Dirk Rohmann Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte
Founded by Karl Holl † and Hans Lietzmann †
Edited by Christian Albrecht and Christoph Markschies Volume 135 Dirk Rohmann Christianity, Book‑Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity
Studies in Text Transmission An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libra- ries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books Open Access. More information about the initiative can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License, as of February 23, 2017. For details go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
ISBN 978-3-11-048445-8 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-048607-0 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-048555-4 ISSN 1861-5996
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress.
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
© 2016 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston Printing: CPI books GmbH, Leck ♾ Printed on acid-free paper Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com Preface
Ihavebeen interested in the impact of Christianityonthe transmission of an- cient texts ever since Istudied classicalliterature and history.During my grad- uate studies in Tübingen, Ibecame interested in Christian authorsand religious studies. Discussions and several readers have helpedtoenhance this book. Iam aware that aproject like this will always leave some questions unresolved, and the specialist reader mayfind that Ihavenot included in the final version every possiblestudypertinenttoeach aspect of this book. Iamgrateful to the Alexander vonHumboldt Foundation for agenerous re- search grant thatallowed me to do research for this book at the University of Col- orado at Boulder and lateratthe University of Bonn. Iwould like to thank Noel Lenski, who made my stayinBoulder convenient and productive.Ihave been able to discuss this work with various scholars, of whom Iwould like to mention JamesCorke-Webster,Aaron Jackson, Melissa Markauskas, Hannah Probert,Kon- radVössing and Jamie Wood, and to present preliminary results internationally at various workshops and conferences.
Dirk Rohmann
Contents
Introduction 1 Overview of Previous Scholarship 4 Text Transmission in Antiquity 8 Factors Affecting the Transmission of Texts 10
The Great Persecution, the Emperor Julian and Christian Reactions 24 . Laws against Astrologersand Magicians beforethe Fourth Century 24 . The Great Persecution 27 . Constantine 31 . Christian Reactionstothe Great Persecution 35 . Julian and the Constantinian Dynasty 54 . Christian Reactionstothe Emperor Julian 57 . Conclusion 60
FahrenheitAD451 – Imperial Legislation and Public Authority 62 . Magic Trials under the Emperor Valens 64 . The Theodosian Dynasty 69 . Philosophy and Astrology 77 . Curiosity and Illness 85 . Rutilius Namatianus and the Burning of the Sibylline Books 91 . Magic and Hellenist Trials in the Fifth Century 93 . Codex Justinianus 96 . Religious Inquisitions in the AgeofJustinian 102 . Conclusion 109
Holy Men, Clerics and Ascetics 111 . Book-Burning in the Acts of the Apostles 111 . Ecclesiastical Law in Late Antiquity 114 . Philosophy and Heresy 116 . Zacharias’ Life of Severus 124 . “IGiveYou Power to Trample on Serpents” 132 . Individuals Renouncing their Past 137 . Philosophy and Magic 144 . Conclusion 146 VIII Contents
Materialist Philosophy 149 . Materialist Philosophies in Late Antiquity 151 . Christianity and Ancient Materialist Philosophy 157 . Augustine’sLetter to Dioscorus 163 . The Eschatological Cities of Babylon and Jerusalem 174 . Prudentius and Epicurus 182 . Polemicsagainst Materialist Philosophies in the East 186 . Conclusion 195
Moral Disapproval of LiteraryGenres 198 . John Chrysostom and the Decline of Ancient Philosophy 200 . Libanius’ Complaints 209 . The Decline of LibrariesinRome 212 . The Jerome–Rufinus Controversy 217 . Christianity and Classical Literature 220 . Christianity and Paideia 231 . Conclusion 235
Destruction of Libraries 238 . ATemple Destroyed in Antioch 239 . The Palatine LibraryinRome 241 . The LibraryofAlexandria 243 . The Sack of Rome 256 . The LibraryofConstantinople 258 . Conclusion 260
The Post-Roman Successor States 262 . Burning and Confiscation of Books after the FallofRome 263 . Ecclesiastical Law 278 . IsidoreofSeville 281 . MembraDisiecta 289 . Conclusion 294
Conclusion 296
Bibliography 303 Primaryliterature 303 Secondaryliterature 310
Index of persons 325 Contents IX
Subject index 330
Index of passages 338
Introduction
The modern book has its roots in Late Antiquity.Inthe ancient world texts were normallywritten on rolls,which weremade predominantlyout of papyrus.Com- paratively, thecodex-book embodies aform much closer to today’sbooks. Codi- ces werebound books thatallow the opening of twopages at atime. While paper as we know it was unknowninAntiquity,ancient codices weremostlymade out of parchment.Parchment codices became the predominant form of books from Late Antiquity(c. 300 –700) to the Middle Ages. Both forms wereusedtopresent and preserveinformation, but the durability of the materials used required them to be copied, leading to accidental and deliberate redactions,misinterpretations and mistakes.Because of their literal, symbolic and culturalpower,and because they wereoftenused to transmit religious doctrine, magic and arcane rites and narratives, and cultural information, books in this period wereemblematic sites of contention between competingideologies and cultural discourses.Inthis con- text,bookscould getlost,they could be censored and banned,and they could also be burntordestroyed. As aculturalpractice, book-burning was known and performedthroughout Antiquity. While other methodsofdestruction did exist,such as by throwingin water,book-burning wasthe most effective method of obliterating the writing that the book contained. It also served the purpose of ritualized purification when applied to books containing content classed as dangerous or seditious. This book considers and examines book-burning and censorship of books in Late Antiquity, arguing that the demonisation of books contrary to the Christian world view had anegative impact on the transmission of texts between Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The assumption that book-burning was seen as ameans of purification needs some clarification. Christianity had its ownconcepts of purification. The Bible, particularlythe New Testament,isfull of images emphasising the purify- ing forceoffire;God and the faith are portrayed as fire, destroyingthe enemies of faith and testingthe true faith as if fire tests gold and silver, and the fear of hellfire justifies anyloss or drastic measure in this world.¹ The Christian author Origen givesavery interesting testimonial on the Christian idea of faith as afire verifyingany human interpretation on the true understandingoffaith. Comment-
Cor. :–; Pet. :;Ps. :;Mark :–;Matt. :;Apoc. :.Abbreviations of ancient authorities arebased on Lampe’s Patristic GreekLexicon,the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae and Liddell–Scott–Jones’s Greek–EnglishLexicon. All translations aremyown. Translations of biblical texts aremodernised from the KingJames Version. 2 Introduction ing on the biblical Book of Numbers, Origen explains the role of heretics² within God’screation, suggesting,asotherChristian authors do, that the fire of biblical truth is not onlyabletorefuteheretics,but does also shine brighter if elucidated by false, heretical interpretations. While this is asomewhat metaphorical pic- ture, Origen does mention at least one heretical author (Marcion) whose works wereactuallyordered to be burnt.³ This shows that the idea of true faith burning and purifyingfalse interpretations wasclose to the actual act of refuting and lit- erallydestroyingheretical works,while the act of refutation itself helped to shape orthodoxy.Inother words, thereisnoneed for the refuted material to sur- vive. This spiritual value of ancient writingsstands alongside theirmaterial worth. In Late Antiquity expensive codex-books became the norm, but ancient papyri-books wereprobablymuchcheaper,given the availability of the material as papyrus wasaplant that grew abundantlyinEgypt.InclassicalAthens, books written by the philosopher Anaxagoras werereportedlysold for the market-price of one drachma, perhaps comparable to the dailywageofaskilled worker.⁴ Ac- cording to the Edict on Maximum Prices in 301, in Late Antiquity scribes were paid much more than that to produce books, but the currencyhad long been de- valuated. It is therefore difficult to comparebook-prices. At anyrate, book prices greatlydiffered depending on the quality and ageofthe book.⁵ There is ageneral tendencythat codex-books in Late Antiquity became more lavish and expensive, especiallyChristian books. Moreover,although it is hardlypossible to give exact figures,there was alsoarelatively highdegree of literacy in ancient societies. In- scriptionshad acentral place in manyancientcities. On the other hand,just like
The term heretic is usuallyused todaytorefertoChristians whose opinions disagreed with what was regarded as the authoritative interpretation of Christianity at agiven time period, de- fined by councils or Christian authors that were themselvesregarded as authoritative.This is a subjective category as heretics regarded their opinions as the true wayand those of the others as erroneous. Orig. hom. in Num. (GCS ,Orig. :–): ubi enim verafides est et integraverbi Dei prae- dicatio,aut argentea dicuntur aut aurea, ut fulgor auri declaret fidei puritatem et argentum igni probatum eloquia examinata significet. … ista ergobatilla aerea,idest haereticorum voces si ad- hibeamus ad altareDei, ubi divinus ignis est, ubi vera fidei praedicatio,melius ipsa veritas ex fal- sorum comparatione fulgebit. si enim, ut verbi gratia dicam, ponam dicta Marcionis aut Basilidis aut alterius cuiuslibet haeretici et haec sermonibus veritatis ac scripturarum divinarum testimoniis velut divini altaris igne confutem, nonne evidentior eorum ex ipsa comparatione apparebit impie- tas? (The use of u/v in the Latin and of upper/lower case in sentence openings and propernames has been adaptedfor consistencythroughout). Pl. ap. d. An example for cheapold books is Gell. ..Other examples,Blanck (), –. Introduction 3 in today’sworld, booksweresometimes recycled. Thus, the first-century poet Martial advises acolleaguetodonate his books to fish-sellers.⁶ This is somewhat ironic, but shows thatpapyrus was used as wrapping material. Manytexts writ- ten on papyrus have been discovered in tombs,used, for example, as wrappings for mummies or sacredcrocodiles. The spiritual nature of these texts therefore surpassed the value of the writing material. It is alsoknown from Oxyrhynchus that biblical books werebinned regardless of doctrinal concerns.⁷ It is conceiv- able that,when alimited number of books were burnt, their material value was somewhat negligible. On the other hand,manyclassicalauthors had a highregard for the cultural value of booksand therefore despised their destruction.⁸ It alsoknown from the Life of Severus (discussed in section 3.4) that one owner of magic books paid an unspecified, but reportedlyhighprice to acquirethese. The burning of magic books maywell have included acertain amount of social envy as the individuals who burnt these books would often have been unable to afford booksatthis price. Censorship maybedefined as the suppression of texts (entire books or sin- gle passages) as objectionable, often on ideological (includingreligious) grounds,applied through an authoritative agent.Censorship can be applied, for example, through legislation to curb the circulation of anywritings,the wider ramifications of this being the active refusal to copytexts. Because of its association with totalitarian statesinthe twentieth century(mostnotably the Nazi book-burning of 1933)and because of avariety of fictional works,con- temporary readers often have an emotive response to the idea and practice of book-burning and censorship. Yet, the concept of censorship was already known to Plato,⁹ and it was endorsed by later Christian authorities. The institu- tional possibilities within which censorship could be enforced in Antiquity were very different from modernstates,asmanybookswereprivatelycopied and dis- tributed. Censorshipinpre-modern societies has therefore been linked to canon formation.¹⁰ It is alsoworth noting that in Antiquitythere was no constitutional or general lawdefining freedom of speech. While the concept of liberty of speech (libertas dicendi)did exist,itdid so more as aprivilegeofthe elite rather than as an accepted legal and cultural human right.Thuswhen bookswereburnt in Late Antiquityitwould be inaccurate to consider this (as we would in contemporary
Mart. ..Onsimilar examples,Speyer (), . Luijendijk (). Ihavetreatedthis aspect extensively in my article. Pl. r. .b: ‘the first thing will be to establish acensorship of the writers of fiction’ (πρῶτον δὴἡμῖν,ὡςἔοικεν, ἐπιστατητέον τοῖςμυθοποιοῖς). And see Naddaff (). Assmann and Assmann (). 4 Introduction terms) as an individuallyorculturallyoppressive act,although it is possible that the owners of these books maywell have thought otherwise.¹¹ While book-burn- ing and censorship are todayoften regarded as government-sanctioned acts, we will see avariety of different incidents. Besides publicacts of book-burning, often performed by secular or ecclesiastical authorities, bookscould privately be burnt both in Antiquityand in our own recent past.Thismeansthat there are avariety of motivestodestroy abook.Examples mayinclude waste manage- ment; destruction of amanuscript by the author,who feels his contribution to be inadequate; voluntary destruction by the owner who dislikes the content of a book (because of its poor quality or out of ideological or religious reasons); burn- ing aholybook to attract publicity;spontaneous acts of book-burning causedby religious or moraloffence; identity-forming, ceremonialacts of vandalism, if, for example, supporters of afootball club burnitems related to arival club. Ishall consider book-burning in every possible form, distinguishing between different motivations to burn books. Ishall also consider censorship not so much in amodern understanding (government-sanctioned oppression of writings) as within the possibilitiesofanancient state: as orders or recommendations to ban booksorasactive refusal to copy books. Both strands of investigation and analysis will be pursuedinorder to answer the question of whether or not book-burning,the banning of books, the active refusal to copy texts,and the deliberate neglect of bookstopromotetheir disintegration inspired by reli- gious reservations affected the survival of pagan literatures,particularlythose concerned with the pre-Christian philosophicaltradition.
Overview of Previous Scholarship
To date, no detailed specialised studyhas comprehensively investigated the sub- ject of Christian book-destruction and censorship of pagan texts at the end of Antiquity.¹² In their examinations of Christian book production, particularly
Ihavediscussed this in greater detail in Rohmann (). The term pagan refers to religious affiliation outside of Christianityand Judaism, normally aligned with Greco-Roman religions and particularlyinLate Antiquity with ‘oriental religions’ (such as the cults of Mithras, Cybele and Isis). After Christianitybecame the statereligion of the Roman Empire, unbaptised individuals could be seen as pagans,and Christian sourcesusu- allyrefertopagansasGreeks,Hellenes in the East (thus Hellenism as paganism) and ethnici, pagani, gentiles in the West.With pagan literatureImean every form of writingauthored by pa- gansorofpagan character (including,for example, magic, astrology and philosophy), whereas classical literatureisasub-category that comprises acanon of high-quality literature(for exam- Overview of Previous Scholarship 5 the origins and introduction of the codex, recent works on Christianityand text transmission have perhaps not fullyappreciated the cultural-historicalsignifi- cance of book-burning and censorship in Late Antiquityorits ramifications for Classical Studies.¹³ While the subject of religious violence in this period has re- centlyattracted sustained consideration bothinmonographs and conference proceedings,scholars of religious conflict have paidrelatively little attention to the active processesofbook-burning – especiallywhen compared to the aca- demic focus on the destruction of other pagan cultural objects.¹⁴ As aconse- quence, drawingonanthropological and sociological theories, atendency has arisen to categorise book-burning in Late Antiquity as an act of religious purifi- cation ritual rather than an act of cultural violence and of censorship.¹⁵ Supporting this narrative’scontention is an academic consensus across the fields of Classical Philology, Archaeology, and EarlyMedieval History that has noted the detrimental impact Christianity had on the uninterrupted and uncor- rupted transmission of ancient texts,although it does not always position this as aconsequenceofactive censorship or destruction. While earlystudies on this subjectwerepartlyinformed by the outdated view of astrict pagan–Chris- tian divide, anumber of recent studies still adhere to the view thatChristianity had anegative impact on text transmission.¹⁶ Indeed, the theme of zealous Chris- tians burning pagan books, thereby destroying the legacyofAntiquity has had a place in popular and scholarlyvisionsince Gibbon’soutrageatthe burningof the library of Alexandria in TheDecline and Fall of the Roman Empire (chapter 28,1781). Similarly,inhis polemical late work, TheAntichrist,the nineteenth- century philosopher Nietzsche sought to portraythe negative impact Christianity had on Romanculture. (§ 57;59–60). While Gibbon and Nietzsche’sviews wereinformed by the religious and cul- tural discourses of their time, modern scholarship has adopted moreneutral views on the transformations thatChristianity introduced to Late Antiquity. Stroumsa, for example, noted that the “rise of the religions of the book” was an important aspect of Late Antiquity,when various co-existing religions increas- ple, the works of Cicero or Plato). Instructive overview of terms used by Christian authors of An- tiquity with regardtopagans and pagan authors:Kahlos (), –.And see Bowersock (); Alan Cameron (), –. Grafton and Williams (); Williams (); Klingshirn and Safran (). Hahn (); Gaddis (); contributions in Drake (), Hahn et al. (), Hahn (). Sarefield (); Sarefield (); Averil Cameron (); Herrin (). Norden (), –;Erbse (), ;Rüdiger (), ;Wilson ([] ), ; Prinz (), ;deFaveri (), ;Klopsch (), ;Mojsov ()specificallyon Alexandria. Recent book on book-burninginthe Middle Ages: Werner (). 6 Introduction ingly came to focus on texts of authority,and that these changes lead to harden- ing of attitudes against other persuasions.¹⁷ The Judaeo-Christian tradition is an obvious example for this transformation, but so tooare Islam and Manichaeism. It has also been noted that monotheistic ideas can as well be traced to the rel- evant pagan religious and philosophical groups of Late Antiquity.¹⁸ To my mind, there was still adifferenceinthe attitudes towards the writtenword that came with Christianity.The Bible was divinelyrevealed. The establishment of acorrect text and of acertain canon of books was thus something other than simplyphilological accuracy.Itwas about knowledge of thingsdivine. This in- tensified the magical perception of written textsinAntiquity,discussed above. This changecan also be seen in the sacrosanctnature of texts.While there have always been sacredtexts in classical cultures,such as the Sibylline oracles, mystery religions and the teachings of Pythagoras, which werekept secret,some Christian texts contained colophons,written warnings against anyalteration of the text.¹⁹ Moreover,itisgenerallyaccepted that by the fourth century Christian au- thors tended to advocate areligiouslyneutralreading of the classics. While Stroumsa acknowledgedthat leadingChristian authorsadvocated censorship of heretical ideas, one of the questions addressed in this book is whether heresy was aligned onlywith specificallyChristian non-conformism or also with pagan traditions.²⁰ In this context,Speyer’sGerman language Book-Destruction and Censorship of the Spirit by Pagans,Jews and Christians and Sarefield’s Burning Knowledge: StudiesofBook-burning in AncientRome are both much broader in terms of their time period and the identities of people involved in these practices.Both Speyer and Sarefield dedicated onlyafew pages on the subject of book-burning and censorship of textsoriginatingfrom pagan traditions in Late Antiquity,em- phasizing the need for further research into this question.²¹ Speyer’sstudybrokeupthe losses caused by censorship and destruction into different categories. On one hand, he concluded thatthe loss of heretical
Stroumsa (), –, –. See Athanassiadi and Frede (). Forexample, Apoc. :: “If anyone adds anythingtothem, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll.” (ἐάντις ἐπιθῇἐπ’αὐτά,ἐπιθήσει ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ὁ θεὸςτὰςπληγὰς τὰςγεγραμμένας ἐντῷβιβλίῳ τούτῳ)Further examples,Speyer (), –. Stroumsa (), –, . Speyer (), –;Sarefield (). Earlygeneral studies on book-burninginAntiqui- ty,with no special interest in Late Antiquity:Forbes (); Cramer ()and Speyer’sprelimi- nary study(). Overview of Previous Scholarship 7 texts was aconsequenceofsuppression and deliberate destruction, noting the ways thatclerical and imperial authorities outlawedheretical books. As aconse- quence, he suggested that such textssurvivedonlywhen orthodoxauthors quot- ed fragments for refutation, when copyists forgedthe author’sname and attrib- uted the work to apopularorthodoxauthor,orwhen these texts were translated and transmittedinthe Islamic world. On the other hand, he alsocontends that only “avery small part” of pagan literature was destroyed by Christians,acon- clusion based on the paucity of evidence indicating the exact titles or figures of books destroyed.²² However,the balanceofprobability and evidence indicates that Speyer is right when he suggests that it is difficult to estimate what was ma- teriallylosttobook-burning and censorship.While he categorised targeted pagan texts into magical literature, anti-Christian writings, ritual booksand lascivious literature, Speyer began with astatement that merits further discussion:
From pagan scientific books,inwhich the old religion was defended, Christianityattacked, thereare onlyweak remainders extant or evidencethat such works have once existed. This is largely the faultofecclesiastical censorship of books,supported by edicts of Christian emperors.(Speyer,1981,134)
Speyer defines these writingsasananti-Christian speech by the rhetorician Fronto, apamphlet by Hierocles,and the treatises of the philosophers Celsus and Porphyry and the emperor Julian. Yetthe rate of survival is no more fruitful with regard to other writings. Where magical papyri have turned up since the nineteenth century,they have been chance finds and manyphilosophical texts,notablythose of the pre-Socratics, have not survivedatall except in refu- tations by Christian authors.²³ Before concluding answers can be givenonthe impact Christianity had on the dissemination of pagan books, it is therefore necessary to brieflyoutline the trajectory of the transmission of pagan literature in general. It is clear that various factors have affected the transmission of texts,asweshall see in the fol- lowing section. Among these, the social, cultural, and religious rise of Christian- ity should be considered influential as adetrimental or limiting force – both as an active agent in the destruction of books and alimiting factor via their neglect.
Speyer (), – (quotation at ). On an overview of genres editedasthe Papyri Graecae Magicae by Preisendanz, see Brashear (), and also . 8 Introduction
Text Transmission in Antiquity
Most of the literaryworks of Antiquity are lost.For example, it is estimatedthat for Latin literature less than one per cent of titles survive in total.²⁴ The ratio of extant titles to titles lost but known from secondary references is less than 10 per cent for both the Greek and Latin literature.²⁵ However,weare unaware of much of ancient literature’scorpus simply because then-contemporary authors tended not to cite or mention the sources they used. An exception to this is Plinythe Elder who claims to have studied 2,000 books to write his NaturalHistory.²⁶ On the otherhand, much of highqualityliterature, but significantlymore Greek than Latin literature has survived: the Attic orators,for example, including all of Demosthenes and pseudo-Demosthenian texts,and works from the fourth- century pagan rhetorician Libanius have all come down to us. Apart from quotations of ancient literature, the evidence on the amountof literarytitles extant at agiven period within Antiquityisscant.Manywritten texts werenot meant to survive for centuries, but onlytocirculate among alim- ited readership. In this age, books werefound in the public libraries of presti- gious cities, institutions affiliated with gymnasia, and privatecollections.Ifa book did not find areadership, then the chances were that it would not be cop- ied. Giventhe perishable nature of the materialsthat textswerecopied onto, this meant thatitwould not survive.Byextension, texts that gained awider audience weremorelikelytosurvive.For example, in his famous tenthbook of Institutio Oratoria Quintiliangaveahistory of famous Latin literature in comparison with Greek literature, used in schools and circulating widely. Quintilianwas the first publiclyappointed professor of rhetoric in Rome in the first century and his book outlines the rhetorical processes aimedatcanonisation. As the grammarianTer- entianus Maurus wroteinthe second century “accordingtothe capabilities of the reader,bookshavetheir destinies.”²⁷ One of the key reasons cited as to whymanyofthese books have not come down to us from Antiquity is the break-up of the Western Roman Empire. Up to the mid-twentieth century,the notion of aculturaldecline in Late Antiquitypre- vailed. The works of Brown influentiallyproposed the view that Late Antiquity experiencedbroad culturalchanges, which can best be understood as transfor- mationprocesses, and needsthereforetobeseen as asociety in its own right.²⁸
Fuhrmann (), . Gerstinger(); Bardon (/); vonAlbrecht ()gives asurvey of Latin literature. Plin. nat. pr. . Ter. Maur. : procaptu lectoris habent sua fata libelli. Brown (b); Brown (). Text TransmissioninAntiquity 9
As aresult, Late Antiquity is todayoften regarded as aperiod of culturalrecovery after the so-called third-century crisis, although the view that therewas no cul- tural decline in Late Antiquityisitself now fading.²⁹ Fuhrmann explained the loss of Latin literatureasaresult of the third-centurycrisis, noting the difficul- ties in attributing titles with certainty in the period 235–284.³⁰ Similarly, Herzog and Schmidt posited that changeofliterary taste duringthe Second Sophistic narrowed down the corpus of ancient textsbefore the fourth century.³¹ The evidence is scant,but it is possible to suggest that while the production of literature declined duringthe third century this maynot necessarilyhaveaf- fected the transmission of textsfrom earlier centuries,atleast as far as Greek lit- erature is concerned. Forexample, Longinus, aPlatonic philosopher of the third century AD and teacher of the famous philosopher Porphyry,wrotethat Greek philosophers of various schools studied both ancient and recent authors.³² Sim- ilarly, quoting an anonymous treaty,the Church historian Eusebius attests the transmission of ancient scientificknowledge in the earlyfourth century by non-conformist Christian followers of Artemon.³³ Oribasius compiled amedical handbook on behalf of the emperor Julian (361–363). Although favouring Galen, he was able to draw from manymedicalauthors still extant at that time,³⁴ but he mayhavehad access to aspecial medicallibrary.Thisevidence can be aligned with Witschel’sconvincing qualification of the impact of the third-century crisisonthe urban culture in adetailed study.³⁵ While it is true that more ancient texts todayare extant from the fourth century than from anyother century of Antiquity,this state of transmission is due as much to the prolific Christian authors and obvious interest by the Christian authorities
See recentlyWard-Perkins(). Fuhrmann (), –.Cf. Averil Cameron (), ;Alan Cameron (), – . Herzogand Schmidt(), –. Quoted in Porph. Plot. .–. Eus. h.e. ..: “They give up the sacredscriptures of God, and practise geometry – earth- measurement – as they areofthe earth and speak of the earth, and do not know him who comes from above(John :). Eucledian geometry is practised by some of them, Aristotle and Theo- phrastus areadmired; Galen is perhapsevenworshipped by some.” (καταλιπόντες δὲ τὰς ἁγίας τοῦ θεοῦ γραφάς, γεωμετρίαν ἐπιτηδεύουσιν, ὡς ἂν ἐκτῆςγῆςὄντες καὶἐκτῆςγῆςλαλοῦντες καὶ τὸν ἄνωθεν ἐρχόμενον ἀγνοοῦντες. Εὐκλείδης γοῦνπαρά τισιν αὐτῶνφιλοπόνως γεωμετρεῖ- ται, ᾿Aριστοτέλης δὲ καὶ Θεόφραστος θαυμάζονται· Γαληνὸςγὰρἴσως ὑπό τινων καὶ προσκυνεῖ- ται.) .. suggests such copies were circulating. Orib. coll. med. pr. –. Witschel (). 10 Introduction in transmittingbooks during the Middle Ages rather than the actual comparative productivity of the fourth century. Based on earlier studies, Alan Cameron argued that Latin Christian authors of the fourth and fifth centuries roughlyread the same (Latin and few Greek) classicalauthorsastheir pagan contemporaries did, and thatthese classical au- thors are largely identical with the ones read today.³⁶ The argument of this book is that,while Christian ecclesiastical authors oftencriticised anykind of pagan literature(but with doubtful effect), therewas abroad consensus that certain old branches of pagan philosophywereincommensurable with, and presented achallengeto, Christian doctrine.
FactorsAffecting the TransmissionofTexts
As Ihaveintimated, the survival of ancient books, texts,and writingsoften de- pends on circumstances or aseries of coincidences. Akey factor in this is the willingness to copy texts.Most of the textsthat have failed to come down to us through time perish because of alack of interest in them or achangeincul- tural taste or beliefs. Forexample, earlyimperial histories (such as the history by Cluvius Rufus) weregenerallynot available by the fourth century,Tacitus except- ed. Likewise, while the Hellenistic poet Callimachus lost popularity in the Byzan- tine age, Apollonius of Rhodescontinued to be read. In this section, Ishall there- fore enumerate anumber of factors that affected the transmission of textsfrom Antiquitytothe Middle Ages. Asignificant proportion of scholars identify the eventual transcription from papyrus roll to parchment codex in the late fourth and earlyfifth century as the prime reason for the loss of pagan texts.³⁷ Texts not transcribed wereexcluded from further transmission.Itisnot known whether or not the costs of production contributed to the media change. The material of parchment was in use occa- sionallysince the second century BC at the latest.Martial in the late first century AD mentions earlyparchment codices in casual use for what appear to be pocket books for reading the classics.³⁸ The increasingpreference for parchment is linked to Christianisation. Based primarily on an earlysurvey of books discov-
Alan Cameron (), –, –.Earlier studyonquotations in Lactantius (early fourth century), Ogilvie (). However,there is also evidencetosuggest that the pagan senator Symmachus had access to works by Livy and Plinythe Elder now lost: Symm. ep. ..–. Gemeinhardt(), ;Lapidge (), ;von Albrecht (), ;Speyer (), . Mart. .–. FactorsAffecting the TransmissionofTexts 11 ered in the ancient rubbish bin in Oxyrhynchus from the first to seventh century, Kenyon concluded the material was used mostlyfor Christian texts.³⁹ Roberts and Skeat came up with the hypothesis that Christian congregations promoted the preference for the parchment codex first in Antioch or Rome – although con- temporary scholarship considers this model to be simplistic.⁴⁰ However,from a different angle, Cavallo’ssociological theory of awidespread hostility against the roll as the carrier of the elite rhetorical tradition confirms the archaeological evidence.⁴¹ Nevertheless, the process of replacingold bookswith new parch- ments can be accurately documented onlyfor the theological library of Caesarea in the third and fourth centuries and for the imperial library of Constantinople.⁴² While this process was underwayduringthe period under discussion, it is worth noting that worshippers of the Nile-rivercult in Egypt continued to use papyri as late as the eighth century.⁴³ But by comparison to papyrus,parchment codices could keep more content and allowed for easier cross-referencing – all of which wereofinteresttoChristian Bible exegesis and to the law. Papyrus was available in abundance in the ancient world, indicating that books wereproduced on arelatively large scale. Papyri rolls, up to 11 mlong, wereproducedprimarilyinEgypt.Besides supplying the Mediterranean with writing material, papyrus served different purposes. Estimations are that in the Hellenistic and Roman period production of papyrus amounted “beyond doubt,tomillions of rolls per annum.”⁴⁴ In the earlysecond century,Plinythe Younger,famous author of alettercollection, indicatesthat aprivatebiography of an otherwise unknown person, who had died in his youth, had acirculation of 1,000 copies,but Plinyhere is criticising this effort as inadequate.Nevertheless, this suggests that outwith of its administrative,legal, or governmental uses, papyrus was much used privatelyfor documentation up to and includingperson- al biographies.⁴⁵ Although some scholars continue to sustain “the myth thatpapyrus is not a durable material”,⁴⁶ papyrologists have come to the conclusionthat papyrus is,
Kenyon (), –, –. Roberts and Skeat (), –. Cavallo (). Grafton and Williams (); Alan Cameron (), .Onthe contents of the library in Caesarea, according to Eusebius (whomade extensive use of it), Carriker (), esp. .Itwas smaller than it was claimed. See Trombley (), . Lewis (), .And see Blanck ()onbooks and book-trade in Antiquity. Plin. ep. ... Roberts and Skeat (), . 12 Introduction in fact,anastonishinglydurable, transportable and flexible material, one which has “ausable life of hundreds of years.”⁴⁷ Ancient literary papyri have survived onlyasarchaeological finds discovered since the late nineteenth century,inpla- ces such as the desertsand, graves, rubbish bins and places buried under vol- canic ashes (like the philosophical library in Herculaneum), provided favourable conditions weregiven. It is acommonplacethat no book transferred from roll to codex was likelytosurvive except in special circumstances because rolls that werenot kept safe in sturdyboxes weremuch more vulnerable thanthe parch- ment codex. Rolls could more easilytear if used or rot if opened. However,no papyri containing pagan texts are firmlyknown to have been stored in anyme- dieval library.The numerous Ravenna papyri, which survivedinanarchive,are church documents from 445to700.⁴⁸ The twooldest literary papyri preserved in libraries toohaveChristian texts: 92 and 103 folios (double sided pages) both from the sixth century (the latter wrapped in strips of abook authored by Pliny).⁴⁹ With the abolition of trade routes after the fall of the Roman Empire, papyrus was seldom used in the West.Thisshows that there was some chance that papyri could have been transmitted at least into the Middle Ages, if stored appropriately,and that appropriate storageofpapyri waslinked to Christian in- terests. Alongsidechangingtastes,culturalshifts, and technological developments, military invasions and the economic decline also contributed to the loss of texts in Late Antiquity.Ancient libraries could also easilyfall victim to natural disasters.⁵⁰ Calculations suggest that the losses of Greek manuscripts in the twentieth centuryamounted to around five per cent,with World Wars One and Twobeing significant in this context.⁵¹ The Byzantine (553) and Lombard(568) invasions in Italyseemtocoincide with the end of senatorial subscriptions and the eventual abolition of the senatorial order as well as of the grammarians’ teachingprofession (an end welcomed by Pope Gregory the Great). In the early seventh century Sassanians and later Arabstook important regionssuch as Egypt and Syria, reducing the Byzantine Empire roughlytoAsia Minor and Constantinople.⁵² Therefore, what might be called regime changeand other con-
Lewis (), –,at. Edited by Tjäder (–). Lapidge (), givesanoverview of papyri survivinginthe West. CLA :translation of Flavius Josephus,consideredthe autographofRufinus, CLA : Hilarius,wrapped in CLA . See Heather (); Ward-Perkins (). Since :Richard(), –. See Haldon (); Kaegi (); Kennedy(). FactorsAffecting the Transmission of Texts 13 flict types must have had acorrelative impact on textual preservation and surviv- al. Brown, for example, identifiedeconomic reasons and changingeducational requirementsalongside religious reservations as keyfactors in the decline of classicalstudies.⁵³ This means that when earthlysuccess and social status no longer depended on familiarity with non-Christian texts, this inevitablyled to aloss of interestinthese texts. In the first part of this investigation, Ishallsurvey the evidence for book-de- struction and censorship of books in Late Antiquity (c. 300 –700), discussing the credibility of the sources and setting out the uncertainty of the evidence. Build- ing on previous literature on book-burning and censorship in Antiquity, Iwill consider abroad rangeofrelevant sources from Late Antiquity, particularly pagan and Christian correspondence, history,hagiography, poetry,legal and apologetic-polemical texts,placing particularemphasis on the period after the emperor Constantine. My aim is not to provide acompleteaccount of instances of book-burning and bans. While Iwill discuss the significant relevant instances of book-burning and legal bans on pagan booksortexts,Iam aware thatthere are some further (less important or late) testimonials of Christians burning Chris- tian booksthat Ihavenot included here.⁵⁴ The material is arranged accordingtothe various kindsofbook-destruction: by the Roman authorities in accordancewith law(chapters 1–2);byzealous Christians, such as monks, ascetics and holymen (Chapter 3); by individuals re- nouncingtheir past (section 3.6) and by incidental or deliberate damageinraids and riots (Chapter 6). It is ordered thus to support my contention that while most of the evidence shows thatbooks containing magic, astrology,heresy and spe- cific philosophicalattacks against Christianityweredestroyed, there was also agrey area of booksvulnerable to destruction and the categories of banned and burnt books was not clear-cut.Itisalso ordered thus to distinguish between different motivesfor book-burning,especiallybetween public and private acts. The aim and objectivesofthis book are to examine the practice of book- burning in Late Antiquity,positioning the phenomenon as aritual practice and also apotential means for curbing the circulation of literature that was per- ceivedtobedangerous.Inundertaking this endeavour,the book will present and discuss evidence for bans and censorship of works as well as examining how censorship wasimplemented. Finally, it will survey the polemicaldiscourse sur-
Brown (), –. See Mazza (), ;Luijendijk (), –.Onthe Byzantine Empire, Averil Cameron (), –.BurningofChristian books in the fifth-century Vandal EmpireinNorth Africa: Vict.Vit. hist. pers. . (CSEL :): deinde codices universos sacerdotum, quos persequebantur, praeceperantignibus tradi. Duringthe iconoclastic period: Theoph.AM. 14 Introduction roundinginfluential late antique authors, determining the personal and ideolog- ical attitudes that informed period decisions regardingwhich books to copy or not to copy.Indicating the complexities surrounding such adiscussion of period, texts and authors, Ishall focus on authorsfrom the post-Constantinian period, a time whenChristianitybecame increasinglyand recognizablyculturallydomi- nant,but Ishallalsotrace the origins of these censorious attitudes back to ear- lier Christian authors. This acknowledgesthattheir engagementswith competing literatures and ideologies built on established culturalprecedents, if not neces- sarilylegislative or authoritative ones. It is apparent that these Christian authors were highlyeducated in much of the material they criticise or condemn. Of course,this does not mean that they wereautomaticallyhostile towards these cultures and their literatures. By com- parisonwith the virulence of their attacks on heretical literature,their engage- ments with pagan and classical literatures appear somewhat benign. Ishall arguethat this is because these Christian authors perceivedtheirrefutations as dealingwith enemies still influential. They also criticised the attitudes of con- temporary Christians whom they thought weretoo lax. The guiding thrust of chapters 4–5, therefore, willdetermine in which areas the condemnation is more serious because pagan (philosophical) literature, or opinions transmitted in literature, are linked to heresy,magic, serious deviation from the Christian world view,canonicity and doctrinal issues. This book thereforealsodeals with the suppression of thoughts and ideas. Examining this,Ishall also point to evidence wherethe languageused by Christian authorstorefute philosophical opinions is close to censorship laws and even incidentsofbook-burning in liter- ary sources. In keepingwith the pointsmade by this section, Iwill alsooutline the strategies that wereusedtoappropriate pagan literaturefor the Christian cause. Manyofthe passages Iwill analyse have yettobediscussed so far in this context. It is important to stress thattreatises and sermons (not unlike in today’s world) tell us little about the actual attitudes of the majority of the population and thatincendiary languagehas had along standing in polemicaltexts by dif- ferent philosophical or religious schools since Antiquity(for example, in the es- says by Lucian). These reservations should be taken into account throughout the discussions of the following chapters. This book does not subscribe to the out- dated view that therewas astrongChristian–pagan divide, with regard to cul- ture, social networks or violent conflicts.Manymodern scholars have also been keen to stress that Christian sources overemphasise the conflict between Christians and pagans,but that in reality there was neither publicinterest nor institutional possibilities to violentlycoerce pagans on alarge scale in the fourth FactorsAffecting the Transmission of Texts 15 and fifth centuries.⁵⁵ Keepinginmind this ambiguity,Iwill examine whether or not there is away to determine in which literarygenres the condemnation is sim- plyrhetoric and in which the condemnation mayhaveprovoked action of one form or another.Iwill investigate whether there are pagan literarygenres which are linked broadlytothe fields of magic, divination and heresy and why. Iwill assess which sources these authors themselvesweredrawingon when they polemicizedagainst less well-preserved textsand ideas. This dis- course on which literarygenres belong to Jerusalem and which to Babylon, fig- urativelyspeaking, helps us better to understand the rangeofgenres that were unlikelytobecopied and preserved. Ishallargue that the similarity of terminol- ogyused by Christian authorsand by censorship legislation playedarole in some texts surviving and others being lost.Inthis context,the opinions of a few Christian authors (however powerful some of them were) tell us little about what officials actuallydid with regardtobook-burning,but the Christian polemicaldiscourse opens awindow into the monastic world of Late Antiquity. Within this milieu polemicaland hagiographical discourses on pagan philoso- phyoftenseem to be related. John Chrysostom,for example, was himself very close to the ascetic-monasticenvironment in which hagiographical writings often originated and circulated. Not onlydid monasteries become the transmit- ters of the ancient literarypatrimonybut also monks and ascetics wereoften in- volved in the search for,and destruction of, subversive books. Whilst it is obvious thatthe evidence for book-burning is often linked to re- ligious conflict,the book does not subscribe to the traditionalconflict model. As aconsequence, it must be noted that while religious conflicts demonstrablyoc- curred, the Christianisation of the Roman Empire was much more peaceful and consensual than this selection of evidence implies at first glance. The first part of this book shows that actions against magical and astrological books wereusual- ly aligned with chargesofpaganism, even if the owner of these books purported to be Christians.Nevertheless,this does not mean that there wasastrong pagan–Christian divide or general Christian hostility against the classics or against education throughout Late Antiquity. It must be noted that while the sources often use clear-cut categories regarding religious affiliation, in reality we have to expect anuanced picture: baptised and unbaptised individuals;indi- viduals with weak or strongreligious beliefs, and so on. We have seen that two of the dominant cultural trends of Late Antiquityare the emergence of Christianity as the state religion and the transcription of an-
