GEORGE of CAPPADOCIA, from 356 to 361 Arian archbishop of Alexandria. He was a native of Epiphania, in Cilicie; but universal tradition makes him a Cappadocian. Gregory Nazianzen tells its that his father Was a fuller, and that he himself soon became notorious as a parasite of so mean a type that he would "sell himself for a cake." • By his powers of insinuation he succeeded in obtaining a lucrative contract for supplying bacon to the army, hut fulfilled its terms so ill that he was soon compelled to abscond, after he had with diffiulty escaped death at the hands of the indignant soldiers. After many wanderings, in the course of which he seems to have lived some time at Constan tinople and to have amassed a considerable fortune as receiver of taxes, he ultimately reached Alexandria. It is not known When or 'how he obtained ecclesiastical orders; but after Athanasius had been banished in 356, George was promoted by the influence of the prevalent Arian faction to the vacant see. His persecutions and oppressions of
the orthodox ultimately raised a rebellion which compelled him to flee for his life; but his authority was restored, althmigh with difficulty, by a military demonstration. Un taught by experience, he resumed his course of selfish tyranny over Christians and heathen alike, and raised the irritation of the populace to such a pitch that, within a few days after the accession of Julian, they arose en masse, dragged him out of prison, where he had been placed by the magistrates for safety, paraded himwith every indignity through the streets on a came], burnt his dead body, and cast the ashes into the sea. With much that was.sordid and brutal in his character, George combined a highly culti vated literary taitd,iakdin the course.of his cheequered career he had:found the alma' of collecting a splendid library, which Julian ordered to be carefully preserved and con veyed to Antioch for his own use.