Pierius was a Christian priest and probably head of the catechetical school of Alexandria

Catechetical School of Alexandria

The Catechetical School of Alexandria was and is a place for the training of Christian theologians and priests in Alexandria. The teachers and students of the school were influential in many of the early theological controversies of the Christian church.The earliest recorded instructor at the...

, conjointly with Achillas. He flourished while Theonas was bishop of Alexandria, and died at Rome after 309. The Roman Martyrology

Roman Martyrology

The Roman Martyrology is the official martyrology of the Roman Rite of the Roman Catholic Church. It provides an extensive but not exhaustive list of the saints recognized by the Church.-History:...

commemorates him on 4 November.

His skill as an exegetical writer and as a preacher gained for him the appellation, "Origen the Younger". Philip of Side

Philip of Side

Philip of Side or Philip Sidetes , a historian of the early Christian church, was born at Side, the ancient Greek Iconium, Pamphylia . He wrote a Christian history of which fragments survive...

, Photius, and others assert that he was a martyr

Martyr

A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...

. However, since St. Jerome assures us that he survived the Diocletianic Persecution and spent the rest of his life at Rome, the term "martyr" can only mean that he underwent sufferings, not death, for his faith.

Works

He wrote a work (biblion) comprising twelve treatises or sermons (logoi)

Logos

' is an important term in philosophy, psychology, rhetoric and religion. Originally a word meaning "a ground", "a plea", "an opinion", "an expectation", "word," "speech," "account," "reason," it became a technical term in philosophy, beginning with Heraclitus ' is an important term in...

, in some of which he repeats the dogmatic points attributed by some authors to Origen

Origen

Origen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...

, such as the subordination of the Holy Ghost to the Father and the Son, and the pre-existence of human souls. His known sermons are: one on the Gospel of St. Luke (eis to kata Loukan); an Easter sermon on Osee (eis to pascha kai ton Osee); a sermon on the Mother of God (peri tes theotokou); a few other Easter sermons; and a eulogy on St. Pamphilus, who had been one of his disciples (eis ton bion tou hagiou Pamphilou).

Only some fragments of his writings are extant. They were edited by Martin Joseph Routh

Martin Joseph Routh

Martin Joseph Routh was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford .-Life:...

, and in Patrologia Graeca

Patrologia Graeca

The Patrologia Graeca is an edited collection of writings by the Christian Church Fathers and various secular writers, in the ancient Koine or medieval variants of the Greek language. It consists of 161 volumes produced in 1857–1866 by J. P. Migne's Imprimerie Catholique...

; Carl de Boor added some fragments.