Sacred Violence: African Christians and Sectarian Hatred in the Age of Augustine Brent D

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Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-19605-5 - Sacred Violence: African Christians and Sectarian Hatred in the Age of Augustine Brent D. Shaw Frontmatter More information

SACRED VIOLENCE

One route to understanding the nature of specifically religious violence is the study of past conflicts. Distinguished ancient historian Brent D. Shaw provides a new analysis of the intense sectarian bat- tles between the Catholic and Donatist churches of North Africa in Late Antiquity, in which Augustine played a central role as Bishop of Hippo. The development and deployment of images of hatred, including those of the heretic, the pagan, and the Jew, and the modes by which these were most effectively employed, including the oral world of the sermon, were critical to promoting acts of violence. Shaw explores how the emerging ecclesiastical structures of the Chris- tian Church, on one side, and those of the Roman imperial state, on the other, interacted to repress or excite violent action. Finally, the meaning and construction of the acts themselves, including the Western idea of suicide, are shown to emerge from the conflict itself.

brent d. shaw is the Andrew Fleming West Professor of Classics at Princeton University. He has published widely on the regional history of the Roman empire, with particular emphasis on the North African provinces and the problem of violence in its historical contexts, in major journals including the Journal of Roman Studies, Past & Present, and the American Historical Review. He has also co-authored a new world history text entitled Worlds Together, Worlds Apart (2010).

© in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-19605-5 - Sacred Violence: African Christians and Sectarian Hatred in the Age of Augustine Brent D. Shaw Frontmatter More information

SACRED VIOLENCE African Christians and Sectarian Hatred in the Age of Augustine

BRENT D. SHAW

cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao˜ Paulo, Delhi, Tokyo, Mexico City Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb28ru,UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York

www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521127257

c Brent D. Shaw 2011

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First published 2011

Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Shaw, Brent D. Sacred violence : African Christians and sectarian hatred in the age of Augustine / Brent D. Shaw. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-521-19605-5 (hardback) 1. Christianity – Africa – History. 2. Africa, North – Church history. 3. Violence – Religious aspects – Christianity. 4. Church history – Primitive and early church, ca. 30–600. 5.Donatists. 6. Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo. I. Title. br1369.s53 2011 273 .4 –dc22 2010054601

isbn 978-0-521-19605-5 Hardback isbn 978-0-521-12725-7 Paperback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party Internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Shauna devotissimo animo

Vengeance is mine – Ishallrepay(Romans 12: 19)

Contents

List of abbreviations page ix List of maps xi Acknowledgments xii

Introduction 1 1 This terrible custom 10 2 Church of the traitors 66 3 A poisonous brood of vipers 107 4 Archives of memory 146 5 The city of denial 195 6 Ravens feeding on death 260 7 Little foxes, evil women 307 8 Guardians of the people 348 9 In the house of discipline 409 10 Sing a new song 441 11 Kingsofthisworld 490 12 We choose to stand 544 13 Athletes of death 587 14 Bad boys 630 15 Men of blood 675

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viii Contents 16 Divine winds 721 17 So what? 771

Appendix A: Bishops and bishoprics in Africa: the numbers 807 Appendix B: Origins of the division: chronology 812 Appendix C: The Catholic conference of 348 820 Appendix D: The Edict of Unity and the Persecution of 347 822 Appendix E: The mission of Paul and Macarius 825 Appendix F: Historical ﬁctions: interpreting the circumcellions 828 Appendix G: The archaeology of suicide 840 Appendix H: African sermons 842 Bibliography 850 Index 901

Abbreviations

All periodical, serial, and collection abbreviations, other than those noted below, are taken from the standard list in L’Ann´ee philologique.

AASS Acta Sanctorum, Antwerp, Societ´ e´ des Bollandistes, 1643– AfrRom L’Africa romana, Atti del Convegni di Studio, Sassari, 1984– AtlArch S. Gsell, Atlas archéologique de l’Algérie, Paris, Gouverne- ment gen´ erale´ de l’Algerie,´ 1911 (reprint: Osnabruck,¨ O. Zeller, 1973) AugLex Augustinus-Lexikon, ed. C. Mayer, Basel, Schwabe, 1986– BA Bibliothèque Augustinienne: Oeuvres de saint Augustin, Paris, Desclee´ de Brouwer, 1948– CCL Corpus christianorum, series Latina,Turnhout, Brepols, 1954– CIL Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, Berlin, 1863– CLE Carmina Latina Epigraphica, 2 vols., Leipzig, 1895–97 ed. F. Buecheler; E. Lommatzsch, Supplementum, Leipzig, 1926 CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, Vienna, Tempsky, 1866– CTh T. Mommsen and P. M. Meyer eds., Theodosiani libri XVI cum Constitutionibus Sirmondianis et Leges Novellae ad Theodosianum pertinentes, 2 vols., Berlin, Weidmann, 1905 DACL Dictionnaire d’archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie,ed.F. Cabrol and H. Leclercq, Paris, Letouzey et Ane,´ 1907–53 DHGE Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques,ed.A. Baudrillart, Paris, Letouzey et Ane,´ 1912– GCC Gesta conlationis Carthaginiensis anno 411, ed. S. Lancel (see texts s.v. Church Councils) GCS Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte, Leipzig and Berlin, Akademie-Verlag, 1897– ix