Averil Cameron (), ; –;Brown (), –;Brown (), –;Caseau (), ;Kahlos (); and Ward-Perkins ()onarchaeological evidence. 16 Introduction cient texts from papyrus to parchment,aprocess that can be linked to Christian- isation. The history of text transmission is somewhat diffuse and obscure.Not- withstanding this,itmustbenoted that as aresultofthis process texts that werenot copied on parchment werenot preserved into the Middle Ages. Intro- ducingand discussing the evidence for Christians destroyingorbanning Chris- tian books, this book indicatesthatthere is scholarlyagreementthat texts that wereunanimouslyregarded as heretical in censorship legislation usuallydid not survive except in refutations, because these wereeither destroyed or deliber- atelyrefused to be copied. From the discussion of chapters 1–3wecan conclude that while books are known to have been destroyed ever since booksexisted, book-burning in Late Antiquityfor the first time affected asignificant part of the population. The con- tents of destroyed books are generallyunclear and mostly unspecified in the sources, with “magical” books beingthe predominant category.The emperor Di- ocletian ordered Christian books to be burnt.Christian authorsblamed pagan philosophers for this,penning some retaliatory narrativesinthe decades to fol- low.Destruction of books was also carried out for other reasons.Under the Chris- tian emperorValens, for example, Roman state authorities searched out and de- stroyed books on magic, lawand liberal arts, in reaction to aconspiracy against the emperor. As aconsequence, owners burnt their whole libraries throughout the East.Itislikelythat philosophical books weredestroyed on this occasion be- cause both Ammianus and later sources report thatcontemporaryphilosophers wereparticularlyaffected. Under Constantine and the Theodosian dynasty,lawswererepeatedlypro- mulgated against arangeofheretical and astrological books, although the search specifics weresomewhat vague. While there is some evidence that books wereoccasionallydestroyed, it is difficult to saywhether or not these laws wereeffective.Alawof409 required mathematici to burn their booksor be expelled. There is evidence in one of Augustine’ssermon (and possiblyinPru- dentius) that this lawwas enforced, at least in the area of North Africa with which Augustine’saudience was familiar.The commonest meaning of mathema- tici in expulsion contextsisthatofastrologer; however,various sources indicate that there was agrey areainthe interpretation of this term, and some Christian authorsuseditpolemicallywith regard to Stoic and Epicurean philosophers. Cer- tainly, there werenoStoic and Epicurean philosophers by this time, but it is pos- sible that books containing these philosophicaltraditions werevulnerable to de- struction.There is scant evidence thatlibraries werepossiblydestroyed during religious conflicts, most famouslywhenthe Serapeum was sacked in Alexandria in 391. FactorsAffecting the TransmissionofTexts 17
Particularlyinhagiographical sources, there is alsoevidence for zealous Christians (monks, ascetics,holymen and Christian medical practitioners), often supported by state authorities, sporadicallyburningpagan and heretical books from Late Antiquity to the earlyMiddle Ages. The reliability of these ac- counts,however,isoften questionable. In these reportedcases of book-burning, magic books again predominateasthese books werebelieved to be powerful. The sources sometimes put magic booksonapar with an unspecific rangeof pagan books withoutdistinction. Nevertheless,asevidenced in the Life of Por- phyry (section 3.5) it is clear that pagan ritual booksweredestroyed. Although mystery religions tended to transmit their doctrines orally, papyri on the reli- gions of Mithras and other gods have been discovered buried in tombs.Inlegen- dary conversion accounts, magic books destined for burningare,infact, por- trayed as books on pagan philosophy. In the few passages of the Life of Severus which describethe content of magic books, these books do not simply contain magical spells, but wereinstead literary texts related to astrology, pagan religion or invocations to gods. In the caseofShenoute (who authored po- lemical treatises against philosophers) magic texts stand alongside whole book stacks owned by pagans and hieroglyphic inscriptions in contextsofdestruction. Section 3.4illustratesthe ways in which searches for these bookswereor- ganised. Local judges, defensores,and civic officials were legallygiven the power to act as areligious police force. Tortures and other means of coercion, includingthe implicit threat of execution, could be applied to extract informa- tion as to which people werekeepingproblematic books. Giventhe practical dif- ficulties of locating copies of abanned book,denunciationwas the most feasible waytoidentify prohibited books, but denunciation was oftendue to reasons such as personal hatred rather thanreligious purification or social control. There is alsosome evidence thatscribes reported to Church authorities suspi- cious pagan contents of books they received, with severe consequences to the owners of these books. Book-burning sometimes was avoluntary act (for exam- ple, to foster one’sown future clerical career), but it could also involvecoercion, as shown in the example of asermon by Augustine, in section 2.3. Accordingtoahagiographical text,the historical setting of which is support- ed by other sources, Epicurean and other texts in the possession of pagans were searched out under torture in Antioch and in the East duringthe reign of Justi- nian, probablyin555.However,itisunlikelythat original Epicurean treatisescir- culated at this time period. It is more likelythat the author was referringtotra- ditionsofEpicureanism or automatism in pagan or heretical works.Assection 2.8alsocontends, burning of pagan books was more frequentlyreportedin the ageofJustinian, when pagans werebarred from teaching, although the sour- ces were written long after the events and refer to these onlybriefly. As chapters 18 Introduction
1–2and 7show,some late antique emperors and earlymedieval kingsused book-burning and censorship as ameansofsocial control,ofteninreaction to current religious struggles for the true way. Heresy and magic conflicts were often connected to conflicts of power,inwhich book-burning served as aritual act. In chapters 4–5, Ishalldiscuss polemicalpassages of Christian authors of the late fourth and earlyfifth centuries that have thus far found little attention in the research. The keyauthors thatIwill mobilise to discuss this proposition are John Chrysostom, Prudentius, Augustine and Cyril of Alexandria (particular- ly his Contra Julianum)asthese authors, to different extents,wrotethe lastcom- prehensive polemics specificallyagainst classicaland pagan literaturesand cul- tures in the late fourth and earlyfifth centuries, with the exception of Theodoret of Cyrrhus. Ishallshow that in Christian polemics chargesofmagic, máthema, períerga,heresy,idolatry,and divination applied to manyphilosophicaltexts,es- pecially on materialist philosophyand in the area of natural philosophy, as his- toricallydevelopedbyEpicurean and Stoic philosophers but also by other old philosophers. Sources on book-burning and censorship-laws in Late Antiquity thus often use aterminologysimilar to Christian polemics. Some provisions of ecclesiastical law(for example, the Apostolic Constitu- tions) barred the clergy from readingboth pagan and heretical works,including scientificbooks disagreeing with the Bible, while permitting the refutation of their arguments against Christianity. Yetitisdoubtful that educated clerics ab- stainedentirelyfrom readingpagan bookssimplybecause of ecclesiastical law. Ishallshow that classicalworks continue to be referred to, suggesting indi- vidual if not culturallycontinued knowledge of their contents.There is evidence in imperial legislation and in literaturethat books on magic, astrology,divina- tion, various heresies and specific attacks against Christianity (likePorphyry) wereofficiallybanned. The categories weresometimesunspecific and could in- clude inquiries into nature contrary to the Christian world view.Laws, especially religious laws, weredifficult to implement; rather these laws served as alegal basis that acknowledgedthe tendencies of that time. The question of how the polemicaldiscourse of Christian authors relates to the history of Late Antiquity is adifficult one. Sermons and treatisesdid not nec- essarilyhaveadiscernible effect on behaviour,atleast as far as the majority population is concerned. Moreover,asIargue, for example, in sections 3.6, 4.3 and 5.6, these late antique authors often benefitted from what they studied earlyintheir livesand later condemned. The polemical statements givenby the Christian authors that Ishall discuss probablyrepresent the actual attitudes onlyofasmall percentageofthe population. Nor do their views represent what Factors Affecting the Transmission of Texts 19 the state authorities did, although some Christian authors reportedlyinfluenced Roman emperors (for example, Lactantius and Constantine). However,influential Christian authors, widelycirculated among the cloisters of the religion, wereauthoritative in the monasteries thatdecided whether or not to preserveagiven text,asIshall argueinchapter 7. The Codices LatiniAnti- quiores indicate thatthe classics hardlycirculated in the West from the fifth to eighth centuries,while Christian ecclesiastical texts werepredominant.There is also evidence to suggest that in few cases whole groups of classical works weredeliberatelyselected to be deleted and overwritten in around AD 700, often with texts authored by these Christian authors or legal texts that criticised or bannedpagan literature.TheseChristian authors are oftencalled Fathers of the Church, which indicates the influencethey had particularlyinmonastic en- vironments.However,their influencedeveloped over the course of centuries rather than immediatelywhen they wrote. Their textsinclude exhortations, of varyingseriousness, not to read certain pagan books, either because it is more importanttoread Christian texts or because (in few cases)these pagan books contain dangerous knowledge.These Christian authors wereregarded as author- itative in defining orthodoxy,and thus texts werelikelytobetransmitted only when they werenot disagreeing with the opinionsofthese authors, as far as theological texts wereconcerned; texts on naturalphilosophywereoften regard- ed as related to theological texts because heretics oftenbasedtheir opinionson ancient philosophers. Most Protestant Churches base their views primarilyon the Bible onlyrather than on the authority of these later Christian authors. Some Christian authors of the fourth and fifth centuries (particularlyJohn Chrysostom) constructed the rise of Christianity as abattle of martyrs against emperors,magicians and pagan philosophers, who derided Christianityand pro- vided the ideological background for the Great Persecution. Conceiving history and religion as battlegrounds and writingwith an evangelising purpose, John Chrysostom oftenalluded to the drasticallyreduced interest in the old philoso- phers by the end of the fourth century,apoint in time when manyoftheirwrit- ingshad been lost.Christian authors often drew on Porphyry to refutephilosoph- ical opinionsagainst Christianity.The main argument of Christian authors of the late fourth and earlyfifth centuries as to whyChristian clerics could be acquaint- ed with ancient pagan texts was that it would allow them to disseminate faith effectively and to refutethe arguments of thoseoutside it more effectively.How- ever,much of this polemicaldiscourse could be wishful thinking,constructed to demonstrate that Christianityhad now overcomethe errors of the past and to en- sure that it continues to do so. Before the third-century crisis, the Stoic and Epicurean philosophical schools weredominant among the elite. Christian authors complained thatma- 20 Introduction terialist world views (although of course not anydeeper understandingofthese philosophies) were even dominant among the population, if we can trust the po- lemical discourses of Christian authors on the subject.Thus Christian texts of the first centuries indicate thatthere was essentiallyamarket-placecompetition be- tween Christian missionaries and these philosophical schools.Other philosoph- ical branches that eventuallyterminated in Late Antiquity included the Cynics and the Pythagoreans.Although largely replaced by Christianityand Neoplaton- ism, literary traditions associatedwith Stoic and Epicurean philosophies were yetnot quite forgotten in the fourth and fifth centuries, at least in oral culture. They continued to be discussed in the writingsofnon-conformist Christians,or so Christian authorsclaim, as Ishallshow in Chapter 4inaddition to earlier re- search. Forexample, the influential non-conformist Christian Marcion (second century) was accused of borrowing from Epicurus. Moreover,John Chrysostom, Prudentius and Augustine agree that Manichaeans borrowed from Epicurean tra- ditions. None of these non-conformist writingshavebeen preserved in libraries, but it maywell have been that, despite all differences, heretical authors indeed adopted ancientphilosophical traditions. The Manichaeans in particularsuf- fered from persecutions and book-burning.Besides handbooks containingold philosophical traditions, even original writingsbyEpicurus could have been cir- culating in the late fourth century.Pagans who argued against Christianityseem to have continued to borrow from the tradition of Epicurean and other material- ist philosophies, or otherwise there would hardly be areason whythese Christi- an authors gotupset about it. In his eschatological City of God against the Pagans,Augustine influentially put forward the idea, borrowed from Plato, thatliteratureopposed to Christian doctrine should have no place in the ideal Christian society.Heattributed the materialist philosophies to Babylon. In similar pictures,Prudentius interpreted the biblical parable of the vine and the branchesasthe pruningofthe unfruitful branches of false philosophyand heresy from the vineofChristian wisdom. Manyother Christian authorsendorsed Plato’sargument for censorship to be ap- plied by the ideal state. Lucretius’ De rerum natura,apopularpoem on Epicur- ean naturalphilosophy, is read today; it was read by elite Christian authorsin Late Antiquity and locked up in Latin monasteries for several centuries. Texts containing traditions of materialist philosophywereunlikelytobecopied. Ironi- cally, the opinions of natural philosophers contrary to Christianityweretransmit- ted and are todayaccessible in the refutations of influential Christian authors. Despite the picture thatemergesfrom this, Iamkeen to stress that Christian- ity was never monolithic; interpretations of the biblical truth allowed for con- tinuityofthe ancient patrimony. Ancient philosophywas the background against which Christian authors constructed the Christian orthodoxy of that time. They Factors Affecting the Transmission of Texts 21 often borrowed from avariety of ancient philosophicalschools, mostlyfrom Plato but even from Epicurean philosophy. The basicprinciple was thatancient philosophers wereright whenever theiropinions (dóxai)wereinaccordance with Christianity(as currentlydefined by councils) and theywerewrong whenever they were not.Christian monasteries preserved ancient texts. Forall their rhetoric of depreciation, even extremist Christian authors some- times wroteabout the classics in apositive wayand usedclassicalnext to bib- lical quotations to conveyauthority to their arguments. Most layChristians had little religious reservations towards the classics in the fourth and fifth centuries in the West and well beyond in the East.Ithas been argued by manythatthis openness of Christianity (despite its general hostility against paganism) was im- portant for its success. Pagan cult practice, on the other hand, continued after the fourth century,although it had lost much of its attractiveness long before that time. In the East,Neoplatonism continued until the ageofJustinian.AsI shall show in my discussions of Augustine and Cyril, despite differences and even open hostility Neoplatonists wereoftenclose to Christian authors. It is thereforeworth noting that Platonism also ignored most other philosophical schools and that accordingtothe Neoplatonicemperor Julian pagan priests should not read Epicurean texts,asweshallsee in section 1.5. Manyinfluential Christian authors of Late Antiquity explicitlypermittedaChristian appropriated readingofPlato. Their strategywas to allegethatPlatowas astudent of Moses in Egypt.Plato remained the main philosophical authority for centuries. Yetdespite the recent scholarlyenthusiasm on the amount of Christian read- ing and paideia in Late Antiquity, Ishallalso provide evidence that suggests a less optimistic picture. While some classicaltexts werestudied throughout Late Antiquityatleast in the East and in Africa, therehas also been the argu- ment among clerics to exclude pagan texts entirelyfrom Christian paideia. How- ever,this attitude was not widelyshared by the layelite. In the Western part of the Roman Empire thereisonlyscant evidence long after the fifth century that education continued to include readingpagan books, although authorslikeVer- gil and Martianus Capella are known to have circulated. Christian authors of Late Antiquitymade use of classicalquotations but they were oftenbased on earlier Christian authors or handbooks. To varyingdegrees, secular and clerical careers continued to requirerhetoric, but rhetoric could be learned exclusively from Christian texts or from florilegia – late antique handbooks containing quotations from the classics. Often being aware of the high appeal of their adversaries to educated people, influential Christian authorscriticised texts from pagan authors as sexuallyof- fensive and devilish because they mentioned several gods instead of one God. Yet, they were more seriouslyconcerned when philosophicalopinions seemed 22 Introduction directlytocontradict the Bible and wereused by pagan philosophers and other groups in the past or present to arguethat Christianity is not the true way. They considered Christianityasthe purest and most simple explanation of the nature of the world; this explanation, of God having created and moving all things, was true because it was divinelyrevealed. This belief can be seen as aprime motiva- tion behind the practices that Ishalldiscuss: there is, ultimately, afaith-based, ideological underpinning to the Christian treatment of texts and ideas that they disagreed with which informs their treatment of the same. To Christian authorsofLate Antiquity,the philosophers werewrong, for ex- ample,when they posited evolution, originatingfrom the clash of atoms,instead of creation out of nothing.These Christian authors attributedmanyopinions of ancient philosophers to ademonic, devilish counter-world. Forexample, they considered natural forces, recognised by certain philosophers, as demonic be- cause natural forces explained the movement of material objects without God. The atoms too were demonic as being independent entities, uncreated matter, impartible, moving automaticallyand by cohesion in varied order composing the objects of the material world, without divine providence. Other questions of doctrinal importance included predictions on the movementofthe stars, the singularity,duration,size and shape of the universe and whether it was a miracle of creation or something that can be explainedmathematically; whether human beingswereinformed about the material worldthrough the various senses (for example, through optics and acoustics) or through the ideas of the soul. The various opinions of the philosopherscould cause heretical thinking and had done so in the case of manyheretics.Christian authors condemned much of the material which became the basisfor modern philosophyand science as magical and heretical because it conflicted with the world-view,oruniverse- view,that they werepromoting. Natural philosophy(and Epicurean atomism in particular) could negatively affect fear of God and fear of the devil. This was against the interest of the Church which offered acure against the devil and amoral guide-line with which to avoid punishment in hell, as we shall see in Chapter 4. The Epicurean concepts of joy (voluptas/hedoné)and of libido werereinterpreted as sin. The Ep- icurean belief that the soul, as consistingofatoms,does dissolve after death, weakened the likelihood of incarnation, the punishment of sinners in afterlife and the Second Coming of Christ,inthe perception of Christian authorsof Late Antiquity.InEpicurean teaching, the atoms are controlled by no god, they moveautomaticallyand this automatism contradicted the idea that the el- ementsofthe material world would cause the end of this world for the Second Coming and the last judgment of sinners. Christian authors of Late Antiquity,on the other hand,positedfreedom of human will. They thus argued not only Factors Affecting the TransmissionofTexts 23 against prediction by means of divination (except when Christian sources were concerned), but also against Epicureanism, Stoicism and their inherent princi- ples such as determinism and causation. Perhaps this ongoing debate implies that these philosophical ideas continued to fascinate even in the fourth and fifth centuries, despite (or rather because) they conflicted with the Christian doc- trine of that time. The efficiency of censorship laws and of book-burning in Late Antiquity is difficult to assess. All we can sayisthat targeted texts normallydid not survive other thaninChristian refutations, be it out of lack of interest(often long before Christianisation) or active refusal to copythese textsorevendeliberate or coin- cidental destruction (for example, when buildingsweredestroyed or religious items indiscriminatelythrown into abonfire, as we shallsee in Chapter 6). On the other hand, over centuries people are unlikelytopreservetexts when they have to fear their houses searched, their booksconfiscated and burnt,and them- selves, at least theoretically,punished with death. Nevertheless,magic and as- trology werenever completelysuppressed. As my overall aim is to discuss the role that religion playedinthe survival and loss of texts,Iwill therefore begin by analyzingwhether and to what extent legislation on book-burning and cen- sorship was enforced by Roman authorities. Iwill first consider book-bans im- posed by pagan emperors and Christian reactions to this. 1The GreatPersecution, the Emperor Julian and Christian Reactions
In the first twochapters, Ishallinvestigate thoseforms of book-burning and cen- sorship that weresanctioned or tolerated by the Roman authorities. In the first chapter,Ishall concentrate on two keyevents, initiatedbypagan emperors of Late Antiquity,the Great Persecution and Julian’sschool reforms, as well as on the respective reactions by Christian authors. Ishall also arguethat,while there have always been times when the Roman state did prohibit certain subver- sive ways to expressone’sopinion,such as magic and divination,aggravated forms of censorship, such as book-burning,first occurred during the period of Late Antiquity.Thischapter will thereforeask for the reasons whythis period was aspecial one in regardtocensorship. Within this consideration of Late An- tiquity,itwill also explain the censorship legislation in the ageofConstantine as areaction to the preceding Great Persecution. Iwill arguethat contemporary Christian authorsdeveloped anumber of strategies to ridicule and denigrate competingdiscourses and to blame the persecutions of the recent past on the influenceofpagan philosophy. By contrast, they labelled Christianity as the true philosophyopposed,entirely or partly, to manyofthe philosophical schools of the past.Ishall discuss the pertinent passages of Christian authors such as Lactantius,Eusebius, John Chrysostom and Gregory of Nazianzus. This under- standing of censorship will alsolay the groundwork for alater discussion of cen- sorship legislation after Christianitybecame the state religion.
1.1 Laws against Astrologersand Magicians beforethe Fourth Century
Magic wascommon and widelypractised in the ancientworld, as attested in papyri and other material evidence such as amuletsand tablets,containing magic spells, lovecharms or invocation formulae. Magic wasbound up in the rituals and cultures surroundingthe gods, religious pantheon, and religious practices of the Roman Empire. It was thereforeattached to acts of miracle-heal- ing,divination, astrology,and prediction. But scholars like the natural historian Plinythe Elderregarded magic as treachery to be separated from medicine, re- 1.1 Laws against Astrologers and Magicians before the Fourth Century 25 ligion and research in the stars as earlyasthe first century.¹ Magic worked be- cause it was suitable to summon demons. The burning of magical booksalso had powerful political,social and reli- gious connotations that informed the cultural milieu in which these acts oc- curred. Within these contexts, the act itself took on the performativeaspectsof aritual. Itsdevelopment in this sense claimed the power of that which it was trying to replace.According to the Christian apologistHipollytus of Rome (earlythird century), pagan magicians could burn magical notes to communicate with “demons.”² The Christian appropriation of the act thereforeinverted this, taking the spiritual natureofthe act of burning itself but using it to avert demon- ical power. The association of the written wordwith something magical was long stand- ing in the Roman world. Forexample the term carmen (“poem, song,writing”) originated as an archaic invocation within the context of pagan cultsorpagan philosophical schools.³ The term alsocame to be used with regard to harmful magic.⁴ The Lawofthe Twelve Tables, the earliest codification of lawin Rome, alreadyruled the death penalty against incantationsofcarmina as harm- ful magic, aligningthis charge with slander.⁵ Slanderous carmina continued to be punished in the imperial period.⁶ In Late Antiquity harmful carmina came to be associated with illegitimate pagan cult practice.⁷ Laws prohibiting and limiting its usagepredateChristian times. Some em- perors,such as Vespasianand Domitian, even expelled oppositional philoso- phers from the city of Rome in the context of bans of magic and astrology.How- ever,asIhave argued elsewhere, it seems probable that blanket bans were rarely enforced and thatall edicts and subsequent expulsions weretemporary and re- gionallylimited. Ihavealso argued elsewherethatwhile some books were burnt as aconsequenceoftreason trials in the first century AD,there is no clear evi- dence that books weredestroyed in accordance with laws against magicians, as-
Plin. nat. .. Hipp. haer. .. Liv. ..; ..;Cic. Tusc. ..: nam cum carminibus soliti illi [sc.Pythagorei] esse dicantur et praecepta quaedam occultius tradereetmentes suas acogitationum intentione cantu fidibusque ad tranquillitatem traducere. Plin. nat. .; .. Leg.XII tab. . Crawford: qui malum carmen incantassit …
No one is permitted to have books on the magic art in his possession. And anyone whois found in possession of such books,will lose his property,the books will be publiclyburnt, and he will be deported to an island. Less privileged people will be executed. Not onlythe practice but also the knowledge of this art is prohibited.
The final sentencemarks achangeinthe legal attitudes towards suspicious writ- ingsand maybethe addition of alater,possiblyChristian, copyist.¹³ It is certain- ly true that punishments of astrologers became harsherinthe late-imperial pe- riod: thosewho had knowledge of this art weretobethrown to the beasts or crucifiedwhile magicians (magi)weretobeburnt alive.¹⁴ We do not know with anycertainty when these laws wereinitiallyenforced, but Diocletian is the first emperor in Late Antiquityknown to have ordered the destruction of books: booksowned by the Manichaeans,Egyptian alchemistsand Christians. Alaw issued by the emperors Diocletian and Maximian ruled ageneral, em- pire-wide ban on astrology: “To learn and practise the art of geometry is to the publicinterest.But the damnable art of astrology is illegal.”¹⁵ At this time,
Augustus’ burningofuncanonicalSibylline Books was adifferent case: See Tac. ann. .. See Rohmann ()for book-burninginthe period between BC – AD . Suet. Tib. ;Dio Cass. ..–. Speyer (), . Cod.Theod. ..; ...Onthe history of the sententiae,Liebs (). Paul. sent. ..: libros magicae artis apud se neminem haberelicet: et penes quoscumque reperti sint, bonis ademptis,ambustis his publice, in insulam deportantur,humiliores capite pu- niuntur.non tantum huius artis professio,sed etiam scientia prohibita est. See Bavieraand Ferrini (), ,note. Paul. sent. ... Cod.Iust. ..: artem geometriae discereatque exerceri publice intersit. arsautem mathe- matica damnabilis interdicta est. 1.2 The Great Persecution 27 the term arsmathematica seems to have been limited to astrology because it was explicitlyseparated from the related field of geometry.Nosuch separation was made in corresponding laws under the Christian emperors. Diocletian’saim was to rebuild the Roman Empire after it had suffered a long period of crisis. In doing so, he introduced agreater amount of state-control on apolitical and spiritual level. This lead him, among other things, to attempt to control books. As we willsee in the next section, he also held Christians respon- sible for the instability of the recent past.
1.2 The GreatPersecution
There is no firm evidence that the Roman state burnt Christian religious books before Christianitybecame amajor religion in the earlyfourth century.Epipha- nius, bishop of Salamis in the late fourth century,mentions books from the Ju- daeo-Christian tradition found in wine jars at several occasions afterthe early persecutions.¹⁶ Christians could have hiddenthemtoavoid being identified as such. In fact,the Gnostic gospels of Nag el Hammadi have been discovered in wine jars in Egypt.¹⁷ However,this does not mean that they werehidden in re- sponse to the Roman authorities attemptingtodestroy Christian books. Initiated by Diocletian and his junior partner Galerius, the Great Persecution (303–311) is the first and onlycase whereRomanauthorities attempted to de- stroy visible monuments of Christianity such as assemblyplaces and Bibles, be- cause previous persecutions had created an increasingnumberofmartyrs and thereforestrengthened the appeal of Christianity. As Christian textsare the onlysources thatrefer to the burningofScripture and theiraccounts are likely exaggerated the question is: how was book-burning during the Great Persecution recorded by near contemporary Christian sources, exactlywhat books were burnt and what attitudes emergedinChristian texts in reaction to this? To answer this, we need to position the Great Persecution within Diocletian’s broader religious policy.The underlying motivation for anyreligious persecution probablywas the emperors’ quasi-divinestatus that was in conflict with Chris- tian monotheism. Diocletian also had some poor experiences with Christians serving in the military.Before the Great Persecution, Diocletianordered that books representing othergroups be burnt.Although there is little evidence that has survivedfrom these groups that would give further information, we
Epiph. de mens.etpond. (Moutsoulasl.–). See Pagels (), –. 28 1The Great Persecution, the Emperor Julian and Christian Reactions know that in 297Diocletian issuedanedict against the Manichaeans: theirspi- ritual leaders weretobeburntalive along with their scriptures.¹⁸ Manichaeism itself was apopulardualistic religion that originated in third-century Mesopota- mia, combiningsyncretistic elements from Christian Gnosticism,Buddhism and Zoroastrianism. Diocletianalsohad books concerning the alchemyofgold and silversearched out and burntinEgypt to cut off the rebellious Egyptians from these resources.¹⁹ Afew years later, the co-emperors Diocletianand Galerius ruled similarly against the Christians on 23 February 303.Intheir presence, the prefect of the East had achurch searched for objects of Christian worship in Nicomedia, which had recentlybecome the East’scapital city: “The Scriptures werefound and burnt.”²⁰ In consequence, “imperial edicts were published everywhere, or- dering that the churches be razedtothe ground and the scriptures be destroyed by fire.”²¹ That Diocletian’sedict against the Christians and others of similar content wereactivelyenforced is shown by severalknown Martyr Acts and Passions, re- cording the sufferingofmartyrs (although it must be noted thatthese are of var- iable historical value).²² Although the edict was valid empire-wide, most of the evidence suggests that it was most rigorouslyenforced in North Africa. This re- gion was of particularinterest for the Catholic sources because the Donatist schism later emergedfrom here. The Donatists refused to accept indulgence to- wards those Christians who had surrendered their books duringthe Great Perse- cution. Accordingtoatendentious Catholic Passion probablyofthe earlyfifth century,the Donatists believed that whoever had thrown the scriptures into the fire was destined to burn in hell in retaliation.²³ The underlying issue was particularlyimportant in cases of bishops accused of having surrendered books, but desiring to keep their offices as the Donatists wereunwilling to re- spect their legitimacy. Accordingtoanofficial document from 19 May303 preserved by Christian authors, in the Numidian city of Cirta the local curator had aChristian assembly
Font.iur.Rom. ..And see Pharr (), –. Jo.Ant. fr. (Mariev, )=Suid. s.v. Διοκλητιανός, ;and s.v. Χημεία, Adler. Lact. mort. pers. : scripturae repertae incenduntur. Eus. h.e. ..: …ἥπλωτο πανταχόσε βασιλικὰ γράμματα, τὰςμὲνἐκκλησίας εἰς ἔδαφος φέρειν, τὰςδὲγραφὰς ἀφανεῖςπυρὶ γενέσθαι προστάττοντα.Eus. m.P. pr. .Cf. passio S. Felicis episcopi (Musurillo, ). Forthe date,Lact. mort. pers. ..See also Sarefield (), – . Eus. h.e. ... Appendix to Pass.Saturnini –,ed. Franchi de’ Cavalieri, Note agiografiche = Studi e Testi (Vatican City, ), –. 1.2 The Great Persecution 29 place searched and people interrogated. Although they surrendered one large codex, bookshelveswereotherwise found empty,leading some Christians pres- ent to denounce seven Christian lectors for concealing the books. On further in- vestigation the authorities recovered 36 codices from these lectors.²⁴ According to another contemporary document churches werealso destroyed and Christian scriptures burnt at Zama and Furni near CarthageinAfrica Proconsularis. The housesinwhich Christian books werefound weretobedestroyed as well.²⁵ Prob- ablyauthentic, this document is preserved as an attachment to the anti-Donatist work of Optatus of Milevis (in Numidia), who claimed that enforcing the burning of scripture had caused manyindividuals to suffer martyrdom.²⁶ To alesser degree, book-burning is also attested outside of North Africa. Eu- sebius, the Church historian and bishop of Caesarea (in modern Israel), claimed to have witnessed with his own eyes churches being dismantled and booksbeing burnt in the midst of the marketplaces.²⁷ One Passion reports thatvarious Chris- tian bookswerealso publiclyburnt in Thrace.²⁸ As with other forms of penal vi- olence in Antiquity,book-burning was staged in apublic context for the purpose of purification and deterrence. Diocletian’sedict wassurprisingly unspecific as to what scriptures wereto be burnt. While most sources suggest thatittargeted the gospels and Christian liturgical books, others show thatabroader rangeofChristian writingswere also destroyed. During the persecution in the East under Maximian in 304,the Christian women Agape, Irene, and Chione faced trial in Thessaloniki, presided over by the Roman prefect.Their Passion is believed to have been written soon after the events. Thisdoes not implythat the words of the martyrs are recorded with historical reliability,but they certainlyreflect anear-contemporary resonance:²⁹ “Do youhaveinyour possession anywritings, parchments,or books of the impious Christians?”³⁰ The forbidden books of the Christians wereassociated with the parchment codex, indicating the link between Christian
Optat. app. .b–a(–Edwards). Optat. app. .b–b(–Edwards). Optat. ., . Eus. h.e. ... Pass.Philippi .; .; . (Franchi de’ Cavalieri, p. –,with commentary on p. –). The dateand reliability of various Martyr Acts is now discussed by Moss (), Appendix, p. –,here esp. –. Pass.Agap. et soc. . (Musurillo, ): μή τινάἐστιν παρʼ ὑμῖντῶνἀνοσίων Χριστιανῶν ἢ ὑπομνήματα ἢ διφθέραι ἤ βιβλία; Acta Eupli (Musurillo, –,ofquestionable authenticity) reportbook-burningfor Catania in Italy. 30 1The Great Persecution, the Emperor Julian and Christian Reactions texts and the codex.³¹ The prefect is recorded as charging Irene with the offence of not having previouslyadmittedtohave “planned to preserveuntil this dayso manyparchments,books, tablets,codices, and pages of the unholywritingsof the formerChristians.”³² Followingthe trial, the three women wereburnt alive and the writingsinthe cabinets and chests belongingtoIrene werepublicly burnt.³³ Giventhe circulation of Christian texts,itissafe to assume that the in- tent was to humiliate rather than to annihilate the literarytradition. Some Christians attempted to trick the authorities by offering books with dif- ferent content.These include two bishops in Carthageand in Numidia, who gave away some written notes,alongsideDonatus himself, founder of the Donatists, who surrendered medicalmanuscripts only.³⁴ Others surrendered anykind of lit- erature in their possession and it is clear that the officials confiscated the books without distinction.³⁵ There is one archaeological find, probablyrelated to the book searches,attestingthat abroader rangeofbooks than scripture wasendan- gered. In 1889,excavations in Upper Egypt uncovered acodex hidden in the wall of ahouse,containingtwo treatisesfrom Philo, the earlyfirst-century Greco-Jew- ish philosopher who wasrecognizedbylate antique Christians.³⁶ It seems that a Christian fearful of the edict had hiddenthe book there. Criticising pagan reli- gion, the Christian apologist Arnobius even claims thatcertain influential per- sons demanded asenatorial decree orderingthe burningofCicero’sbooks on re- ligion, De naturadeorum and De divinatione,because these books seemed to underpin Christian doctrine.³⁷ Although the Acts of the Martyrs suggest that authorities indeed enforced book-burning,the impact of these edicts seems to have been quite limited. For example, the edict of 303 could not have lasted beyond the edict of religious tol- erance issued by Galeriusin311, if indeed it lasted beyond its initial prosecu- tions. Eusebiusplausiblysuggests thatConstantine replacedthe loss of any
Passio S. Felicis Episcopi (Musurillo, ): “The curator Magnilianus said: ‘Hand over whatever codices or parchments youhave’”.(Magnilianus curator dixit: da librosvel membranas quascumque habes). Pass.Agap. et soc. . (Musurillo, ): ἥτις τοσαύτας διφθέρας καὶ βιβλίακαὶπινακίδας καὶ κωδικέλλους καὶ σελίδας γραφῶντῶνποτε γενομένων Χριστιανῶντῶνἀνοσίων ἐβουλήθης ἄχρι καὶ τῆςσήμερον φυλάξαι. Pass.Agap. et soc. . (Musurillo, ). Maier (), =Aug. coll. c.Don. .. (CSEL :–); Aug. c.Cresc. .. (CSEL :–). Optat. app. .band a(and Edwards): tolle clavem et quos inveneris in cathedralibros et super lapide codices,tolle illos. Roberts (), . Arnob. nat. .. 1.3 Constantine 31 copies.³⁸ Nevertheless,Speyer is probablyright to arguethat the burning of scrip- ture had apsychological impact on futuregenerations, acting as adecisive stim- ulus for some Christians to act similarlyagainst some pagans once the tables had turned.³⁹ During the persecution, Christians onlydestroyed copies of the book-burn- ing edict itself. One Christian became amartyrwhen he seized anotice of the edict postedpubliclyand “tore it to pieces as an unholyand sacrilegious thing.”⁴⁰ Eusebius adds that this Christian could expectthe punishments asso- ciated with martyrdom. Echoing Eusebius’ account,later Martyr Acts commem- orate achild having suffered martyrdom because it threw acopyofDiocletian’s edict rather than Christian booksinto the fire.⁴¹ It thus appears that in the Chris- tian response burning of the right kindsoftexts was associatedwith the fate of the bodyinthe afterlife. Ishall argueinthe next two sections that the memory of book-burning in the ageofDiocletian was still alive in the ageofhis successor, the Christian emperor Constantine.
