Theodosius Romanus

Romanus was born in the 9th century in the city of Tagrit and later went on to become a monk at the Monastery of Qartmin where he also studied and mastered medicine to the point that he became known as a skilled physician.

The synod of the Syriac Orthodox Church met in the city of Amid and elected and consecrated Romanus as patriarch on 5 February 887, upon which he adopted the name Theodosius. During his tenure as patriarch, Theodosius Romanus ordained 32 metropolitan bishops, and served as patriarch until his death on 1 June 896.

Theodosius' work includes a lengthy commentary on Pseudo-Hierotheus, the first two treatises of which he wrote whilst staying at Amid before finishing the third treatise at Samosata. He also wrote a treatise explaining the maxims of various philosophers, including a collection 112 Pythagorean maxims, most of which he had translated from Greek into Syriac.

As well as this, Theodosius is known to have written a medical syntagma, a synodical epistle and a Lenten homily in Arabic.

• The Scattered Pearls: A History of Syriac Literature and Sciences - Ignatius Aphrem I Barsoum.