Caesarea in Cappadocia
A city of Cappadocia in central Asia Minor, formerly called Mazaca. Basil was its bishop from about 370 to 379 and built a hospice for travellers and the sick near the city.
Caesarea, the modern Kayseri, was a city of Cappadocia; Jerome notes that it had formerly been called Mazaca (Jerome, On Illustrious Men 116). Basil of Caesarea was born into a family of the region and became its bishop. He defended to the governor the hospice he was building there for travellers and the sick (Basil, Letter 94), and Gregory of Nazianzus, in his funeral oration, tells his hearers to go a little way out of the city and look at “the new city” that Basil had raised (Gregory of Nazianzus, Orations 43.63). It is to be distinguished from Caesarea in Palestine, the see of Eusebius. See the Cappadocians and the Doctrine of the Trinity.
What happened here
- about AD 370 to AD 381, estimated dateThe Cappadocians and the Doctrine of the Trinity
Basil of Caesarea, his friend Gregory of Nazianzus and his brother Gregory of Nyssa speak of one divine essence in three persons and defend the deity of the Holy Spirit. The creed of 381 uses kindred language. Basil and his sister Macrina foster monastic life.
Primary sources
On Illustrious Men
- Jerome, On Illustrious Men 116newadvent.org
Letters
- Basil, Letter 94newadvent.org
Orations
- Gregory of Nazianzus, Orations 43.63newadvent.org