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 30 · Crucifixion, Resurrection and Pentecost, AD 30–33
- AD 44 · Persecution under Herod Agrippa I, AD 44
- AD 49 · The Council of Jerusalem, AD 49
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Philo.