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he heard the door make a sound, and having closed his eyes, he addressed his sister by name: "It is I," he said, "Pior your brother; but look as much as you wish." She, therefore, being pleased, gave thanks to God; but he, having prayed by the door, 6.2.2 returned to the desert to the place where he lived. There indeed, having dug a well, he found the water bitter; and until his death he endured using it. The time after this showed the excess of his self-control; for when he died, although many strove to practice the philosophic life in the same place, no one endured it. But as I persuade myself, if he had not decided to practice the philosophic life in this manner as well, it would not have been difficult for him, by praying, to change the water to 6.2.30 a sweet taste; seeing that he even caused what did not exist at all to gush forth. Indeed it is said that once, while the companions of Moses were digging a well, and neither the expected vein nor greater depth was yielding water, they were about to give up the work; but Pior came upon them about mid-day, and having first greeted them, reproached their faint-heartedness and lack of faith. And having gone down into the ditch, he prayed and struck the earth three times with a tool; immediately the water gushed forth and filled the ditch. When, having prayed, he was departing, and the companions of Moses asked him to taste food with them, he did not consent, saying that he had not been sent for this, but that for which he had come had been accomplished. 6.30.1 At this time there still flourished in the monasteries of Scetis the aged Origen, a survivor from among the disciples of Antony the Great, and Didymus and Cronion, who was about one hundred and ten years old, and the great Arsisius and Putubastes and Arsion and Serapion, who also 6.30.2 were contemporaries of Antony. Having grown old in the practice of the philosophic life, they then presided over the monasteries there. And of those in turn who were of young and middle age, many excellent and good men were known along with them, both Ammonius and Eusebius and Dioscorus; whom, being brothers to one another, 6.30.3 they called "the Tall Ones" on account of their stature. It is said that of these, Ammonius advanced to the summit of the philosophic life, manfully mastering both pleasure and ease, and became exceedingly fond of learning, so that he went through the discourses of Origen and Didymus and the other ecclesiastical writers. And from his youth until his death he tasted nothing that had been prepared with fire, except for 6.30.4 bread. Once when he was about to be seized for ordination to the episcopate, since by entreating he did not persuade those who had come for him to go away, he cut off his ear and said, "Go away, for henceforth the priestly law does not permit me to be