Evagrius Scholasticus - Life

Life

Evagrius Scholasticus was born in Epiphania, a Syrian town located next to the Orontes River in the heart of the Eastern Roman Empire. Controversy exists as to the date on which Evagrius was born, since historian G. F. Chesnut asserts that he was born in either 536 or 537, yet the researcher Whitby claims that he was born in 535. His first written work addressed the plague outbreak which infected a vast segment of the population. Evagrius himself was infected by the outbreak yet miraculously managed to survive this disaster during his youth. According to his own account, close members of his family died from the outbreak, including his wife at the time. Michael Whitby reasons that Evagrius was born into a wealthy aristocratic family with close ties to the political elite.

His education was long-ranging and comprehensive since early childhood, starting with a specialization in Grammar and transitioning to classical Greek literature. This eventually culminated in Evagrius’s pursuit of legal studies, which upon completion, earned him the prestigious title of “Scholasticus” when he was in his late 20s. His first notable official endeavor was accompanying Gregory of Antioch to Constantinople in order to defend him against charges related to sexual misbehavior. Evagrius again remarried in Antioch, where his own records testify to his prestige among the professional elite since displays of grandeur and a massive audience were present during this wedding ceremony. Dedicated to the emperor Maurice Evagrius wrote many works on theological matters, but none of these survives. His remaining work, “The Ecclesiastical History” was complete in 593, a six-volume compilation of Christian history from the first Council of Ephesus to his own present time.

Evagrius was explicitly a Christian in the Chalcedonian tradition, critiquing both Zacharias Rhetor and Zosimus for theological differences, two popular historians during his own time. He respected the former scholar for his contributions to the histories of the 5th and 6th centuries AD but chastised him for his Monophysite position. However, he was especially hostile towards Zosimus, a pagan historiographer, for his vehemently anti-Christian views, stating “ ‘You, O accursed and totally defiled one, say that the fortunes of the Romans wasted away and were altogether ruined from the time when Christianity was made known”, challenging Zosimus's assumption that Rome’s fall began with Constantine’s conversion.