Gregory of Neocaesarea: a re-examination of the biographical issue

In the last forty years the figure of Gregory of Neocaesarea has been the subject of a complicated debate, in particular after Pierre Nautin raised serious doubts about the ascription of the In Origenem Oratio Panegyrica and supposed it the result of a mistake made by Eusebius of Caesarea. In this article we will first re-evaluate the main hypotheses put forward by Nautin and other scholars which go against Gregory's traditional figure. Then we will take into consideration the information about Gregory of Neocaesarea from later authors, such as Gregory of Nyssa, Jerome and Socrates of Constantinople, who have been generally overlooked by scholars. In fact, a more careful survey of all the main accounts on Gregory suggests a different perspective of investigation into some aspects of the dispute and provides further arguments in confirmation of the reliability of Gregory's traditional biography.