Our Venerable Father Publius the Ascetic of Zeugma in Syria
Life
Publius the Ascetic was a fourth-century monastic founder of Zeugma, a town on the Euphrates in the Roman province of Euphratensis in Syria. He is known chiefly through the account given by Theodoret of Cyrrhus in his Religious History (also called A History of the Monks of Syria), written in northern Syria around the middle of the fifth century, where Publius is numbered among the holy men active during the reign of the emperor Valens (364-378).
Born into a senatorial family of the curial order, Publius renounced his inheritance, sold his possessions, and withdrew to a solitary life before gathering disciples. He is best remembered for founding two distinct monastic communities under a single discipline — one for Greek-speaking monks and one for Syriac-speaking monks — joined by a common church where each group could offer praise in its own tongue. He died around the year 380 and is commemorated on January 25.
Timeline 3 moments
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c. 350Renunciation and first foundation near ZeugmaHaving given away the property he inherited from his father, Publius built a small hut about thirty stades (some three miles) outside Zeugma and began an ascetic life, drawing disciples around him.
364-378Active under the emperor ValensTheodoret of Cyrrhus lists Publius among the notable monastic figures of Syria during the reign of Valens, both in his Ecclesiastical History and, at greater length, in his Religious History.
c. 380DeathPublius died around the year 380, having guided his community for many years. After his death Theoteknos became superior over the Greek-speaking monks and Aphthonios over the Syriac-speaking monks.
Contributions & Legacy
3 contributions
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Ascetic discipline
Theodoret describes Publius as a rigorous ascetic who held himself and his disciples to a strict rule. He is said to have weighed out the monks' bread on scales to guard against excess and to have rebuked any sign of gluttony, and to have visited the cells at unexpected hours to ensure the monks were not given to excessive sleep. His days were occupied with prayer, the singing of the Psalter, and the offering of hospitality to guests. Though he was eventually made an archimandrite, the sources relate that he kept to his simple dress and manner of life without change.
The bilingual community
Publius first established separate cells for his monks, but when the communities asked to be brought together he demolished the small cells and built a single coenobium for the Greek-speakers, and then a further one for the Syriac-speaking monks. He constructed a common church of God where both groups worshipped together, each offering its songs of praise in turn in the language its members knew best. This arrangement of two monasteries — Greek and Syrian — under one church is the feature for which Publius is principally remembered.
Disciples and legacy
Among Publius's disciples, the sources name Theoteknos, Theodotus, Gregory, and Aphthonius as known for the holiness of their lives. After his death Theoteknos was set over the Greek-speaking community and Aphthonios over the Syriac-speaking one; according to Theodoret, Aphthonios presided over the choir for more than forty years before being raised to an episcopal see. Theodoret records that the form of monastic life Publius established continued, unchanged in its rule, down to his own day.