1.3 Constantine
Constantine (306–337) was the first emperor reported to have become aChristi- an, which he did formallythrough baptism at the end of his life. He was alsothe first emperor to actively promotethe Christian Church, notablywhenhis soldiers carried the symbol of Christ on their shields in defeating his rival Maxentius at the battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312.Much has been written about Constan- tine’sreligious background, whether he wasagenuine convert or simply used Christianityasapolitical tool, and to what extent he actively sought to curb the old religion. Ishall arguethat some of the censorship laws in the ageofCon- stantine need to be seen as reactions to the events duringthe Great Persecution and that the Romanauthorities became increasinglyconcerned with the unity of the church as bishops playedanincreasing role in local administration. The scholarlyconsensus is that although Constantine took selective meas- ures to suppress paganism, he was concerned primarily with effecting compro- mise between the different religious groups.⁴² Eusebius’ Life of Constantine gen- erallytends to overemphasise the Christian character of Constantine’sreign. He
Eus. v.C. ..And see .,too. Speyer (), , . Eus. h.e. .: ὡς ἀνοσίαν καὶἀσεβεστάτην ἀνελὼνσπαράττει.Also: Lact. mort. pers. . Pass.Paphnut. et soc. (Delehay, ,with p. – for aFrench summary). Eus. v.C. .–, ;Socr. h.e. .;Soz. h.e. ..See articles in Lenski (b). 32 1The Great Persecution, the Emperor Julian and Christian Reactions givesanexaggerated account that Constantine destroyed templeseverywhere, but givesvery few examples. He suggests thatthe Aphroditetemple of Aphaca was completelydemolished,along with its dedications,⁴³ because of the temple prostitution practised there. He alsoalleges the demolition of the temple of Asclepius in Cilicia, associated with the pagan sage Apollonius of Tyana, who had turned the temple into a “holyLyceumand academy.”⁴⁴ Thetemple may thereforehavehoused books, but this is not explicitlyevidenced. Nevertheless, Eusebius’ account oftenruns contrary to extant archaeological evidence of tem- ple destruction. There werethree genres of booksthat were ordered for burning at different occasions in the ageofConstantine. The first category is thatofanonymouspam- phlets (famosi libelli). This wasnot unprecedentedbecause the emperors of the first century had occasionallytaken steps against political pamphlets they con- sidered slanderous,especiallyones published in reaction to political crises.⁴⁵ The Codex Theodosianus (9.5.1)listsatreason lawgiven by the emperor Constan- tine on 1January 314. Inscriptions give afuller text of the original edict:any pam- phlet posted anonymouslywas either to be shredded or burnt in the fire. An in- quisition (inquisitio)was to be conducted to search for the authors, who could expectthe capital punishment.⁴⁶ It is not known whether or not the edict was enforced in Rome. Although scholars suggested redatingthe edict to 320because it is addressed to the praefectusurbi Maximus (who was in office between the end of 317and 323⁴⁷), it does not seem to be related to either the Donatist or Arian controversy which just came into playatabout that time. Rather,the edict seems to echo acanon of the synod of Elvira(Spain), which probably dates from the first decade of the fourth century.Accordingtothis canon anyone
Eus. v.C. ... Eus. v.C. .;Philostr. VA . with Averil Cameron and Hall (), :Thereisevidence to suggest that the temple continued to function or was destroyed later. Augustus:Dio Cass. .. with ..–;Suet. Dom. ..According to Paul. sent. . = font. iur.Rom. ant. :–,the authors of slanderous writings were to be expelled, but the lawdoes not order the destruction of these writings. Three inscriptions containingthe laware extant.QuotedinHeichelheim and Schwarzen- berger(), : sane et undique versum securitati innocentium consulatur, placet etiam famosos libellos non admitti. quos sine nomine propositos si quis invenerit, statim detrahereoportebit, ut, si forte ad se talis libellus perlatus fuerit, igni eum praecipiatconcremari, cum eiusmodi scripturam ab audientia iudicis penitus oporteat submoveri manente contraeos inquisitione qui libellos eius- modi proponere ausi fuerint, ut reperti debitis temeritatis suae poenis subiciantur. On the date,Barnes (b). 1.3 Constantine 33 who puts pamphlets in achurch was anathematized.⁴⁸ Thisshows the religious character of these pamphlets.Afew years later, in 325, Constantine presided at the council of Nicaea and is said to have burnt the petitions of bishops dissent- ing in the Arian controversy symbolically in order to end this controversy,asif the dissenting petitions had never existed and the unity of the church never been challenged.⁴⁹ The Codex Theodosianus also preserves four laws against famosi libelli (pamphlets)fromaroundthistimeperiod. Constantineseems to have react- ed to anonymouswritings circulatinginthe province of Africa,inRomeand in Tyre (Palestine)asevidencefor accusations. These famosi libelli were to be burnt, theirauthors punished,but thereisnoevidencefor systematic searches.⁵⁰ Similarlytothe pamphletscirculating in Elvira, thesepamphlets were probably of areligious character andtherefore threateningthe unityofthe church.The laws were thus areactiontoanimmediate crisis,howeverareligious ratherthanapo- liticalone.Thisindicates achangecomparedtopreviouscenturies. The second category of booksbanned in the ageofConstantine encom- passed books authored by Christians,but the definitions were vagueand impre- cise. Eusebius preserves aletter that Constantine sent to the provincial governors shortlyafter the council of Nicaea to explain an edict against certain Christian groups.The edict,perhaps issued along with the heresy laws of 326,⁵¹ is not pre- served. Yetweknow from Eusebius that similarlytoDiocletian Constantine or- dered the confiscation of assemblyplaces and the search for and destruction of books. The edict generallytargeted non-conformist Christians and specifically the followers of Arius, but also the Novatians,Valentinians, Marcionites, Pau- lianists and Cataphrygians (Montanists).⁵² Similarly to the Paulianists, Arius had put forward the idea thatJesuswas not consubstantial with God the father. The council of Nicaea in 325rejected the Arian Christological view.The Nova- tians were regarded as schismatic as they did not accept readmission of Christi- ans who had deniedtheirfaith during persecution, while the Montanistsbe- lieved in the prophecies of their founder Montanus. It is not known to what extent the edict was enforced. Eusebius certainlyexaggerates his claim that the inquiriesestablished the unity of the Church as Arianism long continued to be attractive.Infact,his testimonial is the onlyone saying that books were actuallytargeted: “this lawalsoordered the booksofthese persons to be tracked
Conc. Eliberit. c. (Mansi :): hi qui inventi fuerint libellos famosos in ecclesia ponere, anathematizentur. Rufin. hist. .. Cod.Theod. ..– (: flammis aboleri)from –. Cod.Theod. ..–. Eus. v.C. .. 34 1The Great Persecution, the Emperor Julian and Christian Reactions down, and they werecaught pursuing forbidden evil arts.”⁵³ Nevertheless, it sug- gests that this decree did targetmagic books, certain Christian booksand off- shootsthat did not conform to the council of Nicaea. Alink exists between these non-conformist authors and Epicurean atomism. EarlyChristian apologists, such as Tertullian accusedpeople like Marcion and Valentinus of having adopted Epicurean teachingfor theirtheology.⁵⁴ Although their original writingshavenot survived, it is therefore possiblethat these Gnos- tic authorsand their followers (which are mentioned in the edict)borrowed from Epicurean philosophy. The anonymous apologetic-polemical Dialogue on the True Faith in God goes even so far as to claim that Marcion accepted the Epicur- ean teachingofthe origin of the world without creation (automatismón).⁵⁵ Against this proposition is the reality that the Gnostic belief in the dualism of material and spiritual worlds seriouslydisagreed with Epicurean materialism. Thus the apologists to some extent mayhaveused this link polemicallyto cast in anegative light the Gnostic belief that the highestgod was detached from the material world. Finally, Constantine issued an edict concerning the burning of bookswritten by the Neoplatonic philosopher,Porphyry.The exact date is unknown, but it was certainlyissued before 333.The Church historian Socrates quotes aletter of Con- stantine from thatyear,inwhich, probablyresponding to specific requests, he addressed the bishops and congregations to remind them of an earlier edict not otherwise transmitted: “Porphyry,the enemyofpiety,has composed unlaw- ful books against religion, and thereforefound adeservedcompensation, name- ly that he became shameful for the future, was infected with the worst reputa- tion, and his sacrilegious books wereobliterated.”⁵⁶ Porphyry’swork Against the Christians was probablythe main target. The work itself is not extant any- more, onlyfragments survive through Christian refutations. In context,Arius
Eus. v.C. ..: ἐπεὶ καὶ διερευνᾶσθαι τῶν ἀνδρῶντὰςβίβλους διηγόρευεν ὁ νόμος, ἡλί- σκοντό τ’ ἀπειρημένας κακοτεχνίας μετιόντες. Tert. adv.Marc. .; .; adv.Val. .; ..See Schmid (), –,and, morecrit- ically, Braun (), –.Hipp. haer. . asserts alink between Marcion and Empedocles. Epiphanius of Salamis in his Medicine Chest (Panarion)lists Hellenism and its subgroups Stoics, Platonists,Pythagoreans and Epicureans among the origins of heresies (anacephalaeosis ; .., ..–). Similarly, Marcellus of Ancyra wrote against the convertedArian sophist Aster- ius. Copies of his book wereburnt: Socr. h.e. .;Soz. h.e. .. De recta in Deum fide . (GCS :). Socr. h.e. ..–,at: ὥσπερ τοίνυν Πορφύριος ὁ τῆςθεοσεβείας ἐχθρὸςσυντάγματα ἄττα παράνομα κατὰ τῆςθρησκείας συστησάμενος ἄξιον εὕρατο μισθόν, καὶ τοιοῦτον, ὥστε ἐπο- νείδιστον μὲναὐτὸνπρὸςτὸνἑξῆςγενέσθαι χρόνον καὶ πλείστης ἀναπλησθῆναι κακοδοξίας, ἀφανισθῆναι δὲ τὰἀσεβῆ αὐτοῦ συγγράμματα. 1.4 Christian Reactions to the Great Persecution 35 and his followers weretobedenominated Porphyrians because of the similarity of their respective thinking.Preserved alsobyotherChristian authors, and sim- ilarlytothe earlier edict against Ariansand othergroups,the letter explained an edict from the same year,addressed to the bishops and the people and directed exclusivelyagainst Arius and his followers: “If anyone finds abook authored by him or agreeing with him, he shallthrow it into the fire, in order that no memory of Arius or of the doctrine which he had introduced might circulate. If anyone is found guilty of concealing such booksand of not having immediatelydenounced and burnt them, then death shallbehis penalty and decapitation.”⁵⁷ Again we do not know if the edict was enforced or who mayhaveenforced it,but it was surelyinthe interest of the clergy,towhich the letter was addressed, to do so. It is thereforeimportant to note that anyone who had knowledge of the where- abouts of Arian books, needed to burnand denounce these in order to avoid ex- ecution. The edict could thus have been efficient without anyorganisedbook- searches,iftherewereasufficient amount of people willing to denounce others. In sum, it is clear that under the first Christian emperor bookswerereport- edlyordered to be burnt,although there is little information on the enforcement of these orders.This included books of various heretical content and anti-Chris- tian works by Porphyry,who seems to have playedsome role in the Great Perse- cution. Some Christian apologists claimed that some of these heretical works originated in, or were close to,Epicurean philosophy. The aim was to guarantee the unity of the church,which in turn ensuredcontrol of the state. This unity was threatened not onlybyheretical, but also by some philosophical works,which reportedlyinformed heretical opinions. Ishall argueinthe next section thatin- fluential Christian authorsblamed the responsibility for the Great Persecution on contemporaryphilosophical authors and in doing so, they argued thatsome philosophical works werenow problematic.
1.4 Christian Reactionstothe GreatPersecution
How did Christian authors respond to book-burning duringthe Great Persecu- tion?The Christian authors thatIshall discuss in this section, such as Lactantius
Soz. h.e. ..: καὶ τοῖςπανταχῇἐπισκόποις καὶ λαοῖςνομοθετῶν ἔγραψεν ἀσεβεῖς ἡγεῖσθαι αὐτόντεκαὶτοὺςαὐτοῦὁμόφρονας καὶ πυρὶ παραδιδόναι, εἴ τι αὐτῶνεὑρίσκοιτο σύγγραμμα, ὥστε μήτε αὐτοῦ μήτε τοῦ δόγματος, οὗ εἰσηγήσατο, ὑπόμνημα φέρεσθαι. εἰ δέ τις φωραθείη κρύπτων καὶ μὴ παραχρῆμα καταμηνύσας ἐμπρήσῃ, θάνατον εἶναι τὴνζημίαν καὶ τιμωρίαν εἰς κεφαλήν.Manyother versions survive:Opitz (), –;Socr. h.e. ..–;Gel. Cyz. h.e. ..– (GCS :); Niceph.Call. h.e. . (PG :A). 36 1The Great Persecution, the Emperor Julian and Christian Reactions and Eusebius (and indeed most of the Christian authors that Iwill discuss throughout this book), werethemselvesinterested in manyaspectsofancient philosophyand literature. Within this context,they tried to defend Christianity from reservations thateducated people mayhavehad. They also wanted to rival ancient authors and to createthe intellectual backdrop against which Chris- tianity could establish itself as amainstream position. Their attacks on rivalre- ligions and philosophies need thereforetobeseenwithin the context of ancient discourses of competition. Ishallargue thatoralorwritten attacks by rivalphil- osophical schools and the rival philosophies themselvescame to be seen as problematic and that these discourses to some extent provided the ideological underpinning of censorship legislation in the ageofConstantine and perhaps later.For example, Arnobius’ contemporary work Against the Pagans (c. 303) is the first polemic to suggest that pagan rather than Christian books deserved to be burnt.Incontext of the following passage, Arnobius derides pagan gods and institutions originatinginpaganism, such as the games and plays,and also poetry:⁵⁸
But if youweresomewhat enraged in behalf of your religion, youshould rather long ago have burnt these writings,destroyed those books and dismantledthese theatres, in which the infamies of the deities aredailymade public in most shameful stories.For whyhave our scriptures deserved to be giventothe flames?
Highlyeducated, much of Arnobius’ call is rhetoric. Arnobius was building on a Christian discourse intended to dissuade fellow Christians from believing things that he personally did not believe, nor is he suggesting that Christians should destroy these books. Yetitindicates the degree of anger momentarilyfelt by him over the recent burningofbooks. AccordingtoJerome (who mayhave been misinformed) Arnobius wrotethis apologistpolemic to show his bishop that he had become areal Christian after he had taught the material he now condemned.⁵⁹ This could also explain his polemicalattitude at the time of writ- ing. Lactantius,famous student of Arnobius, appears to have taken his teacher’s position further.His rhetoric was also probablymotivated by personal experi-
Arnob. nat. .: quod si haberet vos aliqua vestris pro religionibus indignatio,has potius lit- teras,hos exureredebuistis olim libros, [istos] demoliri, dissolvere theatrahaec potius,inquibus infamiae numinum propudiosis cotidie publicantur in fabulis.Nam nostraquidem scripta cur igni- bus meruerunt dari? Hier. chron.,a.Abr. ,AD (GCS :). 1.4 Christian Reactions to the Great Persecution 37 ence and momentary feelings. He had taught at the imperial courtatNicomedia as apagan teacher before becomingunemployed from 303 to c. 315 because he had converted. He states:⁶⁰
Eloquencewas extinguished, lawyers wereremoved, legal experts either exiled or slain, lit- eraturewas regarded as an evil art,and those knowledgeable in it were crushed and cursed as public enemies.
As it is discussingthe persecution of Christians and aiming to show that those responsible for this werejustlypunished by God with untimelydeaths, Lactan- tius’ narrative is certainlyexaggerated and generalising,with no referencetospe- cific cases. But his account implies that the emperor Galerius’ categorisation of public enemiesand of evil (magical) arts in scholarship was extended to Chris- tian scholars. Lactantius pennedhis Divine Institutions,ajustification of Christianity against pagan religion and philosophy, shortlybefore the edict of toleration at atime when memoriesofthe persecution werestill fresh. This work helps to un- derstand the edict against Porphyry.Addressed to Constantine, the first chapters of book five deal with the conflict between Christians,philosophers, and pagan literature: “Philosophers,orators,and poetsare pernicious” because the influ- ence of their writingscould cause Christians to waver. They are “sweets conceal- ing poison.”⁶¹ Lactantius did not criticise teachingand literatureper se, but he wanted them to be grounded in the Christian faith: “Iwishedtocombine wisdom with religion, that that vain doctrinemay cause no harm to the students.”⁶² Lac- tantius’ strategyofappropriating ancient education wasalso one designed to ap- peal to the interest of the clergy,arguing that education washelpful for the dis- semination of faith and that as Christian authors werebetter anywaythey could easilyreplacetheir pagan peers (5.1.21–8). In this context,Lactantius pictures philosophers as deriding Christians and the Bible because they lacked eloquence(5.1.18). Philosophers even felt contami- nated by the Bible and forced to purify themselvesbydestroyingand cursing it (5.1.1). He implicitlyacknowledgesthatphilosophersare similar to Christians in as much as they too consider their teachingtobethe true wayand that of the
Lact. mort. pers. .: eloquentia extincta, causidici sublati, iure consulti aut relegati aut ne- cati, litterae autem inter malas artes habitae, et qui eas noverant,pro inimicis hostibusque protriti et execrati. Lact. inst. ..: philosophi et oratores et poetae perniciosisunt … mella sunthaec venena tegentia. Lact. inst. ..: volui sapientiam cum religione coniungere, ne quid studiosis inanis illa doc- trina possit officere. 38 1The Great Persecution, the Emperor Julian and Christian Reactions other to be an error(5.1.17;5.2.5), but it is difficult to validatehis position as phil- osophical treatises against Christianity have scarcelysurvived. He does not give anynames of his adversaries. However,heseems to be thinking of one such treatise authored by Sossianus Hierocles.Asprefect of Egypt,Hierocles initiatedthe Great Persecution of 303 and wrote an anti-Chris- tian treatise shortlybefore (5.2.12– 17;known from the reply Against Hierocles,at- tributed to Eusebius). It is also likelythat Lactantius had in mind the third-cen- tury philosopher Porphyry (5.2.4).⁶³ Lactantius acknowledgesPorphyry’streatise Against the Christians,claiming that its initial positive reception “changed into blame and rejection” and thatChristians derided his work and found it “ridiculous.”⁶⁴ This appears to allude to the book-burning edict issued by Con- stantine against Porphyry,orrather an appeal to burnhis books as the edict was issued probablynot long after Lactantius wrotehis book. In the first book of the Divine Institutions,Lactantius commented on the an- cient Romans’ practice of burning religious books, noting that they destroyed all copies extant of the religious booksoftheir archaic king Numa but failed to con- ceal their actions: “everyone then in the senate was very stupid because the books could have been destroyed, but the event itself not remembered.”⁶⁵ As we have seen that Constantine issued an edict against the non-conformist Chris- tian Arius following asimilar edict against Porphyry in order that no memory of his teachingshould survive it maybethatLactantius was ideologicallyunder- pinning arobust approach to suppressing literature. Moreover,Lactantius aligns himself with earlier Latin Christian apologists, his own personal engagement with this genre showing ashift from defence to attack: “Ishalloverthrow earlier authors, together with all their writings, and cut off from future authors anypossibility to write or to reply.”⁶⁶ He implores and invites “learned and eloquent” Christians to follow his example, predicting that if successful “nobodycan doubtthat false religions will quickly disappear, and philosophyaltogether fall, if everyone shallbepersuaded that this [Christi- anity] is the onlyreligion and also the onlytrue wisdom.”⁶⁷ Lactantius was ad-
See DePalma Digeser (). Lact. inst. ..: in culpam reprehensionemque conversa est; ..: ridiculus. Lact. inst. ..–,at:nemo ergotunc in senatu non stultissimus;potuerunt enim et libri aboleri et tamen resinmemoriam non exire. Lact. inst. ..: ut et priores cum suis omnibus scriptis perverterem et futuris omnem facul- tatem scribendi aut respondendiamputarem. Lact. inst. ..: evanituras brevi religiones falsas et occasuram esse omnem philosophiam nemo dubitaverit, si fuerit omnibus persuasum cum hanc solamreligionem, tum etiam solam veramesse sapientiam. 1.4 Christian Reactions to the Great Persecution 39 vocatingthe intellectual overthrow of other positions. He does not deride the classics here because in this context he quotes the old poet Ennius. Similarly, whenever other Christian authorswrote about “philosophy” or “wisdom” in this understandingthey had in mind the true Christian wayoflife rather than the theoretical reflection about life and the world. Christian true philosophy could even mean areligious life of asceticism that did not requireliteracy.⁶⁸ Similarly,Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea and author of anotable Church his- tory,called for the disposal of certain pagan books, albeit in arhetorical ques- tion. His Praeparatio Evangelica justified the truth of the gospel against the back- ground of philosophicalattackssoon after Constantine’sand Licinius’ agreementonreligious tolerance in the edict of Milan in 313.⁶⁹ Arguing against Porphyry,heinterpreted certain philosophicaltenets as preparingthe wayfor Christianity, while refutingothers:⁷⁰
Fortopass over the nonsense of the Egyptians and their very loquacious absurdity,and to go on to the physical theories of the Greek philosophers, whatperson of right attitude would not at oncecensurethose whoattempt to give such gross misinterpretations?[…] Whyindeed do they not rejectthe shameful and improper fables about the gods as unlaw- ful and impious,and makeunseen the very books concerning them, as containingblasphe- mous and licentious teaching,and celebratethe one, onlyand unseen God simplyand purely, without anyshameful circumscription?
In this passage, Eusebius positions Greek physical theories as condemnable, as well as certain parts of poetry for their sexuallyexplicit natureand theirchal- lengetomonotheism because of their depiction of multiple gods. In order to dis- cuss physical theories by Greek philosophers regardingthe nature of the gods and the origin of the world that are opposedtoChristian theology, he quotes ex- plicitlyfrom authorslike Platoand Plutarch. Although he otherwise does not mention the philosophersthat he criticises in this book,hedoes refer to prom- inent Greek philosophershaving theorised about the origin of the world in an- other (7.12: Thales, Anaximenes, Heraclitus, Pythagoras, Epicurus, Democritus
Papadogiannakis(), –;Siniossoglou (), –;Malingrey(), – ;Laistner (), –;Ath. v.Anton. – is an interesting ancient testimonial. On the Praeparatio Evangelica,see Johnson (). Eus. p.e. .., (SC :, ): ἵνα γὰρτὸνΑἰγυπτιακὸνπαρελθώντις λῆρον καὶ τὴνπολλὴναὐτῶνκαὶἀδόλεσχον φλυαρίαν ἐπὶ τὰςτῶνσοφῶν Ἑλλήνων μετέλθοι φυσιολογίας, τίςοὐκἂντῶνεὖφρονούντων αὐτόθεν καταμέμψαιτο τοῖςτὰτοιαῦτα παρεξηγεῖσθαι πειρωμένοις; … τί δῆτα τοιγαροῦνοὐχὶτὰςαἰσχρὰςκαὶἀπρεπεῖςπερὶ θεῶνμυθολογίας ὡς ἂν ἀθέσμους καὶἀσεβεῖςπαραιτησάμενοι καὶ αὐτάςγετὰςπερὶ τούτων βίβλους ὡςδυσσεβῆ καὶ ἀκόλαστα περιεχούσας ἀφανεῖςποιήσαντες, τὸν ἕνα καὶ μόνον καὶἀόρατον θεὸνγυμνῶςκαὶ καθαρῶςκαὶἄνευ τινὸςαἰσχρᾶςπεριπλοκῆς ἀνυμνοῦσι; 40 1The Great Persecution, the Emperor Julian and Christian Reactions and Empedocles). Eusebius, like Lactantius, had amajor influenceonthe em- peror Constantine. Alater possibleallusion to the Great Persecution and following destruction of books by Porphyry is John Chrysostom’spolemical Discourse on the Blessed Babylas, against Julian and the Pagans. John (c. 347–407) is one of the most pro- lific authorsofLate Antiquity.John’spolemical thrust partlyoriginated because of aneed to competewith educated pagans and the contemporary debates of his time. Antioch perhaps exemplifies this more than most other locations. It was a culturallydiverse city in which different groups struggled for influence. The ori- gins of John’sintellectual position can perhapsbefound in his life. Based in the mountains outside of Antioch, John wasarigorous ascetic, spending two years of extreme asceticism in acave. In later life, he became presbyter of the Antioch congregation. Although not much is known about these 12 years, the majorityof sermons Iwill discuss belong to this period. Since 398 he wasbishop of Constan- tinople,aposition second in status onlyafter the bishop of Rome. However,he was banished in 403 and again in 404.Inmanyofhis sermons and otherpieces John was highlypolemical, criticising his Christian audience for lax attitudes and being well aware of competingpagan groups and schools in Antioch. The Discourse on Babylas contains an interesting passageabout the disap- pearance of philosophicalbooksthat has hitherto drawnscarceattention. I shall discuss this passageinits historicalsetting.Brieflysummarising its imme- diate context,John argues for the superiority of Christianityoverpaganism be- cause the knowledge of noteworthypagans of the past is almost lost,while the miracles of the first Christians are celebratedthroughout the then known world, citing the prophet Zoroaster and Zamolxis, disciple of Pythagoras, as ex- amples. AccordingtoJohn, there are onlyafew persons who still know these two names let alone their teachings.This, he suggests, is because their accounts are fictitious whereas the Christian truth will withstand even the mightiest attempt to destroy it: “The tyrants and emperors, the sophists invincible in their speech as well as the philosophers, sorcerers,magicians and demons have all been keen to destroy it,” puttingphilosophersalongside magicians.⁷¹ It is important to read the following passageinthis context of persecution:⁷²
Chrys. pan. Bab. . (SC :): καὶ τύραννοι καὶ βασιλεῖςκαὶλόγων ἄμαχοι σοφισταὶ ἤδη δὲ καὶ φιλόσοφοι καὶ γόητες καὶ μάγοι καὶ δαίμονες καθελεῖν ἐσπούδασαν.Cf. hom. in Mt. (PG :): “Youwill find that she (Egypt), whoisthe mother of poets,philosophers and magicians and the inventor of all forms of wizardry,now prides herself on the fishermen” (Καὶ τὴνποιητῶνκαὶσοφῶνκαὶμάγων μητέρα, καὶ τὴνπᾶνεἶδος μαγγανείας εὑροῦσαν καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις διαδοῦσαν, ταύτην ὄψει νῦν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἁλιεῦσι καλλωπιζομένην). 1.4 Christian Reactions to the Great Persecution 41
The philosophers and distinguished orators werevery famous among the people because of their dignity and ability to speak, but after the battle against us they became ridiculousand seemed no different from sillychildren. From so manynations and peoples,they werenot able to change anyone, wise, ignorant,man, woman, not even asmall child. There is so much laughter against their writings that their book-scrolls were long agoobliterated, and mostlyperished as soon as they appeared. If anythingatall is found preserved, one finds it preserved by Christians.
John appears to be saying that philosophical and oratorical books have perished and are found onlypreserved by Christians. He was perhaps thinkingofthe old philosophers (such as Epicurus) whom he could assume werehardlycirculating anymore. This passagehas been translated differently, suggesting thatitmeans either books being lost by neglect or deliberately destroyed.⁷³ In order to understand whether John is talking about loss or destruction of books, it is necessary to discuss this passagephilologicallyand to read further into the following context within the treatise.The constitution of the text is reli- able because it has been transmitted without variation in manuscripts extant since the ninth century.⁷⁴ Schatkin provides atranslation of this decisive pas- sage: “their books disappeared along time ago, and mostlyperishedwhen they first appeared.”⁷⁵ However,inboth the active and passivevoice aphanisthé- nai primarilymeans “to destroy” or “to obliterate (writing).”⁷⁶ Afurther possible interpretation of the passivevoice that is used in this passageis“suppressed”⁷⁷ with regard to writing and also “to disappear” in the context of “persons buried by asand-storm or lost at sea.”⁷⁸ John himself alsoelsewhereusesthe term in
Chrys. pan. Bab. .– (SC :–): οἱ δὲ φιλόσοφοι καὶ δεινοὶῥήτορες δόξαν πολ- λὴνοἱμὲνἐπὶσεμνότητι οἱ δὲἐπὶλόγων δυνάμει παρὰ τοῖςπολλοῖς ἔχοντες μετὰ τὴνπρὸςἡμᾶς μάχην καταγέλαστοι γεγόνασι καὶ παίδων ληρούντων ἁπλῶςοὐδὲνδιαφέρειν ἔδοξαν. ἀπὸ γὰρ ἐθνῶνκαὶδήμων τοσούτων οὐ σοφόντινα, οὐκ ἄσοφον, οὐκ ἄνδρα, οὐ γυναῖκα ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ παι- δίον μικρὸνμεταπεῖσαι ἴσχυσαν, ἀλλὰ τοσοῦτός ἐστι τῶν ὑπ’ αὐτῶνγεγραμμένων ὁ γέλως ὥστε ἀφανισθῆναι καὶ τὰ βιβλίαπάλαι καὶἅμα τῷ δειχθῆναι καὶἀπολέσθαι τὰ πολλά. εἰ δέ που τι καὶ εὑρεθείηδιασωθὲνπαρὰ Χριστιανοῖςτοῦτο σωζόμενον εὕροι τις ἄν. Speyer ()offers twodifferent interpretations: ancient literatureisforgotten (p. )or anti-Christian books have been destroyed (p. ,note ). Similarly: Schatkin (), . See Schatkin (), SC :. Schatkin and Harkins (), . LSJ, ,I.–.According to Stephanus’ Thesaurus Graecae Linguae (:–), the pas- sive voiceusuallyhas the same meanings as the active voice, including the notion of utter de- struction. Th. ... Hdt. .;Th. .. 42 1The Great Persecution, the Emperor Julian and Christian Reactions the sense of wilful destruction in the context of the loss of booksofthe Old Testament:⁷⁹
Even beforethe captivity manybooks had been obliterated and the Jews drifted into the worst degree of impiety.This is clear fromthe end of the fourth book of Kings [4Reg.22:8; 2Chr.34:14]because the book of Deuteronomy could hardlybefound and was buried somewhere in adunghill.
The verb aphanídso here means the wilful destruction of books. This is obvious also from what John says shortlybefore: “probablyitwas actuallywritten in some books, and the books have been obliterated”,because he adds the expla- nation: “manybooksweredestroyed and few werepreserved, even in the first captivity.”⁸⁰ The emperors Julian and Constantine too used aphanídso clearly to refertobook-destruction.⁸¹ Schatkin then translates apolésthai as “to perish” because this translation is common for the Aorist Middle Voice particularlyinthe New Testament.⁸² How- ever,the primary meaning in the active voice ranges from “to destroy utterly” to “to lose.” Mayertranslates this term as “to destroy” in the context of barbar- ians sacking cities elsewhereinJohn Chrysostom.⁸³ Schatkin also translatesthe phrase háma to deichthénai to English as “when they first appeared” and to French as qu’au momentmême de leur publication as if John wanted to say that philosophical and rhetorical books weresoinsignificant thatthey gotlost right after publication. However,there is no instance for deíknymi (literally “to show”)meaning “to publish”,but there is at least one passagewherethe term
Chrys. hom. in Cor. (PG :): καὶ γὰρπρὸτῆςαἰχμαλωσίας πολλὰἠφάνιστο βιβλία, τῶν Ἰουδαίων εἰς ἐσχάτην ἀσέβειαν ἐξοκειλάντων. καὶ δῆλον ἐκτοῦτέλους τῆςτετάρτης τῶν Βασιλειῶν· τὸ γὰρΔευτερονόμιον μόλις που εὕρηται ἐνκοπρίᾳ κατακεχωσμένον.Igive the PG reference insteadofField’searlier edition of the sermons on Matthew and the letters of Paul as the PG is moreaccessible. Chrys. hom. in Cor. (PG :): …ἢ εἰκὸςκαὶγεγράφθαι ἐνβίβλοις, καὶἠφανίσθαι τὰ βιβλία. Καὶ γὰρπολλὰ διεφθάρη βιβλία, καὶὀλίγα διεσώθη, καὶἐπὶτῆςπροτέρας αἰχμαλωσίας. Similarly: Chrys. hom. in Mt. (PG :–): “Manyofthe prophetic books were obliter- ated; and this one maysee fromthe history of the Chronicles.For beingcareless,and continu- ouslyfalling into impiety,some they suffered to perish, others they themselvesburnt and shred- ded.” (πολλὰ γὰρτῶνπροφητικῶν ἠφάνισται βιβλίων· καὶ ταῦτα ἐκτῆςἱστορίας τῶν Παραλειπομένων ἴδοι τις ἄν. ῥᾴθυμοι γὰρ ὄντες, καὶ εἰς ἀσέβειαν συνεχῶς ἐμπίπτοντες, τὰ μὲν ἠφίεσαν ἀπόλλυσθαι, τὰ δὲ αὐτοὶ κατέκαιον καὶ κατέκοπτον). See section . (with regardtoPorphyry) aboveand . below. John :; Cor. :. Chrys. hom. in Eph. (PG :): πόλεις ὁλόκληροι κατεποντίσθησαν καὶἀπώλοντο.Mayer (), with note .Cf. Lampe, PGL, : “.med., perish, be destroyed or lost.” 1.4 Christian Reactions to the Great Persecution 43 means “to informagainst,todenounce”,related to accusers.⁸⁴ Thisinterpreta- tion is intriguing,for it matches what is described in Ammianus and elsewhere, that booksweresearched out based on privateaccusations,asweshall see in section 2.1. The term pálai (“along time ago”)speaks against the assumption thatJohn had in mind pagan booksrecentlyburnt.However,the term can alternatively,if less frequently, indeed mean “recently.” This would fit with John’srhetorical statement in the following passagethatthe destruction of Hellenism happened in “such ashort time.”⁸⁵ The philological discussion of the passageonthe loss of books written by philosophersand orators thereforeshows that John had in mind awilful destruction of books in the past rather than adeclining interest in these books. Secondly, from the aggressiveness of John’slanguagefollowing the passage on the disappearance of books, it is also clear thathewanted to give the impres- sion of destruction rather than disappearance by neglect; he compares pagans and their literature to scorpions, serpents and intestinal worms torturingthe Christian’sbody. He stresses,however,that Christians relyonpersuasion rather than on violence to extirpate other belief. In John’sunderstandingthese animals are demons, agents of the devil. It is the mission of anydevout Christian to fight these in order to avoid getting entrapped in theirsnares and draggedinto hell- fire. Emphasising the frivolouscharacter of pagan literature,this passagethus reveals amissionary strategy. It is in line with the monastic education at that time as Antony, the father of all monks, had fought the demons of his ownsex- uality in the shape of asnake or dragon.⁸⁶ Yet, having argued thatJohn wasalludingtodestruction rather than neglect of bookswhen saying that the writingsofthe philosophers and orators had per- ished, it is worth asking which writers John was thinking of in particular.Itis unlikelythat he was alludingtothe whole of ancientliterature on these subjects. Rather,because John mentions persecutingemperors,assistedbyphilosophers, John mayhavebeen thinking of the writings of pagan philosophers hostile to Christianity, particularlyPorphyry,whose writingshad indeed been ordered to be destroyed and had been ridiculedbyChristian authors long ago. In this case he would be referring to the Great Persecution that began in 303.This sup- ports the scholarlyopinion that John wrotethe Discourse on Babylas to refute Porphyry’s Against the Christians. It is also possiblethat the passagealludes
LSJ ,p., :Ar. eq. . See p. below: ἐνοὕτω χρόνῳ βραχεῖ. Ath. v. Anton. . 44 1The Great Persecution, the Emperor Julian and Christian Reactions to the magic trials and book-burning that happened in Antioch some years ago as we will see in section 2.1. This reading could be justified because John as well as his audience had experiencedthese events, anumber of philosophers were affected by the magic trials and the initial conspiracy had an anti-Christian thrust.Onbalance, John appears to conflatethreedifferent layers of historical allusion: burningofanti-Christian booksfollowing the Great Persecution, ne- glect of ancient books and possiblythe magic trials in Antioch in the 370s and the subsequent destruction of privatelibraries. Nevertheless, the assump- tion that John wasalludingspecificallytoPorpyhry can be supported by asim- ilar passagetaken from John’ssermons:⁸⁷
Iwished, if youhad plenty of spare time, to bringbeforeyou all the book of acertain im- pureGreek philosopher written against us, and that of another of earlier date,inorder to arouse youatleast,and to lead youawayfromyour exceeding laziness.For if they wereso wakeful to speak against us,what excuse can we deserve, if we do not even know how to refute the attacks against us?
It is likelythat one of these Greek philosopherswas Porphyry and John explicitly justifies the fact thathis writingswerepreserved by some Christians in that they needed to give well-informed counter-arguments against pagans. The other, much older author was probablyCelsus, who wroteatreatise against Christianity in the second century. Another interesting aspect in this passagebyJohn Chrysostom is his derision of philosophical opinions thatare contrary to Christianityaswehaveseen that he describes the philosophicaltradition as laughter.John thus usesthe derision of texts and their authors as an effective weapon to cast doubtonabook’swor- thiness. This motif has atradition in ancientrhetoric. As Quintilian wroteinthe first century, “we laughnot merelyatthose words or actions which are astute or hi- larious, but also at those which are stupid, hot-tempered or shy. The motivation for this is thereforeambiguous, since laughter is never far away from derision.”⁸⁸ In Greek philosophyderision was occasionallyused as arhetoricaltool. The atomist philosopher Democritus, for example, was known as the laughing phi-
Chrys. hom. in Jo. (PG :): ἐβουλόμην, εἴ γε σχολῆς ἀπελαύετε πολλῆς, εἰςμέσον ἁπάντων ὑμῶνμιαροῦ τινος Ἕλληνος φιλοσόφου βιβλίον καθ’ ἡμῶνεἰρημένον ἀγαγεῖν, ἑτέρου πάλιν πρεσβυτέρου τούτου, ἵν’ οὕτω γοῦν ὑμᾶςδιανέστησα, καὶ τῆςπολλῆςνωθείας ἀπήγαγον. εἰ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι μὲν, ὥστε καθ’ ἡμῶνεἰπεῖν, τοσαῦτα ἠγρύπνησαν, τίνος ἂνεἴημεν συγγνώμης ἡμεῖς ἄξιοι, εἰ μηδὲ τὰςπροσβολὰςτὰςκαθ’ ἡμῶνεἰσόμεθα ἀποκρούεσθαι; Quint. inst. ..: neque enim acute tantum ac venuste, sed stulte, iracunde, timide dicta ac facta ridentur,ideoque anceps eius rei ratio est, quod aderisu non proculabest risus. 1.4 Christian Reactions to the Great Persecution 45 losopher,apparentlybecause of his derisory attitude towardshis fellow citizens, and was thereforeinturn derided.⁸⁹ This specific case mayhaveserved as aprec- edent for the derision of philosophyinChristian texts.Inthis specific connota- tion laughter has the purpose of provingotheropinions to be wrongand not wor- thyofrefutation. This can in turn implythatamong those who shared this attitude there was an unwillingness to include the content of the derided philos- ophies in writing.For example, Platohas been citednot to have ever mentioned Democritus in his works.⁹⁰ John Chrysostom uses the metaphor of laughter particularlyoften not just with regardtopagan philosophy, but also with regard to paganism as a whole. In doing so, he combines this motif with medical metaphors.For exam- ple, in the immediate context of the passagequoted abovefrom the Discourse on Babylas he compares the termination of Hellenismtothegradual perishment of abodyinfected with long-lastingputrefaction (13):⁹¹
If this satanic laughter has not been completely deleted from the earth, whathas already happened is sufficient to convinceyou concerning the future. Because the greater part has been destroyed in such ashort amount of time, no one will rival us anylonger on ac- count of the remainder.[…]Paganism had been spread all over the earth and possessed the souls of all human beings and so much later,after so much force and progress, was it de- stroyed by the powerofChrist.
John’scommemoration of the Great Persecution probablycaused him to ridicule ancient philosophies in response to those philosophers(like Porphyry) who ridi- culed Christianity.Astriking example of this theme can be quoted from the sec- ond Homily to the GospelofJohn:⁹²
See Pellizer(). D.L. Democritus . Chrys. pan. Bab. .– (SC :–): ὥστε εἰ καὶ μὴ τέλεον ὁ σατανικὸςοὗτος ἐξή- λειπται γέλως ἀπὸ τῆςγῆς,ἀλλ’ ἱκανά γε τὰἤδη γενόμενα πιστώσασθαι καὶὑπὲρτῶνμελλόντων ὑμᾶς. τοῦ γὰρπλείονος καθαιρεθέντος ἐνοὕτω χρόνῳ βραχεῖ περὶ τοῦ λειπομένου οὐδεὶςφιλο- νεικήσει λοιπόν. … ὁ μὲνγὰρἙλληνισμὸςπανταχοῦ τῆςγῆςἐκταθεὶςκαὶτὰςἁπάντων ἀνθρώπων ψυχὰςκατασχὼνοὕτως ὕστερον μετὰ τὴντοσαύτην ἰσχὺνκαὶτὴνἐπίδοσιν ὑπὸ τῆςτοῦΧριστοῦ κατελύθη δυνάμεως. Chrys. hom. in Jo. (PG :–): τούτων γὰρ ἔνια ἐζήτησαν μὲνοἱπερὶ Πλάτωνα καὶ Πυθαγόραν· τῶνγὰρἄλλων οὐδὲἁπλῶςμνημονευτέον ἡμῖνφιλοσόφων· οὕτω καταγέλαστοι ἐντεῦθεν μεθ’ ὑπερβολῆςγεγόνασιν ἅπαντες. οἱ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων θαυμασθέντες πλέον παρ’ αὐτοῖς, καὶ πιστευθέντες εἶναι κορυφαῖοι τῆς ἐπιστήμης ἐκείνης, οὗτοι μάλιστα τῶν ἄλλων εἰσίν· οἳ καὶ πολιτείας μὲν ἕνεκεν καὶ νόμων συνθέντες τινὰἔγραψαν· ὅμως δὲἐνἅπασι παίδων αἰσχρότερον κατεγελάσθησαν.Cf. Maxwell (), . 46 1The Great Persecution, the Emperor Julian and Christian Reactions
The followers of Platoand Pythagorasinvestigated some of these questions.Thereissimply no need for us to remember the other philosophers; they have now all become so excessive- ly ridiculous;and those whohavebeen moreadmired among them than the rest and who have been believed to be the experts in that science, aresomorethan the others;and they have written compositions on the subject of the state and the laws,and in all have been derided moreshamefullythan children.
