ABSTRACT
The study of hagiographical texts has mainly focused on the saints, while the texts themselves and their author have been of secondary importance. Sophronios of Jerusalem, an important theologian and an outstanding figure in the Christological disputes of the first half of the seventh century as well as the author of some fine anacreontics, is also credited with composing some hagiographical texts. The author of the earliest Life of St Ioannikios is Peter, an acquaintance of the saint and a solitary, who belonged to one of the monasteries founded by Ioannikios. Peter represents a typical example of a Middle Byzantine hagiographer: usually the author is a younger contemporary of the saint, who has lived long enough in his hero’s immediate environment to be able to base himself on his own experiences with the saint, on the stories told by the saint and by his other, older companions in compiling his text.
