cf. Ep. ccxvi., where he speaks of going to the
house of his brother Peter near Neocæsarea. One of the
five brothers apparently died young, as the property of the elder
Basil was at his death, before 340, divided into nine portions,
i.e. among the five daughters and four surviving sons, the
youngest, Peter, being then an infant. (Greg. Nyss.
Vita Mac. 186.) Naucratius, the second son, was
killed by an accident while hunting, c. 357. Gregory of Nyssa
must, therefore, be referred to in the text, if by
“brothers” is meant brothers in blood. Was it to
Peter’s “cottage” or some neighbouring dwelling
that Gregory fled when he escaped from the police of the Vicar
Demosthenes, in order not to obey the summons of Valens to his synod
at Ancrya? Is the cottage of Peter “some quiet
spot” of Ep. ccxxv.? The plural
ἀδελφῶν might be used
conventionally, or understood to include Peter and a sister or
sisters.