John’sverdict on these unnamed philosophersisfounded on their diversity of opinions which conflict with Christianity’sunifiedvision. By contrast, “they have erred agreat error,and, like blind or drunkenpeople, have dashedagainst each other in their error.”⁹³ Moreover,justlike the pagans had generallyderided the follyofthe messageofthe cross in the beginning,soare now pagan world views derided as madness by Christian authors.⁹⁴ In consequence, John passed over other philosophicaltraditions than those of the Platonists and Pythago- reans (which wereclose to each other)inthe context of the abovepassage. Borrowingfrom Christian and Platonic traditions and constitutinganother recurrent theme in Christian authors, their ridiculousness is closelylinked to “children” as aperiphrase for Greek philosophers, as well as to the devil, both here and in the passagequoted above.⁹⁵ Within this theme,John singles out phil- osophical traditions on the transmigration of souls and in particular the Pythag- orean belief that souls transmigrated into plants, ridiculing both vegetarianism and the notion that human beingsare aspecies of animalsasinconsistent with the Christian belief in creation.⁹⁶ It is acommon theme of Christian authorstoname the old philosophers “children”,implying that the Judaeo-Christian tradition is older than, and supe- rior to,Greek philosophyand religion. Thus, Cyril of Alexandria provides a doubtful, circumstantial account comparing the Jewish and Greek traditions up to the birth of Christ based on the Olympic calendar.⁹⁷ From this he derives his claim thatChristian tradition is older than Greek literacy⁹⁸ and that the Greek philosophers had borrowed anything thatmight be construed as truth
Chrys. hom. in Jo. (PG :): καὶ καθάπερ τυφλοὶ καὶ μεθύοντες, καὶἐναὐτῇτῇπλάνῃ ἀλλήλοις προσέῤῥηξαν. This argument is clearlyput forwardinChrys. hom. in Cor. (PG :–). Thus in Chrys. hom. in Ac. (PG :); hom. in Jo. (PG :–); hom. in Cor. (PG :–). Chrys. hom. in Ac. (PG :–). Throughoutthe Middle Ages, Christian scholars con- demned metempsychosis:Maaz (). Cyr. Juln. .– (= PG :C–A).Chapterisation for the first two books according to the edition by Burguièreand Évieux as well as for the first five books according to the most re- cent edition, GCS NF .Igive the PG references in addition. Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :A). 1.4 Christian Reactions to the Great Persecution 47 from the Christian tradition.⁹⁹ He refers to Solon’ssayinginPlato’s Timaeus that “youGreeks are always children” because they have no written record so far as evidence of their limited abilities.¹⁰⁰ ForCyril, the line was clear: whenever the Greek sages had agreed with Christian scripture, they had also agreed among each other,inspired by God,whereas in anything else they had been of dissent- ing,abominable opinions, and in astate of delirium.¹⁰¹ In making this point, Cyril adds some biblical quotations and allusions,¹⁰² noting,for example, that it was onlyafter the Great Flood,the tower of Babel, and the confusion of lan- guages thatmen werebrought to worship that which is created, such as the sky,sun, moon and elements, instead of the one God.¹⁰³ Nevertheless,John Chrysostom occasionallyadmits that philosophical writ- ingsdisagreeingwith the Christian world view werestill accessible. Forexample, in the nineteenth Homily against the Statues,written after the Statue Riot,John says that, although it can hardlybefound anymore, the follyofthe philosophers is evident if one unfolds their book-scrolls written long ago.¹⁰⁴ In these, the read- er is offered the opinions that there is no divine providence and no creation, opinions that are opposed to Christian teachingand that John finds “most ridiculous.”¹⁰⁵ This passageimplies thatitwas at that time still possibleto read the opinionsofthe old philosophers. In asermon on the GospelofJohn, John Chrysostom reiterates his point that philosophical writingscan at best be found in the possession of Christians,echo- ing the passageonthe disappearance of books in the Discourse on Babylas. John argues that on the one hand, educated Christians just as John himself might still find it useful to studyancient philosophytoimprovetheir own writings, but on the other they should disclose their knowledge onlytoridicule philosophy. By
Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :A–B). Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :D): Ἕλληνές ἐστε παῖδες ἀεί. Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :C). Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :D). Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :A). Chrys. stat. . (PG :): κἂν ἕνα αὐτῶνλαβὼνφιλόσοφόντινα τῶν ἔξωθεν ἀγάγως εἰςμέσον νῦν· μᾶλλον δὲ νῦνμὲνοὐδένα ἔστιν εὑρεῖν· ἃνδὲτινα τούτων λαβὼν, καὶ τὰ βιβλία τῶνπάλαι παῤ αὐτοῖςφιλοσοφησάντων ἀναπτυξας ἐπέλθως, καὶ τί μὲνοὗτοι ἀποκρίνονται νῦν, τί δὲἐκεῖνοι τότε ἐφιλοσόφησαν παράλληλα θεὶς ἐξετάσως, ὄψει πόση μὲν ἡ τούτων σοφία, πόση δὲἡἐκείνων ἄνοια. Chrys. stat. . (PG :–): καταγελαστότερα;cf. in illud, Paulus vocatus.etde mutat. nominum . (PG :–). 48 1The Great Persecution, the Emperor Julian and Christian Reactions contrast,hesuggests that the less educated audience is discouraged to study pagan philosophyatall:¹⁰⁶
But enough of this; or rather even this is out of measure. Forinorder to learn anythinguse- ful from these authors,itwould be necessary to wasteevenmoretime; but just in order to observetheir awkwardness and ridiculousness,morethan enough has been said by us al- ready.
This passageexplains whyJohn repeatedlycalls ancient philosophyridiculous while finding it necessary to protect the faith from philosophicalcounter-argu- ments. Hischoice between the two positions dependedonthe degreeofeduca- tion that he expected from his audience. Further allusions to the burningofbooks duringthe Great Persecution are found among Prudentius’ poems (earlyfifth century), which include acollection of martyr hymns (Peristephanon). Originallyfrom Spain, Prudentius eventually had aprestigious if not specifiedoffice at the court of Theodosius (379– 395)¹⁰⁷ and it is likelythat he had livedinRome for some time.¹⁰⁸ Before giving acloser readingofthe Vincent hymn, Ishalldiscuss alate antique mosaic thatis probablybasedonthis hymn and thatalludes to book-burning duringthe Great Persecution. Alunetteonthe south wall opposite the entrance of the imperial mausoleum of the Theodosian family(built c. 430 – 450) depicts asaint traditionallyinter- preted as the martyr Lawrence.¹⁰⁹ Lawrence ultimatelybecame the patron saint of both librarians and fire – apeculiar combination. Themausoleum is at- tributed to Honorius’ sister,Galla Placidia (d. 450) – probablythe construction’s patron – and was built in the backyardofSan VitaleBasilica with its famous mo- saics of Justinian and Theodora. Some scholars have interpreted the mosaic as showing asaint burningheretical books and the chapel interior as awhole to depict the dissemination of the gospels,¹¹⁰ leading one scholartosuggest that
Chrys. hom. in Jo. (PG :): ἀλλὰ τούτων μὲν ἅλις· μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ταῦτα πέρα τοῦ μέτρου. εἰ μὲνγάρτιχρήσιμον παρ’ αὐτῶν ἦνμαθεῖν, ἔδει καὶ πλέον ἐνδιατρίβειν· εἰ δὲὅσον τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτῶνκαὶτὸνγέλωτα κατοπτεῦσαι, καὶ ταῦτα πλέον τοῦ δέοντος εἴρηται παρ’ ἡμῶν.Cf. hom. in Ac. (PG :). Prud. praef. –. Tränkle (), ,note provides alist of scholarlycontributions that argueinfavour of –;thus also Harries (), –;Tränkle suggests . On the identification with Lawrence: Deichmann (), , ;onthe date, p. ;Low- den (), –. Strzygowski (), ;Bovini (), ;Diehl (), ;Cabrol and Leclerq(), : livre, sans doute hérétique. 1.4 Christian Reactions to the Great Persecution 49 the scene generallyrefers to the destruction of ancient literature by flame.¹¹¹ Ar- guing against the book-burning interpretation, others have suggested that the parchment codex carried by the saint in the depiction is agospel or another Christian book.¹¹² However,thatthe cabinet alreadyshows four gospels, each with its title given, indicates that the fifth book, that of the saint,isdifferent from the gospels, because no title is given.
Figure 1. MausoleumofGallaPlacidia in Ravenna,mosaic of “St Lawrence” Photo: Nadine Urbschat
Earlyattempts by scholarship to relatethe scene to Prudentius’ Lawrence hymn (Perist. 2) have been criticallyreceived.¹¹³ The arrangementofthe mosaic departs from the traditions established by other Lawrenceimages. Mackie has thereforesuggested that the mosaic wasanillustration of Prudentius’ Vincent hymn.¹¹⁴ Iagree with this view also because in the Vincent poem, as Iwill show,the Spanish martyrisforced to disclose the sacredwritingstobeburnt. Both poems have several elements in common, including the gridiron, as has
Antoniades (), –. Nordström (), ;Deichmann (), .Others have interpreted the saint as Christ holdingthe books of human recordsonJudgment Day: Bovini (), –, . Dütschke(), –;See Courcelle (), on attempts in favour of the Lawrencehy- pothesis. Mackie (), , –;Mackie (). 50 1The Great Persecution, the Emperor Julian and Christian Reactions been shown by Desantis.¹¹⁵ This alignment of the mosaic with Vincent rather than with Lawrencetherefore supportsthose scholars who have argued that the mosaic alludes to book-burning. The west and east lunettes have deer drinking the water of eternal life. Abovethe lunettes, there are arches supposedlyshowing eight apostles as well as doves again drinking from avessel or fountain. Yetthe book is central to the scene as awhole. The bases of the cross arches have vine scrolls,taking up amotif that we will see again in Contra Symmachum and other poems by Pru- dentius in section 3.3. To Mackie “the acanthus represents the unbroken tie with classicaltradition.”¹¹⁶ The apostles also carry book scrolls.While vine tendrils are common even in Roman pre-Christian mosaics, scholars have nevertheless persuasivelylinked the reception forwarded in the mausoleumtothe parable of the vineand the branches in the Gospel of John (15:1).¹¹⁷ Iwould like to add that this is supported by afifth-century codex of Pliny’sletters that contains asubscription “enclosed by scrolls of vine-tendrils” (CLA 1660).Thisarchaeolog- ical find shows that this symbolwas actuallyemployed as ornamentation for classicalbooks. It is also worth noting that the opposite lunetteshows Christ the Good Shepherd protecting his flock of sheep. This indicatesthat the whole imagery represents the protection of the Christian congregation from evil. This weight of established interpretation suggests that the scene subtlyalludes to book-burning in the sameway that Prudentius’ martyraccounts do, as Iwill argueshortly. The historical setting of Prudentius’ Vincent hymn shows its link to book- burning as it is situatedduring the Great Persecution.¹¹⁸ In Prudentius’ hymn, Vincent,the martyr,istortured after he deniedoffering sacrifices to the emperor. However,hemockshis torturers. The torturer,Datianus, who was governor of Spain,¹¹⁹ demands Vincent to surrenderhis books: “At least reveal your con- cealed pages, your hidden books, that the teachingwhich disseminates falsity maybeburned with the fire it deserves.”¹²⁰ The martyr replieswith what at first glanceseems to be the judge’sconsignation to hell:¹²¹
Desantis (), . Mackie (), ;cf. Apoc. :–. Bovini (), . On aprose version of adateunknown, Simonetti (); Palmer (), –. Prud. perist. .; PLRE ,Datianus , . Prud. perist. .–: saltem latentes paginas | librosque opertos detege, | quo secta pra- vum seminans | iustis cremetur ignibus. Prud. perist. .–: quem tu, maligne, mysticis | minitaris ignem litteris, | flagrabis ipse hoc iustius. | romphaea nam caelestium | vindex erit voluminum | tanti veneni interpretem | lin- guam perurens fulmine. 1.4 Christian Reactions to the Great Persecution 51
Youyourself will burn moredeservedlyinthe fire with which youare viciouslythreatening our mysticwritings,for the sword will retaliateour heavenlybooks,burningwith its light- ning-flash the tongue that speaks such poison.
This passageagain shows the close association of book-burning and the burning of the human body. The “tongue” (lingua)may also be translated in afigurative sense as “language” or “speech.” Ihere agree with those scholars who have ar- gued that from acomparison of the hymns on Cyprian and on Romanus lingua can also be ametonomyfor written record.¹²² This metonomyfits into my later readingofitmeaning wicked tongue, ametaphor for anti-Christian ideas ex- pressed either in writing or in speech, as Ishall show in section 3.3. Ishall also show the use of “poison” as asynonym for false philosophyand heresy. While this passagecan be aligned with Prudentius’ claim that Christianityhad overcome the errors of the past,itisalso possibletoread this passageaspropos- ing thatcertain pagan books have been or needed to be burnt.Nor is it astretch of interpretation to suggest that this mayhavebeenproposed as aretaliatory re- sponse to the burning of Christian books duringthe Great Persecution. The Passion of Philipp has asimilar scene of divine revengefor the burning of divine Scripture in Heraclea in Thrace. It has apolemical thrust against the forum that the philosophers used to roam:¹²³
Afire was made in the presenceevenofthe citizens and foreigners that weregatheredto- gether,and he threw all divine scriptures into the blaze. Suddenlyaflame ascended up to heavensopowerful that fear detained individual spectators from lookingatsuch afire. Some, however,were sittingaround blessed Philipp in the forum, where everythingisfor
Malamud (), –.Roberts (), note : “the conflation of languagede- rivedfromthe martyr cultwith the traditional pagan claims for the survival of works of litera- ture.” Mastrangelo (), : “In the work of Prudentius, lingua stands for poetry (Cath. .) and the correct faith (catholicam linguam, Apoth. ), which must be disseminated throughwrit- ing,speaking, and singing.” Pass.Philippi .– (Franchi de’ Cavalieri, –): igne subposito,adstantibus etiam civ- ibus peregrinisque collectis,scripturas omnes divinasinmedium misit incendium.tanta subito ad caelum flamma praecessit, ut stantes singulos formido ab expectaculo tanti ignis arceret. quidam vero circabeatum Philippum in foro sedebant, ubi venale quodcumque proponitur.adquos cum pervenisset hic nuntius, praesentibus exponebatdicens: ‘viri qui Heracleam incolitis,Iudaei, pa- gani velcuiusque religionis aut sectae, iam nunc extremi temporis,futuracognoscite, Paulo apos- tolo commonente, qui dixit: revelatur enim iraDei de caelo super omnem impietatem et iniustitiam hominum. et in Sodomis ideo venit iraiusta propter iniustitias eorum, ut si Sodomorum timeant iudicium et iniustitiam fugiant et quaerentes qui sit qui hoc fecit iudicium, ad eum convertantur ex vanis lapidibus et sint salvi. quare his,quibus per Orientem in Sodomis ignis apparuit, signum iudicii et indicium fuit irae caelestis.acneinsoloOriente pius se ignis ostenderet, in Sicilia quoque atque in Italia visa est resdigna miraculo’;Speyer(), ;cf. Just. apol. . 52 1The Great Persecution, the Emperor Julian and Christian Reactions
the sale. The messenger[Philipp] came to them and explained to those in his presence: Peo- ple of Heraclea, Jews,and pagans, followers of every religion or sect,beawareofthe fu- ture,now that the end of time is near! The apostle Paul has warned us: ‘Forthe wrath of God is revealed fromheavenagainst all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men’ [Rom. 1:18]. Therefore,righteous anger comes to Sodom because of their unrighteousness: if they fear the judgment on the people of Sodom, if they abstain from their unrighteous- ness and searchfor Him who made this judgment,they will convert to Him and be saved from their vain snares. Therefore,ithas been asign of the judgment and awitness of the divine anger to the people throughout the East to whom appeared the fire in Sodom. And the pious fire arose not onlyinthe East,but also in Sicilyand in Italythere was seen some- thingworthytobecalled amiracle.
The Passion was originallywritten in Greek and has survivedinrevised Latin translations, although not without alteration. The modern editor Franchi de’ Cav- alieri suggests that the text was first penned in the first quarter of the fourth cen- tury and thatalaterhand probablyadded to the eschatological passagequoted above. He also argues that it is likelythat the passage’send was written after temples such as the Serapeum in Alexandria had been destroyed – adding weight and meaning to these sections. Confirmingthis,the phrase “in Italy” is missing in one old manuscript.¹²⁴ It is likelythatthis is asimilarlylateraddition, meaning that the phrase perhaps alludes to Christian book-burning in Western parts of the Roman Empire, justifying this actionasretaliation for the burning of Christian books. At anyrate,texts like these conveyamessagethat Christian- ity had overcome the errors of the past. Asimilar scene can be found in another of Prudentius’ martyr hymn, related to the martyr Romanus and situated in Antioch duringthe Great Persecution. The passion of Romanus again showsclose association between the book and the bodyasitisstriking that the torturer orders Romanustobeburnt: “Youare con- demned to be devoured by fire and youwill soon turn into ascant ash heap.”¹²⁵ While amonstrous pyre is being built up and the flame fed with dried grass, the martyrhimself, just like in the scene of book-burning in the Vincent hymn,is positive thatthis judgment actuallypertains onlytoanevent of future times: “This kind of passion is not assigned to me, and agreat miracle stillremains to happen.”¹²⁶
Franchi de’ Cavalieri, Note agiografiche , –. Prud. perist. .–: ignibus vorabere | damnatus et favilla iam tenuis fies. Prud. perist. .–: nec passionis hoc genus datum est | et restat ingensquod fiat mira- culum. 1.4 Christian Reactions to the Great Persecution 53
Some Martyr Acts of the fifth and sixth centuries stillcommemorate the burning of Christian scripture duringthe persecution in Italy¹²⁷ and in the East.¹²⁸ One such text reports that pagan priestsburntthe books “of their own idols”,overcome by the martyr’ssteadfastness.¹²⁹ The historicalcredibility of these textsisdoubtful, but they indicate that such memoriessustained long after.For example, the Coptic Martyrdom of Victor also depicts a “magician” who came to burn his “magic” books and to convert to Christianity.This un- named “magician” had prepared poison to execute the martyr Victor of Antioch in atrial in the ageofDiocletianbut sawhis powers defeated.¹³⁰ Just before his death, Victor prophesised that eight yearslaterall philosophers and orators will die when they meet for lunch in ahouse that will fall down.¹³¹ This appears to be an allusion to the destruction of temples such as the Serapeum of Alexandria. A medievalLatin Martyr Actlocates asimilar story in Spain around the same time.¹³² We can see again that Christian Martyr Acts link book-burning during the Great Persecution to the death of memory as far as magic or inimicalphilo- sophical traditions are concerned. In sum, anumber of Christian authors demonised pagan philosophybe- cause, they argued, some philosophers had advised emperors such as Diocletian to persecute Christians. Philosophers and theirtextsand teachingswerethere- fore portrayedasenemies of Christianityand as demons able to destroy the souls of the faithful and to drag them into hell. Authors such as Lactantius and Eusebius acted as advisorsofthe emperor Constantine and therefore appear to have influenced the censorship legislation of thattime, justasphilosophers like Porphyry had informed the decision of the emperor Diocletian to destroy Christian texts.Inthe next section, we will see that Constantine’ssuccessors con- tinued to curb specific pagan forms of magic and divination, although their in- tent was to battle oppositional forces and stabilise their dynasty,and that the
Pass.Alexandri (ActaSS Sept. :): gesta nostrasecretius habe, quoniam tempus malum est; Pass.S.Victoris Mauri (ActaSS Maii :): in Milan; Pass.Firmi (ActaSS Aug. :): omnia scripta velgesta Christianorum,inVerona; Pass.Gordii Caesariensis Cappa- doc. (van Esbroeck, ). Kynopolis in Egypt: Pass.Dioscori (Quentin, ); Abitinae: Pass.Saturnini .– (Franchi de’ Cavalieri, –); Pass.Gordii Caesariensis Cappadoc. (van Esbroeck, ). Pass.Paphnut. et soc. (Delehay, ): οἱ δὲἱερεῖςθεασάμενοι τὸ βιβλίον τῶνεἰδώλων αὐτῶνκαιόμενον. Martyrium Victoris Fol. b(Budge, /). Martyrium Victoris Fol. a–b(Budge, /). Pass.Facundi et Primitivi – (Fábrega Grau :): maleficus omnes codices suos in igne combusit (). 54 1The Great Persecution, the Emperor Julian and Christian Reactions emperor Julian’sshort-livedattempt to revive aspecific form of pagan higher ed- ucationled to further reactions by Christian authors keen to reverse just this.
1.5 Julian and the Constantinian Dynasty
Constantine’ssons, Constantius II (337–361) and Constans I(337– 350), contin- ued to favour Christianity. Zealous Christians, such as monks, destroyed temples, although alaw forbade this practice, and it wasperhaps not before 356that sac- rifices and worship of images werebanned by threat of capital punishment.¹³³ It is not clear to what extent these laws wereimplemented, and paganism contin- ued long after. The anti-pagan legislation underConstantine’ssuccessors ruled against cer- tain aspects of paganism perceivedtobedangerous rather than against pagan- ism per se. Nevertheless,these earlyreligious laws pavedthe waytolater book- burning laws and reported acts of book-burning.In357,Constantius issuedan edict to the people of Rome, banning all kindsofdivination. He visited Rome in that year.Under the threat of capital punishment it was forbidden for anyone to consultpersons involved in this art,includingastrologers (mathematici), prophets (vates)and representativesofthe old Greco-Roman religion involved in divination.¹³⁴ It is possible thatConstantine reacted to slanderous rumours about his reign, as some emperors did in the first century.Itisclear that this kind of divination would have attracted the most attention. Nevertheless, the link between paganism and divination must have been welcome to the clergy. Thus, the council of Ancyra in 314had defined the act of divination as “being in accordancewith the customs of the pagans.”¹³⁵ Around the same time, afurther lawbyConstantius, addressed to the people of Rome, condemned those who practicedthe magic arts (magicae artes). Ex- emptions from torture, traditionallyenjoyed by persons from the upper strata of society,werewaivedincases of magi,who “are to be regarded as enemies of humankind” as well as anyone involved in divination “including even a mathematicus.”¹³⁶ This explains whyaccordingtoAmmianus people of high
Cod. Theod. .. (lawbyConstantius and Julian in Milan). Constantine mayhaveruled against sacrifices (Cod.Theod. .. alludes to this, however,without the threat of capital punishment), but this is debated; see recentlyWallraff (), –. Cod. Theod. ... CAnc. can. (Mansi :): auguria vel auspicia, sive somnia veldivinationes quaslibet, secundum morem gentilium. Cod. Theod. ..–,at:humani generis inimici credendi sunt … vel etiam mathematicus. 1.5 Julian and the Constantinian Dynasty 55 rank weretortured duringthe magic trials in the 370s, as we will see in section 2.1. With areferencetohis father Constantine, Constantius alsoruled pamphlets (famosi libelli)tobeburnt.Itthereforeappears that the problem of slanderous writingscontinued in Africa.¹³⁷ There is evidence that on at least one occasion Constantius enforced these laws, albeit in adifferent region. In 359, Constantius conducted trials in reaction to offensive scriptures maliciously forwarded to him from the temple-archive of the Egyptian BesatAbydos. The main location and focus for this investigation, which involved tortureregardlessofrank,was Scythopolis in Palestine (between Antioch and Alexandria). Ammianus mentions aphilosopher and alearned poet,who was later acquitted, among the victims.¹³⁸ His account suggests that prophecies on the fate of the emperor wereparticularlyunwanted, but that it was ultimatelythe decision of the prosecutor to punishany form of pagan div- ination. Constantius’ successor Julian (361–363) was the onlyacknowledgedpagan emperor since Constantine. His Christian adversaries chargedhim with apostasy. Much has been written about Julian’spsychological development, his intellectu- al and educational background, and what inspired the emperor to turn from Christianitytothe previous state cult.Itisworth looking in more detail at exactly what the last pagan emperor contributed to the narrative of censorship and book-burning we have established so far as well as at the legal and psychological consequences of Julian’sreligious policy in the years following his death. Firstly, the so-called teacher edict certainlyisthe best known of Julian’s laws. It is generallyinterpreted as representingJulian’sintention to put Christian teachers out of business. The edict puts the local decurions in charge of granting teachinglicenses to regulate these standards and in reachingthe standard read- ing of it,much has been made out of Julian’sletters.For Julian, moral integrity meant that ateachers’ religious belief had to be commensurate with the peda- gogicalmaterial he used.¹³⁹ As aresult,the academic conclusion is that Julian barred Christians from teachingclassical literature, such as Homer,and that he generallyintended to exclude Christians from higher education. Nevertheless, at least one scholar suggested the alternative interpretation that the teacheredict was part of ageneral program to improvethe administrative and moral status quo of the empire rather than to discriminate against Christians.¹⁴⁰ This, Ifeel, is amore persuasive position as the edict mentions onlythe moral standing of
Cod. Theod. ... Amm. .. Cod. Theod. ..;Jul. ep. c(Bidez .:–). Klein (). 56 1The Great Persecution, the Emperor Julian and Christian Reactions teachers (grammarians and rhetoricians). It seems that because the edict was worded neutrally, it was included in the Codex Theodosianus,despite its possible anti-Christian tendency.Watts has recentlyargued that as aconsequence of this edict pagan teachers wereinturn those who had to face adversities in their pro- fession, once emperors continued to be Christians.¹⁴¹ From all the legislativeacts Julian undertook none was despised more by Greek Christian authors than his teacher edict.Wewill see in the following sec- tion that Christian authorsleave no doubt that they counted the late emperor among the persecutors,although the evidence suggests thatheavoidedreligious trials. In this context,Speyer’sremark that Julian was close to the Christian the- ologians that criticised him is intriguing.¹⁴² Afterall, had not the earlier apolo- gists insisted that Christians should avoid reading manypagan texts? Secondlyinthis context,Julian was suspicious not onlyofChristian educa- tors but alsoofcertain schools of philosophy, preferringhimself Neoplatonic philosophy. What is less known is that although he readmitted philosophers to his court he also argued for censorship. In aletterhestated that pagan priests should not read the poetical works of Archilochus,Hipponax, and the Old Com- edyaswell as the philosophicalworks of Epicurus and Pyrrho, adding that most books by the Epicurean and Pyrrhonic philosophershad perished by this time.¹⁴³ While some Neoplatonic philosopherssurely shared Julian’sview,itmust also be noted thathis reservations mayhavebeen aggravated by his Christian education, as noted above. Judging from established testimonials regarding the edict on teachers,itappears thatJulian’sreligious policy had apsychological impact on some Christians in the yearstocome, as we will see in the next section. It also appears that pagans took advantage of the changed religious climate duringJulian’sreign, goingasfar as to confiscatebooks. In Alexandria the Arian bishop George of Cappadocia, aman with the reputation of being afierceexec- utor of Constantius’ II laws against sacrifices and temples was avictim of this. George was one of the multiple replacements for the important theologian Atha- nasius (who wasmanytimes expelled from his bishop’ssee as an adversary of Arius). As aconsequence of his policy,the mob murdered George and his library was plunderedduring the ensuing riot in 361when the religious climate had changed following Julian’saccession. In reaction to this,Julian ordered Porphy- ry,Alexandria’sfinance officer (rationalis), and his staff to conduct house
Watts () –. Speyer (), –. See p. ,note below. 1.6 Christian Reactions to the Emperor Julian 57 searches and interrogations to try and recover George’sbooks, suggesting that he would destroy anyChristian books among these:¹⁴⁴
Do grant me this privatefavour,that all of George’sbooks be found out.For he owned many books on philosophy, and manyonrhetoric; manyalso on the teachingsofthe ungodlyGal- ilaeans [= Christians]. These latter Iwished to be obliterated,but for fear that alongwith them moreuseful works maybetaken away,let all those also be carefullysearched out.
The letter shows that destruction of specific books could cause larger, coinciden- tal losses of books because the officials in charge of the searches wereprobably well-educated and mayhavekept some of the books. Following their initiation, searches for forbidden booksand their destruction begin to take place with in- creasingfrequency from this point onwards through the next centuries. Ishall argueinthe following section that clerical exhortations not to read certain pagan books weresometimes linked to Julian’sreligious policy.
1.6 Christian Reactionstothe Emperor Julian
Julian’sworks and religious policy provoked similar polemics as the Great Perse- cution had done. While these polemicaldiscourses have not directlyaffected im- perial censorship legislation, they maytosome extent account for clericalinter- ests with regard to the banning of books. Gregory of Nazianzus composed two orations against Julian (or.4and 5) in 363orshortlyafter,that immediatelyreacted to Julian’sreligious policy and death. Gregory heavilyattacksJulian for attemptingtodeprive Christians of lit- erature (lógoi)and education through the teacher edict (4.101). As another edu- cated Christian who, like his fellow student Basil, was aconnoisseur of classical literature, he argued in his speech that Julian was wrong to claim that pagan lit- erature and religion are connected. He suggested that Christians could endorse pagan culture but dismiss sacrifices (4.5). Yetinhis polemical attacks on Julian, Gregory defended onlyselected as- pects of pagan literature and education and deprecated others. He regarded as morallyinferior the kind of pagan education thatJulian wanted to be taught
Jul. ep. :A–B(Bidez .:): ταύτην οὖν ἰδιωτικήνμοι δὸςτὴνχάριν, ὅπως ἀνευ- ρεθῇ πάντα τὰ Γεωργίου βιβλία. πολλὰ μὲνγὰρἦνφιλόσοφα παρ’ αὐτῷ, πολλὰ δὲῥητορικά, πολλὰ δὲἦνκαὶτῆςτῶνδυσσεβῶνΓαλιλαίων διδασκαλίας· ἃ βουλοίμην μὲν ἠφανίσθαι πάντη, τοῦ δὲ μὴ σὺντούτοις ὑφαιρεθῆναι τὰ χρησιμώτερα, ζητείσθω κἀκεῖνα μετ’ ἀκριβείας ἅπαντα.For the context, Jul. ep. , – (Bidez .:–, –); Amm. ..–. 58 1The Great Persecution, the Emperor Julian and Christian Reactions in schools (4.124): “the education of this world was walking in darkness,and falling away far from the light of truth”,¹⁴⁵ something he suggested was being dis- seminatedbydemons (4.55). As with other Christian authors, Gregory wasinclu- sive as he defended the rhetorical use of the Greek languagefrom Julian’salleged argument thatthis too wasthe domainofHellenism, arguing that Christians should make use of rhetoric if it was to disseminate faith (4.100 –107). Similarly to other Christian authors, Gregory did not dismiss poetry as such – he himself composed Christian classicizing poems – but he did criticise its pagan content (4.108), such as the myths of the Olympic gods, as being sexuallyoffensive (4.70, 116–23). He regarded the gods of pagan poetry as dragons (5.31–2).On the subject of philosophyand philosophers, he execratedthe philosophers from the various ancient schools who had persuaded Julian to turn away from Christianity(4.43,72; 5.5, 38, 41), as opposed to the Christian “true” philosophers (such as monks). He linked the learning associated with these pagan philoso- phers to astrology and divination (4.31,43) and explicitlycounted geometry as superstition (4.109;cf. 4.43) – aderogatory Christian term for pagan belonging. As farasmagic books are concerned, Gregory,likeJulian, did approveofthe unity of pagan religion and overlypagan literature:¹⁴⁶
Put away your books of sorcery and divination, let onlythose of the Prophets and Apostles be opened […]Throwdown your Triptolemuses,and your Eleusis,and your foolish dragons: shame yourself of the books of your oracular Orpheus!
Gregory alsodiscussed the legal background of book offences.Hepolemically said thatthe treason law – which ruled the death penalty on personal insult of the emperor – was suitable to ban pagan poetry as it was sexuallyoffensive. Moreover,pagan poetry insulted not onlyone god – the emperor – but many gods:¹⁴⁷
If death is the penalty assigned by the laws for all whoblaspheme against asingle one of their gods – even privatelyand slightly – what should be the punishmentfor those wholet
Gr.Naz. or. . (SC :): τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου … παίδευσις ἐνσκότει διαπορευομένη καὶ τοῦ τῆς ἀληθείας φωτὸςπόρρω πίπτουσα. Gr.Naz. or. . (SC :–): παῦσόνσου τὰςγοητικὰςκαὶμαντικὰςβίβλους· αἱ προ- φητικαὶ δὲ καὶἀποστολικαὶ μόναι ἀνελιττέσθωσαν. … κατάβαλε τοὺςΤριπτολέμους σου, καὶ τοὺς Κελεοὺς, καὶ τοὺςμυστικοὺςδράκοντας· αἰσχύνθητί ποτε ταῖςτοῦΘεολόγου σου βίβλοις Ὀρφέως. Gr.Naz. or. . (SC :): εἰ γὰρτοῖςεἰςἕνα θεὸναὐτῶνκαὶἰδίᾳ καὶ μικρὰ βλασφη- μήσασι θάνατος ἢ ζημίαπαρὰ τῶννόμων, τί πάσχειν ἔδει τοὺςπᾶσιν ὁμοῦ καὶ δημοσίᾳ καὶἐπὶ τοῖςαἰσχίστοις ἐπαφιέντας τὴνποίησιν, καὶ μακρῷ χρόνῳ παραδόντας τὴνκωμῳδίαν; 1.6 Christian Reactions to the Emperor Julian 59
loose their poetry against all gods altogether,publicly, and in the most abusive terms, and for those whohavehanded down this comedy for along time?
Gregory here borrows from Clement of Alexandria, who gave alist of authors that insulted the gods (Menander,Antisthenes, Homer and Euripides).¹⁴⁸ He goes as far as condemning Julian for his school buildingprogram (4.111). He is perhaps right to describe certain philosophers –“those who strayed, who worshipped the creaturerather than the creator”¹⁴⁹ – as (currently) giving up their previous error, from fear of coercion (5.28): after all, we will see that there is some evidence that Julian’ssuccessor Jovian acted against philosophers. Gregory also was the first to criticise Julian’santi-Christian writings, partic- ularlyhis Contra Galilaeos (4.74; 5.41), whereJulian posited the link between pa- ganism and classical culture. Gregory ranked these writingsalongside Porphy- ry’swhich Constantine ordered to be burnt. Both, he argued, contained the same lies (5.41). Gregory’sposition is that of aChristian author who aligned Ju- lian’santi-Christian policy with the influenceofthosepagan philosophers who advised Julian. As with thoseChristian authorswho wroteagainst philosophers like Porphyry in the aftermath of the Great Persecution, Gregory’sspeeches un- derpinnedthe division between acceptable and unacceptable aspectsofpagan learning,indicating that pagan philosophical views disagreeing with the Chris- tian world view weredetrimental to the well-beingofChristians, going as far as to compareJulian’sreligious policy with earlier persecutions of Christians. Greg- ory’sposition here certainlyhas to be seen within the context of the atmosphere soon after Julian’sdeath and the specific expectations of his audience. Julian’sreligious policy and his works,particularlyhis treatise Contra Gali- laeos (that is Christians), frequentlyprovoked Christian criticism even long after his death. Fragments of this work by Julian (361–363) are extant largely be- cause of quotations in alater refutation by the Christian author Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria (412–444). Julian’swork is thus among the very few surviving phil- osophical texts of Antiquitywhich undertakeacomprehensive refutation of Christianity, arguing,for example, against the biblical concept of creation. ACoptic Church history has provided an account of the reasons whyCyril wrotehis refutation, indicating that Julian’swork was actively suppressed. It notes that agroup of philosophers talked with Cyril about Julian’swork. In reac- tion, Cyril conducted asearch for Julian’swritingsand,after along time had
Clem. prot. .. Gr.Naz. or. . (SC :): ἐμακρύνθησαν καὶ “ἐλάτρευσαν τῇ κτίσει παρὰ τὸνκτί- σαντα”,referringtoRom. :. 60 1The Great Persecution, the Emperor Julian and Christian Reactions passed, eventuallyfound copies.The difficulties Cyril experiencedinthis search suggests that the work had been suppressed probablybecause of Christian re- strictions: it is named alongsidethe booksofOrigen(at that time heretical) and of Porphyry,whose work Against the Christians had been ordered to be de- stroyed in imperial legislation.¹⁵⁰ Outwith of its character as an anti-Christian work, there is evidence to sug- gest thatecclesiastical authorities criticised Julian’s Contra Galilaeos for its con- flation of Neoplatonic and Epicurean concepts. To Julian’sassertion “that the na- ture of earthlybodies is produced from the clash of the elements” in his refutation Contra Julianum Cyril replies that the emperor was influenced by those who informed him, in particular by Empedocles, whom he quotes from areferenceinPlotinus.¹⁵¹ To Cyril, such tenets are “laughter” and “sophistries” and they detract from truth,¹⁵² as they had been shownbefore to be childish talk proposingthe most extreme absurdness.¹⁵³ This shows that Julian produced atomistic arguments to challengethe biblical creation account.
1.7 Conclusion
In sum, Ihaveargued in this chapter that two pagan emperors introduced cen- sorship legislation as atool to establish agreater degreeofstate control. Chris- tian authors responded to bothkey events, arguing that their philosophical back- ground, education or advice by contemporary philosophershad caused Diocletian and Julian to legislate in this way. In consequencethey came up with anumber of strategies to arguethat pagan philosophies are demonical, ri- diculous, sinful and arrogant curiosity,thatphilosophyitself had persecuted Christians. While there is evidence that some Roman emperors of the first century AD occasionallybanned astrologers (and even philosophers) from Rome and Italy, there is no firm evidence thatbooks wereburnt in these contextsbefore the late-imperial period. On the contrary,pagan emperors wereoften advised by phi- losophers. Indeed, prominent philosophers wroteanti-Christian treatises at the occasion of the Great Persecution in the earlyfourth century.Contemporary and laterChristian polemicaltexts and Martyr Acts blamed the Great Persecution and the burning of scripture not onlyonapagan empire, but also on philoso-
Historia ecclesiae Alexandrinae (Orlandi :–). Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :B). Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :C): γέλως … τερθρεία. Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :B). 1.7 Conclusion 61 phers, notablyPorphyry.These Christian authors constructed their discourse on book-burning against the backdrop of the Great Persecution. At that time Chris- tian authors had also agreed on adiscourse of condemningnatural philosophy based on its contradictions of the biblical creation account.¹⁵⁴ It is likelythat Christian apologists such as Lactantius and Eusebius influ- enced the emperor Constantine who ordered further book-searches soon after the Great Persecution, including searches for booksbyPorphyry and an unspe- cified rangeofforbidden arts. It is also likelythat the clergy endorsed Constan- tine’sreligious policy.Inthe next chapter Ishallargue that the Roman admin- istration tried to negotiate between these positions.Indoing so, the emperors continued to be interested in implementing agreater degree of state control.
