Of the many accounts of Hypatia's death, the most complete is the one written around 415 by
Socrates Scholasticus and included in the
Historia Ecclesiastica (
Ecclesiastical History).
According to this account, in 415 a feud began over Jewish dancing exhibitions in Alexandria, which attracted large crowds and were commonly prone to civil disorder of varying degrees. Orestes, the Roman governor of Alexandria, and Cyril, the Bishop of Alexandria, engaged in a bitter feud in which Hypatia eventually became a main point of contention. Orestes published an
edict that outlined new regulations for such gatherings, and crowds gathered to read the edict shortly after it was posted in the city's theater. The edict angered Christians as well as
Jews. At one such gathering,
Hierax, a devout Christian follower of Cyril, read the edict and applauded the new regulations. Many people felt that Hierax was attempting to incite the crowd into
sedition. Orestes reacted swiftly and violently out of what Scholasticus suspected was "jealousy [of] the growing power of the bishops…[which] encroached on the jurisdiction of the authorities". He ordered Hierax to be seized and tortured publicly in the theater.
Hearing of Hierax's severe and public punishment, Cyril threatened to retaliate against the Jews of Alexandria with "the utmost severities" if the harassment of Christians did not cease immediately. In response to Cyril's threat, the Jews of Alexandria grew even more furious, eventually resorting to violence against the Christians.
Socrates of Constantinople's account says that the Jews had plotted to flush out the Christians at night by running through the streets claiming that the Church of Alexander was on fire. Christians had then responded to what they believed was their church burning down, and "the Jews immediately fell upon and slew them," using rings to recognize one another in the dark and killing everyone else in sight. According to the accusation, the Jews of Alexandria could not hide their guilt when the morning came, and Cyril, along with many of his followers, took to the city's synagogues in search of the perpetrators of the massacre.
Cyril rounded up all the Jews in Alexandria, then ordered them to be stripped of all possessions, banished them from Alexandria, and allowed their goods to be pillaged by the remaining citizens of Alexandria. Overlooking the supposed massacre of the night before, "Orestes [...] was filled with great indignation at these transactions, and was excessively grieved that a city of such magnitude should have been suddenly bereft of so large a portion of its population." The feud between Cyril and Orestes intensified because of these things, and both men wrote to the emperor regarding the situation. Eventually, Cyril attempted to reach out to Orestes through several peace overtures, including attempted mediation. When that failed, he made an appeal to Orestes's allegiances as a Christian Roman,
[28] showing the
Gospels to him. Nevertheless, Orestes remained unmoved by such gestures.