Trifolius was a Christian theologian of the sixth century. He is known for his Epistula ad beatum Faustum senatorem contra Ioannem Scytham monachum of 519/20, written to the Roman senator Faustus. It is a report on the beliefs of the Scythian monks

Scythian monks

The Scythian monks were a community of monks from the region around the mouths of the Danube, who played an influential role in Christian theological disputes between the 4th and 6th centuries. The name Scythian comes from Scythia Minor, the classical name of the modern Dobruja region in Romania...

, putting those in the context of other views condemned as heretical by the Catholic Church. It played a part in the rejection of the Theopaschite doctrine.

The "Scythian formula", according to Trifolius, was not to be found in the four Councils, and had already been condemned by the Council of Chalcedon

Council of Chalcedon

The Council of Chalcedon was a church council held from 8 October to 1 November, 451 AD, at Chalcedon , on the Asian side of the Bosporus. The council marked a significant turning point in the Christological debates that led to the separation of the church of the Eastern Roman Empire in the 5th...

. The "formula" refers to Unus ex Trinitate passus est. He refers to what the Council of Chalcedon had held against Carosus and Dorotheus (who were Eutychians). The Trinitarian views attributed to the Scythians he takes to be comparable with those of the Arians

Arianism

Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...

 and Apollinarians.