See Schmid (), . 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – ImperialLegislation and Public Authority
In this chapter,Ishallcontinue to investigate thoseforms of book-burning and censorship that were sanctionedortolerated by the Roman authorities. This as- pect is in some respects close to amodern understandingofbook-burning as a form of government sanctionedcensorship. However,when emperors drafted laws, they usuallydid so in responsetoembassiesoracute problems.There was no systematic plan, on part of the Roman government,toban certain genres of texts.Imperial censorship laws mayhavebeen promulgated as ameans of so- cial control or as efforts to manageexistingconflicts. Compounding this, ancient Church historians seem to have had little specific knowledge on religious laws issued in the ageofTheodosius.¹ That such laws were often repeated and sanc- tions needed to be imposed on authorities that werenot willingtoenforcethese laws suggests that it took centuries to implant them.² Thisisbecause neither pro- vincial nor urban administrations had the staff to implementreligious laws.On the other hand, inscriptionsfrom the Romanimperial period indicate that the name of bad emperors werewidelyeradicated, following their damnatio memo- riae,but it is unknown to us how this and the destruction or mutilation of their statues could be achieved in the ancientworld. On the balance of probability,it is safe to saythat while religious laws werethereforenot systematicallyen- forced, they did acknowledge general tendencies of their time and area. Nevertheless,Fögen’sGerman-languagestudy on “the dispossession of the fortune-tellers” argued that the laws collected in the Codex Theodosianus indicat- ed that the Christian emperors of Late Antiquityprohibited entire genres of knowledge.Indoing so, they contributed to anew sociologyofknowledge based on the concept that there was onlyChristian truth that remained dominant for centuries.³ This readingand subject has receivedlittle attention outside of legal history,partlybecause the efficiency of imperial laws is oftendoubted.⁴ Lotz recentlyscrutinised Fögen’sviewonthe Magiekonflikt,agreeing that the legal term magician was often interchanged with or usedinplace of the desig- nation pagan.⁵ Although Lotz sawlinguistic parallels between late antique
Errington (), –. Provincial governors: Cod.Theod. ...Judgesand local magistrates: Cod. Theod. ..; ..; ...; ...; .... Fögen(). And see Freeman (), –. Robinson (), –. Lotz (), –, . 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – Imperial Legislation and Public Authority 63 legal languageand the terminologyused by the fathersofthe Church, she did not explore and explicate the twosourcegenres.⁶ Hermanowicz, on the other hand, has argued thatclerical embassies in North Africa have directlyinfluenced the wording of imperial laws dealingwith religious conflicts.⁷ It is likelythatsim- ilar thingsalsooccurred in other parts of the empire. This chapter,therefore, will focus on the laws regarding burning or banning anykind of books and on anyaspect of banning pagan or heretical teaching in imperial legislation, focusing primarilyonthe collections of the Codex Theodo- sianus and the Codex Justinianus. Ihavealreadytaken into account pre-Christian legislation against astrologers and magicians in order to show that book-burning was aspecific legal feature of Late Antiquity. These lawcompilations contain the essence of Christian imperial legislation since Constantine and wereinfluential well into the Middle Ages and beyond. They werecompiled from regional impe- rial advicesgiven to individual officials or groups.After the compilation and of- ficial publicationofthe Codex Theodosianus in 438these laws became generally applicable, although not generallyenforced. They are therefore significant in tell- ing us what genres of books mayhavebeen and were targeted. In the following chapters of this book Ishallargue that laws on book-burning and censorship are indeedsimilar to the languageofChristian authors. Thus abroader rangeoflit- erary genres thanhitherto suspected mayhavebeen vulnerable to censorship and perhaps even book-burning,certainlymore than acursory reading of the laws might suggest at first glance. The question is: which censorship laws wereactuallyenforced?This chapter,therefore, will also discuss the known in- cidentswhen the Romanauthorities actuallyburnt booksorwhen people were prosecuted for illegal teaching, proposingthatagrey areaexisted of writings that were banned or perhaps even destroyed on the grounds that they contained material defined as heretical or otherwise forbidden. In this chapter and the next,Ishallgoontoargue that clerics and ascetics weremore often involved in enforcing censorship legislation than the Roman authorities, which, however sometimesassisted Christian groups.Iwill thereforeargue that in order to under- stand the enforcement of censorship we must understand the typesoftexts which these Christian groups viewed as unworthy. Ishall start with the magic trials under the emperorValens, during which a large quantity of bookswerereportedlydestroyed, and Ishall raise the question of whylater sources thought this to be keyfor the demise of pagan philosophy. I shall then go on to discuss censorship laws duringthe Theodosian dynasty,ape-
Lotz (), –, –. Hermanowicz(). 64 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – ImperialLegislation and Public Authority riod of time which is best known for its anti-pagan legislation, arguing that book- burning laws wereenforced by the clergy rather than by state authorities. Aftera brief look on other sanctions thatpagan intellectuals had to face in the fifth cen- tury,Ishall go on to discuss the censorship legislation and its enforcement in the ageofJustinian, arguingthat Justinian’spolicy of restoration facilitated arobust approach to suppressing pagan literature.
2.1 Magic Trialsunder the Emperor Valens
In the previous chapter Idiscussed the censorship legislation up to the death of the last pagan emperor Julian. FollowingJulian’sdeath, book-burning begins to be reportedonalargerscale, although its practice still rests on previous reli- gious legislation. Julian’ssuccessor Jovian (363–364) was aChristian and he re- stored the privileges to the Church. In 364,the Nicene Christian ValentinianI succeeded Jovian as emperor along with his brother Valens, who tended to prom- ulgate Arianism during his reign in the Eastern part of the empire.Initiallyboth emperors showed relative tolerance towards pagans. Although his religious pol- icy is less well-evidenced than that of his brother,Valens did not denypromo- tions to pagans. This picture changed when both in theirrespectivedominions came to conduct what is known as magic trials, in Rome from 369to375,and in Antioch from early372 onwards.⁸ What had started as Valens’ brutal reaction to aconspiracy soon turned into ageneral investigation of suspicious religious activity throughout the Εastern empire and an unprecedented incident of book-burning.⁹ ValentinianIand Valens passed their own laws against suspicious pagan ac- tivities in their respective dominions. On 12 December 370, before the magic trials started in Antioch, alaw was passed in Constantinople, ruling that “the teaching of astrology shallcease.” It statedthatifany person “should be caught while en- gagedinthis forbidden error […], he shall suffer capital punishment”,regardless of whether he is ateacher or student of such “prohibited things.”¹⁰ Christian au- thors frequentlyemploy the term error to refer to philosophicalorheretical tenets.¹¹ The lawisaddressed to Modestus, praetorian prefect of the East,who
On the dateofValens’ arrival in Antioch, Lenski (), , . Amm. ... Cod.Theod. ..: cesset mathematicorum tractatus.nam si qui publice aut privatim in die noctuque deprehensus fuerit in cohibito errore versari, capitalisententia feriatur uterque. neque enim culpa dissimilis est prohibita discerequam docere. What Christians regarded as heretical or pagan thinking. See TLL .,s.v.II.B., . 2.1 Magic Trials under the Emperor Valens 65 headed acommission to judge the trials.¹² By contrast,Valentinianpassed two different but more sympathetic laws for the senate of Rome in 371: neither divi- nation nor other forms of religio allowed in the past weretobeconsidered crim- inal offences unless they wereharmfullypractised.Legal procedures wereregu- lated for senators involved in magic trials.¹³ The emperors reactedtoinitial accusations as outlined below.However,bothemperors in Constantinople in an unknown year issued aharsh edict on burningpamphlets.¹⁴ Along with the laws against mathematici (“astrologers”), this could have served as the legal basis for the book searches that followed. The magic trials started when Valens reacted to contemporary theurgists’ at- temptingtoreveal his fate and possible successor by divination. Accordingtothe pagan historian Ammianus Marcellinus most of the first victims werephiloso- phers and men of higher learning.¹⁵ All of them weretortured to confess the ac- cusations against them,some were burnt alive.¹⁶ Among them was Maximus, dis- tinguishedphilosopher and formerteacher of the emperor Julian, who had been instrumental in Julian’srejection of Christianity.¹⁷ These magic trials, held in Antioch in the early370s, have been interpreted as aspecific reaction to aconspiracy,¹⁸ but alsoasadecisive blow against an- cient philosophy.¹⁹ Some emperors of the first century also reacted harshlyto perceivedconspiracies. Theincident has been perceivedasablow against phi- losophybecause Ammianus reports that forbidden books weresought out and burnt,includingbooks on the liberal arts and on law. According to his account, the books served to provethe chargesoftreason against their owners as if their possession alone resembled acrime:²⁰
PLRE ,Modestus , –. Cod.Theod. ..–.See Lenski (), . Cod.Theod. ..: Impp.Valentinianus et Valens aa. ad edictum. Famosorum infame nomen est libellorum,acsiquis vel colligendos vellegendos putaverit ac non statim chartas igni consump- serit, sciat, se capitali sententia subiugandum. Amm. ..–.See Wiebe (), –,for aprosopography. Amm. .., . Amm. ... The standardaccount is Lenski (), –.And see Sarefield (), –. Curran (), ,note ,with reference to Zosimus (see below); Robinson (London, ), : “‘the trials virtuallywiped out the remainingpagan philosophers of the east’,be- cause of the loss of so manyoftheir libraries.” Amm. ..–: …de quibusdam sine spiramento vel morasupplicium, dum quaeritur,an sumi deberet, et ut pecudum ubique trucidatiocernebatur.deinde congesti innumeri codices et acervi voluminum multi sub conspectu iudicum concremati suntexdomibus eruti variis ut illiciti ad leniendamcaesorum invidiam, cum essent plerique liberalium disciplinarumindices variarum et iuris. 66 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – Imperial Legislation and Public Authority
Some wereexecuted without anydelayorbreathing-space, while the examination of wheth- er they should be punished was still ongoing,and the whole scene appeared to be aslaugh- terofcattle. Then, innumerablebooks and manyheaps of scrolls were piled up and burnt under the eyes of the judges, havingbeen ferretedout of various houses as illegal books in order to alleviatethe animosity arisingfromthe executions.However,most of them were titles on various liberal arts and on law.
This passageprovides evidence for the grey areathatexisted between religion and magic that surroundedthe concept and practice of book searches and book-burning.The memory of the earlier trials in 359likelymade people in the East sensitive towardsthe potentiallyrigorous prosecution of anyitems (in- cludingwritings) thatcould give rise to the suspicion of treacherous activity,sig- nificant because simply wearingcharms or passingasepulchre at nightfall were sufficientgrounds to bring treason chargesagainst individuals.²¹ The judges mentioned by Ammianus responsible for prosecutingthese chargescan be aligned to the defensores civitatum,which wereappointed empire-wide to act as areligious police at the end of the fourth centuryaswewill see shortly. It is logical that people werenormallydenounced because of reasons such as envy or personal conflicts. Asecond wave of trials swiftlyfollowed when the first inquiries produced new evidence against men of learning,includingsome probable Christians.²² These trials were conducted not onlyinAntioch, but in every part of the empire under Valens’ authority.Ammianus reports that more houseswerethoroughly searched for items interpretable as related to the magical arts.²³ Writings,even privateletters written by aphilosopher to his wife, weresearched for the remot- est hint of conspiracy against the emperor. If such was found, their keepers were executed.²⁴ Alludingtothe sword of Damocles, Ammianus goes on to saythat people throughout the empire burnt their books:²⁵
The consequencewas that throughout the eastern provinceswhole libraries wereburnt by their owners for fear of asimilar outcome; so great was the terror which affected everyone.
Amm. ... Amm. ..–.OnChristians (Bassianus,Eusebius and Hypatius), Lenski (), , note . Amm. ... Amm. ..–. Amm. ..: inde effectum est per orientales provincias,adomnis metu similium exurerentur libraria omnia:tantus universos invaserat terror.namque ut pressius loquar,omnes ea tempestate velut in Cimmeriis tenebris reptabamus paria convivis Siculi Dionysii pavitantes, qui, cum epulis omni tristioribus fame saginarentur,exsummis domorum laqueariis, in quibus discumbebant, sae- tis nexos equinis et occipitiis incumbentes gladios perhorrebant. 2.1 Magic Trials under the Emperor Valens 67
Fortospeak briefly, we all crawledabout at that time as if in Cimmerian darkness,filled with the same kind of fear as the guests of Dionysius of Sicily. While they were stuffed with ameal moreterrible than anypossible hunger, they dreaded the swordshung over their heads suspended by horse-hairs from the ceilingofthe houses in which they weredin- ing.
The term “Cimmerian darkness”,derivedfrom aHomeric people living in perpet- ual darkness at the edge of Hades, is alsoused by the Christian Lactantius. In this context,itisnotable that Lactantius states thatpagan authors, just as Chris- tians, described their philosophyasthe truth.²⁶ Ammianus here picks up aChris- tian polemicalterm against pagan philosophyattributed to the philosopher Anaxagoras and his school. This seems to implythat he was alludingtothe re- ligious dimension of book-burning.However,Ammianus had areason to exag- gerate the cruelty of Valens not onlybecause of religious dissent but also be- cause of the emperor’sfailure:²⁷ his armywas routed and he himself died at the battle of Adrianopolis in 378. Moreover,Ammianus seems to have livedin Antioch at that time. Thus while he is reliable as an eye-witness in this context, as with our other sources we must also allow for his positioning in relation to these events. Shortlybefore the events in Antioch, the Western emperor Valentiniancon- ducted similar magic trials in the city of Rome from 369onwards.Inreaction to unspecific chargesofmagic, members of the elite and some commoners were chargedwith treason. Their religious affiliation is not always recorded, but it seems that although some Christians wereamong the culprits, the majority was pagan.²⁸ Ammianus does not report book-burning here but he does mention the ownership of forbidden writingsasareason for accusations and allegations. The son of an Urban Prefect of 365/6was put to death after he wasconvicted of having copied abook containingreferences to harmful arts.²⁹ Similarly,incon- nection withthe trial against Iulius FestusHymetius,proconsulofAfrica in 366/7, the house of his fortune-teller was searched. “Quite secret papers” were produced to provethe accusation.³⁰
Lact. inst. ... Averil Cameron (), ;Lenski (). Lenski (), –;Robinson (), –.Onthe connection between the trials in Rome and those in Antioch, Amm. ..–. Amm. ..: codex noxiarumartium. Amm. ..–: secretiores chartae. 68 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – ImperialLegislation and Public Authority
Other sources confirm the trials against philosophers and the danger in- volved in keepingforbidden books for Antioch and the East.³¹ The Christian au- thor John Chrysostom, awriter who in context of the following passageargued against Epicurean philosophyand suggested that the Epicurean position en- dorsed magic as we will see in section 4.6, provides eye-witness evidence of such actions occurringinhis earlytwenties.Akey point of evidence for the at- mosphere following the magic trials exists in his account of something that hap- pened when his nativecity of Antioch was occupied by soldiers under orders to search for books about magical arts.³² In this story,John notes,anunnamed per- son had started workingonasuspicious book but thrown it in the Orontes river prior to and anticipating his arrest.Hewas executed nonetheless.Afriend of John’ssaw the book floating on the river. Upon inspectionthey found magical notes.³³ At the sametime,asoldier passed by,scaring the two young men to death as they would have faced execution for possessing the text despite their innocencebecause of the harsh laws against book offenders. Hiding the book, they narrowly escaped. John’saccount givessome indication of the climate of fear and intrigue that the laws had initiated. Later authorsregarded the religious struggle as the underlying reason for the magic trials, suggesting that these had caused the demise of ancient philosophy. Shortlybefore 450the Church historian Sozomenus concluded with regard to the reign of Valens: “Almost all of the Greek philosophersperished at this time.” However,authorslikeSozomenus tend to interpret history as asuccess story of Christianity and thereforedistort the historical facts. Moreover,hesuggested, some of these philosophers, regarded as superior in their art, had attempted to learn the name of Valens’ successor “because they felt angry about the progress of Christianity.”³⁴ Thisdivination, inspired by the hope of amore tolerant future emperor,was taken as an excuse for further trials. While Church historians do not tend to engagewith this case in anydetail, the pagan Zosimus’ account,writ- ten some half acentury later,goes into much more explicit detail of these events. As with Ammianus, Zosimus describes homes being searched, informers lodging allegations,and trials and executions occurring. AccordingtoZosimus, Valens directed his anger towards philosophers and men of learning.The instigator of
Overview of sourcesonthe magictrials:Wiebe (), ,note . Chrys. hom. in Ac. (PG :): βιβλίαγοητικὰ καὶ μαγικά. Chrys. hom. in Ac. (PG :): ἐγγεγραμμένα μαγικά. Soz. h.e. ..–: ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν ἀφηγησάμην, ἐφ’ ὅσον μοι μαθεῖν ἐξεγένετο περὶ τῶντότε ἐκκλησιαστικῶνφιλοσόφων. τῶνδ’αὖἙλληνιστῶνμικροῦ πάντες κατ’ ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ διεφθάρη- σαν. τινὲςγάρ,οἳτῶνἄλλων ἐνφιλοσοφίᾳ προφέρειν ἐνομίζοντο, πρὸςτὴνἐπίδοσιν τοῦ Χρι- στιανισμοῦ δυσφοροῦντες.Other sources: Philost. h.e. .;Socr. h.e. .. 2.2 The Theodosian Dynasty 69 the trials was Festus, proconsul Asiae from 372to378.³⁵ Zosimus could be right because thereare attested cases of literary men executed on the order of Festus known from othersources as well.³⁶ So, it is probable that the trials initiated by Valens in the East could have causedthe ruin of many books owned by philos- ophers, but the rhetoric of the related texts requires caution. Although to some pagan authors the episode seems to have appeared alandmark case of cruelty inflicted by Christian emperors, it is likelythat its impact was exaggerated over time. The authorities apparentlysearched for books in order to gather evi- dence for treason, but this hardly explains whythese texts wereburnt.Book- burning mayhaveserved as apublic ritual, designed to intimidatethe popula- tion, something thatwewill seehappeningmore often in this chapter and the next.
2.2 The Theodosian Dynasty
In 380/81, in accordance with the Nicene Creed Theodosius I(379–394) declared Catholicism the state religion in both parts of the empire and ordered that non- Catholics, defined as “others” should be judgedas“insane” and “heretical.”³⁷ In 391/2,heissued the greatest number of laws against religious deviators in Roman history,although Theodosius showed no general hostility against Chris- tians throughout his earlyreign. It is traditionallyassumedthat Ambrose, bishop of Milan, had caused him to changehis mind. Manyofthese laws were some- what regionallyand temporarilylimited and the reasons for theirpromulgation are oftenunclear.However,the following laws were addressed to the praefectus praetorio per Orientem and therefore valid for the Eastern Empire. Religious of- fences wereplaced on apar with high-treason (maiestas),³⁸ for which exemp- tions from torturewereregularlywaivedregardless of social rank.³⁹ The orders of thingsdeemed religious offences covered not onlysacrifices and divination but also vaguelydefined scientificinvestigations:⁴⁰
Zos. ..–.. PLRE ,Festus , – mentions Amm. ..–;Lib. or. .–;Eun. fr. Blockley; Eun. VS – (Wright, –). Cod.Theod. .. (addressed to the people of Constantinople but pertainingto“all peo- ple”); ... Cod.Theod. ... ( November ,addressed to the PPO). See Peters (), –. Cod.Theod. ...: sufficit enim ad criminis molem naturae ipsius legesvelle rescindere, inlicita perscrutari,occulta recludere, interdicta temptare, finem quaerere salutis alienae, spem alieni interitus polliceri. 70 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – ImperialLegislation and Public Authority
Foritissufficient to constituteanenormouscrime that anyone should wish to abolish the laws of natureitself, to exploreillegal matters, to disclose secrets, to attemptinterdicted practices,toseek to know the end of someone’slife, to promise the hope of someone’s death.
The ban on sacrifices and temple visitswas alsorenewed as was aban on magic spells: “Forweadmonish that God is to be worshipped with chaste prayers rath- er than to be desecrated with gruesome songs.”⁴¹ Privateaccusations were per- mitted to be made by anyone, and judges, “inquisitors”, “defenders” (defen- sores), and the decurions of each city wereplaced in charge of enforcing these regulations – amovecuriously redolent of the organization of the medieval inquisition.⁴² Evidence of this latter prescription is seen in the Codex Theodosia- nus which attests that defensores had been seen in various regions of the empire as local enforcers of these typesoflawssince Valens – this makes it probable that they are the same defensores thatAmmianus refers to as judgesincharge of book-burning.⁴³ The defensores themselves(at least in Italy) weretobeelected from abodyhighlyexperienced in administration and rhetorical training,sug- gesting that they werewell able to recognisethe contents of incriminated books.⁴⁴ Members of the Theodosian dynasty,like their predecessors, ordered an un- specifiedrangeofslanderous and religious pamphlets to be burnt.This shows that slander continued to be the cause for book-burning,asithad been in the imperial period, although this charge was now more closelylinked to religion. Forexample, in 386 Valentinian II and Theodosius forbade anyone curious (cu- riosus)enough to read pamphlets (famosi libelli)from divulging their contents to anyone else. Anyone found with such abook who did not destroy it immediately would be executed unless he produced its author for prosecution. This lawisad- dressed to Cynegius, praefectus praetorio per Orientem from 384 to 388. Cynegius often collaborated with local bishops in destroyingtemples throughout the East- ern Empire.⁴⁵ It seems therefore likelythatthis book-burning lawwas unrelated
Cod.Theod. ..: moneamus castis Deum precibus excolendum, non diris carminibus pro- fanandum ( December ,addressed to the PPO). Cod.Theod. .../, ..: inquisitores;cf. .. (Constantineand Licinius in rewarded those whodenounced diviners). Cod.Theod. ..–; .. (Honorius and Theodosius II, ); .. (same).And see Frakes (). Cod.Theod. ... Cod.Theod. ..: si quis famosum libellum sive domi sive in publico vel quocumque loco ignarus offenderit: aut discerpat prius,quam alter inveniat, aut nulli confiteatur inventum, nemini denique, si tam curiosus est, referat, quid legendo cognoverit. nam quicumque obtulerit inventum, 2.2 The Theodosian Dynasty 71 to earlier laws on burning pamphlets in Africa. In 406,Arcadius and Honorius issued asimilar law(also addressed to the PPO) orderinganyone who came into the possession of apamphlet to “tear it in pieces immediatelyorburnit in flames.”⁴⁶ These laws provided the legal basis required to destroy books de- faming Christianity. As the contents weretobekept secret by law, this gave that authority to the finder as to which booksshould be destroyed and under- mined the position of the book owner as they could not thereforeargue against the burning by alludingtothe book’scontent in their defence. The Christian tenor of both these laws is implied through the use of the term “curious” to de- scribe the readingoftexts.This wordwas usedbyChristian authors polemicizing against philosophical positions antithetical or in oppositiontoChristianity,as we will see shortly. Similarly,the edict of 406 refers to the content of the targeted books as a “poisonous weapon” (venenatum telum). In 407, Honorius and Theodosius II ruled thatall previous laws against heretics, “pagans” and Manichaeans were still in effect.⁴⁷ These apparentlyincluded the book-burning and expulsion laws. In 409,Honorius and Theodosius II ordered that:⁴⁸
We decreethat the mathematici be expelled not onlyfromthe city of Rome but also from all cities,unless they burn the books containingtheir errors under the eyes of abishop, are willingtoconvert to belief in the Catholic religion, and never to return to their previous error. If they do not do this and arecaughtincities in violationofthe medicative prescrip- tion of our clemency or if they disseminatethe secrets of their error and profession, they shall suffer the punishment of deportation.
In this source, the contentsofthe booksordered to be burntare now more vague- ly defined as error proprius. Just as in the lawfrom 406,the edict is presented in
certum est, ipsum reum ex lege retinendum, nisi prodiderit auctorem, nec evasurum poenam huius modi criminibus constitutam, si proditus fuerit cuiquam retulisse, quod legerit. PLRE ,Maternus Cynegius , –. Cod.Theod. ..: universi, qui famosis libellis inimicis suis velut venenatum quoddam telum iniecerint, ii etiam, qui famosam seriem scriptionis impudenti agnitam lectione non ilico dis- cerpserint vel flammis exusserint vellectorem cognitum prodiderint, ultorem suis cervicibus gladi- um reformident. Const. Sirmond. (). Cod.Theod. .. (Caeciliano pr.pr. d. Feb Ravenna) mathematicos, nisi parati sint codicibus erroris proprii sub oculis episcoporumincendio concrematis catholicae religionis cultui fidem traderenumquam ad errorem praeteritum redituri, non solum urbe Roma, sed etiam omni- bus civitatibus pelli decernimus. quod si hoc non fecerint et contraclementiae nostrae salubrecon- stitutum in civitatibus fuerint deprehensi velsecreta erroris sui et professionis insinuaverint, depor- tationis poenamexcipiant. 72 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – ImperialLegislation and Public Authority metaphoric terms,describinga“medicative prescription.” Alaw passed in the same place (Ravenna) and year (409) placed local judgesunder the threat of de- portation unless they enforced existing laws against Donatists, heretics,Jews and pagans.⁴⁹ Unlikeprevious religious legislation, thereisevidence that the lawonburn- ing the booksofthe mathematici from 409 was actively enforced. In asermon on the GospelofJohn, on adateusually givenasthe earlyfifth century,⁵⁰ Augustine instructed the congregation in how to deal with discussions with pagans and specificallythe counter-argument thatthe gospel portrayed Jesus as living under the fate:⁵¹
If he said this in the sense of the mathematici,wehavecommitted asacrilegeinburning their books.But if we have actedrightly, as was done in the times of the apostles, it was not in their sense that the Lord said: ‘My hour has not yetcome.’
Augustine linked this recent burningofbooks to book-burning in Ephesus in the Acts of the Apostles. It appears that Augustine and other sources mostlyuse the term mathematici in the meaning of astrologers. However,Ishall discuss the rangeofpossiblemeaningsfor this term in more detail in the next section. The lawof409 was communicated to the praetorian prefect of Italyand Af- rica. It is thereforelikelythat Augustine had witnessed books burnt in Africa. Ac- cording to the text,Augustine seems to implythat it was the local clergyrather than the Romanauthorities who enforced book-burning.Inthis case, the lawof 409 had permitted the clergytodoso, if necessary with support of Romanoffi- cials. While Augustine was very limited in terms of what he could do, for exam- ple, about pagan shrines on privateproperty,these astrologers, by contrast,like- ly frequented public places.Moreover,throughout his earlywork Augustine complains about the practice of astrology and divination in Africa.⁵² That the mathematici are mentioned mostlyintheearly Confessions could indicate that the book-burningshad worked and the problem of their cultural visibility had ceased to exist later. From aChristian standpoint,pagan oracles, astrology and divination needed to be shunned because they were connected to demons. Athanasius, for exam-
Cod.Theod. ... Fitzgerald et al. (), xlvi dates the work to “/?” with further literature. Aug. in evang.Ioh. .: et si hoc secundum mathematicos dixit, sacrilegium fecimus incen- dendo codices eorum. si autem recte fecimus,sicut apostolorum temporibus factum est; non secun- dum eos dixit dominus:nondum venit horamea. O’Donnell (), – on alist of attestations.F.van FletereninFitzgerald et al. (), ,with referencetoAug. conf. ... 2.2 The Theodosian Dynasty 73 ple, held the opinion that the demonswereable to movesoquicklythat they could foretell certain events that were about to happen elsewhere. These de- mons, however,werekeen to drag human beingsinto hell. Monksand ascetics (and clerics, too) weretherefore instructed to fight against demons, which ap- peared in the shape of evil thoughts of their spirits and wereoften linked to dan- gerous animalsand sexual urges. In doing so, they livedthe livesoftrue philos- ophers, as soldiers of Christ.The role model for this fight was the biblical account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. On the other hand,foresight into the future was morallygood when it was inspired by God rather than by demons.⁵³ The lawof409 mayhavebeen in effect earlier in the city of Rome before it was implemented further afield throughout “all cities.” Prudentius possiblyal- ludes to expulsions of astrologers in his work Contra Symmachum:⁵⁴
He [the emperor] expelledmanyCatilines fromtheir homes,who werepreparing neither fierce firesfor houses nor daggers for the senators,but black hell to the souls and torture to the internal stateofhumankind. Everywhere, the enemies did lingeraround the temples, the halls of privatehouses,and they held the Roman Forum and the lofty Capitol. They wereaccustomed to workout treacherousdeceit for the vital parts of the people, and with poison that creeps inside to pour out the disease into the silent marrow.
Both sources deploy the legal term for expulsion (pellere)and the individuals de- scribed as “enemies” and “Catilines” are associated with those places astrolo- gers used to roam, such as temples and the forum.Catiline was afamous enemyofCiceroand aconspirator.The term is therefore aliterarytopos for pub- lic enemies, and we have alreadyseen that astrologers weredeemed enemiesin legislation. We will see that they and other groups were also deemed enemies in Christian polemics.The contagious poison alluded to here is used by Prudentius and other Christian authors as aliterarytopos for suspicious texts related to as- trology and heresy.Wecan see the same metonomyinthe expression “medica- tive prescription” in the Codex Theodosianus. It is also well known thatthe first book of Prudentius’ Contra Symmachum frequentlyalludes to imperial religious policy.This passagestandsinthe general context of the Christianisation of the city of Rome and is followed by allusions to the senate being converted. Expul-
Ath. v.Anton. –, , ;Matt. :–. Prud. c.Symm. .–: multos Catilinas | ille domo pepulit, non saevaincendia tectis | aut sicas patribus,sed Tartaranigraanimabus | internoque hominum statui tormenta parantes. | er- rabant hostes per templa, per atria passim, | Romanumque forum et Capitolia celsa tenebant, | qui coniuratas ipsa ad vitalia plebis | moliti insidias intus serpente veneno | consueranttacitis pes- tem misceremedullis. 74 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – Imperial Legislation and Public Authority sions of astrologers werelikelyseenasastep in this development.Itisalso per- tinent to note that the earlymedieval glossators of Prudentius’ text explained these enemies(hostes)as“devils” (diaboli)and “perverts” (perversi),⁵⁵ common terms for pagans and heretics in Christian authors. Thisshows that monastic scribes werestill somewhat aware of the probable meaning of this episode as they shared the same ideal. On the other hand,itisassumed thatPrudentius completed this work prob- ablyinabout 402, afew years before the promulgation of the lawin409.⁵⁶ How- ever,the dateislargely based on the argumentum ex silentio thatone battle is not mentioned there, which is not astrongargument.The prefacetoPrudentius’ Cathemerinon dates from 404/5 and the manuscriptsplace it at the very begin- ning of his works,soitappears Prudentius had compiled his own magna editio in this year and wrote the prefaceonthis occasion. Yet, it is oftendoubtedthat Prudentius had stopped writing at this time.⁵⁷ This is because from Prudentius’ oeuvre, onlythe Cathemerinon and, less clearly, the martyrhymns of the Periste- phanon are alluded to in the prefaceof404/5.⁵⁸ The order of Prudentius’ magna editio is thus odd and has raised manyquestions in previous research.⁵⁹ This magna editio maywellhavebeencompiled much later.Some scholars believe that some parts of book one of Contra Symmachum (the sourcefor the extract quoted above) or all of it have been written earlier,namelyduringthe final
Burnam (), ,adC.Symm. ., and . See Döpp (); Barnes (), – argues that Prudentiushad knowledgeofClaudi- an’s De bello Getico,which was probablyfinished in .Prudentius also mentions the battle of Pollentia in early . Shanzer (), –;Lavarenne (), vol. :. Prud. praef. –: (sc.peccatrix anima) hymnis continuet dies, | nec nox ulla vacet quin Do- minum canat (which referstothe Cathemerinon), and : Carmen martyribus devoveat (Periste- phanon). SummaryinSteidle (), –.Scholars have argued that the fourteen poems includ- ed in the edition of Prudentius’ Peristephanon do not displaythe poet’soriginal plan, suggesting instead that the material was orderedinthis waybythe earlysixth-century editor,Vettius Ago- rius Basilius.Inthe oldest survivingmanuscript of Prudentius’ works (Codex Puteanus), Ago- rius’ name is found in asubscription at the end of Prudentius’ Cathemerinon. The codex itself is mutilated at the beginningand end. It is thus missingthe preface and everythingafter the martyr-collection Peristephanon ,line – just beforethe book-burningscene –,including the twobooks ContraSymmachum. All the other most ancient manuscripts assign to the Roma- nus hymn aplaceindependent from the collection Peristephanon in which it appears in Berg- man’sedition as no. .Inthe twomanuscripts which areindependent fromVettius Agorius’ archetype, it is placed directlyafter the twobooks ContraSymmachum. This suggests that the Romanushymn is thematicallylinked to ContraSymmachum. 2.2 The Theodosian Dynasty 75 years of Theodosius.⁶⁰ However,Isuggest that Honorius’ introduction is in the encomiastic style as “the excellent emperor in our time”⁶¹ in apassageof book one which precedes the extract quoted above. The dateoffinal publication of the work as awhole falls into the ageofHonorius.Itwould thereforebesome- what inappropriate to refer to adifferent emperor. Iaminagreement with Stei- dle’ssuggestion that the chronological inconsistencies of the depiction of reli- gious policy in book one are the resultofanidealising narrative that conceivesthe anti-pagan legislation of bothemperors as aunifiedpolicy.⁶² At anyrate, accordingtothe text of the lawof409,astrologers had alreadybeen expelled from Rome before order was giventoextend these expulsions to other areas. It is thereforepossiblethatPrudentius was alluding to these earlier expulsionsinRome at adate unknownbetween 394 and 402, perhaps even later. These temporalspeculations become important when it is considered that it has frequentlybeen positedthatPrudentius wrote Contra Symmachum as areac- tion to asenatorial pagan revival.⁶³ The argument has largely rested on the inter- pretation of the term “renewed disease” (5: renovata lues)inthe opening lines of book one. This could allude to Eugenius’ pagan-friendlypolicy in late 394,when he was temporarilyaccepted as emperor in Rome. However,Alan Cameron has challenged the idea of this signifyingapagan revival, arguing that Eugenius did little more than not to enforceTheodosius’ anti-paganlegislation and so to allow paganism to revive⁶⁴ (anditisevendoubtful that Theodosius visited Italyafter the battle at the Frigidus in 394⁶⁵). The onlyoccasion during which apagan re- vival is attested in the ancient sources from 402to410 is Alaric’sfirst siegeof Rome at the end of 408, when senators renewed sacrifices on public expense.⁶⁶
Most recently, Alan Cameron (), –.Other publications include Tränkle (), –, –, –;Harries (), –;Barnes (), –.For an overview,Rohmann (), –, Prud. c.Symm. .: praecipuus nostrosub temporeprinceps. Steidle (), , –. See Barnes (); Döpp (); Harries (); Gnilka(). Alan Cameron (), –:thereisnofirm evidencefor renewed sacrifices at this time (p. ); –, – date the openingofbook one to /.Tomymind, although Pruden- tius certainlymentions the religious legislationbyTheodosius (–), the renovata lues could also allude to alater event. See Alan Cameron (), ,note . Zos. ., –;Soz. h.e. .;Olymp. fr. Blockley.Discussion and testimonials in Alan Cameron (), –;arguments in favour of alatedate,perhapsunder Honorius: – ,esp. . 76 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – Imperial Legislation and Public Authority
It is thereforepertinent that senatorial sacrificesare mentioned in the opening of book one. As this is in the context of banning sacrifices,the reference onlymakes sense if some senators brokethis ban.⁶⁷ These sacrifices can be taken as aman- ifestationofthe “renewed disease”,mentioned just before.Perhaps this section accounts for afinal revision as late as 408. Regardlessofthe date of Prudentius’ work, the lawof409 could therefore alsobeseen as areaction to this pagan re- vival at the end of 408. Moreover,itisworth having alook at laws on the burning of heretical books duringthis time period. The destruction of heretical and Manichaean literature is well evidenced in imperial and canon law, such as council acts, as well as Chris- tian authors.⁶⁸ There are also known testimonials regardingthe destruction of texts promulgatingManichaeism from the Theodosian dynasty.AsIhave already established, it is also clear thatConstantine ordered the writingsofArius to be burnt as heretical writings(along with thosebythe pagan philosopher Porphy- ry). However,despite this, Arianism continued to be popularuntil the end of An- tiquity.Manyemperors afterConstantine wereArian. Arianism was alsoadopted by manynon-Romans, such as the Visigoths. However,the emperors Arcadius and Honorius in 396 issued anumber of laws (in Constantinople) to expel all members of the Eunomian branch of Arianism (named after the Arianbishop Eu- nomius of Cyzicus who had died afew years before) and to track down the au- thors of Eunomian books.⁶⁹ Because of the death of its founder, Eunomian doc- trine wasatits height and had gained influenceamong the political elite. Both emperors further ruled in 398 that the Eunomiansaswellasthe Montanists were to be expelled from cities. Under these laws Arian books weretobefound, con- fiscated and burnt “under the eyes of the judges” and thosewho concealed them weretobeexecuted “as aretainerofnoxious books written with the crime of magic.”⁷⁰ That this process wassometimes carried out is evidencedinletters written by one Consentius to Augustine which detail the case of agroup of her- etics and of “magic” books in the possession of alocal priest discovered by a monk in Tarragona, Spain, in the earlyfifth century.The booksand all docu- ments related to the case wereburnt.⁷¹
Prud. c.Symm. .: neve togasprocerum fumoque et sanguine tingui. The memory of Stilicho, mentioned in Prudentius(c.Symm. .), was condemned onlyon December (Cod. Theod. ..). See Speyer (), –, –. Cod.Theod. ..–;Philost. h.e. .. Cod.Theod. ...: sub aspectibus iudicantum … velutnoxiorum codicum et maleficii cri- mine conscriptorum retentatorem. Ed. Divjak (CSEL :–); see van Dam (); Burrus (), –. 2.3 Philosophy and Astrology 77
Several years later, Theodosius II and ValentinianIII issued alaw in Con- stantinople in 425that ordered that false teachers weretobehenceforth expelled from the cities wherethey taught – echoing both the lawagainst the mathematici in 409 and the earlier cited lawfrom 392which forbade investigations into na- ture. Although the chargesagainst them wereunspecific, individuals wereto be forciblyexpelled if they “again attempted to do thatwhich we prohibit and condemn.”⁷² The sense of continuityemerging is further supported by alaw from 438, in which Theodosius II repeatedsome of the earlier provisions against non-Christians, notablyinits barring of Jews and Samaritans from public offices and in ruling that the death penalty could be applied for thoseconvicted of of- fering or conducting pagan sacrifices. In its direct linking of pagan sacrificesto natural disasters like poor harvests, Theodosius II’slaw inferred that the Chris- tian divine order was disturbed and upset by pagan cult practice.⁷³ As it is not clear which booksexactlywereordered to be burnt,Ishall dis- cuss the rangeofmeaningsofpertinentkey words in the following twosections.
