THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
Johannes von Damaskus zugeschriebenen Parallelen, Halle, 1892; W Riigamer, Leontius von Byzanz, ein Polemiker aus der Zeit Justinians, Wiirzburg, 1894; V. Ermoni, De Leontio Byzantino et de eius doctrina christologica, Paris, 1895; K. Holl, Die Sacra parallela des Johannes Damascenus, in TU, xvi., 1, Leipsic, 1896, cf. xx., 2, pp. xii. sqq., 1900; Krumbacher, Geschichte, pp. 54 sqq., et passim; F. Diekamp, Die origenistischen Streitigkeiten im 6. Jahrhundert, Minister, 1899; O. Bardenhewer, Patrologie, Freiburg, 1901; J. P. Junglas, Leonitas von Byzanz; Studien zu seinen Schriften, Quellen, und Anschauungen, Paderborn, 1908.
LEONTIUS OF NEAPOLIS: Bishop of Neapolis, Cyprus; flourished in the seventh century. Of his life little is known, except that he was born in Cyprus and was educated by his fellow countryman, John, archbishop of Alexandria (611-619). He was alive in the reign of Constans II. (642- 668). He was a prolific author, and at the Second Council of Nicaea (787) his compatriot Constantinus, bishop of Constantia, spoke highly of his eulogies. Two homilies of this class have been published, one on the presentation of Christ in the Temple and the other on the feast of Mid-Pentecost. More interest attaches to a work in five books against the Jews, of which two fragments have been edited, two others being extant in manuscript. In 614 Jerusalem was betrayed to the Persians and the Holy Cross was carried away. The consequent excitement called forth a wide-spread persecution of the Jews, and Leontius' book was apparently evoked by disturbances in Alexandria. His most important works, however, were biographies written in popular style for readers of general culture, such as his life of Spyridion of Trimithus, extant only in a revamping by Metaphrastes, but apparently comprising originally a naive collection of marvels. He also wrote a biography of Johannes Eleemon, archbishop of Alexandria (q.v.), which is of value for its portrayal of Alexandrian life just before the Arab conquest. It was extremely popular and was translated into Latin at the instance of Pope Nicholas I. Leontius' biography of Symeon of Emesa is likewise valuable for its presentation of current ideas, but otherwise historically worthless. It is based on the Oriental belief that madmen are divinely blessed, and did much to spread this conception among the Greeks and Russians, whose monasteries in succeeding centuries presented numerous examples of " inspired idiots." Many other works still extant in manuscript are ascribed to this Leontius, but he is frequently confused by scribes with others of the name, such as Leontius the Presbyter, Leontius of Byzantium, and Leontius of Jerusalem. (H. Gelzer f.)
Bibliography: The Opera are in MPG, xciii. His " Life of John the Merciful " was edited by H. Gelzer, Freiburg, 1893. Consult: F. Loofs, Leontias von Byzanz und die gleichnamigen Schriftsteller der griechischen Kirche, Leipsic, 1887; Krumbacher, Geschichte, pp. 112, 389, 468; H. Gelzer, in Historische Zeitschrift, lxi (1889), 1-32.
LEONTOPOLIS: The name of a place in Lower Egypt important in connection with Jewish history as the site of the temple built Reports of by an Onias (III. or IV.) either c. 170 Josephus. or c. 154 b.c. The place mentioned is apparently located by Josephus (War, VII., x. 3) 180 stadia (about twenty miles) from Memphis, in the nome of Heliopolis. The sources
of information are Josephus, War, I., i. l VII x. 2 sqq.; Ant, XII., ix. 7, XIII., iii. 1-3, cf' XII.' v. 1. According to War, I., i. 1 " Onias the high priest " was compelled under Antiochus Epiphanes to flee from Jerusalem and took refuge in Egypt with Ptolemy Philometor, who gave him a location in the nome of Heliopolis, where he " built a city resembling Jerusalem, and a temple that was like its temple." In Ant., XII., ix. 7 Josephus says that it was the son of " Onias the high priest " who, being " left a child when his father died fled to Ptolemy," and received the gift in the nome named wherein he built a temple like that at Jerusalem. With this agrees Ant., XII., v. 1, which says that the son whom Onias left " was yet but an infant." Ant., XIII., iii. 1-3 affirms that Onias " the son of Onias the high priest " fled to Ptolemy Philometor, and that, stimulated by the prophecy of Isaiah (xix. 19) uttered 600 years earlier, this Onias wrote a letter to Ptolemy and Cleopatra, which letter Josephus professes to give. In this Onias asks that a ruined sanctuary be given him that he may purge it and erect on its site a temple which may serve as a place where the Jews may meet, implying that this will gain for the king the favor of the Jews against the Syrian king. The reported reply of the two sovereigns grants the ruined temple at Leontopolis, " named from Bubastis." The second of these letters, at any rate, is generally recognized as spurious. In War, VII., x. 2 Josephus affirms that " Onias, son of Simon, one of the Jewish high priests " fled from Antiochus, was received kindly by Ptolemy, obtained leave to build a temple, saying that " the Jews would be readier to fight against Antiochus," built the temple not like that at Jerusalem but to resemble a tower, sixty cubits high, furnished it in the same manner, only substituting a suspended golden lamp for the candlestick, and surrounding the structure with a wall of burnt brick, though the gate (ways) were of stone. The king also gave a large endowment in lands to furnish the requisite revenues for the support of the temple. In § 4 of this chapter Josephus reports that Lupus, governor of Alexandria, and his successor Paulinus (which places the date at 70-73 a.d.) stripped and closed the temple after it had been open for worship " 343 years."
These accounts by the same writer raise three difficulties. (1) Who was the Onias who built the temple? Two of the accounts distinctly imply Onias III., especially Ant., VII., x. 2, Three which calls him " son of Simon." With Difficulties, this goes War, I., i. 1, " Onias the high priest," since the son of this Onias never served as high priest, at least in Jerusalem, being, as Josephus says elsewhere (Ant., XII., v. 1), left an infant. But the other passages cited oppose this, stating that it was the son of Onias the high priest, commonly known as Onias IV. This latter position is supported by the testimony of II Mace. iv. 33-34, according to which Onias III. was slain after being enticed from the well-known sanctuary of Daphne near Antioch. (2) The second difficulty concerns the date of the building of the temple, and its solution depends upon the so-