flourished 2nd century AD, Alexandria
Founder of the Basilidian school of Gnosticism .
According to Clement of Alexandria , Basilides claimed to base his teaching on a secret tradition of Peter the Apostle . He wrote psalms, odes, commentaries on the Gospels, and his own gospel. Fragments of these writings and varying accounts by Clement, St. Irenaeus , and others suggest that his system of belief included elements from Neoplatonism as well as the New Testament. The school survived in Egypt until the 4th century.