Simeon Stylites, Byzantine saint (b. 390)
Simeon Stylites or Symeon the Stylite (c. 390 – 2 September 459) was a Syrian Christian ascetic, who achieved notability by living 37 years on a small platform on top of a pillar near Aleppo (in modern Syria). Several other stylites later followed his model (the Greek word style means "pillar"). Simeon is venerated as a saint by the Coptic Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic Churches. He is known formally as Simeon Stylites the Elder to distinguish him from Simeon Stylites the Younger, Simeon Stylites III, and Symeon Stylites of Lesbos.