The Long Brothers and Evagrius

At this time Origen, one of the disciples of Antony the Great, was still living, at a great age, in the monasteries of Scetis. So were Didymus; Cronion, who was about a hundred and ten years old; Arsisius the Great; Putubastus; Arsion; and Serapion, all of whom had lived at the same time as Antony the Great. They had grown old in the practice of philosophy, and at this time they were presiding over the monasteries. Among them were some holy men who were young or middle-aged, but famous for their fine and good qualities. Among these were Ammonius, Eusebius, and Dioscorus. They were brothers, and because of their great height they were called the “Long Brothers.” [a]

It is said that Ammon reached the summit of philosophy, and so overcame the love of ease and pleasure. He was very studious, and had read the works of Origen, of Didymus, and of other church writers. From his youth to the day of his death he never tasted anything cooked over a fire except bread. He was once chosen to be ordained bishop. He urged every argument he could think of to refuse the honor, but in vain. So he cut off one of his ears and said to those who had come for him, “Go away. From now on the priestly law forbids my ordination, for a priest’s body must be without defect.” So those who had been sent for him went away. But when they found out that the church does not keep the Jewish law requiring a priest to be perfect in every part of his body, but only requires him to be blameless in his morals, they came back to Ammon and tried to take him by force. He solemnly declared to them that if they used any violence against him he would cut out his tongue, and, terrified at this threat, they left at once. From then on Ammon was given the surname Parotes.

Some time afterward, in the following reign, the wise Evagrius became his close friend. Evagrius was a wise man, powerful in thought and in speech, skilled at telling apart the reasonings that lead to virtue and those that lead to vice, and able to urge others to imitate the one and to shun the other. The works he has left behind fully prove his eloquence. As for his character, it is said that he was entirely free of pride and disdain, so that he was not puffed up when he received just praise, nor displeased when unjust reproaches were brought against him. He was a citizen of Iberia, near the Black Sea. He had practiced philosophy and studied the Sacred Scriptures under Gregory, bishop of Nazianzus, and had served as archdeacon when Gregory governed the church in Constantinople.

He was handsome in appearance and careful about his dress. Because of this, an acquaintance he had formed with a certain lady stirred up the jealousy of her husband, who plotted to kill him. Just as the plot was about to be carried out, God sent him, while he slept, a fearful and saving vision in a dream. It seemed to him that he had been arrested in the act of some crime and bound hand and foot in irons. As he was being led before the magistrates to be sentenced, a man holding the book of the Holy Gospels spoke to him and promised to free him from his chains, confirming it with an oath, on condition that he leave the city. Evagrius touched the book and swore that he would. At once his chains seemed to fall off, and he woke up. He was convinced by this divine dream and fled the danger. He resolved to give himself to a life of asceticism, and went from Constantinople to Jerusalem. Some time later he went to visit the philosophers of Scetis, and gladly decided to live there.