The Basileias was an ancient multi-functional philanthropic institution in Caesarea Mazaka in Cappadocia founded in the late fourth century by Basil of Caesarea, after whom it was named. While the exact nature of the Basileias has been debated, it may have been the first hospital or at least the first that provided comprehensive services in one place, marking a major advance in medical care.

After the legalisation of Christianity, a number of discrete institutions arose in the 320s that were dedicated to either provide shelter for travellers, care for foundlings, homes for elderly, and almshouses for the poor.^[1]

While the construction has been sometimes portrayed as responses to a severe famine that might have struck Asia minor between 368-370^[2] or a sudden outbreak of leprosy, these reasons do not hold up and are not connected with the construction of the Basileias by ancient writers.^[3]

The exact date when the construction of the Basileias begun or was finished is not known, though it is typically set in the 370s. Theodoret writes in his Church History that emperor Valens gifted Basil land for the poor during his visit to Cappadocia in January 372. This could likely indicate that the Basileias did not exist by that time and that it was constructed on the land given by Valens in 372.^[4] This sets the Basileias, whose precise location is unknown, in contrast to the other ecclesiastic guest houses and soup kitchens of the fourth century which were typically situated within the towns and cities.^[5]

The exact nature of the Basileias has been debated.^[6] Apart from the eponymous appellation, contemporary writers referred to the hospital in a number of terms; Basil himself called it a ptochotropheion (poorhouse), a xenodocheion (hostel) and a katagogion (rest house). The complex must have been extensive, including housing for various types of residents, a hostel for visitor, at least one church, an adjacent monastery and likely a full range of supporting facilities such as storehouses, kitchens, baths, workshops and stables.^[5]

The Basileias continued to operate at least into the middle of the fifth century, if not longer.^[7]

The Basileias is the most mentioned philanthropic institution of its time, making it the best documented and, seemingly, the best-known Christian foundation of antiquity.^[8] Among the sources are the funeral oration for Basil by Gregory of Nazianzus, descriptions by a number of ecclesiastic writers and Basil's own remarks in his correspondence and ascetic writing.^[9]

The novel aspect of Basil's foundation was not it charitable aspect, or the care for the sick, lepers, poor, travellers, orphans or elderly, as other Christian institutions were already in place to take care of them. Rather the non-professional staff of doctors and medical attendance, the offering of inpatient care and the comprehensive nature of the institution mark a major advance in medical care.^[10] Regardless of the question of the innovation, the Basileias is of central importance because it is the first hospital for which any significance exists.^[9]

Basil's philanthropic spirituality and hospital concept spread in the fifth century. Theodosius the Cenobiarch established three hospices specialising in healthcare that upheld the Basileian tradition and it is also probable that the monastery of Martyrius housed a Basileian hospital. The theology of compassion, that spiritual diseases can be healed by compassion for the sick, is also reflected in the letters of Barsanuphius and John the Prophet and the Life of Dositheus which describe the workings of the hospital at the Monastery of Seridus.^[6]

Nevertheless, while the Basileias served as model for later hospitals, it did not change the nature of the many already existing specialised institutions for the poor or sick, which continued to be more widespread.^[11]

• Caner, Daniel (2018). "Not a Hospital but a Leprosarium: Basil's Basilias and an Early Byzantine Concept of the Deserving Poor". Dumbarton Oaks Papers. 72. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University: 25–48. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
• Crislip, Andrew Todd (2005). From Monastery to Hospital: Christian Monasticism & the Transformation of Health Care in Late Antiquity. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-11474-0. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
• Ferngren, Gary B. (August 2016). Medicine and Health Care in Early Christianity. JHU Press. ISBN 978-1-4214-2006-6. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
• Müller, Andreas (15 December 2009). ""All das ist Zierde für den Ort …". Das diakonisch-karitative Großprojekt des Basileios von Kaisareia". Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum / Journal of Ancient Christianity. 13 (3): 452–474. doi:10.1515/ZAC.2009.31.
• Nam, Sung Hyun (29 June 2024). "Christian Perfection in Basilian Monastic Hospitals from the Fourth to Sixth Centuries". Religions. 15 (7): 793. doi:10.3390/rel15070793.
• Ziegler, Tiffany A. (13 October 2018). Medieval Healthcare and the Rise of Charitable Institutions: The History of the Municipal Hospital. Springer. ISBN 978-3-030-02056-9. Retrieved 27 November 2024.

• Letter from Basil to Helias, governor of Cappadocia, about the Basileias