The Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen
Constantinople (Istanbul) · 450
S
Sozomen
Sozomen
400 CE–450 CE · Bethelia (near Gaza)
Salaminius Hermias Sozomenus (c. 380–c. 450 CE) was a Christian lawyer and church historian born at Bethelia, a village near Gaza in Palestine, where his family had converted to Christianity within living memory. Educated in the Palestinian monastic milieu — he records personal acquaintance with monks of the Gaza region — he later moved to Constantinople, where he practiced as a scholasticus (advocate) and composed his nine-book Ecclesiastical History covering 324 to 425 CE (intended to reach 439). He dedicated the work to Emperor Theodosius II and gave unusually full attention to monasticism and the eastern provinces.
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Stop 1 of 3400Birthplace, Early Life
Bethelia (near Gaza)Palestinian Territories
What they did here
Sozomen explicitly names Bethelia near Gaza as his birthplace (HE V.15) and recounts his grandfather's conversion there; the family had deep ties to the local monastic communities.
About Bethelia (near Gaza)
Bethelia, a town near Gaza in the southern coastal plain of Palestine (modern Palestinian Territories). The church historian Sozomen was born there c. 400 into a Christian family of the Gaza region.
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The world in their lifetime
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