It is not possible to know much about most of the people mentioned in this text beyond what is found here, but these details are gathered from various desert sources about a few though it is always hazardous to attribute details from a saying or story to any specific person.
The stories and sayings were freely exchanged and attributed to various people and set in different locations. Some of the material in this collection is associated with Mount Sinai in Palestine, but the main parts are linked to Egypt. The area of upper Egypt where the great monasteries were located was called the Thebaid. The area called Scetis, also called Nitria (Wadi al-Natrun), was in Lower Egypt, near Alexandria, 40 miles north west of Cairo. Many hermits lived here, within reach of a church for meetings on Saturday to Sunday. Cellia, where more extreme solitude could be experienced, was also here, about twelve miles south of Nitria.
Agathon
As a young man Agathon was a disciple of Poemen in the Thebaid. In Scetis he lived as a solitary and knew the disciples of Arsenius, as well as the monks Macarius, Joseph and Peter. He left Scetis possibly after the first devastation and lived near the Nile.
Amoun of Nitria
One of the great founders of Egyptian monasticism, Amoun was born around 295. He married and lived a celibate life with his wife for eighteen years. In 315 he went to Nitria, where disciples joined him. He died around 337.
Antony the Great
Antony was born in central Egypt around 215, the son of Christian peasant farmers. After their death, around 269, he paid attention when the Gospel was read in church and applied to himself literally the words, ‘Go, sell all that you have and give to the poor.’ He disposed of his property and undertook a life of solitude and discipline under the guidance of another recluse near his village. Some years later, having put his sister in the care of some nuns, he went to live alone in the utter desert. His reputation for holiness attracted disciples, many of whom settled near him. He died at the age of one hundred and five. An account of his life was written in Greek by Athanasius of Alexandria; this was immediately translated into Latin and circulated widely, and its influence on the Christian world is incalculable.
Arsenius
Arsenius was born in about 360 and lived in Rome. He was a highly educated man of senatorial rank and good family, a friend of the Emperor Theodosius and his sons Arcadius and Honorius. In 394 he left the city in search of solitude and sailed to Egypt. In Scetis he placed himself under the guidance of John the Dwarf, and eventually became a solitary. He had at least three disciples, Alexander, Zoilus and Daniel. His silence and austerity combined with his learning and rumours of his former magnificent lifestyle made him a perpetual source of wonder to the more simple Coptic monks. He died in 440 after the second devastation of Scetis.
Cassian, John
Cassian was a monk in a monastery in Bethlehem but he left it with his friend Germanus in order to travel in Egypt and study Egyptian monastic ways and teaching at first hand. The material they collected as they toured round the monks and solitaries provided the basis for Cassian’s two books, the Institutes and the Conferences, the most influential of all books in forming western monasticism. The fact that he had visited only the Egyptian hermits and not the monasteries gave Western monasticism its special relationship to solitary life. Along with the Vitae Patrum, his writings were recommended in the Rule of St Benedict as the best reading for monks. They were written in Latin to help northern monks to follow and adapt the patterns of Egypt when Cassian had returned from his travels and settled near Marseilles. He died in 435.
Ephriam
These stories may refer to the famous Syrian writer and poet, Ephriam the Syrian.
Epiphanius, Bishop of Cyfrus
A man from Palestine who was a disciple of Hilarion in Egypt, Epiphanius then founded a monastery between Jerusalem and Gaza, where he upheld the traditions of Egypt. As a bishop he was concerned with the overthrow of pagan temples and was more in favour of books and learning than other monks in the desert.
Evagrius
One of the great scholars of early monasticism, Evagrius was born in Ibora in Pontus in 345. He was ordained deacon by Gregory of Nazianzus and attended the Synod of Constantinople. In 382 he went to Jerusalem, where he was cared for in a serious illness by the widow-nun Melania. He then lived in Nitria as a disciple of Macarius of Alexandria. One of the most learned of the monks, he was a supporter of the teachings of Origen. A systematizer and transmitter of the theology of the spiritual life of monks, his most famous books were the Prakticos and the Chapters on Prayer.
Jerome
A father of the church, Jerome lived from about 345 until 420. He was a major scholar and translator of the Bible into Latin.
John Cassian
See Cassian, John
John the Dwarf
Born around 339, John was Egyptian, the son of poor parents in Tese. When he was about eighteen he left his brother and lived in Scetis as a disciple of Amoe. One of the most vivid characters of the desert, he was so famous that his reputation drew many to consult him or live near him. He lived in a cave underground to preserve his solitude. Many sayings are attributed to him, and all point to his central importance in Egypt.
Macarius the Great (the Egyptian)
Macarius was born in Egypt in about 300. He earned his living as a camel driver trading in nitre and then lived as a solitary near a village; he left there after a scandal that had eventually resulted in too much honour being paid to him. One of the pioneers of Scetis, he was renowned for his wisdom and gentleness as well as for his austerity. Like many of the first monks, he moved about the desert and visited Antony the Great as well as other hermits; he attracted many disciples. He died in 390. (The name simply means ‘blessed’ and was also used by other monks.)
Matrona, Sarah, Syncletica
These are three famous women ascetics whose names appear in this collection. Sarah lived as a solitary, Matrona and Syncletica as the abbesses of monasteries.
Melania
A Roman widow who founded the monastery on the Mount of Olives where Rufinus lived, Melania also lived an ascetic life there. She died in 410 at around seventy years of age. She and Paula both visited the Desert Fathers.
Moses
Moses was a black man from Ethiopia, who was often teased about the colour of his skin. He accepted such humour happily, aware of the affection with which it was offered. He was a released slave who lived as a robber in Egypt until he became a monk as a disciple of Isidore. He was ordained priest and had many disciples. He went to Petra at the end of his life and was killed there with some of his followers by the barbarian invaders.
Paula
Born around 347, Paula was a noble Roman lady, wife and mother of five children. When her husband died she and her daughter Eustochium went to live with Jerome as ascetics at his monastery in Bethlehem. She died in 404.
Poemen (also called Pastor, or Shepherd)
Many stories were told about men of this name, and since it was a common one in Egypt meaning ‘shepherd’ it is not always clear which Poemen is meant in individual sayings and stories. A famous monk of this name lived in Scetis with his seven brothers; it seems that they left Scetis in 408 and settled in Terenuthis. It is of interest to notice the family ties that connected him, his brothers, his mother and his nephew; they are all mentioned here, a reminder of the close family groups of the Nile valley and the care that the monks needed to exercise in order to transcend them.
Postumianus
This was the name given to a traveller from Tours who told the story of his travels to the biographer of St Martin of Tours.
Rufinus
Born in northern Italy around 345, Rufinus was a monk, writer and translator. He was a friend of Jerome’s but they became enemies. Rufinus lived an ascetic life in a monastery on the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem. He died in 411.
Sarah
See Matrona
Syncletica
See Matrona