Arethas of Caesarea

Aretha of Caesarea (c. 860 in Patras, Greece; † after 944 ) was Archbishop of Caesarea (Latin Caesarea ) in Cappadocia (now Kayseri in Turkey). He is considered one of the most learned theologians of the Orthodox Church.

Little is known about his youth. He was a student of Photios the Great, and was consecrated in Constantinople Opel deacon.

901 he became archbishop of Caesarea. In this position, he represented the theological orthodoxy of Photios.

For the history of literature important he is by his manuscript collections and scholia to ecclesiastical and secular writers. Among the most valuable codices, which were made for him to include the Codex Pari Sinus Graecus 451, through which a large part of the Greek Apologists is handed down, and the Codex Clarkianus that contains most of the works of Plato and is for this one of the most important witnesses to the text. The scholia in the Codex Clarkianus has Aretha inserted by hand after the traditionally dominant opinion, but according to recent research, they probably came from the late antique submission of the manuscript. Even more Greek classics like Euclid have survived by Aretha.

Aretha is now mainly known for his works of ancient manuscripts (see also Macedonian Renaissance ), but his main interest was theology. From his own works, a commentary on the Apocalypse of John is obtained, which is based on a 200 year old work of Andreas of Caesarea.