ordained, even if I were willing"; for it was necessary that the priest 6.30.5 be established without blemish. But having withdrawn, when they learned that these things were to be observed by the Jews, but that the church cared nothing for the body, if only the priest be perfect in his ways, they returned again to seize the man. But he indeed swore an oath that he would also cut out his tongue, if they should try to use force. Fearing the threat, therefore, they withdrew, and he from then on was called Ammonius Parotes. 6.30.6 Not long after, in the following reign, Evagrius the wise was with him, an eloquent man, skilled in both thought and speech, and adept at discerning the reasonings that lead toward virtue and vice, and able to suggest in what way one should pursue the one and guard against the other. But what sort of man he was with regard to discourses, 6.30.7 the writings which he has left behind will show. He was said to be moderate in character, and to have so much mastery over vanity and arrogance, that when justly praised he was not puffed up by the applause, nor when unjustly reviled was he 6.30.8 vexed by the insults. By race he was from a city of the Iberians, near what is called the Euxine Sea. He practiced the philosophic life and was taught the sacred doctrines by Gregory, the bishop of Nazianzus. And when he was administering the church in Constantinople, 6.30. he had him as his archdeacon. Being handsome in appearance and fond of fine clothes, a certain jealous man of rank learned that he was an acquaintance of his wife, and plotted his death. And into action

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ψοφεῖν τὴν θύραν ᾔσθετο, μύσας τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ὀνομαστὶ τὴν ἀδελφὴν προσειπών «ἐγώ εἰμι», ἔφη, «Πίωρ ὁ σὸς ἀδελφός· ἀλλ' ὅσον βούλει, κατανόει.» ἡ μὲν οὖν ἡσθεῖσα χάριν ὡμολόγησε τῷ θεῷ· ὁ δὲ παρὰ τὴν θύραν 6.2.2 εὐξάμενος ἀνέστρεψεν ἐπὶ τὴν ἔρημον εἰς τὸν τόπον ὃν ᾤκει. ἔνθα δὴ φρέαρ ὀρύξας, πικρὸν εὗρε τὸ ὕδωρ· καὶ μέχρι τελευτῆς ὑπέμεινε τούτῳ κεχρημένος. ὁ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα χρόνος τὸ ὑπερβάλλον ἀπέδειξε τῆς αὐτοῦ ἐγκρατείας· ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἐτελεύτησε, πολλῶν σπουδασάντων ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ τόπῳ φιλοσοφεῖν, οὐδεὶς ὑπέστη. ἐγὼ δὲ ὡς ἐμαυτὸν πείθω, εἰ μὴ καὶ τούτῳ τῷ τρόπῳ φιλοσοφεῖν ἔγνωκεν, οὐ χαλεπὸν ἦν αὐτῷ εὐξαμένῳ μεταβαλεῖν τὸ ὕδωρ εἰς 6.2.30 γεῦσιν γλυκεῖαν· ὅπου γε καὶ μὴ ὂν παντάπασιν ἀναβλύσαι ἐποίησεν. ἀμέλει τοι λέγεταί ποτε φρέαρ ὀρύσσοντας τοὺς ἀμφὶ Μωσέα, μήτε τῆς προσδοκωμένης φλεβὸς μήτε πλείονος βάθους τὸ ὕδωρ ἀναδιδόντος, μέλλειν τὸ ἔργον ἀπαγορεύειν· ἐπιστάντα δὲ αὐτοῖς περὶ μέσην ἡμέραν τὸν Πίωρα καὶ πρότερον ἀσπασάμενον ὀνειδίσαι μικροψυχίαν καὶ δυσπιστίαν· κατελθόντα δὲ εἰς τὴν τάφρον εὔξασθαι καὶ ὄρυγι τρίτον πλῆξαι τὴν γῆν· παραχρῆμα δὲ ἀναβλύσαι τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὴν τάφρον πληρῶσαι. ἐπεὶ δὲ εὐξάμενος ἀπῄει, δεομένων τῶν ἀμφὶ Μωσέα γεύσασθαι παρ' αὐτοῖς, οὐκ ἠνέσχετο, φήσας μὴ ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἀπεστάλθαι, ἠνύσθαι δὲ ἐφ' ᾧ ἦλθεν. 