sentences:  Saint Basil the Great (c. 330 - 379) is one of the most important influences on both Byzantine and Western monasticism.Before forming his own monastic community, he visited Egypt, Mesopotamia, Palestine and Syria, observing the monastic life and learning both from the positive and negative examples he encountered.He later composed his "Asketikon" for the members of the monastery he founded about the year 356 on the banks of the Iris river in Cappadocia.