2nd century Christian Gnostic religious teacher based in Alexandria
b. 2nd century · d. 2nd century
Basilides was an early Christian Gnostic religious teacher in Alexandria, Egypt who, according to Clement of Alexandria, was active between 117–161 AD, and claimed to have inherited his teachings from the apostle Saint Matthias. He was a pupil of either the Simonian teacher Menander, or a disciple of Peter called Glaucias. He is believed to have written a 24 book long commentary on the Christian Gospel entitled Exegetica, as reported by Agrippa Castor, making him one of the earliest Gospel commentators. Origen, Jerome, and Ambrose mention a Gospel according to Basilides, but this is probably only a mischaracterization of the Exegetica.
Alexandria