Hypatia the Philosopher

There was a woman at Alexandria named Hypatia, the daughter of the philosopher Theon, who reached such heights in learning and science that she far surpassed all the philosophers of her own time. She had succeeded to the school of Plato and Plotinus, and she explained the principles of philosophy to her hearers, many of whom came from far away to be taught by her. Because of the composure and ease of manner she had gained by cultivating her mind, she quite often appeared in public before the magistrates. Nor was she embarrassed to come into a gathering of men, for all men admired her the more for her extraordinary dignity and virtue. [a]

Yet even she fell victim to the political jealousy that prevailed at that time. Because she met often with Orestes, a slander spread among the Christian populace that it was she who kept Orestes from being reconciled with the bishop. So some of them, carried away by fierce and bigoted zeal, under the lead of a reader named Peter, lay in wait for her as she was returning home. They dragged her from her carriage and took her to the church called the Caesareum, where they stripped her completely and then murdered her with tiles. After tearing her body to pieces, they took her mangled limbs to a place called Cinaron and burned them there. This affair brought great disgrace not only on Cyril but on the whole church of Alexandria. And surely nothing can be further from the spirit of Christianity than allowing massacres, fights and doings of that kind. This happened in the month of March, during Lent, in the fourth year of Cyril’s time as bishop, in the tenth consulship of Honorius and the sixth of Theodosius.