ALWAIDII, a sect of Mahometans who believe all great crimes to be unpardonable. The Alwaiddii stand in opposition to the Morgii. They attribute less efficacy to the true belief in the salvation of men than the rest of the Mussulmans.
ALYPIUS of Antioch, a geographer of the fourth century. He was sent by the emperor Julian into Britain as deputy-governor; and after remaining in this situation for some time, he received orders from the emperor to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem. Ammianus Marcellinus, the Roman historian, informs us, that during the progress of the work, while it was proceeding with great rapidity, huge balls of fire issued forth in the vicinity of the foundations, which interrupted the men at their labour, and even sometimes consumed them with its violence. The place being thus rendered inaccessible, they were reluctantly constrained to desist from their undertaking. Different sentiments have been entertained with respect to this phenomenon; but the reader, for his own satisfaction, may consult what has been written concerning it by Lardner and Gibbon. In the evening of his life, after he had retired from the service of the public, Alypius, in conjunction with several other persons, was formally accused of the crime of practising magic; in consequence of which, he was banished, his property confiscated, and Hierocles
his son condemned to capital punishment. Ammianus Marcellinus, while he mentions that the crime for which they suffered was that of administering poison to others, states at the same time as his opinion, that they were the victims of the general injustice and oppression which reigned at that period, and extended their sway even to the most retired habitations. The emperor Julian himself honoured Alypius with his confidence, and speaks of him with great respect. "As to your conduct in public affairs," says the emperor, "it gives me pleasure to observe the assiduity and humanity which appear in all your transactions; for so to temper lenity and moderation with firmness and fortitude, that the good may experience the benefit of the former, and that the bad may be corrected by the latter, requires no small share of ability and virtue."
Alypius composed a geographical work which is said to have gained the approbation of the emperor; but this work has shared the same fate as many other productions of antiquity. Some have ascribed to Alypius the work which Godfrey published under the title of A Description of the Old World, printed in 4to at Geneva; but since the author speaks of Britain, not merely from report, but from his own observation, it is more probable that this Description is an anonymous work published in the reigns of Constantius and Constans.