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Patr. Pawlos’s name (‘of the house of the black ones’) was rendered in Greek as ‘of the black (ones)’ (Melanos, sing., or Melanōn, plur.).
Paul, nicknamed the Black, was of Alexandrian origin and lived in Constantinople together with the miaphysite patriarch Theodosius of Alexandria. Theodosius ordained him patriarch of Antioch in 564, but he never was accepted by all the miaphysites in Syria. Paul's position was further weakened in the early 570s, when he temporarily entered into communion with the Chalcedonians. Eventually, his opponents succeeded in ordaining Peter of Callinicum as counter-patriarch. According to Joh. Eph., EH 4.54-57, Paul spent his last years in hiding and his death went largely unnoticed.