Leontius
20. Of NEAPOLIS (or of HAGIOPOLIS, according to his own authority, cited by Cave) in Cyprus. He was bishop of that city, which Le Quien (Oriens Christianus, vol. ii. col. 1061) identifies with the Nova Lemissus, or Nemissus, or Nemosia, which also rose out of the ruins of Amathus. Baronius, Possevino, and others, call Leontius bishop of Salamis or Constantia: but in the records of the Second Nicene, or Seventh General Council, held A. D. 787, Actio iv. (Concilia, vol. vii. col. 236, ed. Labbe; vol. iv. col. 193, ed. Hardouin, vol. viii. col. 884, ed. Coleti, and vol. xiii. col. 44, ed. Mansi), he is expressly described as bishop of Neapolis in Cyprus. His death is said to have occurred in A. D. 620 or 630.
Works
His principal works are as follows:
1. Λόγοι ὑπὲρ τῆς Χριστιανῶν ἀπολογίας κατὰ Ἰουδαίων καὶ περὶ κἰκόνων τῶν ἁγίων, Sermones pro Defensione Christianorum contra Judaeos ac de Imaginibus Sanctis.
A long extract from the fifth of these Sermones was read at the second Nicene Council (Concilia, l.c.), among the testimonies of the fathers in support of the use of images in worship.
Editions
Several passages, most of them identical with those cited in the council, are given by Joannes Damascenus in his Oratio III. de Imaginibus (Opera, vol. i. p. 373, &c. ed. Le Quien).
A Latin version of another portion of one of these discourses of Leontius is given in the Lectiones Antiquae of Canisius. (Vol. i. p. 793, ed Basnage.)
2. Βίος τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰωάννου ἀρχιεπισκόπου Ἀλεχανδρείας τοῦ Ἐλεήμονος, Vita Sancti Joannis Archiepiscopi Alexandriae Cognomento Eleemonis s. Eleemosynarii.
This John of Alexandria died A. D. 616 [JOANNES, No. 55]; and his life by Leontius, which was mentioned in the second Nicene council (Concilia, vol. cit. col. 246, Labbe, 202, Hardouin, 896, Coleti, 53, Mansi), is extant in MS. in the Imperial Library at Vienna.
Editions
An ancient Latin version by Anastasius Bibliothecarius is given by Rosweid (De Vitis Patrum, pars i.), Surius (De Probatis Sanctorum Vitis), and Bollandus (Acta Sanctor. January. vol. ii. p. 498, &c.). The account of St. Vitalis or Vitalius given in the Acta Sanctorum of Bollandus (Januar. vol. i. p. 702) is a Latin version of a part of this Life of Joannes Eleemosynarius.
3. Βίος τοῦ ὁσίου Συμεὼν τοῦ σαλοῦ, Vita Sancti Symeonis Simplicis, or Βίος καὶ πολιτεία τοῦ ἀββᾶ Συμεὼν τοῦ διὰ Χριστοῦ ἐπονομασθέντος Σαλοῦ, Vita et Conversatio Abbatis Symeonis qui cognominatus est Stultus propter Christum,
also mentioned in the Nicene council (l.c.).
Editions
published in the Acta Sanctorum of the Bollandists (Julii, vol. i. p. 136, &c.), with a Latin version different from that which had been previously published by Surius (De Probatis Sanctor. Vitis, a. d. 1. Julii), and by Lipomannus. The other published works of Leontius are homilies.
4. Sermo in Simeonem quando Dominum in Ulnas suscepit and 5. In Diem festum mediae Pentecosts
Editions
Both given, with a Latin version, in the Novum Auctarium of Combéfis, vol. i. fol. Paris, 1648.
Other Works
In Diem festum mediae Petecostes et in Caecum a Nativitate; necnon in illud: Nolite judicare secundum facie
Fabricius adds to these, as given by Combéfis, another homily, In Diem festum mediae Petecostes et in Caecum a Nativitate; necnon in illud: Nolite judicare secundum faciem: but this homily is said in the title to be by "Leontius presbyter CPolitanus," and has been already noticed. [No. 5.] Compare, however, Fabric. Bibl. Graec vol. x. p. 309.
Homilies in honour of the saints and for the festivals of the church
As Leontius of Neapolis is recorded to have written many homilies in honour of saints (ἐγκώμια), and for the festivals of the church (πανηγυρικοὶ λόγοι), especially one on the Transfiguration of our Saviour, it is not unlikely that some of those extant under the name of Leontius of Constantinople may be by him.
Παραλλήλων λόγοι β́, Parallelorum
He wrote also Παραλλήλων λόγοι β́, Parallelorum, s. Locorum communium Theologicorum Libri II.; the first book consisted τῶν δείων, the other τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων. Turrianus possessed the second book; but whether that or the first is extant we know not: neither has been published. It has been thought that Joannes Damascenus, in his Parallela, made use of those of Leontius.
Εἰς τὰ βαΐα, In Festum
Fabricius, on the authority of some MSS., inserts among the works of Leontius of Neapolis the homily Εἰς τὰ βαΐα, In Festum
Editions
s. Ramos Palmarum, ascribed to Chrysostom, and printed among the doubtful or spurious works in the editions of that father. (Vol. vii. p. 334, ed. Savill, vol. x. p. 767, ed. Montfaucon, or vol. x. p. 915, and vol. xiii. p. 354, in the recent Parisian reprint of Montfaucon's edition.)
Unpublished ad Joan. vii. and Oratio in laudem S. Epiphanii
Maldonatus (ad Joan. vii.) mentions some MS. Commentarii in Joannem by Leontius; and an Oratio in laudem S. Epiphanii is mentioned by Theodore Studita in his Antirrheticus Secundus, ap. Sirmond. Opera, vol. v. p. 130.
Further Information
Concilia, ll. cc.; Fabric. Biblioth. Graec. vol. viii. p. 320, &c.; Cave, Hist. Litt. vol. i. p. 550; Oudin, De Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis, vol. i. col. 1575, &c.; Vossius, de Historicis Graecis, lib. 2. c.23; Le Quien, Oriens Christianus, vol. ii. col. 1062; Acta Sanctor. Jul. vol. i. p. 131.
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.