2.3 Philosophy and Astrology
We have seen thatimperial legislation included laws against astrology and div- ination. One pertinent lawfrom 409 prescribed that astrologers were to burn their books. We have also seen that in two of his sermons Augustine attests that this lawwas enforced by the clergy in North Africa. Both Augustine and im- perial legislation indicate that the Latin wordfor “astrologers” was mathematici. This section will therefore discuss the rangeofmeaningsofthese terms and raise the question of what kind of literaturecould have been burnt as aconsequence of this law. When emperors of the first century did expel astrologers the Latin sources sometimesrefer to these as mathematici and Cassius Dio (who wrote in the Greek language) calls them astrológoi.⁷⁴ Ishallargue in this section thatthe term mathematici became ambiguous in Late Antiquityand could refer to people other than astrologers. Forexample, the term wasassociatedwith philosophical traditions. The caseofDomitian (81–96) in this instance is pertinent.According
Cod.Theod. .. pr.: usurpantes sibi nomina magistrorum … adfatus quae prohibemus adque damnamus iterum forte temptaverit. Novell. Theod. ., . Dio Cass. ..:Agrippa. Tac. ann. .;Suet. Tib. ;Dio Cass. ..–:Tiberius.Tac. ann. .;Dio Cass. ..b: Claudius.Tac. hist. .;Suet. Vit. .;Dio Cass. ..:Vi- tellius. 78 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – ImperialLegislation and Public Authority to classical authors, Domitianexpelled philosophers from Rome and perhaps from Italy, but there is no indication that he also expelled astrologers.⁷⁵ By con- trast,Christian sources from the fourth centuryand later have Domitianexpel- ling both mathematici and philosophers. In opposition to Cassius Dio, the eighth-century Byzantine chronographer Synkellos employed the Greek equiva- lent mathematikoí,⁷⁶ suggesting thatthe terms became blurred in the Christian period. The term mathematicus is usually translated as astrologerand in particular Mayorhas shown that the commonest meaning of mathematici in the contexts of banning,punishing or expelling, is astrologer.⁷⁷ On the otherhand the Latin noun mathematicus has abroad rangeofmeaningsinboth Christian and pagan authors and does not necessarilymean astrologerindifferent contexts. Compiling Latin textsuptothe sixth century,the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae cat- egorizesabout athird of all instances under this broader meaning of the term. In these interpretations, a mathematicus is someoneexperienced in the liberal arts, ascientist rather than ascholar of the humanities in amodern understanding.⁷⁸ Gellius in the second century explains that:⁷⁹
The ancient Greekscalled geometry,gnomonics [the scienceofmakingsun-dials], music and the other higher studies mathémata;but the common people call mathematici those whoought to be called Chaldeans on account of their ethnic name. Thereafter,equipped with these studies in science, they progressed to the investigation of the phenomena of the world and the principles of nature and eventuallythey werecalled physikoí [natural philosophers].
Suet. Dom. .;Plin. ep. .;Philostr. VA .;Dio Cass. ..–. Hier. chron.,a.Abr. ,AD (GCS :); Georgius Syncellus, Chronographia P. D =Dindorf : =Mosshammer, : τοὺςμαθηματικοὺςδεύτερον ἀπήλασε φιλοσόφους τῆς Ῥώμης.Syncellus followed Jerome’sChronica. Suid. s.v. Δομετιανός, Adler,also has both terms. See the list of instances in expulsioncontexts in Mayor([] ), –.And see also the discussionofthe opinions of various philosophers and of the mathematici in Eus. p.e. .–. TLL (), s.v. mathematicus II subst., – has attestations of astrologus,Chal- daeus (without legal attestations) and attestations of vir disciplinarum liberalium peritus. See Vitr. ..;Cic. Tusc. .;Aug. civ. ..Aug. c.Fel. .: Christianos enim facerevolebat, non mathematicos. Gell. ..–: quoniam geometriam, gnomonicam, musicam ceterasque item disciplinas al- tiores μαθήματα veteres Graeci appellabant;vulgus autem, quos gentilicio vocabulo ‘Chaldaeos’ dicere oportet, ‘mathematicos’ dicit. Exinde his scientiae studiis ornati ad perspicienda mundi operaetprincipia naturae procedebant ac tunc denique nominabantur φυσικοί. 2.3 Philosophy and Astrology 79
In this context,hesaysthat the term mathematikoí applies to students of such fields. While Gellius’ text suggests that mathematici was asomewhat outdated term for natural philosophers, there is more evidence linking the teachingof mathematici to Epicurean traditions. In Late Antiquity, in the context of the magic trials, Ammianus attests that the understanding of the term mathematicus among common people was different from his own.⁸⁰ He explains elsewherethat mathematici usuallyfollowed the view,first put forward by the pre-Socratic phi- losopher Democritus, that the universe is almost infinitelylargerthan the earth’s circumference.⁸¹ Thisclear statement links mathematici closelytoEpicurean tra- ditions. Jerome could have shared this view when he wroteinaBible commen- tary that it is necessary to have knowledge of mathema in order to write against a mathematicus and knowledge of philosophytoargue against philosophers.⁸² I would arguethat Jerome is alluding to Neoplatonists as philosophers and to other groups who followed Epicurean traditions (not just astrologers) as mathe- matici. The Greek words máthema and mathematikós can also signify the field of general knowledge –“that which is learnt”–particularlyinthe field of mathe- matical sciences or,alternatively, astrology.⁸³ In this way, the emperorJulian in the fourth century placed astronomy, geometry,arithmetic and music under the generic terms “science or philosophical máthema.”⁸⁴ SometimesChristian authorsuse the term also for biblical studies or similar Christian religious occu- pations, suggesting that the exact meaning depends on the context.Desanti probablyextended it too far when she argued thatthe term mathematici in the Codex Theodosianus could refer to either heretics or pagans.⁸⁵ Herargument is based mostlyonacomparison of similar laws which define mathematici, super- stitionesgentilium⁸⁶ and other deviant groups as enemies of the Church, but the enforcement of these laws is unclear.⁸⁷ In around AD 200Sextus Empiricus wroteeleven books known as Adversus Mathematicos,representing the broad meaning of this term that comprises a
Amm. ... Amm. ... Hier. in Dan. .: si quispiam adversus mathematicos velit scribereimperitus μαθήματος,risui pateat, et adversum philosophos disputans, si ignoret dogmata philosophorum. LSJ, ;Stephanus, Thesaurus Graecae Linguae (), –.See Porph. VP .. Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :C–D=Fr. Masaracchia, ): ἐπιστήμης ἢ μάθημα φιλόσοφον. Desanti (). Cod.Theod. ... Cod.Theod. .. (cf. Const. Sirmond. ), . 80 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – Imperial Legislation and Public Authority broad rangeofscholarlygroups.Heexplains that “astrology” (astrología)could be synonymous to the “mathematical art” (mathematiké), “which in its com- pleteness is composed of arithmetic and geometry.”⁸⁸ In imperial times, however, the Chaldeans wereastrologers and wanted to be named mathematikoí.⁸⁹ Sextus Empiricus regularlyreferred to the astrologers as Chaldaíoi,suggesting that mathematici werenot necessarilyastrologers. Explicating problematic disciplines, John Chrysostom counts both Pythago- rasand Plato among those “that had strayed”,authors and philosophers who had been instructed in astrology,mathematics, geometry,and arithmetic as well as in every sort of learning (paídeusis). It must of course be noted that John means thatthese disciplines, while not necessarilyharmful in themselves, can contributelittle to understanding the divine. AccordingtoJohn, these au- thors have been surpassed by the work of the apostles.Inmarking the bounda- ries between acceptable faith and unacceptable curiosity,John delineatesthe dif- ferencebetween “true philosophers” and “those who are by naturefoolishand lunatic”.⁹⁰ John discriminates between “our philosophy”,that is the Christian world view,and “external” or “pagan” philosophies. Part of John’sviewpoint is that prior to Christian teaching,much of the previous philosophies were mo- tivated by attaining the vanity of fame. In rejecting this, and trampling on their conceit,rewardawaitsbothinthis life and after.⁹¹ Such views can be linked to the Christian ethos of the martyr, with its further link to acts of martyrdom and book-burning. Augustine’sworks are another example for this ambiguous meaning.Healso appears aware thatthe term was used differentlywithin the population.⁹² In a sermon, Augustine mentionsthe case of a mathematicus burning his booksto demonstrate conversion. Augustine portraysthe person to burn his booksasa nominal Christian, who, seduced by the devil, had been a mathematicus for a long time. As such, he had deceivedothers to stray as well. Thisshows that he had acontagious influenceonothers. He is characterized further as aperson attributing what is evil not to his own willbut to astrological signs.The link to paganism is emphasized for the purposesofthe narrative, “for if a mathematicus
S.E. M. .. LSJ,s.v. Χαλδαῖος, .. Chrys. hom. in Jo. (PG :): διὰ τοῦτο Πλάτωνος καὶ Πυθαγόρου, καὶ πάντων ἁπλῶς τῶνπλανηθέντων οὗτοι περιεγένοντο· καὶ τοὺς ἀστρολογίᾳ, καὶ μαθηματικῇ, καὶ γεωμετρίᾳ, καὶ ἀριθμητικῇ κατατριβέντας, καὶ πᾶσαν παίδευσιν ἐκμαθόντας ὑπερέβησαν, καὶ τοσοῦτον ἐγένον- το βελτίους, ὅσον οἱἀληθῶςφιλόσοφοι καὶὄντως τῶνφύσει μωρῶνκαὶπαραπαιόντων. Chrys. hom. in Jo. (PG :). Aug. haer. : qui mathematici vulgoappellantur. 2.3 Philosophy and Astrology 81 converts from paganism, this certainlyisagreat delight.”⁹³ In this context,he mentions mathematici and non-conformist Christians as separate but deriving from the same serpent.⁹⁴ “They let in the devil, they drive out Christ.” Attacking pagans in amanner common to these types of polemics by suggesting that they are responsible for acts of adultery,healsoexplicitlylinks the mathematici to the Manichaeans.⁹⁵ In “being deceived”,the mathematici also “deceive others, and propound fallacies to men” in the open streets and at the forum,⁹⁶ bothplaces whereancient philosophers used to proselytise. In doing so, he argued that they worship the astrological signs of “Saturn, Jupiter, Mercury,and anything else with asacrilegious name”,while elsewhereheextended these attacks by ar- guing that the works of the Manichaeans and the Priscillianists should alsobe disposed of.⁹⁷ Further in the context of this sermon, Augustine mentions the books burnt in Ephesus in the Acts of the Apostles.Herefers to the people that burntthese quite generallyas“school-members of such outrageous doctrines.”⁹⁸ However,even after publiclyburning their books, converts werestill under suspicion and it was advised that they should be monitored for anysuspicious behaviour:⁹⁹
Look at him, know him, and in whatsoever regardhemight stray, notify him to the other brothers currentlynot present; and this watchfulness is charity,suitable to prevent him
Aug. enarr.in. Psalm. . (CCSL :): Namque si ex pagano converteretur mathemati- cus, magnum quidem esset gaudium;cf. Speyer (), . Aug. in evang.Ioh. .: “To whom then must we makeanswer first,tothe heretics or to the mathematici? Forboth come of the serpent,and wish to defile the church’svirginity of heart.” (quibus ergo prius respondendum est, haereticis, an mathematicis?utrique enim aserpente illo veniunt, volentes corrumperevirginitatem cordis ecclesiae, quam habet in integrafide.); cf. .: veneno serpentis; .. Aug. in evang.Ioh. .: immittunt diabolum, excludunt Christum; .;cf. conf. ... Aug. in evang.Ioh. .: verumtamen seducti seducunt, et proponunt fallacias hominibus; ten- duntadcapiendos homines, et hoc in plateis. … in foro. … velSaturnum, velIovem, vel Mercurium, velsiquid aliud sacrilegi nominis. Aug. nat. bon. : “They shall therefore throw away the books if they areappalled of the crime, which they areforcedtocommit if they keep the books.Ifthey do not commitit, they try to live morecleanly, in opposition to their books.” (abiciant ergolibros,sicrimen exhorrent, quod committerecoguntur,silibros tenent; aut si non committunt, mundius vivere contrasuos li- brosconantur.). Aug. nat. bon. : doctrinarumnefariarum sectatores. Aug. enarr. in. psalm. . (CCSL :): videteillum,scitote illum,etquacumque ille trans- ierit, fratribus ceteris qui modo hic non sunt, ostendite illum; et ista diligentiamisericordia est, ne ille seductor retrahat cor … testimonio vestro nobis confirmetur vereillum ad dominum esse con- versum. 82 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – Imperial Legislation and Public Authority
from seducinghearts.[…]Itisbyyour testimonythat we areassured of whether or not he has trulybeen convertedtothe Lord.
Peer-pressure wascrucial in persuading people to dispose of, and permanently abstain from access to,forbidden books. In the City of God (written between c. 411and 427), Augustine also noted that there was ablurred understanding that sawpagan and heretical groups labeled as carriers of ancient philosophical traditions. He mentions three broad groups of philosophers: the “Platonists”, “philosophersingeneral” (quicumque philosophi), and the “theurgists.” The lat- ter were classed as miracle-workers and would be more properlydescribed as “dabblers” or periurgi,aterm derived from the Greek períerga which is used in the Acts of the Apostles in relation to the books burntinEphesus.¹⁰⁰ Elsewhere in the City of God Augustine ranks mathematici alongsideStoic philosophers as far as foreknowledge is concernedwith Cicerobeing quoted as having refuted the actuality of divination.Where both the Stoics and the mathematici claimed the power of divination, Augustine argues, onlythe Christian God trulyhas the power of foresight.¹⁰¹ In this context,Augustine also mentions “the famous mathematici Adrastus of Cyzicus and Dion of Naples”,individuals about whom little else is otherwise known other than they appear to have been astronomers because they described an astronomical phenomenon involving the planet Venus.¹⁰² Written perhaps in 423/4,¹⁰³ Cyril of Alexandria’streatise Contra Julianum an- swers the emperor Julian’sclaim that Christians should not read pagan litera- ture. In doing so, Cyril defines the rangeofpagan teachingcalled mathemata, the practitioners of which were theoretically outlawed as mathematici in the late RomanEmpire. His discourse thereforegives some indication as to which texts wereunlikelytohavebeen preserved. Thesetexts can be identified with pagan texts that would todaybeconsidered of ascientific nature that are based on methods proposed by some of the old philosophers. At the end of book five,Cyril returns to Julian’sargument thatthe Greeks, basedonearlier re- search by the Babylonians, Egyptians and Phoenicians,had significantlydevel- oped the main fieldsoflearning:astronomy, geometry,arithmetic and music.¹⁰⁴
Aug. civ. .. Aug. civ. .. Aug. civ. . (CCSL :): Adrastos Cyzicenos et Dion Neapolites, mathematicinobiles, quoted from Varro. Dion of Naples is perhapsidenticalwith one Dion mentioned in Censo- rin. . (thirdcentury AD) as havingcalculated, among others,the duration of the solar year. Vinzent (), –. Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :C–D). 2.3 Philosophy and Astrology 83
In support of his schoolreform,Julian’saim was to show that Christians have contributed nothing to scienceslikethese, and that they had no interest in sci- ence and should abstain from science altogether. Cyril derivesthe necessity of censorship from Plato:¹⁰⁵
Ithink Greek learningisvainand very useless and requires much labour for no reward. While youwill probablynot have faith in my words, your Plato shall be called upon for aid, my noble friend, whowrote in the fifth book of the Republic: ‘Should we countall these, then, and the other mathematikoí of this kind as wellasthe philosophers of the minor arts as true philosophers?No, he said, not those that arejust similar to philosophers. And the true philosophers?Yes, those that arekeentocontemplatethe truth.’ Forphilos- ophyisnot found in the assumptionsand hypotheses of geometry,inmusical theory or in astronomy, which is packed with physics with its change and probability.But it is about the scienceofthe good and of truth, sincethese aretwo different paths,asitwere, of the good that lead to the good. Therefore, the practiceofphilosophylies not in the minor arts,which aresoridiculous,but in knowingthe truth, that is what trulyexists,which is God.
The referencetoPlatoallows Cyril to compile the practitioners of the aforemen- tioned sciences – or the ancient liberal arts¹⁰⁶ – under the generic name of math- ematici – aloaded concept as mathematici wereordered to burn their booksin imperial legislation in 409.Inanother section of this treatise, Cyril pays special attention to those who attributeddivinity to the elements of the world. In partic- ular,herefers to the Chaldeans, who investigated the movements of the stars, something that biblical figures had detested at various occasions.¹⁰⁷ Elsewhere, Cyril links Greek philosophytodivination.¹⁰⁸ While the definitionsessayedby
Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :D–A): ψυχρὰ δὲ οἶμαι τὰἙλλήνων, καὶ τὸ εἰκαῖον ἔχοντα πολὺ καὶ μακρῶν ίδρώτων ἐπʼ οὐδενὶ ζημίαν. καὶἀπιστήσει μὲν ἴσως τοῖςπαρʼ ἡμῶνεἰρημένοις, κεκλήσεται δὲ πρὸς ἐπικουρίαν ὁ σὸς, ὦ κράτιστε, Πλάτων, ὡδὶ γεγραφῶς ἐντῷπέμπτῳ τῆς Πολιτεὶας· “τούτους οὖνπάντας, καὶἄλλους τοιούτων τινῶνμαθηματικοὺςκαὶτοὺςτεχνυδρίων φιλοσόφους θήσομεν; Οὐδαμῶς, εἰπεῖν, ἀλλ’ ὁμοίους μὲνφιλοσόφοις. τοὺςδὲἀληθινοὺς, ἔφη, τίνας; τοὺςτῆςἀληθείας, ἦνδ’ἐγώ,φιλοθεάμονας.” οὐ γὰρ ἐν ‘γεωμετρίᾳ’ αἰτήματα, καὶὑπο- θέσεις ἐχούσῃ φιλοσοφίᾳ οὐδὲἐν‘μουσικῇ’ σχολαστικῷ γε οὔσῃ οὐδὲἐν‘ἀστρονομίᾳ’ φυσικῶν καὶῥεόντων καὶ εἰκότων βεβυσμένῃ λόγων, ἀλλʼ ‘αὐτοῦ τοῦἀγαθοῦ διʼ ἐπιστήμης καὶ τῆς ἀλη- θείας’, ἑτέρων μὲν ὄντων τἀγαθοῦ, ὁδῶνδὲὥσπερ ἐπὶ τἀγαθὸν. οὐκοῦνοὐκἐν‘τοῖςτεχνυδρίοις’ τοῖς ὧδε κατεσκωμμένοις τὸ φιλοσοφεῖν έστιν, ἀλλʼ ἐντῷεἰδέναι τὴν ἀλήθειαν, τοῦτἔστιν τὸὂν ἀληθῶς, ὅπερ ἐστὶ Θεός.Pl. r. .e, quoted from Clem. str. ...;Other Christian authors referringtothe passage areEus. p.e. ..–; ..– und Thdt. affect. .;Canivet(), ,note .Burguièreand Évieux (), ,note . Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :B): τὰςκαλουμένας ἐγκυκλίους τῶν ἐπιστημῶν,inaccordance with the definition givenbyQuint. inst. ... Cyr. Juln. .– (= PG :C–D). Cyr. in Isaiam . (PG :D–A). 84 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – Imperial Legislation and Public Authority
Christian authorsprobablyhad little impact on public authorities, this termino- logical coincidencemay suggest thatCyril admonished his readers not to study or preserverelated pagan books. Cyril even goes so far as to link the beginning of (pagan) mathémata,oran- cient science, to original sin. The serpent that temptsEve to eat from the forbid- den tree in paradise is, he argues, the “inventor of pernicious mathémata.”¹⁰⁹ Since this devil-serpent had promised “youshallbeasgods” as aconsequence of their gainingknowledge (gnósis)ofgood and evil, it had instilled “polythe- ism’spernicious máthema” into the souls of the first men.¹¹⁰ Thisisanexpla- nation whyChristian authors of Late Antiquity use the snake and snake-poison metaphors often with regard to paganism and specificallywith regardtobranch- es of pagan learning or literature felt to be inappropriate for anyChristian to be regarded as true. Cyril did not occupy an outsider position among Christian ecclesiastical au- thors. Forexample, Theodoret of Cyrrhus also referred to Plato in order to show that “true” philosophers are different from practitioners of ancient sciences,ar- guing that this is because they deal onlywith partial knowledge.Hetoo generi- callycalls them mathematikoí and “philosophers of the minor arts” of geometry, music and astronomy.¹¹¹ Fifth-century Christian authors seem to have usedthis understanding of mathematici as aliterary and rhetorical strategytoattack pa- ganism and (like Augustine and Prudentius) they wereprobablyaware of impe- rial censorship legislation regarding mathematici. The wide-rangingnatureofthese pronouncementsand theirtendencyto conflategroups suggest that it is possiblethat philosophical treatiseswereocca- sionallydestroyed as aconsequence of the lawof409 or similar censorship laws – even if the exactcontents of these books remain obscure to us. It is the exis- tenceoflawsand edicts such as this,positions thatactively advocate and en- couragecensorship, which suggests that philosophical texts that wereseen as opposing Christianity wereunlikelytohavebeen copied or actively preserved and maywellhavebeen destroyed instead. On balance, while the lawof409 pri- marilytargeted astrology as aharmful art, the understanding of the term math- ematici was not clear-cut and anumber of contemporary authors link this term to literaryand philosophical traditions other than astrology.Itisthereforepos- sible thatthe Christian authors labelled the charge of illegal astrology on indi- viduals that publiclyprofessed aview of the universe that was seen as inconsis-
Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :Β): ὀλεθρίων μαθημάτων εὑρετής. Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :C): πολυθείας ὀλέθριον μάθημα. Thdt. affect. .: τῶντεχνυδρίων φιλοσόφους.And see . (based on Pl. lg. .c–d; cf. Orig. Cels. ..–;Eus. p.e. ..)with Siniossoglou (), –. 2.4 Curiosity and Illness 85 tent with the biblical view and therefore assigned to ademonical counter-world. It is also possible that some itinerant philosophers made their living from offer- ing astrological advice and that these toowereaffected by the law, especially since the lawseems to have been enforced by the clergy rather thanbythe pub- lic authorities, as Ishall alsoargue in the next chapter.Inthis casethe astrolo- gical interpretation was blurred with the view thatthe movements of celestial bodies occurred without divine providence and could thereforebeexploited to predict futureevents. In the following chapters Ishallfurther discuss the ques- tion of which books the clerics and ascetics wishedtoget rid of. In the next sec- tion, Ishallput the metaphors of curiosity and illness within the Codex Theodo- sianus into the context of the contemporary Christian polemical discourse.
2.4 Curiosity and Illness
This section shall discuss twokey themes that appear bothinimperial legisla- tion and in contemporary Christian treatises from the late fourth and early fifth century:curiosity and illness. As noted in the introduction to this chapter, scholars have alreadyestablished that the languageofimperial legislation was often similar to thatofChristian authors. This is because the clergy wassome- times involved in drafting religious legislation. My argument is thatthe impact of this could go either way. Clerics negotiated the languageofChristian legisla- tion and this in turn meant that the exactcontents of books banned in legislation was open to interpretation if clerics and ascetics enforced these laws. It is thereforepertinent that the concept of curiosity is linked to unlawful books and divination in imperial legislation.¹¹² Ishalldiscuss in greater depth how Christian authors of Late Antiquity used this term specificallyinregard to unwanted, heretical views put forward by ancient philosophers, arguingthat this theme and others, while oftenbased on ancient precedents, wereamong the rhetoricaldevices with which Christian authorsintended to implythe supe- riority of Christianity as well as the death of memory of outdated philosophical opinions thatcontradicted Christianity.Christian authors employed this lan- guageinorder to question the worthiness of textsthatthey disagreed with. In the Latinlanguage, the term curiositas is first attested in Ciceroaccording to whom curiositas means greed for novelty.¹¹³ Classical authors use the terms “curiosity” (curiositas/periergía)or“curious” neutrally, although thereisocca-
Forexample, Cod.Theod. ..: sileat omnibus perpetuo divinandi curiositas. Cic. Att. ..: sum in curiositate ὀξύπεινος. 86 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – ImperialLegislation and Public Authority sionallyanegative undertone involved in their use of curiosity,indicating that curiosity can mean immoderate thirst for knowledge,for example, with regard to research into the movementsofthe stars.¹¹⁴ ForPlutarch, curiosity is not neg- ative as long as one is curious to learn the right things, such as inquiries into nature rather than gossip.¹¹⁵ By contrast,for earlyChristian authors curiosity has anegative connotation as it is separated from the knowledge of the gospels and often connected with the occultarts.¹¹⁶ This meansthatwhile the act of gainingknowledge is not necessarilymorallywrong, anygreedyattitude in gain- ing knowledge is morallywrong. Augustine links inquiriesinto naturalphilosophytoillegitimate curiosity. Thus, for example, in his letter to Dioscorus he notes that in asking his questions on Ciceronian philosophyDioscorus is “uselesslycurious […]veiled and clothed in the name of the liberal arts.”¹¹⁷ Thus Augustine was willing to replyonly “to cut off”, “to quenchand bring to astop”, “to heal” him from, and “to break off”, such curiosity.¹¹⁸ Suggesting thatDioscorus was curious because he had read so manydialogues by philosophers, Augustine alludes to aliterary topos usedby Christian authors, namelythat manyancient philosopherspublished sinfully for literary fame. He considered it similarlyshameful for Dioscorus to ask Cice- ronian questions in order to show off his knowledge to others.¹¹⁹ Acquaintance with these studies, for the purpose of showing off this knowledge “has aswelling under which putrefaction also grows.”¹²⁰ This shows that Augustine treated Di- oscorus like an ill person. Dioscorus was apparentlyill because of his curious state of mind. He was ill as he was swelled with pride. It has been argued that Augustine’sconcept of curiositas,especiallyinhis Confessions,isbasedonthe second-century Latin novel Metamorphoses by Apu- leius.While for Apuleius curiositas is the attempt to understand the secrets of the universe through magic, in the works of Augustine curiositas appears to be any
An example is Sen. nat. ..: harum quinque stellarum quae se ingerunt nobis, quae alio atque alio occurrentes loco curiosos nos esse cogunt. See Fögen (), –. Plu. de curiositate (mor. C–F). Tert. praescr. : nobiscuriositate opus non est post Christum Iesumnec inquisitione post evangelium. Fögen(), –. Aug. ep. ..: ut veldisceres non esse inaniter curiosus,vel curiositatem tuam cibandam atque nutriendamimponere non auderes eis, quorum inter curas velmaxima curaest reprimere ac refrenare curiosos. … liberalium studiorum nomine velatae atque palliatae;referring to the philos- opher’s pallium: Koopmans (), ad locum, p. . Aug. ep. ..: abriperedemedio; reprimereacrefrenare;and .: mederi; abrumperem. Aug. ep. .. and .: “so empty and fallacious agood as human praise” (tam inani atque fallaci humanaelaudis bono). Aug. ep. ..: habet et tumorem, sub quo etiam tabes gignitur. 2.4 Curiosity and Illness 87 effort to understand the divine other than through the Judaeo-Christian tradition. This means thatlearning is onlyvaluable when it leads to the knowledge of God.¹²¹ John Chrysostom likewise suggested thatitiscurious to try to learn things beyond the messageofthe gospels. Thus, the interest in historical knowledge and research pursued by Jews and Greeks,peoples who enumerate their gods, displays acuriosity that John argues is incommensurable with Christian faith:¹²²
Forwherethereisfaith, thereisnoneed for investigation. Where thereisnoneed for curi- osity,whatneed is therefor investigation?Investigation is the destructionoffaith. Forhe that investigates has not yetfound. He whoinvestigates cannot believe. Paul therefore ad- vises us not to engagewith investigations,since if we investigate, it is not faith; for faith puts an end to reason.
Linking curiosity to illness, John continues to suggest that Greek doctrines are madness and follybecause they are basedonhuman disputes,doubts, and con- clusions,whereasChristian doctrines are true wisdom because they are the word of God. He criticises aGreek pedagogybasedondebate and discussions, arguing that obedience to the teacher is all. Because of their willingness to debate, the destructive doctrines (of ancient philosophy) needed to be excluded.¹²³ Throughout his corpus of works,Cyril of Alexandria also repeatedlyargues that curiosity is aligned with philosophical opinions thatcontradict the Bible, specificallyonthe subject of creation. Forexample, he describes research into the stars, the universe and the elements as “curious.”¹²⁴ Moreover,hemakes a virtue of Moses apparentlyrefraining from enquiringinto “thingstoo curious”, such as “natural philosophy”, “the first causes” and the “elements”.¹²⁵ Here, as elsewhere, Cyril roughlyemploys the same term for scientificcuriosity as the Acts of the Apostles do for the “curious arts” (períerga)inthe book-burning scene in Ephesus, as we will see in the following chapter.Rather,Moses dissuad- ed thosewho wereignorant or who had been deceivedbyerrorfrom worshipping
See e.g. Walsh ()with further literature. Chrys. hom. in Tim. (PG :): ἔνθα γὰρπίστις, οὐ χρείαζητήσεως· ἔνθα μηδὲνδεῖ περιεργάζεσθαι, τί δεῖ ζητήσεως; ἡ ζήτησις τῆςπίστεώς ἐστιν ἀναιρετική. ὁ γὰρζητῶν, οὐδέπω εὗρεν· ὁ ζητῶν, πιστεῦσαι οὐ δύναται. διὰ τοῦτό φησι, μὴἀσχολώμεθα περὶ τὰςζητήσεις· ἐπεὶ εἰ ζητοῦμεν, οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτο πίστις· ἡ γὰρπίστις ἀναπαύει τὸνλογισμόν (referringtoTim. :–). On the context,also PG :. Chrys. hom. in Tim. (PG :). Cyr. hom. pasch. . (PG :C/D): περιεργάζονται;cf. Jouassard(), on this subsection. Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :A): περιεργότερα … φυσιολογεῖν … πρῶται ἀρχαί … στοιχεῖα. 88 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – Imperial Legislation and Public Authority that which had been created (such as heaven) insteadofthe creator.¹²⁶ Cyril’sat- titude towardspagan philosophyhere is twofold: on the one hand, he considers the opinions of thoseafter Moses “who did curious research” to be stupidities that do not hold up to scrutiny;¹²⁷ on the other,heendorses Platoonthe subject of creation, specificallythe idea that everything originated from one god, some- thing that had thus even been handed down in the writingsofthe “teachers of superstition”.¹²⁸ Building on classicalprecedents but taking its meaning further, Christian ecclesiastical authors aligned unwanted curiosity with philosophical opinions that contradicted the Bible. The motif of curiosity leadsusto another favourite polemical motif by Chris- tian authors: to present pagan philosophyasillness. Forexample, within the ser- ies of sermons on the Letter to the Corinthians, in one sermon John meditates on the biblical line “Iwill destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the intelligence of the intelligent Iwill reject.”¹²⁹ Followingthe example of Paul, he argues that pa- gans suffer from a(mental) disease in their souls thatrequires treatment and suggests that they need to be drawnovertosalvation by the medicineofcompas- sion, even though he notes thatthese ill persons maybedisgusted at such medicine.¹³⁰ Compoundingthis with John’sviewoncuriosity,itappears that curiosity it- self was presented as disease that required treatment.Wehaveseen this link in Augustine’slettertoDioscorus.John also attacks philosophical theories using words such as “devilish hatred”, “full of abomination” (if stripped off their rhet- oric), “blasphemy” and “the snare of the devil.” Pythagoras’ defining the uni- verse as consistingofnumbers, for example, is compared to uncovered se- pulchres “full of corruption, and stench,and rotten bones.”¹³¹ This compares to Lactantius’ view that the bodyofphilosophyhas perishedbecause it became ill with conflictingopinions.¹³² Medical metaphors repeatedlyoccur in regardtopagans and heretics bothin Christian authors and in imperial legislation. Zuccotti has therefore argued that imperial legislation justified the punishment of pagans and heretics because it
Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :B); cf. . (= PG :A–B). Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :A): πολυπραγμονήσαντες. Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :D): δεισιδαιμονίας διδάσκαλοι. Cor. :–: ἀπολῶ τὴνσοφίαν τῶνσοφῶν, καὶ τὴνσύνεσιν τῶνσυνετῶν ἀθετήσω. Chrys. hom. in Cor. (PG :–). Chrys. hom. in Jo. (PG :–). Lact. epit. : discordantibus membris corpus omne philosophiae ad interitum deducitur. … philosophiquia nihil munimenti habent, mutuis se vulneribus extinguant et ipsa tota philosophia suis se armis consumatacfiniat. 2.4 Curiosity and Illness 89 regarded these individuals as mentally ill and that the medical discourse of Christian apologetic-polemical authors informed the languageofthe Codex Theodosianus.¹³³ Ishall now discuss afew examples in order to outline the spe- cific scope of this polemicalmetaphor. Some polemicalworks,such as Epiphanius’ Panárion (“Medicine Chest”) and Theodoret’s TreatmentofGreek Diseases,contain medicalmetaphors in their titles. Theodoret of Cyrrhus’ work aims to heal pagans,applying the med- icine of the Gospel and harmonising philosophical views with its message.¹³⁴ For example, Theodoretcompares pagan literature and philosophytopoison, but also to an antidote as acure for pagans: “some parts we leave behindaspoison; other parts we equip with the knowledge of our teachingand offer youthese as an antidote treatment.”¹³⁵ Pagan philosophycan thereforework both ways,asa dangerous drugoranaid to salvation, depending on the content. Medical metaphors are occasionallylinked to book-burning.Inthese cases, book-burning acts as acure for the disease.Thus, in one of Prudentius’ martyr poems, the penitent magician-philosopher Cyprian of Antioch purifieshimself from the snake’spoison, an allusion to his burning of the pagan books previous- ly in his possession.¹³⁶ Augustine’s City of God also contains anumber of medical metaphors.¹³⁷ For example, summarisingthe content of his first five books, Augustine compares his task of persuading pagans of the Christian truth to thatofaphysician who attempts to cure sick people, albeit not always successfully:¹³⁸
It is considered to be the glory of vanity to complywith no amount of force of the truth, certainlytohis destruction whoisdominated by such adisastrous vice. Forevendespite all the industry of the physician whotries to heal him, the disease is incurable, not because of his fault, but because of the stubbornness of the sick person.
We can surmise thatAugustine was concerned primarilyabout the healthofthe soul and its fate in the afterlife.We have alreadyseen that he identified the sin of
Zuccotti (). On the treatise as awhole, see recentlyPapadogiannakis (), esp. . Thdt. affect. .: τὰ τῶν ὑμετέρων ποιητῶνκαὶξυγγραφέων καὶ φιλοσόφων πονήματα μεταχειρισάμενοι, τὰ μὲν ὡςδηλητήρια καταλείπομεν, τὰ δὲ τῇ τῆςδιδασκαλίας ἐπιστήμῃ δια- σκευάσαντες, ἀλεξιφάρμακον ὑμῖνθεραπείαν προσφέρομεν. Prud. perist. .–. Particularly books and :Bochet (). Aug. civ. pr.(CCSL :): quando ea putatur gloria vanitatis,nullis cedereviribus veri- tatis,inperniciem utique eius, cui vitium tam inmane dominatur.nam et contraomnem curantis industriam non malo medici, sed aegroti insanabilis morbus invictus est. 90 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – Imperial Legislation and Public Authority pride, causedbybelief in philosophicalworld views contrary to Christianity, as the reason for tumours. While Augustine is alludingtoconversion, this metaphor mayunderline the significance of voluntary book-burning as acureincontexts of conversion. The books rather than the bodyare doomed to burn, while the burnt book does not spread anycontagious poison. Moreover,some Christian authors associate the book with the human body that can be affected by disease. One example is Prudentius, aChristian poet of the earlyfifth century.Inthe final battle scene of the Psychomachia the allegory of Heresy is shown to be torn to pieces and thrown to “the greedyravens, or cast into the foul, stinking sewers.”¹³⁹ There is asense of retaliation in this scene: Heresyistorn apart because she had torn apart the unity of faith. This death scene has manyliterary precursors,the most pertinent of which in this context is Lactantius’ picture of the corpus of philosophyperishing because of the dis- cordofvarious schools.¹⁴⁰ These metaphors originatefrom the close association of the work and its author in Antiquity.The famousLatin poet Ovid,for example, often identified himself with his own books thathesent to Rome from his exile at the Black Sea. Lucian, aGreek-speaking satirist of the second century,wrote that apagan priest publiclyburnt abook by Epicurus “as if he burnt the author himself.”¹⁴¹ In this instance the burnt book represents the dead author and is burnt instead of its author. Underpinning this is the fact that the Latin word corpus can mean either the human bodyorabody/corpus of literature. This ambiguous meaning can be found in one of Prudentius’ martyr-poems,situated duringthe Great Persecution (in 303), when Romanauthorities burnt Christian books. In his account,Pruden- tius is borrowing from, and alludingto, Martyr Actscenes in which the burning of Christian scripture is miraculouslyhalted by rain and divinelypunished.¹⁴²
Prud. psych. –: corvis quod edacibus ultro | offerat, inmundiscaeno exhalante cloacis | quod trudat. Lact. epit. .: discordantibus membris corpus omne philosophiae ad interitum deducitur. Lucian, Alex : ὡςδῆθεν αὐτὸνκαταφλέγων. Pass.Saturnini . (Franchi de’ Cavalieri, ): “Fundanus,once the bishop of this city, handed over the lord’sscriptures to be burnt.When the magistrates set these on sacrilegious fire,rain came down suddenlyfromthe clear sky,the fire that was set to the holyscriptures was extinguished. Hail also came down, devastatingthe whole region, and the elements ragedinfavour of the Lord’sscripture.” (…cum Fundanus,ipsius civitatis quondam episcopus, scripturas dominicas traderetexurendas:quas cum magistratus sacrilegos ignes adponerent, su- bito imber sereno caelo diffunditur,ignis scripturis sanctis admotus extinguitur,grandines adhi- bentur omnisque ipsa regio,pro scripturis dominiciselementis furentibus,devastatur.)Speyer (), .This Donatist Passion is translated by Tilley (), – (here: ). It was written shortlyafter the events: Moss (), –. 2.5 Rutilius Namatianusand the Burning of the Sibylline Books 91
About to burn the bodyofthe martyr alive,the torturer accuses the martyrRo- manus as amagician (magus).¹⁴³ Acommon charge for book offences,inthis context the torturer is scared that “the still extant body/corpus” (as in corpus of literature) will grow again after its neck is cut off, just like the Hydra’s, a water-snake with multiple heads and arepresentation of the devil. The torturer thus wants the Hydraasmanydeaths as she has single members and he wishes avery Hercules was present,one “accustomed to burningahydra’swounds” in order to prevent it from “renewingitself by the losses that impair this corpus.”¹⁴⁴ Alludingtothe self-renewingsnake hair of Medusa, this metaphor is an inver- sion of the rhetoric that describes the whole corpus of heresy threateningthe unity of the Church like aserpentbecause of its multiple, disagreeing opinions. In sum, bothimperial legislation and Christian authors such as Augustine and Prudentius shared the belief that unlawful books contained demons that werekeen on spreadingmental diseases. It is thus logical that the act of banning or burningthese bookswas viewed as acure in the different late antique sources that Ihavediscussed so far. We willsee these metaphors occurringfrequentlyin similar contexts throughout the following centuries.
