Orestes (prefect of Egypt)
Orestes (
Biography
In 415, during his office, he clashed with the young bishop of
According to Christian sources, the
The expulsion of the Alexandrian Jewish community sparked jealousy from Orestes. Nitrian monks, whom Cyril may have lived amongst for five years, came from the desert in order to defend the Patriarch. The monks accused Orestes of being a pagan. Orestes rejected the accusations, showing that he had been baptised by the Archbishop of Constantinople. However, the monks were not satisfied, and one of them, Ammonius, threw a stone and hit Orestes in the head, and so much blood flowed out that he was covered in it. Orestes' guard, fearing to be stoned by the monks, fled leaving Orestes alone. Supporters of Orestes, however, came to his help, captured Ammonius and put the monks to flight. Orestes was cured and submitted Ammonius to torture in a public place. After this event, the young bishop celebrated his funeral Mass in the church, celebrating Ammonius as a saint in martyr during the sermon. These titles were later reversed.[6][7] Both, the prefect and the bishop wrote to emperor Theodosius II, telling him of their version of the events.
Prefect Orestes enjoyed the political backing of Hypatia, a philosopher who had considerable moral authority in the city of Alexandria, and who had extensive influence. Indeed, many students from wealthy and influential families came to Alexandria purposely to study privately with Hypatia, and many of these later attained high posts in government and the Church. Several Christians thought that Hypatia's influence had caused Orestes to reject all reconciliatory offerings by Cyril. Modern historians think that Orestes had cultivated his relationship with Hypatia to strengthen a bond with the pagan community of Alexandria, as he had done with the Jewish one, to handle better the difficult political life of the Egyptian capital.[8] A Christian mob however, grabbed Hypatia out of her chariot and brutally murdered her, hacking her body apart and burning the pieces outside the city walls.[9][10]
This political assassination eliminated an important and powerful supporter of the Imperial Prefect, and led Orestes to give up his struggle against Patriarch Cyril and leave Alexandria.
Legacy
Orestes is portrayed in Ki Longfellow's Flow Down Like Silver, Hypatia of Alexandria in a highly imaginative way. In the 2009 film Agora, by Alejandro Amenábar, Orestes is interpreted by Oscar Isaac.
See also
Notes
- ^ Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, vol. II, p. 810
- ^ John of Nikiu, 84.92.
- ^ Socrates Scholasticus, vii.13.6-9. Wessel, p. 34
- ^ Socrates Scholasticus, vii.13 (who says that the whole Alexandrian Jewish community was expelled); John of Nikiu, 84.95-98 (who says that only the murderers were expelled). Welles, p. 35.
- ^ Wessel, p. 35.
- ^ Socrates Scholasticus, vii.14.
- ^ Wessel, p. 35-36.
- ISBN 0-8018-8541-8, p. 312.
- ^ Socrates Scholasticus, vii.15.
- ^ John of Nikiu, 84.87-103.
Sources
- Susan Wessel, Cyril of Alexandria and the Nestorian controversy: the making of a saint and of a heretic, Oxford University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-19-926846-0.