The ''Lausiac History'' ( grc-x-koine, Ἡ Λαυσαϊκή Ἱστορία, E Lavsaike Istoria) is a seminal work archiving the

Desert Fathers The Desert Fathers or Desert Monks were early Christian hermits and ascetics, who lived primarily in the Scetes desert of the Roman province of Egypt, beginning around the third century AD. The is a collection of the wisdom of some of the ea ...

(early Christian monks who lived in the

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

ian desert) written in 419-420 by

Palladius of Galatia Palladius of Galatia ( el, Παλλάδιος Γαλατίας) was a Christian chronicler and the bishop of Helenopolis in Bithynia. He was a devoted disciple of Saint John Chrysostom. He is best remembered for his work, the '' Lausiac History ...

, at the request of

Lausus Lausus was the son of the ousted Etruscan king Mezentius, and fought with him against Aeneas and the Trojans in Italy. He appears in Virgil's Aeneid in Books VII and X. When his father is wounded by Aeneas, Lausus steps in between them, and Aeneas ...

, chamberlain at the court of the

Byzantine Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire, to Fall of Constantinople, its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. On ...

Theodosius II Theodosius II ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος, Theodosios; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450) was Roman emperor for most of his life, proclaimed ''augustus'' as an infant in 402 and ruling as the eastern Empire's sole emperor after the death of his ...

.Introduction, in public domain
Section source. Originally written in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, the ''Lausiac History'' was so popular it was soon translated into

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

Coptic Coptic may refer to: Afro-Asia * Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya * Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century * Coptic alphabet ...

Geʽez Geez (; ' , and sometimes referred to in scholarly literature as Classical Ethiopic) is an ancient Ethiopian Semitic language. The language originates from what is now northern Ethiopia and Eritrea. Today, Geez is used as the main liturgi ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

and Sogdian.

History

The book was popular among monks all over the East, who appear to have added to it considerably in transcribing it. The first edition was a Latin version by

Gentian Hervetus thumb Gentian Hervetus (Hervet) (1499 at Olivet, near Orléans – 12 September 1584 at Reims) was a French Roman Catholic theologian, humanist and controversialist. Life After studying the humanities at Orléans, he went to Paris, where he beca ...

. A shorter Greek text was published by

Johannes Meursius Johannes Meursius (van Meurs) (9 February 1579 – 20 September 1639) was a Dutch classical scholar and antiquary. Biography Meursius was born Johannes van Meurs at Loosduinen, near The Hague. He was extremely precocious, and at the age of s ...

(Leyden, 1616), and a longer one by

Fronton du Duc Fronton du Duc ( la, Ducæus; 1558 – 25 September 1624) was a French Jesuit theologian. Life Fronton du Duc was born at Bordeaux in France. At first he taught in various colleges of the Society of Jesus, and wrote for the dramatic representatio ...

, and a still more complete one by J. Cotelerius. This longer version contains the text of Rufinus. Butler, Preuschen, and others think that the shorter text (of Meursius) is Palladius's authentic work, the longer version being interpolated. Amélineau holds that the longer text is all Palladius's work, and that the first thirty-seven chapters (about the monks of Lower Egypt) are mainly an account of what the author saw and heard, though even here he has also used documents. But he thinks the second part (about

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south. In ancient E ...

) is merely a compilation from a Coptic or Greek document which Rufinus also used; so that Palladius's visit to Upper Egypt must be a literary fiction. But the shorter text itself exists in various forms. A Syrian monk,

Anan-Isho ʿEnanishoʿ (Syriac: ܥܢܢܝܫܘܥ, also romanized ''ʿAnanishoʿ'' or ''ʿNānišoʿ'') was a monk, philosopher, lexicographer and translator of the Church of the East who flourished in the 7th century. Biography ʿEnanishoʿ was from the regio ...

, living in the sixth-seventh centuries in Mesopotamia, translated the ''Lausiac History'' into Syriac with further interpolations. At one time the ''Lausiac History'' was considered a compilation of imaginary legends. Roman Catholic scholars at the beginning of the twentieth century argued that it was also a serious source on Egyptian monasticism.

Liturgical usage

In the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

(the Byzantine Rite) the Lausiac History is read at

matins Matins (also Mattins) is a canonical hour in Christian liturgy, originally sung during the darkness of early morning. The earliest use of the term was in reference to the canonical hour, also called the vigil, which was originally celebrated b ...

on the weekdays of Great Lent as two of the patristic readings, after the third

kathisma A kathisma (Greek: κάθισμα; Slavonic: каѳисма, ''kai-isma''), literally, "seat", is a division of the Psalter, used in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Rite Catholic churches. The word may also describe a hymn sung at Matins, a ...

and after the third ode of the

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

.
"Archbishop Averky Liturgics — The Peculiarities of Daily Lenten Services — Lenten Matins", Retrieved 2011-08-03

An extract from the introduction

"In the fourth and fifth centuries of our era Egypt had come to be regarded with great reverence throughout Christendom as a Holy Land of piety. "Pilgrims came from all parts to visit the saints who lived there, and several wrote descriptions of what they saw and heard, which are among the most interesting documents of the early Church. Palestine was so near that it was usually included in their tour; the glamour of its sacred sites, which remains with us still when that of Egypt has faded into oblivion, was already potent. But Palestine was clearly second to Egypt in the affections of the pilgrims. " sexpressed by Chrysostom ... Egypt ... was destined to be more fervent than any other, to have its towns and even its deserts peopled by armies of saints living the life of angels, and to boast the greatest, after the apostles, of all saints, the famous Antony. "Palladius, ... made a pilgrimage to this holy land, like so many others, and stayed there many years. ... The character of the man stands out clearly in the History, He was sincere, simple-minded and not a little credulous. His deep religious fervour, of the ascetic type, needless to say, appears throughout the book."

People

The ''Lausiac History'' contains descriptions and narratives of various monks, abbots, and saints, including:

Bibliography

* *Meyer, Robert T. ''Palladius: The Lausiac History''. ACW 34. New York: Newman Press, 1965; reprint: Paulist Press. *Vivian, Tim. "Coptic Palladiana I: The Life of Pambo." ''Coptic Church Review'' 20, no. 3 (1999): 66–95. *Vivian, Tim. "Coptic Palladiana II: The Life of Evagrius." ''Coptic Church Review'' 21, no. 1 (2000): 8–23. *Vivian, Tim. "Coptic Palladiana III: The Life of Macarius of Egypt." ''Coptic Church Review'' 21, no. 3 (2000): 82–109. *Vivian, Tim. "Coptic Palladiana V St. Macarius of Alexandria." ''Coptic Church Review'' 22, no. 1 (2001): 2–22.

References

External links

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The Paradise Of the Holy Fathers: Volumes 1 & 2
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lausiac History Byzantine Rite Christian hagiography 5th-century Christian texts Works by the Church Fathers Byzantine literature