2.5 Rutilius Namatianus and the Burning of the Sibylline Books
Even with this suggestion of an increasingsense of an official position, except for the explicit testimonials of Augustine there is little direct evidence thatRoman authorities activelydestroyed booksunderthe Theodosian dynasty,despite its introduction of harsh legislation on the issue of heretical and astrological books. An interesting exception to this general point is the case of the pagan poet Rutilius Namatianus. In 410, the city of Rome was takenbythe Visigoths. Just afew years later, Rutilius Namatianus wrotethe lastpiece of pagan poetry extant from the Latin literature which survivestothis day – although its journey down to us is convoluted and fragmentary.Its history can be described thus: aretired urban prefect,Rutilius describes his journey in 417from Rome to his estates in Gaul. Fragments of this poem (De reditu suo) – book one without the prooemium and 68 full verses from book two – survivedinRenaissance copies of an
Prud. perist. .–. Prud. perist. .–,esp. : corporis superstitis, –: ac se inminuticorporis damnis novum | instauret: ipse praesto erit tunc Hercules | hydrina suetus ustuirevulnera. 92 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – Imperial Legislation and Public Authority eighth-century manuscript.After its discovery in the monastery of Bobbio in the late-fifteenth century, this manuscript,which also contained the Epigrammata Bobiensia,atext of pagan character,later disappeared. Amodern find of afur- ther thirty-nine fragmentary lines of book two was first publishedbyFerrariin 1973.Inthe academic engagementswith these texts,Alan Cameron has chal- lenged the pagan character of the poem because in the rediscovered lines Ruti- lius shows his support for the Christian patrician and later emperorConstantius III.¹⁴⁵ But Cameron agrees with the scholastic consensus that Rutilius was prob- ablyapagan. Ithink Rutilius’ paganism emergesfrom the pagan character of his poem. His wish, for example, thatspringsand trees could talk can be seen as a veiled jibe at Christianity and its polemicists, who had derided philosophers who had posited the possibility of this.¹⁴⁶ Rutilius’ line “The conquered nation [Jews] oppresses the conquerors”¹⁴⁷ alludes to the poet Horace’swell known Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit et artes | intulit agresti Latio (Ep. 2.1.156–7). The point it suggests is that justasGreek culture dominatedRome after it conquered Greece, so the Judaeo-Christian tradition had come to dominate the Roman Em- pire after Titus had conquered Judaea. Rutilius could be right in suggesting that the most important and influential scholars werenow Christians. Iwould not agree here with Alan Cameron who argues against the common interpretation that Rutilius had in mind the Judaeo-Christian tradition but was thinkingonly of Jews but not of Christians.¹⁴⁸ It is difficult to see adominant (cultural) role for Judaism in the earlyfifth century.Rather,Ithink Rutilius was alludingto the view of earlyimperial authorsthat Christianity was aJewish sect. Moreover,his fear that his digression on the burningofthe Sibylline books could be perceivedas“garrulous”¹⁴⁹ can be read as an allusion to Christian au- thors who described pagan philosophersasgarrulous people and babblers – a common derogatory term for philosophers.¹⁵⁰ The poem also casts monks in a negative light,suggesting that they are inimicaltohumankind.¹⁵¹ It even sug- gests his fear of encounteringmonks as he depicts his journey as being in the
Alan Cameron (), –,onthe transmission: –. Rut. Nam. .–: ipsi quin etiam fontes si mitterevocem | ipsaque si possent arbuta nostra loqui. Cf. Cyr. Juln. . (PG :A–B). Rut. Nam. .: victoresque suos natio victa premit. Alan Cameron (), –. Rut. Nam. .: sed deverticulo fuimus fortasse loquaces. Forexample, Aug. ep. ..: loquacium Stoicorum aut Epicureorum. Ishall give more examples throughout this book. Rut. Nam. .: dicitur humanum displicuisse genus; .–: num, rogo,deterior Circaeis secta venenis? | tunc mutabuntur corpora, nunc animi; .–: quaenam pervasi rabies tam stul- ta cerebri, | dum mala formides, nec bona posse pati? 2.6 Magic and Hellenist Trials in the Fifth Century 93 seas alongside the Italian coast.This avoids the land routebecause of the Gothic invaders,their “fire and sword” (1.40) but he notes that he is also careful to avoid travelling near the islands wheremonks lived(1.517). Rutilius’ fragment ends with Stilicho burning the Sibylline books on the eve of the fall of Rome in 410.¹⁵² Rutilius considers this act to be the ultimatetreach- ery,committed by aRoman leader before the Goths captured the city.While Alan Cameron’scontention thatthese wereuncanonicalSybilline books can hardly be challenged or proven,¹⁵³ it is unlikelythatRutilius would be disturbed about their destruction if the bookswerecompletelymeaningless to him. On the con- trary,Rutilius shared the view put forward in the earlyimperial period that edu- cated people needed to despise book-burning.¹⁵⁴ Yetbesides book burning,there wereother ways of punishingpagan intellectuals, as we will see in the next sec- tion.
2.6 Magic and Hellenist Trials in the Fifth Century
Alongsidethe attested cases for book-burning there exist some known examples of pagans facing sanctions for producing religiouslyoffensive literature and po- etry.The line between what constituted offensive and non-offensive poetry is dif- ficult to ascertain. This is because of the transitional nature of aperiod when people continued to write poetry that wasinfluenced by and at times directly imitated the form and content used by classicalpoets. Although much of early Byzantine poetry is of encomiastic nature, praising the emperor,much Christian poetry in the East continued to incorporate mythological themes.¹⁵⁵ This did not tend to be seen as religiouslyoffensive at the time,but occasionallypagan poets (who wereoften now Neoplatonic philosophers) became involved in treason tri- als.Wattsmapped the history of late antique Neoplatonic philosophersinAthens and Alexandria, tracing their eventual demise in Christian society.¹⁵⁶ Continuing Watts’ argument,Ishall arguethat state authorities displayedlittle interest in burning books authored by pagan philosophers or poetical works containing pagan material in the context of treason/Hellenist trials during the fifth and earlysixth centuries.
Rut. Nam. .: ante Sibyllinae fata cremavit opis. Alan Cameron (), –. Sen. Maior, suas. .;Quint. inst. ... See Alan Cameron (b) and morerecently, Alan Cameron (). Watts (). 94 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – Imperial Legislation and Public Authority
It has been established that Neoplatonism was the dominant branch of pagan philosophyinLate Antiquity.And despite some Neoplatonistshaving at- tacked Christianityinwriting,most Christian authors were appreciative of the teachings of Plato. There were manysimilarities between both groups,not least the degree to which both groups wereopposed to materialist philosophy, especiallyits Epicurean manifestations.¹⁵⁷ Nevertheless, while there is clear evi- dence that Christians and pagans wereinstructed by Neoplatonic philosophers in the East,thereare also examples of Neoplatonists falling foul of the author- ities. Forexample, Cyrus of Panopolis, city prefect of Constantinople, whom Ma- lalas named a(Neoplatonic) philosopher,aroused the jealousy of emperorThe- odosius’ II (408–450) because he had earned the favour of the population through alavish building-program. He “was chargedwith being aHellene”, lost his property and office and was sent to Phrygia as bishop of Kotyaion – a place wherethe people there had murdered four bishops(he personally survived this fate, though).¹⁵⁸ Another example is Pamprepius (440 –484), described as “the last pagan poet known.”¹⁵⁹ His existenceisattestedinalengthyarticle of Suidas and can be summarised thus: Originallyfrom Thebes, he became agrammarianinAth- ens, studied philosophyatthe Neoplatonist Proclus, and practiced poetry. After becominginvolvedinascandal, he went to Constantinople wherehebe- came an associate of the powerful Illus, magister militum per orientem,before being exiledbecause it was suggested that he possessed “secret wisdom” (divi- nation). In Isauria he was accused both of “his religion and that he usedmagic and consulted an oracle for Illus against the emperor”,resultinginhis expulsion from there. On his eventual return to Constantinople, he was once more accused of possessing “some secret foreknowledge.”¹⁶⁰ With Illus,heeventuallypartici- pated in arevolt of pagan intellectuals against the emperor Zenoinc.483/4. Similarly,in490 Pelagius, silentiarius,patrician, and an author who also composed ahistory from the times of Augustus as well as poetry,was sentenced to death and executed by the emperorZeno.¹⁶¹ The emperor had been informed
See Schmid (), –, –. Jo.Mal. chron. .: ἐπλάκη ὡς Ἕλλην.And see Schlange-Schöningen(), on the Hellenist trial against the grammarian, sophist and quaestor sacri palatii Isocasius in and further Hellenist trials:p.–. Alan Cameron (b), . Suid. s.v. Παμπρέπιος, Adler: τῆς ἀρρήτου σοφίας … ἐκτῆςθρησκείας καὶὅτι μαγγα- νεύοι καὶ μαντεύοιτο τῷἼλλου κατὰ τοῦ βασιλέως … ἔκτινος ἀδήλου ταῦτα θειάζοι προγνώσεως. Theoph. AM –;Cedr.(Bekker :–). 2.6 Magic and Hellenist Trials in the Fifth Century 95 by Maurianus that a silentiarius would succeed him. Fearing the implicit threat of this information, Zeno singled out Pelagius as the most likelydanger and had him strangled, although there is some disagreement in the Byzantine sources as to the exact nature of the charge that was actuallybrought.¹⁶² The sixth-cen- tury chronicler John Malalas mentions prophecy,but in the eleventh century Georgios Kedrenos suggests thatPelagius had made use of liberty of speech to criticise the emperor while in the twelfth century Zonaras reports that Pelagius had been accusedasa“Hellene.”¹⁶³ In all of the examples givenabove,the people involved in what wereessen- tiallytreason trials conducted on the grounds of the accused Hellenist influences and philosophies all occupied high positions. The contexts suggest that the chargesofpaganism offered aconvenient pretext for getting rid of unwanted people. Based on theircontact with or production of suspicious texts,itissimilar to the waythat Romansenators of the first century AD wereoftenchargedwith treason – although an obvious differencebetween bothperiods of time is that paganism (particularlywhen associated with prophecy) could now constitute atreason charge. The onlycase known of book-burning among Neoplatonic philosophers is that of Marinus, aJewish Samaritan who converted to paganism.¹⁶⁴ He seriously deviatedfrom the tenetsofmainstream Neoplatonism.During his tenureasAs- sistant Teacher at the Academy of Athens, he taught Aristotelianphilosophy, ge- ometryand mathematics and manyofhis writingsonthese subjects, as well as his commentaries on Euclid’s Data,appear to antedatethe period when Marinus succeeded Proclus as head of the Academy. This maybebecause it was inappro- priate for him to teach these subjects as the head of school. At anyrate, their content brought him trouble, and it is known that he personallyburnt the manu- script of his commentary on Plato’s Philebos before publication, fearing the re- sistance of those who taught pure Platonism, such as Proclus and Isidore.¹⁶⁵ It appears that he would have burnt his commentary on Plato’s Parmenides also, had it not alreadybeen published.The latter proposed from aPeripatetic stand- point (following the school of Aristotle) thatPlatohad written about ideas rather than gods.¹⁶⁶ It maywell be that these contentiousideas impacted on his tenure as ateacher.Rather than enduringfor the usual lifetime period, he was forced to
PLRE ,Pelagius , –. Jo.Mal. chron. .;Cedr.(Bekker :); Zonar. epit. hist. .. (Büttner-Wobst, ): ἑλληνισμὸναὐτῷἐγκαλῶν. Dam. epit. Phot. Zintzen. See Schissel (), –,esp. . Dam. Isid. (Asmus, –). 96 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – ImperialLegislation and Public Authority abdicateand take refuge in Epidaurus after heavy criticism from Isidore and his purist Platonic party of his “Hellenist” background and ariot against him from the Christian population of Athens.¹⁶⁷ Marinus’ case is known from the Life of Isidore,written by Damascius,a mainstream Neoplatonist and the last school-head of the Neoplatonic Academy of Athens from 515 until the academywas closed in 529.His work has largely sur- vivedonlyinsecondary references,such as those in Suidas and Photius. Even although they have allowed the piece to be reconstructed,inoutlining the aca- demy’shistory from the late fourth century onwards the majorityofthe extant fragments have been rewritten and remodelled to such an extent that it is diffi- cult to getasense of its original style.¹⁶⁸ It is thereforedifficult to fullyrecon- struct the history of the Neoplatonic Academy.What is clear,however,isthat while Marinus as apagan certainlysuffered from the religious struggles of this time period his decision to burn his autograph was avoluntary one, albeit an action taken to avoid conflictwith his religious and intellectual peer group. Com- pounding this decision and undoubtedlyinfluencingitwas the reality thatthe charge of Hellenism, with its links to the illegitimate practice of divination, could be applied to Neoplatonists if their teachings or acts wereharmful to the emperororseriously disagreed with the Christian world view.Thisindicates that educated people became less likelytopreserve, copy or distribute texts of this kind because they could potentiallybeinvolvedinatrial. When individuals had to fear legal chargesthat could best be proven through anyproblematic books they owned, then this could act as astrongerdeterrent than outright book-burning.
2.7 Codex Justinianus
We have seen thatimperial legislation compiled in the Codex Theodosianus in- cluded laws against heretical, magicaland astrological books as well as anti- Christian treatises and often ordered theirdestruction. Compiled between 529 and 534,the Codex Justinianus is acollection of imperial lawafter the Codex The- odosianus. Itsjurisdiction was valid across the Byzantine Empire (includingthe reconquered regions in the West) and it still influences moderninternational law. Justinian strongly believed in orthodoxy.Ishall arguethatenforcement of cen-
Dam. Isid. (Asmus, –). Asmus(), vii–viii. 2.7 Codex Justinianus 97 sorship legislation by state authorities is better attested for the ageofJustinian (527–565) than for the Constantinian and Theodosian dynasties. Justinian was the first emperortoexplicitlybar all pagans from teaching, and it is worth quoting in full the first lawagainst pagan teachers from 529:¹⁶⁹
Concerningall the other heresies (we call heresies those whothink and worship differently from the catholic, apostolic church and the orthodoxfaith) we wish that the lawonce enacted by us and by our father of blessed memory to be in force. In this laware prescribed the appropriatemeasures not onlyconcerningthem but also concerning the Samaritans and pagans,namelythat those affected by such adisease shall not be in the military ser- vice or enjoy anypositionofrank. They shall not under the disguise of ateacher of any discipline divert the minds of the simple to their own error, and in this manner render them moreindifferent toward the true and purefaith of the orthodox, but we permit onlythose to teach and receive public salary whoare of the orthodoxfaith.
The consequences for pagan teachers wereprimarilyaloss of status and earning power,but it did not mean thatpagans willing to accept thoseconsequences wereallowed to carry on teaching.The lawinstead outlaws pagan teaching alto- gether.Arelated section of the Codex Justinianus contains asimilar ban of pagan teachers,dating perhaps to 531:¹⁷⁰
Moreover,weforbidthe teaching of anydoctrinebythose whosufferfromthe madness of the unholy pagans,sothattheymay notinthisway pretendtoteach thoseresorting to them in a pitifulmanner, whileinfacttheycorrupt thesouls of theirstudents, pretending to actually educatethem. They shall notreceive anymunicipal salaryand they shallnot have thefree- domtoclaim anything of this kind accordingtoarescript or pragmaticsanction.
Cod. Iust. ...: ἐπὶ δὲ ταῖς ἄλλαις ἁπάσαις αἱρέσιν (αἱρέσεις δὲ καλοῦμεν τὰςπαρὰ τὴν καθολικὴν ἐκκλησίαν καὶ τὴν ὀρθόδοξον πίστιν φρονούσας τε καὶ θρησκευούσας) τὸν ἤδη τε- θέντα νόμον παρά τε ἡμῶνκαὶτοῦ τῆςθείας λήξεως πατρὸς ἡμῶνκρατεῖνβουλόμεθα, ἐν ᾧ οὐ μόνον περὶ αὐτῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ΣαμαρειτῶνκαὶἙλλήνων τὰ προσήκοντα διατέτακται· ὥστε τοὺςτὰτοιαῦτα νοσοῦντας μήτε στρατεύεσθαι μήτε τινὸς ἀξιώματος ἀπολαύειν, ἀλλὰ μηδὲ ἐνσχήματι διδασκάλου παιδείας δῆθέντινος τὰςτῶνἀπλουστέρων ψυχὰςεἰςτὴνἑαυτῶν ἀνθέλ- κειν τλάνην καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο ποιεῖναὐτοὺς ἀργοτέρους περὶ τὴν ἀληθῆ καὶ καθαρὰντῶνὀρθο- δόξων πίστιν, μόνοις δὲἐκείνοις διδάσκειν καὶ σιτήσεως δημοσίας τυγχάνειν ἐφίεμεν τοῖςτῆς ὀρθοδόξου πίστεως οὖσιν. Cod. Iust. ...: πᾶνδὲμάθημα παρὰ τῶννοσούντων τὴντῶνἀνοσίων Ἑλλήνων μα- νίαν διδάσκεσθαι κωλύομεν, ὥστε μὴ κατὰ τοῦτο προσποιεῖσθαι αὐτοὺςπαιδεύειν τοὺςεἰςαὐ- τοὺς ἀθλίως φοιτῶντας, ταῖςδὲἀληθείαις τὰςτῶνδῆθεν παιδευομένων διαφθείρειν ψυχάς· ἀλλὰ μηδὲἐκτοῦδημοσίου σιτήσεως ἀπολαύειν αὐτούς, οὐκ ἔχοντας παρρησίαν οὐδὲἐκ θείων γραμμάτων ἢ πραγματικῶντύπων τοιούτου τινὸς ἄδειαν αὑτοῖς ἐκδικεῖν.Onthe date and on the term “municipal salary” (δημοσίος σιτήσις), see Watts (), –. 98 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – Imperial Legislation and Public Authority
This passagecontains anumber of medicalmetaphors,indicating that pagan teachingwas seen as an infectious disease. Noethlichs has argued that the ban pertained to the pagan confession of the teacher rather than to the use of pagan textsinclasses.¹⁷¹ However,while it is indeed likelythat certain classical texts continued to be studied, it seems clear thatfrom this point on teachingsub- versive (pagan) texts was officiallyseen as suspicious activity.Moreover,these laws were indeed enforced. The historians Procopius and the pagan Zosimus claim thatteachers and physicians under Justinianlost their means of living,al- though it is interesting that they do not distinguish between pagans and Christians.¹⁷² These twolawshaveoften been linked to Justinianclosing the Neoplatonic academyofAthens in 529.¹⁷³ In the same year Benedict foundedthe monastery of Monte Cassino in Italy. The apparent close relation of the two events have led some scholars to position 529 as the symbolic, if not literal, end of Antiquity. By contrast, Alan Cameron positions the academy’sclosing as being of relatively little culturalimportance, arguing thatitrepresents the natural end of along pe- riod of slow decline.¹⁷⁴ There remains aquestion about the implementation of the teacher lawand acorollary question as to whether it was solely limited to Athens. This is largely based on Malalas’ report thatJustinian banned philoso- phy, astronomyand diceplaying in 529 specificallyinAthens. While Iwill return to Malalas as asourceinthe following chapter,inthe immediate context Iwould arguethat Watts is correct to propose that the teacher lawwas an “omnibus anti- pagan law” rather thanone limited to acertain area. It is also more accurate to note that Malalas’ account is not directlyrelated,¹⁷⁵ although both the lawand the closing of the academyare manifestlypart of Justinian’sgeneral religious policy.¹⁷⁶ The Pragmatic Sanction from Italyin554 confirms this view,attestingthat the lawagainst pagan teachers was valid empire-wide. This Pragmatic Sanction legallyunderpinnedByzantine rule in Italyafter Justininan had just restored Italyfrom Gothic dominion. The relevant section noted thatgrammarians, rhet- oricians, physicians and jurists weretoreceive annona,which is the Latin equiv- alent to the Greek term for “municipal salary” in the teacher lawfrom 531.This lawfrom 531,aswehaveseen, regulated that the provisions in anyPragmatic
Noethlichs(), –.Contra: Schlange-Schöningen(), . See Averil Cameron (), – and the followingsection. See Meier (), –. Alan Cameron (). Watts (), –. See Averil Cameron (), –. 2.7 Codex Justinianus 99
Sanction weretoberestricted to orthodoxteachers.The Pragmatic Sanction of 554 also notes that public annona was to be spent in the same waythroughout Justinian’sempire.¹⁷⁷ While the provision also mentions thatthe Gothicking The- oderic (d. 526) in Italyhad spent annona,thereisnoevidence that this expensure was restricted to orthodoxconfession in Italyunder Gothic rule. The impact of this legislation was potentiallymassive.AsIwill illustrate in Chapter 7, hardly anyclassical text is attested to have been copied in Italyduringthe two centuries that follow it. Other laws in the CodexJustinianus repeated previousbansonpagan practi- ces, primarily the practices of magic and divination, althoughtheyweresome- what vaguelydefined. Forexample, property was to be confiscated if the ownerallowed others there to “examine those thingswhich have beenfrequently forbidden to personsattached to the pagansuperstition.” The statusofthe indi- vidual definedthe severity of the punishment.¹⁷⁸ This lawdates from theshared reignofthe Byzantineemperor Leoand hisWestern colleague, Anthemius (467– 472), and appears to have beenineffectinbothparts of the empire. There is ar- chaeological evidence,for example, to suggest that suchconfiscationsactually happened in early sixth-century Athens.¹⁷⁹ Justinian alsoruled that unbaptised people were to undergo religious education “along withtheir spouses,children and allpersonsintheir household” and to “reject their previouserror entirely.”¹⁸⁰ Thiscompulsory educationwas to be based on teachingScripture and it is likely thatitallowed forthe monitoring of individuals’ readinginterests.¹⁸¹ In the legal terminology, the boundaries between paganism and heresy had largely become interchangeable. The Codex Justinianus repeatedTheodosius’ legal definition of aperson deviating from the Catholic religion as heretical from 379but also added ageneral ban on the teachingofany profane tenets (profana praecepta).¹⁸² We will see thatstate authorities in the ageofJustinian actively sought booksonpagan as well as non-conformist Christian topics.
Novell. Iust. App. ,cap. : annonam etiam, quam et Theodoricus daresolitus erat et nos etiam Romanis indulsimus,inposterum etiam dari praecipimus,sicut etiam annonas,quae gram- maticis ac oratoribus vel etiam medicis veliurisperitis antea dari solitum erat, et in posterum suam professionem scilicet exercentibus erogari praecipimus, quatenus iuvenes liberalibus studiis eruditi per nostram rempublicam floreant. Cod. Iust. ..: nemo ea, quae saepius paganae superstitionis hominibus interdicta sunt, audeat pertemptare. See Watts (), –. Cod. Iust. ...: ἅμα γαμεταῖςκαὶπαισὶ καὶ παντὶ τῷ κατʼ αὐτοὺςοἴκῳ…καθαρῶς ἀπο- βαλόντας τὴνπροτέραν πλάνην. Cod. Iust. .... Cod. Iust. ..; Cod. Theod. .., , ;cf. Cod. Iust. ... = Cod.Theod. ... 100 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – Imperial Legislation and Public Authority
The Codex Justinianus included alaw givenbythe emperor Marcian in the year after the council of Chalcedon in 451. This lawshows that the legal definitionof heresy wasopen to interpretation. Marcian in Constantinople ordered that public discussions of the Christian faith weretobepunished accordingtothe social sta- tus of the offender in order to prevent people from engaginginreligious discus- sions with pagans.¹⁸³ Alongsidethese prescriptions,itisworth investigating which bookswereor- dered to be burnt in the Codex Justinianus. In 455Marcian again issued alaw forbidding:¹⁸⁴
anyone either to dictateortowrite, publish or distributeanythingagainst the holySynod of Chalcedon, or to produce the writingsofothers on this subject.Noone shall daretohave books of this kind, or preservethe sacrilegious memorials of writers,and if they arecon- victed of such crimes,they shall be condemned to perpetual deportation.
The preceding clause mentions the followers of Eutyches and Apollinaris as the authorsofsuch tenets,but that the book ban is not restricted to these groups is outlined in the succeeding provision: “All papers of this kind, and all books which contain the pernicious dogmas of Eutyches and Apollinaris,shall be com- mitted to the flames.”¹⁸⁵ These Monophysiteauthors had argued that Jesushad onlyone nature rather than adual human and divine nature. But although Monophysite writingswerethe primary target, the wording encompasses any writing that is not in accordancewith the Christian doctrine in its latest valid interpretation.¹⁸⁶ Provincial governors, theirstaff and the defensores of the cities – which Iwilllater show conducting searches for magic books among pagans – werechargedwith putting these laws into effect.¹⁸⁷ The emperorJustinian in the sixth centuryordered that anyone who copied Monophysitewritingswas to lose his writing hand.¹⁸⁸ But it is unknown whether these laws wereenforced.
Cod. Iust. ... Cod. Iust. ...–: nulli etiam contravenerabilem Chalcedonensemsynodum liceat ali- quid veldictarevel scriberevel edereatque emittereaut aliorum scripta super eadem re proferre. nemo huiusmodi haberelibros et sacrilegascriptorumaudeat monimenta servare. quod si qui in his criminibus fuerint deprehensi, perpetua deportatione damnentur;cf. Cod. Iust. ..; .. = Cod.Theod. ..:Nestorian books were to be burnt. Cod. Iust. ...: omnes vero huiuscemodi chartae ac libri, qui funestum Eutychetis,hoc est Apollinaris,fuerint dogma complexi, incendio concrementur. SimilarlyinalawbyJustinian in : Cod. Iust. ...: damnamus omnem haeresim, prae- sertim vero Nestorium … necnon Eutychetem. Cod. Iust. ...;cf. Cod. Iust. ...; .. Specificallywith regardtoSeverus of Antioch: Novell. Iust. ;Euagr. h.e. .. 2.7 Codex Justinianus 101
As earlier intimated, the Manichaeans also counted among heretics.¹⁸⁹ The Codex Justinianus includes alaw issued by Theodosius II and Valentinian III in 448: “Books in anyway related to the ungodlyerror of the Manichaeans” weretobeburntand owners of such bookstobepunished.¹⁹⁰ Justinian had Manichaeism persecuted, resulting in its extinction in Byzantium. However, some writingsweretransmittedinmedieval China.¹⁹¹ An earlysection of the Codex Justinianus repeatedthe laws,first ordained by Theodosius II in 448, to burn the writing of Nestorius and Porphyry.¹⁹² Some manuscripts have the addi- tion: “whoever wroteagainst the Christian religion”,¹⁹³ perhaps an interpolation from the ageofJustinian.¹⁹⁴ Similarly,the Nomokanon of Fourteen Titles (earlyseventh century), formerly attributed to Photius,provides alist of canon and imperial laws that deal ex- presslywith the concealing of heretical books, acrime that was to be punished by expulsion. The collection indiscriminately ranks “writingsagainst Christian- ity” alongside books of mathematici,booksauthored by non-conformist Christi- ans, and Manichaean and “magic” books. If the “magic” books had been inher- ited, ajudge could sentence theirdestruction (12.3).¹⁹⁵ These laws are listed alongside legislation dealingwith the destruction of idols, templesand sacred trees.The original lawinJustinian’s Digest specifies these as “books of prohib- ited content,perhaps magical or similar to such” rather than as magic books, thus leaving the judge to decide what was in the interest of orthodoxy.¹⁹⁶ In sum, in manyofthe aforementioned laws there is aterminological grey area between heretical and pagan and magical texts.The term “heretical” ap- plied to anymaterial, either pagan or Christian, that opposed the Christian world view.The term “magical” was similarlyopen to interpretation. This shows that,onone hand, censorship laws built on earlier precedents of Roman law, while on the other they provided aflexible interpretation of the question of which books wereconsidered to be unlawful. In the next section we will see that this applies similarlytothe enforcement of book-burning in this time period, illustrating the different kinds of text regarded as unlawful.
Cod. Iust. ...; Cod.Iust. .... Cod. Iust. ...: βιβλίατῇπανταχόθεν ἀσεβεῖ τῶνΜανιχαίων πλάνῃ προσήκοντα. See Lieu (), –. Cod. Iust. .. (longer version: ACO ..:). Cod. Iust. ...: ἢἕτερόςτις κατὰ τῆςεὐσεβοῦςτῶνΧριστιανῶνθρησκείας συνέγρψε. Proposed by Neumann (), –. Pitra, Iuris ecclesiastici graecorum historia et monumenta,vol. (), p. – = PG :. Dig. ..: in libris improbatae lectionis,magicis forte velhis similibus.haec enim omnia protinus corrumpenda sunt. 102 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – Imperial Legislation and Public Authority
2.8 Religious Inquisitionsinthe AgeofJustinian
Having established that these laws werepromulgated, the question is to what de- gree werethe relativelyharsh book-laws of the Codex Justinianus actuallyen- forced?Along with other sources, the anonymous Life of Simeon Stylites the Younger (521–592) provides us with evidence that the state authorities rigorously destroyed books in the ageofJustinian.Alongsidethe destruction of cult statues and pagan artwork, they also destroyed non-conformist Christian books, magical and astrological books, and arangeofpagan books – as part of aviolent spectacle.¹⁹⁷ The text dates from the ageofthe emperorJustinian, in which book-burning is attested for comparativelyoften, but as it has not hitherto been translated into English Ishall thereforeprovide extended quotations in an- alyzingthe evidence it provides us. Especiallyduringthe ageofJustinian anum- ber of hagiographicaltexts exist which are historicallyinaccurate.Ishall there- fore comparethe pertinent narrativeofthis text with parallel evidence, arguing that its narrative of book-burning indicates first-hand knowledge. Simeon was apillar saint near Antioch. As well as his miracles, the author of his Life reports of the persecutions carried out underJustinian. The text rarely refers directlytopagans or heretics as such, but instead makes use of different polemicalterms.The people who suffered persecution are first introduced as “certain infidels from the city of Antioch” who werenot willing to admit Chris- tian doctrines. Among these were some who believed in astrology,others in fate, and others in Manichaeism. Thetext depicts them as sharing in common that “they are blasphemous because of their being carried away,inthe vanity of their spirit,bythe follyoftheir satanic error.”¹⁹⁸ It is likelythatthe author of this text used polemicalterms because he was suspicious of Antioch’supper strata of society.The text thereforeillustrates the social tensions of that time. The account of the persecution is preceded by adepiction of an instance of miracle-healing,indicating that the suppression of harmful ideas wasseen as a medicalcure. In this,anartisan in Antioch was cured of alungdisease following Simeon’sprayers and erected an imagefor Simeon in apublic place. Subsequent- ly,itaccounts that “certain persons among the infidels” instigated others to smash the imagetothe ground: “They werethinkingthey had found the occa- sion to oppose and to harass the saint because he had repeatedlyrefuted the er-
Cf. Trombley (), ,note ;Maas (), –. Vita Symeonis Stylitae Iunioris : τινες ἀσεβεῖς ἄνδρες τῆςπόλεως ᾿Aντιοχείας … ἐβλα- σφήμουν τῇ βακχείᾳ τῆςσατανικῆςπλάνης ἐνματαιότητι τοῦ νοὸςαὐτῶνσυναπαγόμενοι. 2.8 Religious Inquisitions in the Age of Justinian 103 roneous belief of the pagans who werefound among them.”¹⁹⁹ By chance the SpiritofGod descended to aprostitutewho exclaimed that such reproaches against Simeon will not go unpunished (158–9). Having heard the news, Simeon is shown as praying to God:²⁰⁰
Makeaman rise over the heads of these infidels,destined to batter all the opinions they profess,inorder to set the example, namelyofthose whohaveput their hope not in youbut in the abundanceoftheir riches,which cause their minds to strayinto the practice of idolatry [idol worship], for they consider gold as their god.
The content and thrust of the prayer implies thatpaganism remained common in the upper echelons of society.The account goes on to state that Simeon, in- formedbythe HolySpirit,has foreseen that:²⁰¹
in Constantinople, in the palaceofthe emperor,therewas aman investedwith power, on whom had been conferred, under the action of the Spirit,aforce great and strong in the government of the east,surpassingthe authority of those whohad been in charge before him.
It was the mission of this chief “to flog people until they die to terrify all human creatures.”²⁰² Based on this knowledge,Simeon explains that:²⁰³
aterrible chief will arrive to condemn the impiety and basement of the atheists,and he will bringdeath to manyofthem throughthe direst castigation. […]The idols in possession of these people will be searched out and broughtinto the public to be ridiculed. (160)
Vita Symeonis Stylitae Iunioris : τινες τῶν ἀπίστων … καιρὸννομίσαντες εὑρεῖνκατα- στασιάσαι καὶ καθυβρίσαι τὸν ἅγιον, ὡςπολλάκις ἐλέγξαντα τὴνκακοπιστίαν καὶ πλάνην τῶν ἐναὐτοῖς ἑλληνιζόντων. Vita Symeonis Stylitae Iunioris : ἐπιβίβασον οὖν ἄνθρωπον ἐπὶ τὰςκεφαλὰςτῶνἀπί- στων ἐκείνων, παραδειγματίζοντα πάντα ἅπερ αὐτοὶ φρονοῦσι μὴἠλπικότες ἐπὶ σοί, ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ τῷ πλήθει τοῦ πλούτου αὐτῶν, ὅθεν καὶ διεφθάρη τὰ νοήματα αὐτῶν ἐν ἐπιτηδεύμασιν εἰδωλο- λατρείας, τὸνχρυσὸνθεὸναὐτῶνὑπάρχειν ἡγουμένων. Vita Symeonis Stylitae Iunioris : …ἐνΚωνσταντινουπόλει ἐντῷπαλατίῳ τοῦ βασιλέως· καὶἰδοὺἀνὴρτῆςδυνάμεως ἵστατο, ᾧἐδίδοτο ἐξουσίαδιὰτοῦ πνεύματος τῆς ἀρχῆςτῆςἙῴας μεγάλη καὶ δυνατὴὑπὲρτοὺςἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦἄρξαντας εἰπόντος πρὸςαὐτόν. Vita Symeonis Stylitae Iunioris : ὁ δὲἄρχων ἐκεῖνος ἔτυπτε κατὰ τῶννώτων τῶν ἀνθρώπων τανυομένων, ἐπιτιθεὶςαὐτοῖςπληγὰςεἰςθάνατον ὥστε φρῖξαι πᾶσαν σάρκα. Vita Symeonis Stylitae Iunioris : φοβερὸς ἄρχων ἐλεύσεται καὶ τὰς ἀσεβείας καὶ φαυλο- πραγίας τῶν ἀθέων διελέγξει καὶ πολλοὺςαὐτῶνἐνβαρυτάταις τιμωρίαις ἀφανίσει. … τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖςεἰδώλων ἐρευνωμένων καὶἐνμέσῳκαταγελάστως φερομένων. 104 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – Imperial Legislation and Public Authority
The narrative then states that just four months later, the prediction was fulfilled:²⁰⁴
Afterthe saint[Simeon]had predictedall this,the chief, Amantius by name,arrived three months later,havingput to death ahighnumber of culprits searched outbyhim on his way, before he enteredthe city of Antioch, so that all people were terrifiedbyhis presence. Foreverywheredid he reprimandall misdeeds,fromspokenwordtodeed, castigating almost to death all thosewho hadstrayed,tosuchanextentthathenceforwardeventhose whose conducthad been beyond reproach feared hispresence. Forhedid away with everycontro- versy, injustice, violence,and everyinfamous action,asmuchashecould in theentire East. Afterall this hadhappened, Godapproachedhis servantshowing himalso anothervision, whichhereportedtousinthisway: ‘Adecisionhas been madebyGod againstthe pagans andthe heterodoxthatthischief shall search outthe errorconcerningidolatry, to collect all theirbooks andtoburnthese in thefire.’ After Simeon hadanticipated andannounced theevents, zeal forGod overcame thechief,and after having conductedaninquisition,he foundthatthe majority of thefirst citizens of thecityand manyofits inhabitantshad been involved in paganism,Manichaeism,astrology,automatism [= Epicureanism]²⁰⁵,and othergruesomeheresies. Thesehehad detained,throwninprison, andhavingbrought to- gether all of theirbooks,which were agreat many, he hadthese burntinthe middle of the stadium. He alsohad theiridols alongwiththe gruesome vesselscollected andhungupin all thestreets of thecity, andtheir riches were wasted throughmanyfines.