x List of abbreviations ICUR A. Silvagni & A. Ferrua eds., Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae, nova series, Rome, 1922– ILAlg Inscriptions latines de l’Algérie, Paris, 1922– ILCV Inscriptiones Latinae Christianae Veteres, ed. E. Diehl, Berlin, Weidmann, 1925–31 (reprint: 1961–67) ILS Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae, ed. H. Dessau, Berlin, Weid- mann, 1892–1916 (reprint: 1954–62) ILTun Inscriptions latines de la Tunisie,ed.A.Merlin,Paris,Presses Universitaires de France, 1944 IRT J. M. Reynolds and J. B. Ward Perkins, The Inscriptions of Roman Tripolitania, Rome, British School at Rome, 1952 [and supplements: PBSR 23 (1955), 124-47; LibStud 20 (1989), 117–26] MGH AA Monumenta Germaniae Historica, auctores antiquissimi, Berlin, 1826– MiAg Miscellanea Agostiniana: testi e studi pubblicati a cura dell’ordine Eremitano di S. Agostino nel XV centenario dalla morte del santo dottore, 2 vols., Rome, Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana, 1930–31 PAC A. Mandouze ed., Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire, vol. 1: Prosopographie de l’Afrique chrétienne (303–533), Paris, CNRS, 1982 PG Patrologiae cursus completus, series graeca, ed. J.-P. Migne, 161 vols. in 166, Paris, Editions Garnier Freres,` 1857–66 PL Patrologiae cursus completus, series latina, ed. J.-P. Migne, 222 vols., Paris, Editions Garnier Freres,` 1844–66;second edition, 1878–90 PLRE A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, J. Morris et al., eds., The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, 3 vols. in 4, Cambridge University Press, 1971–92 PLS Patrologiae Latinae Supplementum, ed. A.-G. Hamman et al., 4 vols., Paris, Editions Garnier Freres,` 1958–74 RAC Reallexikon fur¨ Antike und Christentum, Stuttgart, A. Hiersemann, 1941– SC Sources chrétiennes. Paris, Editions du Cerf, 1942–

Maps

1 North Africa and the western Mediterranean empire page xiv 2A Proconsularis and Byzacena xv 2B Numidia and Mauretania Sitifensis xvi 2C Mauretania Caesariensis and Mauretania Sitifensis xvii 3 The Carthage region xviii 4 The Hippo Regius region xix

Acknowledgments

I would like to record some personal marks of gratitude. I must thank all the persons at Cambridge University Press who were involved in the publication of this book, beginning with Michael Sharp for his willing- ness to consider a large and daunting manuscript. My production editor, Thomas O’Reilly, remained throughout a modulated source of discipline and encouragement. I am also in debt to the anonymous readers of the Press for their perspicacity, their necessary cautions, and their constructive recommendations. Finally, Mr. Adam Gitner, a talented graduate student in the Classics at Princeton, brought his eagle eye to the checking of the primary texts cited in the annotation. The lapses of interpretation and fact that remain, as they say, are my responsibility. In the struggle of the writing, I was assisted by able and generous helpers. At the onset, at my request, Ineke Sluiter, at Leiden, photocopied a whole book and sent it to me, gratuitously—what else are good friends for? In the interim, to those who generously answered pestering questions on points of detail, and who offered other much needed help: Denis Feeney, Joseph Farrell, Bob Kaster, AnneMarie Luijendijk, Ann Matter, Aislinn Melchior, and Eric Rebillard. In the end, there were two wonderful colleagues and fellow historians, Peter Brown and Johannes Hahn, who took from their own valuable time and gave it to a reading of the ﬁnal draft. I must thank the latter for his series of acute challenges and observations, as well as for his critical corrections. Quite apart from his creative insights and provocative suggestions on a draft of the book, my debt to Peter Brown is exceedingly great. Without him, as I am sure many other historians would happily confess, this work of mine would never have existed. The dedication marks another ineffable debt. Shauna Shaw read several drafts of most of the chapters, a near endless rota of drudgery and thankless hard work. She made numerous helpful suggestions in aid of enhancing

xii

Acknowledgments xiii the readability of the text. I owe her for this, and for more of which she alone knows. And then there is the music, reminding one of true value. My thanks to E.C. and Derek Trucks at Philadelphia in November 2006, and to D.T. and his talented fellow players at the McCarter, Princeton, in May 2007.Lifecameback.

a a e e S S c i

t Aeclanum a i Pompeii

r n Lepcis Magna

d Nola Sicily Aquileia A a Oea Ocriculum Rome e r A iber ive I (Trento) T R Tridentum

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a HODNA-BEJAÏA LINE B Caesarea North Africa and the western Mediterranean empire 1 (Bordeaux) Burdigala MAURETANIA Map

