FLAVIAN I. (c. 320–c. 404), bishop or patriarch of Antioch, was probably born in Antioch. He supported the Catholic faith against the Arian Leontius, who had succeeded Eustathius as bishop of Antioch. When Meletius was appointed bishop of An tioch in 361 he raised Flavian to the priesthood, and on the death of Meletius in 381 Flavian was chosen to succeed him. The bishop of Rome and the bishops of Egypt refused to acknowledge Flavian, and Paulinus, who by the extreme Eustathians had been elected bishop in opposition to Meletius, still exercised authority over a portion of the church. On the death of Paulinus in 383, Evagrius was chosen as his successor, but after the death of Evagrius (c. 393) Flavian succeeded in preventing his being followed by a successor, though the Eustathians still continued to hold separate meetings. Through the influence of Chrysostom and of the em peror Theodosius, Flavian was acknowledged in 399 as legitimate bishop of Antioch by the Church of Rome ; but the Eustathian schism was not healed till 415. The Greek Church commemorates him on Sept. 26.