6.30.1 ᾿Εν τούτῳ δὲ εἰσέτι διέπρεπον ἐν τοῖς τῆς Σκήτεως μοναστηρίοις γηραλέοι μὲν ᾿Ωριγένης ἐκ τῶν μαθητῶν ᾿Αντωνίου τοῦ μεγάλου περιλελειμμένος καὶ ∆ίδυμος καὶ Κρονίων ἀμφὶ τοὺς ἑκατὸν καὶ δέκα ἐνιαυτοὺς γεγονὼς καὶ ὁ μέγας ᾿Αρσίσιος καὶ Πουτουβάστης καὶ ᾿Αρσίων καὶ Σεραπίων, οἳ καὶ 6.30.2 αὐτοὶ σύγχρονοι ᾿Αντωνίου ἐγένοντο· καταγεγηρακότες δὲ ἐν τῷ φιλοσοφεῖν, προΐσταντο τότε τῶν τῇδε μοναστηρίων· τῶν δ' αὖ νέαν καὶ μέσην ἡλικίαν ἀγόντων πολλοὶ καλοί τε καὶ ἀγαθοὶ σὺν αὐτοῖς ἐγνωρίζοντο, καὶ ᾿Αμμώνιος καὶ Εὐσέβιος καὶ ∆ιόσκορος· οὓς ἀδελφοὺς ἀλλήλοις ὄντας, 6.30.3 μακροὺς ἐκ τῆς ἡλικίας ὠνόμαζον. λέγεται δὲ τούτων ᾿Αμμώνιον εἰς ἄκρον φιλοσοφίας προελθεῖν, ἡδονῆς τε καὶ ῥᾳστώνης ἀνδρείως κρατῆσαι καὶ φιλόλογον εἰσάγαν γενέσθαι, ὡς τοὺς ᾿Ωριγένους καὶ ∆ιδύμου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐκκλησιαστικῶν λόγους διελθεῖν· ἐκ νέου δὲ μέχρι τελευτῆς πλὴν 6.30.4 ἄρτου μηδενὸς γεύσασθαι ἐν πυρὶ γενομένου. μέλλων δέ ποτε πρὸς χειροτονίαν ἐπισκοπῆς συλλαμβάνεσθαι, ὡς ἀντιβολῶν οὐκ ἔπεισεν ἀπιέναι τοὺς ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἐληλυθότας, ἀποτεμὼν τὸ οὖς «ἄπιτε», ἔφη, «λοιπὸν γὰρ οὐδὲ ἑκόντα με ὁ ἱερατικὸς νόμος συγχωρεῖ χειροτονεῖσθαι»· ἄρτιον γὰρ χρῆναι 6.30.5 τὸν ἱερέα καθίστασθαι. ἀναχωρήσαντες δέ, ἐπεὶ τάδε ἔγνωσαν ᾿Ιουδαίοις φυλακτέα, τῇ δὲ ἐκκλησίᾳ σώματος μηδὲν μέλειν, ἢν μόνον ἄρτιος ᾖ τοῖς τρόποις ὁ ἱερεύς, αὖθις ἀνέστρεφον ὡς συλληψόμενοι τὸν ἄνδρα· ὁ δὲ ἦ μὴν καὶ τὴν γλῶσσαν ἐκτεμεῖν διωμόσατο, εἰ βιάσασθαι πειραθεῖεν· δείσαντες οὖν τὴν ἀπειλὴν ὑπεχώρουν, αὐτὸς δὲ ἐντεῦθεν ᾿Αμμώνιος ὁ Παρώτης ὠνο6.30.6 μάζετο. τῷ δὲ μετ' οὐ πολὺ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐχομένης βασιλείας συνῆν Εὐάγριος ὁ σοφός, ἐλλόγιμος ἀνήρ, νοῆσαί τε καὶ φράσαι δεινὸς καὶ ἐπήβολος διακρῖναι τοὺς πρὸς ἀρετὴν καὶ κακίαν ἄγοντας λογισμούς, καὶ ἱκανὸς ὑποθέσθαι ᾗ χρὴ τοὺς μὲν ἐπιτηδεύειν, τοὺς δὲ φυλάξασθαι. ἀλλ' οἷος μὲν 6.30.7 περὶ λόγους ἦν, ἐπιδείξουσιν αἱ γραφαὶ ἃς καταλέλοιπεν· ἐλέγετο δὲ τὸ ἦθος μέτριος εἶναι, τύφου τε καὶ ὑπεροψίας τοσοῦτον κρατεῖν, ὡς μήτε δικαίως ἐπαινούμενος ὀγκοῦσθαι τοῖς κρότοις μήτε ἀδίκως λοιδορούμενος 6.30.8 ἀγανακτεῖν ἐπὶ ταῖς ὕβρεσιν. ἐγένετο δὲ τῷ μὲν γένει ᾿Ιβήρων πόλεως πρὸς τῷ καλουμένῳ Εὐξείνῳ πόντῳ· ἐφιλοσόφησε δὲ καὶ ἐπαιδεύθη ὑπὸ Γρηγορίῳ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ Ναζιανζοῦ τοὺς ἱεροὺς λόγους· ἡνίκα δὲ ἐπετρόπευε 6.30. τὴν ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει ἐκκλησίαν, ἀρχιδιάκονον αὐτὸν εἶχεν. ἀστεῖον δὲ ὄντα τῇ ὄψει καὶ περὶ τὴν ἐσθῆτα φιλόκαλον, μαθών τις τῶν ἐν τέλει ζηλότυπος γνώριμον εἶναι τῇ γαμετῇ, θάνατον αὐτῷ ἐμηχανᾶτο· εἰς ἔργον δὲ