Dioscorus II was the thirty-first patriarch of the See of Saint Mark (515-517). A nephew of Timothy II Aelurus, Dioscorus II had a brief but dramatic reign. He was first installed under the auspices of the government authorities, but when this roused protests, he secured a more proper ecclesiastical enthronement. Nevertheless, riots followed in which the Prefect Theodosius was killed. This brought down imperial punishment on the city and a number of executions. Dioscorus went to Constantinople to intercede with Emperor Anastasius and obtained pardon for Alexandria. A visiting Westerner, Maximian, later bishop of Ravenna, praised him as a good shepherd who was ready to lay down his life for his flock. However, at Constantinople he was hooted at by supporters of the Chalcedonian party and had to leave the capital hastily. Severus of Antioch had sent Dioscorus greetings and assurance of his prayers on his way to Constantinople, also urging him to join in the policy of securing a formal anathema on Chalcedon and the Tome of Leo I the Great from Melchite converts, especially bishops.
E. R. Hardy
Note: The DACB uses the transliteration system of the Encyclopedia of Islam (2nd ed.), dropping the diacritical marks on the kha, dtaa, saad, and daad.
Bibliography:
Frend, W. H. C. The Rise of the Monophysite Movement, pp. 73, 229. Cambridge, 1972.
Hardy, E. R. Christian Egypt, p. 120. New York, 1952.
