[1] Aurelianus succeeded in granting him the tax remission for Cyrene and the Pentapolis and the exemption from curial obligations for him,[7] but then he fell in disgrace and Synesius lost everything.

In 410 Synesius, whose Christianity had until then been by no means very pronounced, was popularly chosen to be bishop of Ptolemais, and, after long hesitation on personal and doctrinal grounds,[11] he ultimately accepted the office thus thrust upon him, being consecrated by Theophilus at Alexandria.

[1] His tenure of the bishopric was troubled not only by domestic bereavements (his three sons died, the first two in 411 and the third in 413) but also by the Libyan invasions of the country who destroyed Cyrenaica and led him to exile,[12] and by conflicts with the praeses Andronicus, whom he excommunicated for interfering with the Church's right of asylum.

[13] His many-sided activity, as shown especially in his letters, and his loosely mediating position between Neoplatonism and Christianity, make him a subject of fascinating interest.

His scientific interests are attested by his letter to Hypatia, in which occurs the earliest known reference to a hydrometer,[14] and by a work on alchemy in the form of a commentary on Pseudo-Democritus.