PIERIUS. — Presbyter in Alexandria, d. ca. 300. Head of the catechetical school. His place in the succession of teachers is not clear. It is certain, however, that he was the teacher of Pamphilus and thus an adherent of Origen, an "Origenes iunior" (cf. St. Jerome, De vir. illustr., 76). His works were studied together with those of Origen and Didymus (cf. Palladius, Historia lausica, ed. C. Butler, I, Cambridge 1898, p. 34, 7; cf. p. 149, 14). Eusebius (Hist. eccl., 7, 32, 26) describes P. as an ascetic, philologist, exegete, and preacher.
According to Jerome (De vir. ill., 76), P. would have lived after the persecution in Rome. Philip of Side identifies him with
Pietro del Vaga, Pietro Buonaccorsi, called — Detail of the stucco decoration of the vault of the Sala Regia — Apostolic Palace, Vatican.
the martyr P., who had a church in Alexandria, a church also known to Epiphanius (Haer., 69, 2, 4; ed. K. Holl [CB, 25], Leipzig 1915, p. 153). Photius, Bibl., cod. 119, knew of a work by P. in 12 treatises. Probably a miscellany containing exegesis, sermons, and a commemorative oration on the martyr Pamphilus. Jerome knew of Pierius's exemplars of the New Testament, or a recension of the sacred text, or marginal notes. According to Photius, he would have taught the pre-existence of souls.