Arsenius escaped from the palace of Constantinople, and passed fifty-five years in rigid penance in the monasteries of Egypt. See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. xiv. p. 676-702; and Fleury, Hist. Eccles. tom. v. p. 1, etc.; but the latter, for want of authentic materials, has given too much credit to the legend of Metaphrastes.