Pseudo-Basil

{{short description|Authors falsely believed to be Basil of Caesarea}}

{{about|works spuriously assigned to Basil of Caesarea|the work of Pseudo-Basil of Seleucia|Life and Miracles of Saint Thecla}}

Pseudo-Basil is the designation used by scholars for any anonymous author of a text falsely or erroneously attributed to Basil of Caesarea. Pseudo-Basilian works are usually known by Latin titles. They are often misattributed only in translation. They include:

• Ad Caesarienses apologia de secessu, a letter actually by Evagrius Ponticus{{sfn|Fedwick|1981|pp=xxix–xxxi, 633–635 and 713–715}}
• Ad Chilonem discipulum suum{{sfn|Fedwick|1981|pp=xxix–xxxi, 633–635 and 713–715}}
• Admonitio ad filium spiritualem, a Latin text and a partial Old English translation{{sfn|Fedwick|1981|pp=xxix–xxxi, 633–635 and 713–715}}
• Admonitio ad iuniores{{sfn|Fedwick|1981|pp=xxix–xxxi, 633–635 and 713–715}}
• Canones, an Arabic text and some Coptic fragments{{sfn|Fedwick|1981|pp=xxix–xxxi, 633–635 and 713–715}}
• Constitutiones asceticae{{sfn|Fedwick|1981|pp=xxix–xxxi, 633–635 and 713–715}}
• Contra Eunomium 4–5 (books 1–3 are authentic){{sfn|Fedwick|1981|pp=xxix–xxxi, 633–635 and 713–715}}
• De consotatione in aduersis{{sfn|Fedwick|1981|pp=xxix–xxxi, 633–635 and 713–715}}
• De reliquis Dionysii, the sequel to an authentic letter to Ambrose of Milan{{sfn|Fedwick|1981|pp=xxix–xxxi, 633–635 and 713–715}}
• De spiritu{{sfn|Fedwick|1981|pp=xxix–xxxi, 633–635 and 713–715}}
• De virginitate ad Letoium, an Old Church Slavonic translation from Greek, actually by Basil of Ancyra{{sfn|Fedwick|1981|pp=xxix–xxxi, 633–635 and 713–715}}
• De vita in Christo, a Coptic translation from Greek, also misattributed to Athanasius{{sfn|Fedwick|1981|pp=xxix–xxxi, 633–635 and 713–715}}
• Dialogus IV de sancta Trinitate, an Armenian translation from Greek and Syriac fragments, also misattributed to Athanasius{{sfn|Fedwick|1981|pp=xxix–xxxi, 633–635 and 713–715}}
• Doctrina, quoted in the Georgian Ethika of Euthymius the Athonite{{sfn|Fedwick|1981|pp=xxix–xxxi, 633–635 and 713–715}}
• Epitimia{{sfn|Fedwick|1981|pp=xxix–xxxi, 633–635 and 713–715}}
• Epitimia diversorum sanctorum de refectorio{{sfn|Fedwick|1981|pp=xxix–xxxi, 633–635 and 713–715}}
• Erotapokriseis Basilii et Gregorii, an Arabic translation from Greek of an erotapokriseis sometimes also misattributed to John Chrysostom{{sfn|Fedwick|1981|pp=xxix–xxxi, 633–635 and 713–715}}
• Liturgia sancti Basilii alexandrina, a Greek liturgy of the Alexandrian rite, also known in Arabic, both Bohairic and Sahidic Coptic and Ethiopic versions{{sfn|Fedwick|1981|pp=xxix–xxxi, 633–635 and 713–715}}
• Transitus de dormitione Deiparae, a Georgian translation from Greek{{sfn|Fedwick|1981|pp=xxix–xxxi, 633–635 and 713–715}}

Numerous apocryphal Basilian letters exist: to Bishop Eusebius of Samosata; to Eustathius, archiatrus and son of Oribasius; to Bishop Innocent of Tortona; to the Emperor Julian the Apostate; to Libanius; "to a lapsed monk" (ad monachum lapsum); to the Emperor Theodosius I; to the monk Urbicius on continence; and "to a widow" (ad viduam).{{sfn|Fedwick|1981|pp=xxix–xxxi, 633–635 and 713–715}}

In addition, some passages in the Rule of Saint Basil are inauthentic.{{cite book |title=Basil and Apokatastasis new findings |pages=132, 133, 134 |url=https://afkimel.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/st-basil-and-apokatastasis.pdf}}{{cite web |title=Anna M. Silvas The Rule of St. Basil in Latin and English A Revised Critical Edition}}