(Ζαχαρίας).

1. An ecclesiastical writer, commonly known by the name of ZACHARIAS RHETOR. He was bishop of Melitene, and was the author of an ecclesiastical history embracing the period from A. D. 450 to A. D. 491. In the judgment of the orthodox Evagrius this work was written with a bias in favour of the Nestorians. (Evagrius, 2.2, 3.5, 6, 7, 18; comp. Nicephorus, 16.5, 6, 9, &c.) A Syriac translation, which bears no author's name, is claimed as the translation of the work of Zacharias by Assemann (Bibl. Orient. vol. ii. p. 53, &c.; comp. Le Quien, Oriens Christ i. p. 442).