Between 456 and 466, we are told by Cyril of Scythopolis (Vita S. Sabae, 9), S. Saba, sent on a mission from Palestine to Alexandria, was surprised to meet his father John, from whom he had been parted at the age of five in 444. In that year John had been conscripted and drafted into the numerus Isaurorum at Alexandria; now, under the name of Conon, he had risen to command of the unit. He was overjoyed at being reunited to his son, and suggested that he στρατεύεσθαι καὶ πρεσβύτερον τοῦ νουμέρου γενέσθαι.