Little is known of the life of Evodius. In the
first century (1–100 AD),
Antioch was an opulent and cosmopolitan city, the former capital of the
Seleucid Empire that had maintained its status as a trade center in the era of
Roman Syria. It seems to have had a strong community of
Hellenistic Jews, who spoke Greek and were among the earliest audience that
Jewish Christians sought to spread their message to. However, no writings attributed to Evodius are extant; if he wrote anything, it was lost and not preserved. The main surviving writings about Evodius are from centuries later, where he is often reduced to a simple name on a page as the first
bishop of Antioch. Various early Christian writings indicate
Peter visited Antioch, and some indicate he may have served as leader of the Antiochene Christians, although others do not, and others are unclear. This is complicated because some ancient authors distinguished apostles from bishops, where the apostles (such as Peter) could create bishops but were not bishops themselves in this view.
Eusebius's fourth-century book
Church History includes a brief remark that "of those in Antioch, Evodius was appointed first" and
Ignatius "second". The
Apostolic Constitutions claims to be written by the apostles collectively, although it is
pseudepigrapha by an unknown fourth-century author. Still, it is useful as a guide to fourth-century Syrian Christian traditions; it includes a list "concerning the bishops ordained by us in our lifetime". The list then includes "And of Antioch, Evodius, by me, Peter, and Ignatius by Paul". The ninth-century
Chronography of
George Syncellus indicates that "Euodius" was the first Antiochene bishop and that this was around Claudius's fourth year as emperor (). A few scholars such as
Walter Bauer have argued that Evodius was not even Bishop of Antioch and that some ancient lines should be interpreted as claiming that Peter himself was the first Bishop with none between him and Ignatius. A homily by
John Chrysostom praises Ignatius as the successor to Peter, for example, seemingly ignoring Evodius. A short line in Eusebius on Ignatius describes him as "second to be allotted the episcopacy of the succession of Peter in Antioch". While usually interpreted as the author excluding Peter from the episcopacy yet designating its line, Bauer prefers a reading where it is read as Ignatius directly succeeding Peter. Peter's stay in Antioch and role in its church was expanded, with Evodius his chosen successor when Peter departed for Rome. The date of the end of his episcopacy is usually given as 66 AD when he was succeeded by
Ignatius of Antioch. There are differing traditions on his death;
Catholic tradition says it is likely that Evodius died of natural causes, while
Eastern Orthodox tradition holds that he was
martyred under Emperor
Nero. ==Pseudo-Evodius==