The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire · Character
Simeon Stylites
Also known as Saint Simeon Stylites, Simeon the Stylite, Simeon the Pillar Saint
- Minor
- First seen · Book 1 · Ch. 160
There's something otherworldly about this figure who has chosen to live suspended between earth and sky, his body worn to a shadow by years of solitary devotion. His eyes hold the weight of countless sunrises witnessed from his lonely height.
- Gender
- male
- Age
- Started at 13, lived 30+ years on pillar
- First appears
- Book 1 · Ch. 160
- Books
- 1
Simeon Stylites began as a young Syrian shepherd who sought ever-greater forms of ascetic discipline, eventually ascending a pillar sixty feet high where he remained for over three decades. His daily routine of 1,244 prostrations and his ulcerated thigh became legendary, drawing pilgrims and emperors alike to seek his counsel from below. He transformed from an obscure shepherd into the archetype of the pillar saint, his extreme self-denial becoming a model for later stylites.
Description
A meager, skeletal figure with olive-toned skin stretched tight over prominent bones, his dark eyes sunken in a gaunt face framed by an unkempt beard. His body shows the ravages of extreme asceticism, with a visible ulcer on his thigh. He wears only a simple brown monk's robe, his posture rigid from decades of immobility on his pillar. His presence radiates an intense, otherworldly stillness.
Story so far
BOOK 1The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire / Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes)
Appearances
Meet Simeon Stylites in Bookworm
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