Thomas 4 was a native of Alexandria, described as zealous and devout (ἄνδρα ζηλωτὴν καὶ εὐλαβέστατον); in 785 he was summoned to attend the Ecumenical Council called in that year by the empress Eirene 1; he later became archbishop of Thessalonike, in which post, according to Theophanes, he distinguished himself (ἀρχιεπίσκοπος τῆς ἐν τῷ Ἰλλυρικῷ μεγαλοπόλεως Θεσσαλονίκης γενόμενος διέπρεψεν): Theoph. AM 6277. The text of Theophanes is uncertain; the words καὶ Θωμᾶν Ἀλεξανδρείας ("and Thomas (native of) Alexandria") appear in one MS as ἐκ δὲ Ἀλεξανδρείας Θωμᾶν ("on the other hand from Alexandria (they brought) Thomas"), probably a change introduced to balance the words ἐκ μὲν Ἀντιοχείας two lines earlier (referring to Ioannes 15). See further Treadgold, Revival, p. 399, n. 88. Thomas 4 was hegoumenos of the Egyptian monastery of St Arsenius: Mansi XIII 133 and XIII 380 (cited below). He arrived in time to attend the Council in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople on 7 August 786 (so Theophanes; the correct date was 31 July, see Grumel, Regestes 355): Theoph. AM 6278. He and Ioannes 15 remained at Constantinople until the council was reconvened at Nikaia in October (correctly September) 787: Theoph. AM 6279 (τοὺς ... ἀνατολικοὺς ἐκ προσώπου).

At the Council Thomas 4 and Ioannes 15, both priests and monks, acted as representatives of the apostolic sees of the eastern diocese (Ἰωάννου καὶ Θωμᾶ τῶν εὐλαβεστάτων πρεσβυτέρων, μοναχῶν καὶ τοποτηρητῶν τῶν ἀποστολικῶν θρόνων τῆς ἀνατολικῆς διοικήσεως): Mansi XII 994-XIII 486 (at Mansi XII 994; Ioannes 15 represented Antioch, Thomas 4 Alexandria). Thomas 4 was the synkellos of the patriarch of Alexandria; he and Ioannes 15 were selected as representative of the eastern patriarchates by the patriarchs of Antioch and Alexandria and sent to attend the Council, following a letter from the patriarch of Constantinople, Tarasios 1; they are described as devoutly orthodox and lovers of peace: Mansi XII 1131 (cited under Ioannes 15), cf. XIII 133 and XIII 380 (Θωμᾶς ἐλέῳ Θεοῦ πρεσβύτερος καὶ ἡγούμενος μονῆς τοῦ ἁγίου πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἀρσενίου τῆς διακειμένης ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ (ἄνω Βαβυλῶνος added at XIII 380), ἐπέχων τὸν τόπον τῶν τρίων ἀποστολικῶν θρόνων, Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἀντιοχείας καὶ Ἱεροσολύμων), XIII 459.

Thomas 4, a monk and priest, attended the Council as representative of the patriarch of Alexandria, Politianos 1: Ignatios, Vita Tarasii 28. Thomas 4 and Ioannes 15, monks and priests, were the representatives of the apostolic sees of the east at Nikaia: Photius, Ep. 1, lines 374ff. (I 13f. Laourdas-Westerink) (the name of the patriarch of Alexandria, Politianos 1, is here given as Apolinarios), Ep. 2 (I 40ff. Laourdas-Westerink). Thomas 4 and Ioannes 15 brought a letter from the bishops and clergy of the Oriental diocese: Mansi XII 1007 (διὰ Ἰωάννου ... καὶ Θωμᾶ πρεσβυτέρου καὶ ἡγουμένου). They attended the first seven sessions, from 24 September to 13 October 787, and presumably the last also on 23 November 787: Mansi XII 994, XII 1051, XII 1114, XIII 1, XIII 157, XIII 204, XIII 365, XIII 413. At the third session Thomas 4 and Ioannes 15 gave their approval to the readmission to their sees of Gregorios 38 and other former heretics: Mansi XII 1119. At the fourth session, after a letter of Neilos the monk was read out in support of icons, Thomas 4 reported a rumour that Neilos had written against icons; he then produced a codex by him from which a passage was read out: Mansi XIII 33 (Θωμᾶς ὁ εὐλαβέστατος πρεσβύτερος καὶ τοποτηρητὴς τῶν ἀνατολικῶν). He told the Council that the picture depicting Christ and the Theotokos with John the Baptist and apostles, prophets and martyrs including SS. Cyrus and John described by Sophronios of Jerusalem in the Miracles of SS. Cyrus and John was still to be seen in the Tetrapylon at Alexandria and still worked cures: Mansi XIII 60. Later Thomas subscribed the statements read out from the Fathers in support of the veneration of icons: Mansi XIII 133. At the seventh session he subscribed the statement of the faith adopted by the Council: Mansi XIII 380.

Named in a list of archbishops of Thessalonike in the Synodikon of Orthodoxy: Gouillard, "Synodikon", p. 114, IX, line 5.

Thomas 4 was a representative from the East at the Council of Nikaia: Theod. Stud., Ep. 38, lines 63-66.

Possibly identical with the unnamed archbishop of Thessalonike in 797 when Theodoros 15 (Theodore the Stoudite) was exiled there: Theod. Stud., Ep. 1, 3. This unnamed archbishop could also have been Theophilos 12.

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