Asclepiades of Gaza

ASCLEPIADE di GAZA. - A defender of the consubstantiality of the Word, he was opposed by the Arians, who deposed him from his see at the Council of Antioch (330). Theodoret records him as present at the Synod of Tyre, along with a few others accused by the Arians of corrupting orthodoxy. Together with s. Athanasius and Marcellus of Ancyra, he personally pleaded his case before Pope Julius, and attended the Roman Synod of 341, by which he was reinstated. Strengthened by this decision, he appeared at the Council of Sardica in 343, together with his two companions in exile. This alone was sufficient to cause the Easterners attending the council to leave Sardica. After their departure, A. succeeded in presenting the documents of his trial, drawn up at Antioch in the presence of his accusers and of Eusebius of Caesarea; his innocence resulted therefrom, and he was consequently restored to his see. How long he remained there is unclear. In 346 he was not among the bishops of Palestine who received s. Athanasius on the occasion of his return to Alexandria.