BASIL OF CAESAREA (c. 329–379), called "the Great"; Christian theologian, bishop of Caesarea (modern Kayseri, Turkey), and one of three great Cappadocian fathers of the church (together with his friend, Gregory of Nazianzus, and his younger brother, Gregory of Nyssa).

Basil was born into a deeply Christian family of high social standing and extensive possessions. His grandmother Macrina, his parents Basil and Emmelia, his older sister Macrina, and his younger brothers Gregory of Nyssa and Peter of Sebaste are venerated as saints in both the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. Basil received a Christian education from childhood; his father, who was a rhetor, also gave him the beginnings of his secular training. After the early death of his father, Basil continued his secondary education in Caesarea (c. 345–347) and then pursued further studies in rhetoric and philosophy in Constantinople (c. 348–350), where he was probably a...