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PiERius. A. D. 283. 155
CHAP. LIV.
PIERIUS, PRESBYTER OF ALEXANDRIA.
' PIERIUS,' says* Jerominhis Catalogue of Ecclesiastical
writers, ' presbyter of the church of Alexandria, taught the
' people with great reputation in the time of the emperors
' Cams and Dioclosian, when Theonas was bishop of that
' church : such was the elegance of his discourses and Irea-
* tises, which are still extant, that he was called the younger
' Origen. It is certain that he was a great ascetic, and an
' admirer of voluntary poverty, and that he was well skilled
' in logic and rhetoric, and that after the persecution he
' spent the rest of his days at Rome. There is a very prolix
' homily of his upon the prophet Hosea, which was pro-
' nounced on Easter-eve, as the discourse itself shows.' That
is St. Jerom's summary account of this writer.
Cams reigned in 282 and 283. Dioclesian reigned from
284 to 305. ' And,' as Eusebius'' informs us, ' Maximus,
' immediate successor of Dionysius, governed the church
' of Alexandria eiohteen years, and was then succeeded by
' Theonas : under him Achillas, made presbyter at the same
' time with Pierius, was famous. He was intrusted with the
' care of the catechetical school, and was an excellent ex-
' ample of a truly philosophical and christian conversation,
' Theonas, having borne the episcopal office nineteen years,
' was succeeded )>y Peter, who obtained great honour during
' his episcopate, which he held twelve years. He governed
' the church three years before the persecution : the rest of
' his time he passed in a more strict and mortified course of
' life, but still without neglecting the common good of the
' churches ; for which reason, in the ninth year of the per-
=• Pierius, Alexandrinae ecclesiae presbyter, sub Caro et Diocletiaao principibus,
60 tempore quo earn ccclesiam Theonas episcopus regebat, florentissiiiie docuit
populos ; et in tantam sermonis diversommque tractatuum, qui usque hodie
exstant, venit elegantiam, ut Origenes junior vocaretur. Constat hunc mirae
a(TKt)fftu)g, et appetitorem volimtariae paupertatis, scientissimumque dialecticae
et rhetoricae artis, et post persecutionem omne vitee suae tempus Roniae fuisse
versatiim. Hujiis est longissimus tractatus de propheta Osee, quern in vigOia
Paschae habitum, ipse sermo demonstrat. Hieron. De V. I. cap. 76.
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