Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great, was a bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, Asia Minor. He was an influential theologian who supported the Nicene Creed and opposed the heresies of the early Christian church, fighting against both Arianism and the followers of Apollinaris of Laodicea.

The Cappadocian Fathers, also traditionally known as the Three Cappadocians, were a trio of Byzantine Christian prelates, theologians and monks who helped shape both early Christianity and the monastic tradition. Basil the Great (330–379) was Bishop of Caesarea; Basil's younger brother Gregory of Nyssa was Bishop of Nyssa; and a close friend, Gregory of Nazianzus (329–389), became Patriarch of Constantinople. The Cappadocia region, in modern-day Turkey, was an early site of Christian activity.