Philagrius

Philagrius is known only as a recipient of letters from Nilus of Ancyra (d. c. 430), placing him in the early-5th-century ascetic milieu of Ancyra (modern Ankara) in Galatia. The six letters gathered under this name are addressed inconsistently to a bishop, a reader (lector), a proteuon (a leading civic magistrate), and a presbyter, so the corpus may collect notes to more than one man of the same name or reflect uncertain editorial grouping; the database address honorific records him as presbyter. The letters themselves treat ascetic exhortation (calls to mortify the body, to unceasing prayer, psalmody, and care for the suffering) and Genesis typology in which Nilus reads Noah as a figure of Christ and the sons of Noah as figures of the Jews and of those who buried the Savior. Beyond his role as Nilus's correspondent he is otherwise unattested, and no dates, career details, or biography can responsibly be assigned to him.