“It’s better to be faithful before God,” she insisted, “than famous before men.” Basil craved a quiet life of study, prayer, and writing. He settled along the bank of the Iris River on the family estate, preaching to and helping the poor. But his stature was already so great that Emperor Julian the Apostate, though a fierce opponent of Christianity, tried to recruit him as advisor. Basil declined. But he couldn’t refuse the appeal of his own bishop, Eusebius, who warned that the church faced both