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Audiobook edition · 3 h 56 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 124 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 124 pagesAbout this book
What draws a person away from wealth and comfort into a narrow cell in the desert?
In The Lausiac History, Palladius of Galatia gathers short portraits of early Christian monks and nuns for the court official Lausus. His collection moves through Nitria, Kellia, Scetis and the Thebaid, drawing on personal encounters, teachers’ memories and stories heard from others.
Macarius, Evagrius and Melania appear beside less famous men and women whose lives centre on prayer, discipline and service. Palladius describes severe fasting and solitude, but also their dangers. In these accounts, humility and charity matter more than remarkable feats, while stories of visions and healings reveal the spiritual world his subjects inhabit.
What you’ll discover
- Lives in the desert Enter cells and settlements where early monks seek a life shaped by prayer.
- Women at the centre Meet female ascetics whose wisdom and dedication receive a place beside celebrated male teachers.
- The limits of discipline Explore accounts of fasting and sleeplessness that acknowledge the dangers of severe religious practice.
- Kindness beyond impressive feats Discover why Palladius places humble love above the most striking displays of endurance.
- Visions and unusual encounters Read stories of healings and demons as expressions of these ascetics’ religious world.
Who will love it
Readers drawn to early Christian history, desert monks and hermits, and brief portraits rich in sharp sayings will love this book. It also suits those fascinated by ancient women and lives shaped by courage and mercy.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Palladius builds a gallery of portraits from memory
- A young man learns from an asp in the well
- Nitria shows a society built on work and prayer
- Say little, say it exactly, and teach by deeds
- Extreme fasting teaches limits as well as strength
- Pride is the desert's most dangerous demon
- Women carry the same labors as men
- Mercy and honest repentance outweigh display
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The Lausiac History
by Attributed to Palladius of Galatia · 420
Macarius hauls a basket of sand through the desert to punish his own pride, and a hyena brings him her blind cub.
Challenging2–5 hours to readfrançais
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In short
A mosquito lands on the foot of an old monk named Macarius and stings him. He crushes it, then accuses himself of taking revenge.
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Listen freeOr hold it in print: paperback, hardcover or large print, at costFrom the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Palladius builds a gallery of portraits from memory
Palladius builds the book as a gallery of portraits, not as one story with a plot. Each chapter holds one person, one monastery or one episode, and some are only a few lines.
The first portraits are of people he met. There is Isidore, who looked after guests for the church of Alexandria, an old man who never bathed and never ate meat. There is the blind scholar Didymus, whom Palladius visited four times. Then come Nitria, the Cells, Scetis and the Thebaid, with the names of dozens of teachers.
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Macarius hauls a basket of sand through the desert to punish his own pride, and a hyena brings him her blind cub.
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Details
- First published
- 420
- Language
- français
- Listening time
- 3 h 56 min
- Level
- Challenging
- Paperback
- 124 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 124 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 192 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print hardcover
- 192 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Delivery and returns
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Cite this edition
Palladius of Galatia. The Lausiac History. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-the-lausiac-history.
Palladius of Galatia. (2026). The Lausiac history. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-the-lausiac-history (Original work published ca. 420)
Palladius of Galatia. The Lausiac History. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-the-lausiac-history.
@book{palladiusofgalatia2026lausiac,
author = {Palladius of Galatia},
title = {The Lausiac History},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-the-lausiac-history},
note = {First published ca. 420}
}
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What is the Lausiac History about?
It is a collection of seventy-one short lives of monks, hermits and holy women, mostly in Egypt and Palestine, written by Palladius from his own travels. It gives portraits, sayings, wonders and failures that show how early monks lived and taught.
Who was Lausus and why is the book named after him?
Lausus was a high official at the court of the emperor Theodosius the Second. He asked Palladius for an account of the holy people he had met, and the bishop dedicated the book to him, which gives it its title.
Is the Lausiac History a true story?
It is not fiction. Palladius writes about people he met or heard of from named witnesses, in the early fifth century. Historians value it as a source, and they read its many miracles as the beliefs of the author and his circle.
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