The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Philostorgius
b. c. AD 368 Borissus, Cappadocia; d. c. 433–439 (held at the timeline’s ceiling) · Eunomian layman · Church historian · Borissus, Cappadocia → Constantinople
The Nicene Age
Who Philostorgius was
The one surviving church historian who wrote from the losing side. A Eunomian — the most radical wing of the Arian party — he came to Constantinople at twenty and produced twelve books covering roughly 300 to 425, written to defend the men every other historian condemns. The work is lost as a whole and survives almost entirely through the epitome Photius made of it in the ninth century, so every citation carries two dates: Philostorgius’ own, about 430, and Photius’, about 850. He is the archive’s only source for Theophilus the Indian and for much of the Gothic and Arian material. Photius, who preserved him, despised him. Held at the archive’s AD 400 ceiling, as Augustine, Jerome and Chrysostom are.
One attestation only — the work is self-attesting: the author names himself, his office or his circumstances inside his own text, and no independent ancient source describes him.
Common questions
When did Philostorgius live?
Philostorgius is dated b. c. AD 368 Borissus, Cappadocia; d. c. 433–439 (held at the timeline’s ceiling) in the archive, which places Philostorgius 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.
What did Philostorgius write?
Philostorgius has 1 catalogued writing in the archive: Ecclesiastical History, in twelve books.
Which early sources mention Philostorgius?
Philostorgius is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Photius of Constantinople. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Philostorgius from?
The archive associates Philostorgius with Borissus, Cappadocia, Constantinople. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Writings (1)
Ecclesiastical History, in twelve books
published c. AD 425–433; survives only in Photius’ epitome[Lost as an integral work. What survives is Photius’ hostile summary, plus fragments in the Passion of Artemius and the Suda.]Read the interlinear source text →
Primary-source mentions (1)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Bibliotheca, codex 40 (Photius on the Eunomian history he was epitomising)
c. AD 855[Photius condemns it as less a history than an encomium of the heretics, and a slander on the orthodox — while copying out enough of it to preserve the work.]Photius of Constantinople · Bibliotheca cod. 40 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Named alongside Philostorgius in the sources
These figures are placed with Philostorgius by the record — in a council roll, a martyr-act, a letter or a history — without Philostorgius naming them in return.
Events in this lifetime
- AD 339 · The persecution of Shapur II, AD 339
- AD 343 · The Council of Serdica, AD 343
- AD 361 · Julian’s pagan restoration, AD 361
- AD 366 · Damasus and the catacomb epigrams, AD 366
- AD 367 · Athanasius lists the 27 NT books, AD 367
- AD 372 · The martyrdom of Sabbas the Goth, AD 372
- AD 378 · Queen Mavia’s revolt, AD 378
- AD 380 · The Edict of Thessalonica, AD 380
- AD 381 · The Council of Constantinople, AD 381
- AD 381 · The Council of Aquileia, AD 381
- AD 384 · The Altar of Victory petition, AD 384
- AD 390 · Thessalonica and the penance of Theodosius, AD 390
- AD 397 · Carthage confirms the canon, AD 397
Place
Places served
The 3 places the sources put Philostorgius, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.
- 1Borissus
- 2Cappadociaprovince only
- 3Constantinople