Simeon, a Syrian Christian ascetic dismissed from a Syrian monastery for excessive austerity, became a hermit on Mount Telanissae.
He eventually moves to a platform at the top of a pillar, or stylos.
His advice sought by thousands of pilgrims, he remains at the top of the pillar until his death in about 459.
Simeon, who will be widely imitated, is the first of early Christianity’s so-called pillar ascetics.
