Achillas (1)

Achillas (or Achilleas) (1), patriarch of Alexandria (A.D. 311-312), was ordained presbyter during the episcopate of Thomas (A.D. 283-301), and placed over the catechetical school. On the martyrdom of Peter I, he was raised to the patriarchal throne, but died apparently in about a year. The only act recorded of his episcopate is the restoration of Arius to the diaconate, and, his promotion to the priesthood (Sozomen, 1, 15). This act is supposed to have been dictated by excess of zeal against the Meletians, who had malignantly attacked him. His festival is set down in the Roman martyrology on November 7.