bishop of Trica in Thessaly, better known by the romance he composed in his youth entitled Æthiopics, and relating the amours of Theagenes and Chariclea. Some say he was deposed by a synod because he would not consent to the suppressing that romance. The fable has a moral tendency, and particularly inculcates the virtue of chastity.

As it was the first of this species of writing, he is styled Helicon—the Father of Romance. He was also a good Latin poet. He lived in the 4th century.