CAESARIENSIS s

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Catholic bishopric 0 25 50 75 100 125 150 km Dissident (‘Donatist’ bishopric) 0 25 50 75 100 miles Catholic and ‘Donatist’ bishoprics Western boundary of the civil province of Proconsularis Eastern boundary of the ecclesiastical province of Numidia Hippo Diarrhytus Phisi Thinisa Theudalis? Uzalis Memblone? see map 3 Thabraca Hippo Clupea Trisipa Regius Tuniza Ma..Rensium Saia Maior Bulla AFRICA PROCONSULARIS Curubis Thuburnica Regia Calama Ad Aquas Simitthu Neapolis Thunusuda Zattara Castellum Thagastis Masculula Haraggara Sicca Zama Veneria Regia Thagura Thubursicu Lares Vazi Sarra Muzuc Horrea Caelia Numidarum Madauros Cellae Assuras Obba Thigimma? Urusi Aggar Hadrumetum Tituli Th Mactaris Althiburos ugg Vicus Aug? Leptis Minor a T. Aquae Verrona Mididi Regiae? Uzitta Gummi? Thala Sufes Marazanae? Aquae Ammaedara Aggar? Caesaris Masclianae Theveste Vegesela Aeliae? Vegesela Thysdrus Sufetula Cillium Leges BYZACENA Ruspe Maiores Nara Usula Thelepte Ubaza Taparura Gemellae Cercina Thasbalte? Thaenae Macomades Minores Iunci Bennefa? Capsa D Maiores Ad Turres Cellae Picentinae? Praesidium Silvani Thiges

Aquae Girba Nepte Tacape (Nefta) Tusuros (Tozeur) Turris Tamalleni Shott el-Jerid Gigthis Praesidium Z. Aggarsel Villa Magna

TRIPOLITANIA

Map 2A Proconsularis and Byzacena (The area in the dotted-line square is shown in Map 3.)

Mediterranean Sea

Chully Rusuccuru Cissi Tucca Hippo Regius Icosium Iomnium Igilgili Rusicade Tigisi Rusubbicari Tubusuptu Centenarium Cedamusa? Muslubio Tucca Ad Oliuam Horrea Saltus Calama Lesbi Satafi Bagatensis Zattara Cuicul Milev Thibilis Ad Sava Horrea Cirta Thagastis Sertei Thigillava Constantina Thubursicu N. Sitifis Idicra Rotaria? MAURETANIA Med(iana) Sila Tigisis Sigus Madaurus SITIFENSIS Gemellas? Equizeto Vartani Nova NUMIDIA Thamascani Thamallula Perdices Petra? Diana V. Macomades Aras Lemellef Zarai Gibba Ad Capsum Lamiggiga Ad Centenarium Zabi Iuliani Lamasba Casae Bagai Aquae Macri Cellas Lamsorti Nicivibus Thamugadi Mascula Caesaris Lambiridi Lambaesis Aquae Vegesela Thacarata? Flavianae Shott el Hodna Tubunae Cedias

Leges Maiores Mesarfelta Ubaza Vescera Thabudeos Badias Gemellae

Ad Maiores Catholic bishopric Ad Turres Dissident (‘Donatist’ bishopric) Shott Melrhir Catholic and ‘Donatist’ bishoprics Nepte 0 25 50 75 100 125 150 km (Nefta)

0 25 50 75 100 miles

Map 2B Numidia and Mauretania Sitifensis

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W a MAURETANIA CAESARIENSIS

Mediterranean Sea (Tenes) D Cartennae Cen... Vagal Timici Mina W. Oviza Catholic bishopric Dissident (‘Donatist’ bishopric) Catholic and ‘Donatist’ bishoprics Aquae Sirenses

0 10 20 30 40 km Utica Matara 0 5 10 15 20 25 miles Thisica Biha Bilta Thubba Carthago Vazari Thuburbo Avedda Minus Maxula Carpi Uccula Furnos Minus Naro Vaga Vol Tuccabor Sicilibba Thimida Regia? Membressa Uthina Villa Avensa Magna Thibari Tignica Numluli Abbir Cella Abbir Thubursicu Bure Aquae Pupput Sululos Thuburbo Ziqua Thugga Bisica Maius Uchi Maius Thabbora Abbir Maius Agbia Apisa Maius Semta Turris Rutunda Catholic bishopric Dissident (‘Donatist’ bishopric) Furnos Maius Catholic and ‘Donatist’ bishoprics

Map 3 The Carthage region

0 10 20 30 40 50 km

Mediterranean Sea 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 miles

Tacatua (Chetaibi)

Cap de Garde Tuniza (El Kala) Paratianis Hippo Regius (Annaba) Rustcade (Skikda) Lac Fetzara

Thullio Onellaba Siniti? Mutugenna? Aquae Thibilitanae (Hamman Meskoutine) Fussala? Calama n Gilva? me (Guelma) Flu a ) d da Zattara ra jer Thibilis ag ed B . M Thagaste (W Civitas (Souq Ahras) Popthensis (Asiba) Thiava? Thubursicu Numidarum Thagura (Khamissa) Tipasa (Tifech) Tigisi Gadiaufala (Ksar Sbahi) Madauros

Map 4 The Hippo Regius region (The area within the dotted line approximates the boundaries of Augustine’s diocese of Hippo Regius.)