This passagelinks “idols” to books. It is clear that the purpose of this section is to demonstrate that bothofSimeon’svisions came true. In his first vision, the Spirithad supplied Simeon with the knowledge that “the idols in possession
Vita Symeonis Stylitae Iunioris : ταῦτα πάντα προειπόντος τοῦἁγίου, εἴσω τετραμη- νιαίου χρόνου παραγέγονεν ὁἄρχων ἐκεῖνος, ᾿Aμάντιος ὄνομα αὐτῷ, ὃςκαὶπρὸ τοῦ εἰσελθεῖν αὐτὸν ἐντῇ᾿Aντιόχου πόλει πολλοὺςτῶνἀδίκων κατὰ τὰς ὁδοὺςεὑρηκὼς ἀπώλεσεν, ὥστε φρῖ- ξαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ·πανταχῇ γὰρπᾶσαν κακοπραγίαν ἀπὸ λόγου καὶἕως ἔργου ἀνέστειλεν, παιδεύων ἄχρι θανάτου τοὺςπαραπίπτοντας, ὡς ἐντεῦθεν καὶ τοὺς ἐν ἀμέμ- πτῳ πολιτείᾳ δεδιέναι τὴνπαρουσίαν αὐτοῦ·περιεῖλε γὰρ ὡςδυνατὸν ἦν ἐν ὅλῃ τῇἀνατολῇ πᾶσαν μάχην καὶἀδικίαν καὶ μάχαιραν καὶ πᾶσαν αἰσχροπραγίαν. τούτων τε οὕτως γενομένων, προσέθηκεν ὁ Θεὸςτοῦδεῖξαι τῷ θεράποντι αὐτοῦ καὶἄλλην θεωρίαν, ἣν ἐξαγγείλας ἔφη πρὸς ἡμᾶς· “ἐξῆλθε,” φησίν, “ἀπόφασις ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ κατὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶἑτεροδόξων τοῦἐξευ- ρεῖντὸνἄρχοντα τοῦτον τὴντῶνἀθέων περὶ τὴνεἰδωλολατρείαν πλάνην καὶἐπισυναγαγεῖν πάσας αὐτῶντὰςβίβλους καὶ πυρὶ καῦσαι.” ταῦτα δὲ αὐτοῦ προεωρακότος καὶἀπαγγείλαντος, προσετέθη ἐκείνῳ τῷἄρχοντι ζῆλος Θεοῦ, καὶἐξερευνήσας ηὗρε τοὺςπλείους τῶνπρώτων τῆς πόλεως καὶ πολλοὺςτῶνκατοικούντων αὐτὴν ἑλληνισμῷ καὶ μανιχαϊσμῷ καὶἀστρολογίαις καὶ αὐτοματισμῷ καὶἄλλαις δυσωνύμοις αἱρέσεσι κατεχομένους, οὓςσυλλαβόμενος κατέκλεισεν ἐν δεσμωτηρίοις, καὶ συναγαγὼνπάσας αὐτῶντὰςβίβλους πολλὰςοὔσας σφόδρα κατέκαυσεν ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ σταδίου, καὶ τὰ εἴδωλα αὐτῶνσὺντοῖςμιαροῖςσκεύεσι προσενέγκας ἐκρέμασε κατὰ πάσης πλατείας τῆςπόλεως, καὶὁπλοῦτος αὐτῶν ἐνπολλαῖςζημίαις κατηναλώθη. The term “automatism” (αὐτοματισμός), “self-movement” refers to “automatic working of natural forces, as explanation of universe”,astaughtbythe Epicureans:Lampe, PGL, . 2.8 Religious Inquisitions in the Age of Justinian 105 of these atheists will be searched out.” In the second vision, again causedbythe Spirit, the searches wereconducted in order “to collect all their books.” To the author,the violent spectacle included the destruction of both cult statues and forbidden books. The public character of the book-burning,which took place in the stadium, as well as the exhibition of cult statues indicate that the inquis- itors werenot onlyinterested in stoppingthe circulation of the material in ques- tion, but also in performingaritual spectacle designed to instill fear in the pop- ulation. The fines mayhavebeen particularlyeffective. Asecond key point of this passageisthat it presents acohesive,culturally dominant Christian world view as aresultofbook-burning.InSimeon’svisions God continued to refute the pagans because more people weremiraculously healedfollowing the destruction of books (162).The author of the text thus ap- parentlyregarded book-burning as an effective tool to destroy the infectious de- mons contained in these books. Simeon further explains that those who were temporarilyimprisoned during the persecution were interrogated by Amantius in areligious tribunal. In the rhetoric of the Life, below Amantius’ chair there was what seemed like afirmament,the fundament of which was made up by the sun, the moon, and the stars, all of which were controlled by the Spirit who had the power to make them shine or disappear (164). This vision shows that,tothe author,the books wereburnt to silence scientific approaches by su- perseding them with amodel that put the starsand the planets under the power of the HolySpirit,thus excludingthe naturallawsposited by natural philoso- phies. This is suggested because the genre of “automatism” (a Christian label with which to refertoself-movement of the universe, particularlyastaught by Epicurean texts) wastargeted among others in the book searches.This scene in- dicates that the author celebratedthe destruction of texts as reversing the world order. Although the author of the Life might not have been well informed on the contents of the destroyed books, his list of “paganism, Manichaeism, astrology, automatism, and othergruesome heresies” reflects the rangeofliterarycontents that werestrongly disapproved of in sixth-century monastic communities.Itis also apparent that the anonymousauthor of the Life assumed that such books werestill in circulation, however limited. Evidence supports this as Epicureans (or “Automatists”)are still attested in the city of Harran (the ancient Carrhae) near Antioch for the eighth century,ifwecan trust Theophanes here.²⁰⁶ The re-
Theoph. AM (de Boor, ): “He happened to be an adherent of the Epicureans or Automatists,animpiety he had receivedfromthe paganswho live in Harran.” (ἐτύγχανε δὲ τῆςτῶνἘπικουρείων ἤτοι Αὐτοματιστῶναἱρέσεως, ἐκτῶνοἰκούντων τὴνΧαρρὰν Ἑλλήνων μεταλαβὼντὴνἀσέβειαν). 106 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – ImperialLegislation and Public Authority gion was Islamic then, and Harran soon became acentrefor the mathematical sciences in the Islamic world. To be sure, neither sourcerefers to actual Epicur- ean philosophers. Rather,the authors labelled contemporary pagan or heretical groups as “automatists”,probablyalluding to philosophicaltraditions associat- ed with the old philosophers. At anyrate, it is clear that both authors associated these groups with the heretical opinionthat the universe moves automatically rather than governedbydivine providence.²⁰⁷ The catalogue of punishments makes it clear thatalthough book-offences wereprosecuted more harshlythan in the previous century,execution was still not the norm. Punishments wereinflicted on those “who had confessed to have committed agreat numberofgruesome crimes inspired by their impiety.”²⁰⁸ It is thereforeunlikelysuch confessions weremade voluntarilyinview of the out- come. It would appear that torturewas appliedtoextract aconfession. This would explain not onlyAmantius’ reputation for flogging men until they died but also the terror that these acts and this reputation inspired in orthodoxChris- tians, fear which mayhaveled them to confess untruthfullyinorder to halt the tortures. The graduated punishments included serviceinthe hospice and schooling at monasteries in cases of clerics, while others wereeither exiled or sentenced to capital punishment.Out of the latter group, however,the majority of those who “admitted their ignorance and promised to repent” werereleased according to the order of the emperorwithout prosecution.²⁰⁹ At least one culprit found guilty of frequent acts of popularagitation was executed, however (164). But it generallyappears that thosewho searched for books punished selectively, using the threat and example of punishment to deter others. With aview to the book-burning scenes depicted in the Life of Severus which will be discussed below,itislikelythat those who were found keepingpagan books werereleased
The author of the Life clearlyattests that Antioch’spagans wereinterested not onlyinas- trology and magic but also in the Epicurean view that the universe moves automaticallywithout divine providence, and he does mention the Pythagorean view of the transmigration of souls, Vita Symeonis Stylitae Iunioris : Τινὲςγὰραὐτῶνἐντῇἀστρολογίᾳ ἐπλανῶντο καὶ τὴν τῶν ἄστρων κίνησιν αἰτίαν ἐδόξαζον γίνεσθαι τῶνσυμβαινόντων σεισμῶν, ἔνιοι δὲ μοιχείας καὶἀνδροφονίας καὶ λοιμικὰςφθορὰς ἐκτῆςτούτων θέσεως ματαίως ὑπελάμβανον, καὶἄλλοι ἀπρονόητα νομίζοντες εἶναι τὰ πάντα αὐτοματισμὸν ἐφαντάζοντο, ἕτεροι Μανιχαϊκὸνφρόνημα ἔχοντες καὶἠπατημένοι τῇ ματαιότητι τοῦ νοὸςαὐτῶνμετεμψύχωσιν εἶναι ἔφασκον, εἱμαρμένῃ τὴνγένεσιν καὶ τύχῃἐπιγράφοντες. Vita Symeonis Stylitae Iunioris : πολλὰ καὶ δεινὰὁμολογήσανταςκακὰἐπὶταῖς ἑαυτῶν ἀσεβείαις διαπεπράχθαι. Vita Symeonis Stylitae Iunioris : τοὺςδὲπλείους αὐτῶν ἀγνοίαν προβαλλομένους καὶ μετανοεῖν ἐπαγγελλομένους ἀνεξετάστους ἐκβασιλικῆςδιατάξεως ἀπέλυσεν. 2.8 Religious Inquisitions in the Age of Justinian 107 in exchangefor denouncing others who kept such works,and their informing be- came apart of theirrepentance.This helps to explain whyotherwise large num- ber of books could be discovered and destroyed at once. As to Amantius, the “chief”,heisapparentlyidentical with aperson of the same name who was magister militumper orientem in 555.²¹⁰ He was in office at the time of the Samaritan revolt at Caesarea in Palestine in July of 555,during which the proconsul Stephanus was killed. Amantius was placed in charge of putting down the revolt.Heexecuted some of the rebels, mutilated others and confiscated their property.When wordofthis spread, people across the East came to fear Amantius.²¹¹ In the passages quoted above, he is more than once attested to have conducted similar inquisitions “in the whole East”,which sug- gests that pagan books werealso burnt elsewhereunderhis command.²¹² Other sources attest that the religious policy against pagans (and especiallyas- trologers) in the ageofJustinian involved property-confiscation and torture.²¹³ Because their property was confiscated, it is reasonable to assume thatJustinian, like others before him, wasinwant of money to finance his military campaigns. Against the earlier studyofRiedinger,the editor van de Vensuggests that the Life of Simeon Stylites the Younger is essentiallytrustworthy, considering the manydetails givenbythe author.²¹⁴ Amantius is wellattested as having been in charge of religious trials during the time of the Life’scomposition. Moreover, the Codex Justinianus ruled against pagans and against pagan teaching. Book- burning in the ageofJustinian is also known from other sources. Shortlyafter the events narrated in the Life of Simeon asimilar incident of book-burning oc- curred in Constantinople, which is reported first by John Malalas: “In the month of June in the sameindiction Hellenes werearrested and paraded around, and
PLRE a, Amantius , –. Theoph. AM ;cf. Jo.Mal. chron. .;Mich. Syr. . (Chabot :); Jo.Mal. chron. . and fr. ;Cedr.(Bekker :); Ps.-Dion. chron. (Chabot :). Vita Symeonis Stylitae Iunioris : ἐν ὅλῃ τῇἀνατολῇ.Sotoo, vandeVen (), , note . Procop. arc. .: “[Justinian] then carried the persecution to the Greeks, as they are called, maltreatingtheir bodies and plunderingtheir properties” (Ἐντεῦθεν ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας καλουμένους τὴνδίωξιν ἦγεν αἰκιζόμενόςτετὰσώματα καὶ τὰ χρήματα); punishments of astrol- ogers mentioned in .;and see ..Similarly, Jo.Mal. chron. .–;Theoph.AM on the year /. Riedinger(), ,had questioned the historicity of the event because the descriptions of miracle-healingreminded him of the book-burningscene in the Acts.Contra: van de Ven (), ,note . 108 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – Imperial Legislation and Public Authority their bookswereburntinthe Kynegion, together with pictures and statues of their disgustinggods.”²¹⁵ The Kynegion was the place wherecriminals werepubliclyexecuted. That books were burnt here indicates thatitwas apublic act,one intended to deter the population from acquiringorkeepingthem in future. Thisagain suggests the ritual character of book-burning.The date of 562assuggested by Stein is gen- erallyaccepted.²¹⁶ It is therefore likelythat the publicburningofbooks, as with the case of Antioch probablyin555,ranks among similar events of persecution and book-burning.Wehaveseen thatJustinian issued laws against pagan teach- ers in 529 and shortlyafter.Asearlyasfor the year of 529,John Malalas reports of a “great persecution of Hellenes” who lost property and wereremoved from pub- lic office in the same manner as heretics.²¹⁷ If 555 is the correct date for the events described in the text,then therewas along delaybetween these events and probablynodirect correlation. However,the events in Antioch could have been in line with abroader religious policy,also expressed in the Pragmatic Sanction of 554,aswehaveseen. Pagans werecoercedinto conversion throughout the reign of Justinian and their books appear to have been burntalso. The holyman John of Ephesus re- ports that he allegedlyconverted 70,000 people to ChristianityinAsia, Caria, Phrygia and Lydia on the order of Justinian in 542. He donated Christian books to the churches he built from the material of the temples he had demol- ished along with the altars and sacred trees.²¹⁸ John himself mentions onlythe book donations but no destructions. However,inthe eleventh century, Michael the Syrian (based on earlier sources) brieflyrefers to the deeds of John and men- tions book-burning in alist of noteworthyevents for thattime period. He puts “paganism” and “idolatry” as well as “books of magic” and “books of paganism” next to each other.Although it must be concededthat this text is late and unre- liable, he indicates that “about 2,000” books weredestroyed in Asia by John of Ephesus.²¹⁹ John of Ephesus writes that he supported Justinian in searchingout pagan senators and aristocrats along with a “massofgrammarians, rhetoricians,
Jo.Mal. chron. .: μηνὶἰουνίῳ, ἰνδικτιῶνι τῇ αὐτῇ, συσχεθέντες Ἕλληνες περιεβωμί- σθησαν καὶ τὰ βιβλίααὐτῶνκατεκαύθη ἐντῷΚυνηγίῳ καὶ εἰκόνες τῶνμυσερῶνθεῶναὐτῶνκαὶ ἀγάλματα. Stein (), , –;Speyer (), note ;Jeffreys et al. (), ad locum. Jo.Mal. chron. .: διωγμὸςγέγονεν Ἑλλήνων μέγας. Jo.Eph. h.e. ..; .– (CSCO :, –); de beat. orient. ; ; (PO :; –; :–); Jo.Eph. h.e. (Nau, ); Mich. Syr. ., . (Chabot :–, ); cf. Cavallo (), ,note ;Noethlichs () –. Mich. Syr. . (Chabot :). 2.9 Conclusion 109 lawyers and physicians” in 546.Similarly to Antioch nine yearslater,the arrested persons weretortured to denounce others, imprisoned, flogged, and sent to churches for conversion.²²⁰ Tortures mayhavebeen employed deliberatelyto identify and prosecutethe owners of forbidden books. Although like manyhag- iographical accounts of this time period the text is tendentious and not necessa- rilytobetaken at face value, it does indicate the general trend thatbook-burning was portrayedasanoutcomeofthe social tensions at that time.
2.9 Conclusion
In this chapter,Ihave investigated those forms of book-burning and censorship that weresanctionedortoleratedbythe Romanauthorities.While instances such as these can be seen as government sanctionedcensorship, Ihavestressedthat there was no systematic plantoban certain genres of texts.Imperial censorship laws often reacted to specific conflicts or requests,and the initial scope of these laws was somewhat regionallyand temporarilylimited. Moreover,thereisthe question of whether or not these laws wereenforced. While there is some evi- dence for legal enforcement of some of these laws and it is well possible that other instancesare not recorded in the sources, it generallyappears unlikely that religious laws of anykind weresystematicallyenforced. The Roman state and provincial administration did not have the staff to put laws into effect imme- diately. On the otherhand, Romanofficials in Late Antiquity wererequired to react to denunciation, as we have seen. We will also see in the next chapter that these edictsgavethe clergy some legal grounds for conducting book-search- es, with or without asking the authorities for help. Ihavealso argued that therewas agrey areaconcerning the rangeofbooks that wereordered to be destroyed or banned by imperial legislation and state au- thorities. After Constantine, there is further evidence of anumber of laws being passed against aspectsofpaganism, notablyagainst magicians,astrologers/ mathematici,diviners and demon-worshippers.Implementingthese laws, defen- sores served as alocal religious police forceincharge of enforcingthe legislation and some laws suggest thattheir function was to oversee and enforcethe burn- ing of books. Since Constantine and especiallyunder Valens laws on burning pamphlets were in effect.Inpromulgating these laws, emperors initiallyseem to have reacted to acute conflicts. State authorities under the emperor Valens seem to have confiscated and destroyed books in an effort to uncover aconspira-
Jo.Eph. h.e. (Nau, –). 110 2Fahrenheit AD 451 – ImperialLegislation and Public Authority cy.Inthis incident book-burning and treason chargesmostlytargeted philoso- phers, but there is no indication that the clergy wereinvolved. AccordingtoAm- mianus, not onlymagical but also booksonliberalarts were burnt duringtrials and whole libraries destroyed by their owners in the East out of fear.Toatleast one laterpagan author,the episode appeared to be an anti-pagan pogrom direct- ed specificallyagainst philosophers, but this was likelyalater interpretation. Under the Theodosian dynasty book-burning laws continued to be issued against pamphlets but alsoagainst certain heretical writingsand the booksof astrologers/mathematici in 409.Asattested by Augustine, this lawwas indeed enforced in North Africa. It waspreceded by similar laws against heretical au- thors. Other laws under the Theodosian dynasty weredirected against “false teachers” and certain enquiries into the nature of the world were rendered ille- gitimate. As this chapter has shown,thereare various meaningsofthe term mathematici in the literary sources but the most common meaning in contexts of expulsion and banning was that of astrologers. On the other hand, the terms mathematici and mathemata werechargedwith avariety of meaningsin the understanding of ecclesiastical authors of Late Antiquity,manyofwhich can be traced to the philosophical opinions that Ishall outline in greater detail in Chapter 4. In general, there is reason to believethat the polemical terms in Christian authorsand imperial legislation influenceeachother.Educated Neo- platonists were occasionallyaccused of paganism as atreason charge,particu- larlyifconnected with divination and even subversive philosophical opinions, while Neoplatonists long continued to teach more or less undisturbed. Similarly,itisevidenced that under Justinian pagans werebarred from teaching, alaw that appears to have also been in effect in the reconquered parts of the Western empire. Particularlyinthe ageofJustinian,book-burning was staged as aritual act.Persecution of pagans under Justinian involved book-burning – book-burning was even enforced systematicallyduringthis time period and included an unspecific rangeofpagan books, if we can trust texts such as the anonymous Life of Simeon. At least,descriptions of religious inquisitions found there are confirmed in othersourcematerial. The general picture, then, is one of increased legislation and clamping down on certain avenuesofthought,largely pre-Christian, but the evidence for legal enforcement is somewhat limited before the ageofJustinian. Chargesofmagic and of paganism sometimes provided aconvenient excuse for incriminating powerful individuals who would otherwise have been exempt from book-charg- es. 3Holy Men, Clericsand Ascetics
Having examined the instances of book-burning by Roman authorities in re- sponse to imperial legislation, Ishall now discuss this as apractice of zealous Christian groups.Ialign the term zealous Christians with monks, ascetics and holymen. Although drawnfrom various orders of society,the evidence suggests that thosewho carried out this practice wereoften from the lowerstrata. Unlike in the instancesdiscussed in the previous chapter,these acts of book-burning werenot immediatelyauthorised by anygovernment.Weare thus dealingwith adifferent kind of book-burning,inwhich the act itself has the character of a violent,spontaneous ritual rather than of an incident of state censorship. This chapter will also arguethat after Christianity became the state religion, zealous Christians sometimescollaborated with state authorities to search out and de- stroy books. In addition to the previous chapter,itwill discuss the potential im- pact that imperial censorship legislation mayhavehad. While sources referto these books often as magic books, there is evidence to suggest that abroader rangeofpagan bookswerebanned and occasionallydestroyed as aconsequence of religious conflict.This chapter,then, will investigate when the concept and practice of book-burning and censorship-legislation first appeared in Christian texts of the earlycenturies. It will outline what genres of bookswerelikelyto be targeted by zealous Christians in Late Antiquity.Ishallthereforehaveacloser look at the various links thatexisted between heresy,magic and ancient philos- ophyinChristian discourse, arguing that the formerliteratures werevulnerable to censorship in Late Antiquity.For the purpose of this book, this question is per- tinent because imperial and ecclesiastical laws oftenattempted to ban heretical, magical and astrological writingsfrom circulation. In the next section, Ishall discuss the origins of book-burning as aritual within earlyChristianity,arguing that individuals burnt booksinorder to destroy contagious demons and thus to provide miracle-healing.
3.1 Book-Burning in the Actsofthe Apostles
Apart from its character as aritual, the concept and practice of book-burning gained traction within Christianitybecause its monotheism demanded the exclu- sion of other gods. By contrast, pagan syncretism allowed for combiningele- ments from different religious traditions. An example of this is the link between the Jupiterofthe Romans and the Zeus of the Greeks.The Olympic gods thatan- cient texts referred to became recast in Christian texts as demons or devils inflict- 112 3Holy Men, Clerics and Ascetics ing mental disordersonhuman beings.¹ We willsee that fire was suitable to de- stroy these demons. In the GospelofMark,after his resurrectionJesus defined the apostolic mission as abattle against demons: “In my name shallthey cast out devils.”² The earliest recorded example of aChristian involved in book-burning is the apostle Paul in Ephesus in the mid-first century. Thisepisode alreadyestablishes the link between book-burning,healing and the fight against demons. In the Acts of the Apostles Paul performed miracles in Ephesus, healingpeople through ex- orcism rather more successfullythan other Jewish exorcists:³
And manythat believed came, and confessed, and showed their deeds.Manyofthem also which used curious arts [ta períerga]brought their books together,and burned them before all men: and they counted the priceofthem, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
Manytranslations give ta períerga as “magical arts” rather than the more literal “curious arts.” The eighth-century Christian scholar Bede alreadyinterpreted the term as “magical arts.” Thisinterpretation has been scrutinizedbymodern scholars, notablybyFögen.⁴ There are onlytwo otherattestations of the term and its derivative known from the New Testament.Neither refers clearlyto magic.⁵ Even in otherGreek texts there is little evidence to suggest that the term could meanmagic, except in the magical papyri.⁶ Commentators on the Acts acknowledge this problem. While some consider the term períerga as con- noting magic, others arguethatithas amore general meaning associated with
Ps. :; Cor. :–;Apoc. :.Ondemons,Schweizer et al. (), Flint (), Kahlos (), –.Book-burninginthe Old Testament: Jer. :–. Mark :–,at: ἐντῷὀνόματί μου δαιμόνια ἐκβαλοῦσιν.The canonicity of the passage is debated. Cf. Ath. gent. ..; ..:poets and other authors wroteabout the immorality of demons that needed to be exorcised. Acts :–: πολλοί τε τῶνπεπιστευκότων ἤρχοντο ἐξομολογούμενοι καὶἀναγγέλλοντες τὰςπράξεις αὐτῶν. ἱκανοὶ δὲ τῶντὰπερίεργα πραξάντων συνενέγκαντες τὰςβίβλους κατέκαιον ἐνώπιον πάντων, καὶ συνεψήφισαν τὰςτιμὰςαὐτῶνκαὶεὗρον ἀργυρίου μυριάδας πέντε. Beda, super Acta apost. expos. (CCSL :). Fögen(), – referringtocurio- sitas/curiosus in Cicero, Seneca and Tertullian. And see Werner (), –,too. Thess. :; Tim. :. Bauer (), ,gives as the onlynear-contemporary attestation for Sachen zurZauberei gehörig Plut. Alex. ..This is not specificallyrelated to magic. The other attestations quoted (Vett. Val. Index; Aristaenet. ep. .,Mazal, )are from the fifth and sixth century respective- ly.Healso refers to Deissmann (), ,note ,who givestwo instances of derivates in the late antique Pap. Lugd. J XII. and (Dieterich, ). PMag . (Preisendanz :)isthe locus classicus for the term attested as magic. 3.1 Book-Burning in the Acts of the Apostles 113 syncretism – the merging of different traditions in paganism.⁷ Later sources, as we have seen, often appear to employ the term períerga with regard to philosoph- ical studies or literature. On the other hand,the Acts of the Apostles twice refer to magic but as mageía.⁸ This suggests that the Acts have aclear-cut terminology of magic, one thatdiffers from that described by the books burnt in Ephesus. This is also true for other books of the New Testament,written by different au- thors. The biblical Book of Revelation, for example, uses pharmakeía to refer to the magical arts.⁹ The cited figure for the value of the books burnt is probably exaggerated even giventhe status of Ephesus as the metropolis of Asia. This fig- ure is supposed to demonstrate the effectiveness of Christianityinthe context of miracle-healing.Yet in order to appear realistic, the total probablyincluded books that werenot strictlymagical. No other incidentsofChristians involved in book-burning are firmlyattested for the first two centuries and overall the evidence for conflict between Christi- ans and the Romanstate is scanty.Religious symbols, such as templesand stat- ues, and ancient philosophy, alreadycondemned and ridiculed by earlyChristi- an apologists as immoral, contradictingthe Bible, and inspired by demons and believinginfate, could have been potential points of conflict.¹⁰ Minucius Felix was awell-educated earlyChristian apologistinRome. His dialogue between aChristian and pagan about the true religion attempted to convince contempo- rary Christians thatdemons dweltinstatues, images and theatres,wereactive agents in sacrifice and divination and had been embraced by the ancient philos- ophers. It was these demons, Minucius Felix’sChristian protagonistargued, that led pagans to hate Christians.¹¹ By contrast, the pagan adversary in his dialogue is shown commendingthe decision of the Athenians to burn the writingsofPro- tagoras,who argued against religion in the fifth century BC.The implication is clear: Christians deservedevenless tolerance than philosopherslike Protagoras.¹² Attitudessuch as these are bellwethers for the laterChristian prac- tice of banning books.
Comprehensive discussion with further literature:Pervo(), – in favour of the magic theory;contra: Shauf (), –. Acts :; :; :. Velsim.:Apoc. :; :; :; :. Just. apol. , –.Tat. orat. –, –, .And see Did. . too (warningagainst false teachers). Min. Fel. –, . Min. Fel. . 114 3Holy Men, Clericsand Ascetics
3.2 Ecclesiastical Law in LateAntiquity
While there is no evidence that anysuch exhortation was put into action, the writingsofearlyChristian authors of this apologetic-polemical type were influ- ential in the formationofcanon law. Indeed, manyChristian writers also wroteecclesiastical laws and monastic rules.Inthis section, Ishall thereforeex- plore the pertinent canons, arguing that therewas an overlap in the application of the terms “heretical” and “pagan.” Some canons in ecclesiastical lawofthe fourth and fifth century attempted to bar Christians from reading anypagan books, notablythe injunctions of the Apostolic Constitutions:¹³
Stayclear of all pagan books! Forwhatdoyou have to do with such foreign discourses,or laws, or false prophets,which subvert the faith of the unstable? What is missinginthe law of the Lord that yougofor those pagan myths?Ifyou wish to go throughhistory,you have the Books of Kings;ifphilosophyand poetry,you have the Prophets,the Book of Joband the Proverbs, in which youwill find greater depth of sagacity than in all of the pagan poets and philosophers because this is the voiceofthe Lord, the onlywise God; if youdesire to sing,you have the psalms;ifyou wish to read about the origin of the world, youhavethe Book of Genesis;iflawsand orders, youhavethe approvedlaw of the LordGod: do there- forealways stayclear of all such strangeand diabolical books!¹⁴
The Apostolic Constitutions were originallycompiledinGreek in latefourth-century Syriaand purportedtooriginate directlyfromthe apostles. In realitythe lawprob- ably emergedfromathird-century Syriac tradition. Gemeinhardt is probably right tointerpret the text’slawsaspertaininggenerally to educatedChurch members,as the constitutions themselvesare addressedtothe laity.¹⁵ Brox thereforeinterpreted the lawasaTotalverbot that required theclergytoenforce the banonpagan books that mightotherwise jeopardise the Christianfaith.¹⁶ At anyrate, it is worth noting
Const. App. .. – (SC :): τῶν ἐθνικὼνβιβλίων πάντων ἀπέσχου. τί γὰρσοίκαὶ ἀλλοτρίοις λόγοις ἢ νόμοις ἢ ψευδοπροφήτας, ἃ δὴ καὶ παρατρέπει τῆςπίστεως τοὺς ἐλαφρούς; τί γὰρσοὶκαὶ λείπει ἐντῷνόμῳτοῦ Θεοῦ, ἵνα ἐπ᾿ἐκεῖνα τὰἐθνόμυθα ὁρμήσῃς; εἴτε γὰρ ἱστο- ρικὰ θέλεις διέρχεσθαι, ἔχεις τὰςΒασιλείους· εἴτε σοφιστικὰ καὶ ποιητικά, ἔχεις τοὺςΠροφήτας, τὸν Ἰώβ, τὸνΠαροιμιαστήν, ἐνοἷςπάσης ποιήσεως καὶ σοφιστείας πλείονα ἀγχίνοιαν εὑρήσεις, ὅτι Κυρίου τοῦ μόνου σοφοῦ Θεοῦ φθογγαί εἰσιν. εἴτε ᾀσματικῶν ὀρέγῃ, ἔχεις τοὺςΨαλμούς· εἴτε ἀρχαιογονίας, ἔχεις τὴνΓένεσιν· εἴτε νομίμων καὶ παραγγελιῶν, τὸν ἔνδοξον Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ Νόμον. Const. App. .. (SC :): πάντων οὖντῶνἀλλοτρίων καὶ διαβολικῶν ἰσχυρῶς ἀπόσχου. Gemeinhardt(), –. Brox (), . 3.2 Ecclesiastical Law in Late Antiquity 115 that the ApostolicConstitutions voiced particularconcernsaboutbooks opposed to creation, regardless of whether theseare mythological or rational. Their claim of apostolic origin gained attraction in latermonastic and eccle- siastical legislation. Basil of Caesarea’smonastic rule prohibited the reading of pagan literature in monastic schools and the council of Carthagein398 attempt- ed to enforcethat bishops read no pagans booksatall and heretical booksonlyif necessary for refutation.¹⁷ It is doubtful, however,that most educated Christians, clerics or laypeople,fullycomplied with these laws. Manypagan texts long re- mainedauseful tool for rhetorical training. Canon lawoften ruled against the writingsofcertain heretics.Inthe next section we will see thatinfluential Christian authors oftenequated heresy with philosophical traditions that wereopposed to the Christian world view. This is significant because searches for heretical books could also involvethe de- struction of other books, as canon lawindicates.¹⁸ ThusRabbula,aSyrianbish- op of the earlyfifth century, ordered his monks: “Search out the books of the her- etics and theirbook containers in every place, and wherever youcan, either bring them to us or burn them in the fire” (can. 50).¹⁹ In this context,Rabbula prescribed that heretics (can. 49) and pagans (can. 52: “those who are tempted by demons”)weretobebarred from communion, listing book-burning alongside the eradication of temple remnants and sacred trees.²⁰ It is not known whether this order was enforced, but because the lawisaddressed to aspecific group of clerics it is likelythat it was. As the Church historian Sozomenus wrote, each Christian group used only documents favouring their own heresy,omitting those of others.²¹ In high-profile cases this general rule was enforced through outright book-burning.For exam- ple, the acts of the council of Ephesus in 431forbade Nestorius’ books to be read and transcribed. Nestorius had argued that Mary was the mother of Jesus rather thanthe mother of God.Because his position occasioned amajor schism, the lawordered thathis bookswerepubliclytobeburntinorder to prevent this interpretation, and anyfavourable memory of it or the author,surviving.²² The
Bas. reg. br. (PG :B). See Klein (), –.And on Carthage see section . below. So too,Speyer (), . Rules of Rabbūlā can. (Vööbus, ). Rules of Rabbūlā can. (Vööbus, –). Soz. h.e. .. ACO .:.This is an extended version of alaw by Theodosius II; cf. Cod. Theod. .. = Cod. Iust. ...Another example is the first Sirmian creed (): Socr. h.e. ..;Soz. h.e. .. 116 3Holy Men, Clericsand Ascetics public nature of the burningwas meantasademonstration of power and state- ment of intent as much as an effort to stop these writingsfrom circulating. Apart from aSyriac translation of one of his works,Nestorius’ writingsnow onlyre- main in fragments quoted in refutations by his adversaries, although they may well have continued to circulate at that time. On the otherhand,book-bans werenot always limited to specific authors. The second council of Constantino- ple in 553anathematised certain non-conformist Christian authors “along with their impious writings” and “all other heretics.”²³ We have also seen thatshortlybefore he did the same with Christian books Diocletian ordered Manichaean bookstobeburnt.Manichaeans werefrequently persecuted in both parts of the empire throughout Late Antiquity.While their books wereprobablyburnt at various occasions, there is explicit evidence of book-burning taking place in Rome in the fifth and sixth centuries. In 443, for example, Pope Leo the Great had the Manichaeans persecuted and “large bulks” of books in their possession burnt.²⁴
3.3 Philosophy and Heresy
Christian authors often regarded ancientphilosophical traditions as the seed of heresy,asEpiphanius, for example, did in his Panarion. My argument is that, when heretical texts became outlawed, this meansthat some philosophicaltra- ditionsbecame frowned upon too. Monks and ascetics mayevenhavedestroyed philosophical texts alongside with heretical ones, as we have just seen. Ishall thereforepresent passages in which philosophiesare put alongsideorequated with heretical teaching. Astriking example is the treatise On the False Prophets, the False Teachers, the Impious Heretics, andthe Signs of the Perfectionofthis Age (PG 59:553– 68). Although this work is attributedtoJohn Chrysostom,itwas probablycomposed later by adifferent author,perhaps centuries after Johnʼsdeath. The author ex- plains he wrote this piece in order to expel those “enemiesofChrist” that teach false doctrines, just as wolvesshould be separated from sheep.²⁵ It notes that their end had been foretold unanimouslybyall the prophets:²⁶
Conc. univ.Constant.actio can. (ACO .: Latin, Greek). Prosper chron. ad ann. (MGH Auct. ant. :): incensis eorum codicibus,quorum mag- nae moles fuerunt interceptae. Other incidents: Lib.pontif. .; .; . (MGH Gesta ponti- ficum Romanorum :, , ). Chrys. pseud. (PG :): ὁ πρῶτος ἐναἱρέσει, ὁ μαθητὴςτοῦἀντιχρίστου καὶ πρόδρομος. 3.3 Philosophy and Heresy 117
Forwhere now arethey who had oncebattled the Church, the kings,rulers,and the wise? Have they not all been scattered, perished, and passed into nothing? […]WhereisMarcion, where Valens,where Mani, whereBasilides, whereNero, whereJulian, whereArius,where Nestorius, where are all the enemies of truth, concerningwhomthe Church exclaims: ‘Many dogs have surrounded me’?[Ps.22:16] Have not all these perished?For they have been scat- tered because of their blasphemyand they have been expelled just likewolves.
The two pagans mentioned in this catalogue alongsideheretical authors are the emperors Nero and Julian, of whom onlyJulian is known to have left writings. The author of the treatise thereforedid not make aclear distinction between Christian and pagan heretics.The text also issuesawarning against those who are Christians by name but,accordingtothe psalm (106:35), have “mixed themselvesamong the pagans and learned their deeds.” In otherwords, they have “devoted themselvestoJewish and Greek myths, genealogies,mantic, as- trology.” The text goes on to saythat Christians who have been influenced by pagan deeds are even worse than pagans,and should be considered not worthy to approach the divine mysteries, and not namedChristians,just likeavirgin is not to be named anymore as such after she has been “deceived.” The warningis explicit: “watch out,obrother,and beware hereafter of pagan deeds!”²⁷ Thistext is apertinent and prime example of an extremelyhostile Christian discourse against everythingpagan, and also one that condemns non-conformist Christi- ans who mayhavebeen influenced by various aspects of paganism. In apassagefrom his sermons on the GospelofJohn (giveninConstantino- ple), John Chrysostom links ancient philosophyasawhole to heresy,giving in- struction on how to deal with someonebringingupphilosophical arguments, how to avoid to agree to them and thus to sin. The sermon wasprobablyde- signed to be addressed to clerics, particularlymonks. He suggests that the indi- vidual simplylaughsatany “heretic” employing Greek wisdom before cursing it as dust and ashes, and an open sepulchre full of worms.John discourages his audience from makingcontact with “heretics”,arguing that they owe much to pagan philosophersintheir thinking,notablytheir argument that matter is un-
Chrys. pseud. – (PG :,quotation at PG :): ποῦ γάρεἰσιν οἵ ποτε τὴν Ἐκκλη- σίαν πολεμήσαντες, βασιλεῖςκαὶδυνάσται καὶ σοφοί; οὐχὶ διεσκορπίσθησαν καὶἀπώλοντο, καὶ ἐγένοντο εἰςοὐδέν;…ποῦ Μαρκίων, ποῦ Οὐάλης, ποῦ Μάνης, ποῦ Βασιλίδης, ποῦ Νέρων, ποῦἸουλιανὸς, ποῦἌρειος, ποῦ Νεστόριος, ποῦ πάντες οἱἀντιτασσόμενοι τῇἀληθείᾳ, περὶ ὧν ἐβόα ἡἘκκλησία, ὅτι “Ἐκύκλωσάνμεκύνες πολλοί;” οὐχὶ πάντες ἀπώλοντο; διεσκορπίσθη- σαν γὰρδιὰτὴνβλασφημίαν αὐτῶν, καὶἐξεδιώχθησαν ὡςλύκοι. Chrys. pseud. (PG :): ἐμίγησαν ἐντοῖςἔθνεσι, καὶἔμαθον τὰἔργα αὐτῶν … Ἰου- δαϊκοῖςκαὶἙλληνικοῖςπροσέχοντες μύθοις, καὶ γενεαλογίαις, καὶ μαντείαις, καὶἀστρολογίαις … (PG :): ὅρα, ἀδελφὲ, καὶ φύλαξον τοῦ λοιποῦἀπὸτῶνἐθνικῶνπραγμάτων. 118 3Holy Men, Clerics and Ascetics created. John’sargument is that he does not want his audience to engagewith these people in case they become convinced by their arguments. Onlythe better educated Christians, such as himself, should enter such contests.²⁸ In John’sser- mons it is thus arecurrent theme to suggest that philosophicalcontroversies themselvesare clear proof of the presenceofthe devil because Christianityas the true philosophyisuncontroversial, whereas philosophers are based on sev- eral sources, and that heretics are close to philosophers because they introduce controversialopinions to Christianity.²⁹ The purpose of this theme is to demonise philosophical traditions and to castdoubt on the worthiness of their survival. John also agrees with the view of earlier Christian apologists that the various ancient philosophies were the origin of heresy among Christians.Thus, in his piece On the Holy Spirit,John polemicizesagainst non-conformist Christian groups,such as the Macedonians,the Arians, and Montanists, admonishing that one should speak onlywhat Jesus has spoken of. By contrast,heretics are said to be moved by the pagan teachings of Plato and of Aristotle.³⁰ Such con- flations are notable in that they show how disparate concepts begin to be welded into an indivisible line of argument against non-Christian works.Aristotle’sphi- losophy, for example, is said to be the seed of heresy,³¹ but so too is the belief that human beingsare aspecies of animals.³² John is clearlyvoicing an extremist opinion here. As evidence of their pernicious nature, John suggests that there are non-conformist Christians doubting the actuality of resurrection because of their acquaintancewith Greek philosophy, apparentlybecause of its different under- standing of matter.Inshort,John is essentiallysayingthatanyone who raises questions is not to be counted among the faithful.³³ Similarly, in atreatise writ- ten in Antioch John considers discussions on fate, foreknowledge basedonwhat he thinks is “the irrational motion of the stars”,and the origin of evil as diseases and particularlythe latter aspect as the origin of heretical ideas, such as by Mar- cion, the Manichaeans,Valentinus and Greek philosophers.³⁴ John thereforede- scribes contemporary heretics (which could be alabel for either pagans or Chris-
Chrys. hom. in Jo. (PG :–). Chrys. hom. in Mt. – (PG :–); hom. in .Cor. (PG :); de verbis apostoli .–, (PG :–); hom. in Gen. (PG :). Chrys. spir. (PG :); Similar polemics against pagan literatureasproducingheresies, de Lazaroconcio .– (PG :–). Chrys. hom. in Jo. :, (PG :). Chrys. stat. . (PG :–). Chrys. hom. in Thess. – (PG :–). Chrys. oppugn. . (PG :): ἄστρων ἀλόγω φορᾷ. 3.3 Philosophy and Heresy 119 tians) borrowingarguments from various ancient philosophies. Insofar as their views contradict coreaspectsofChristianity,such as resurrection and divine providence, he proposes that these arguments are detrimental to the unity of Christianityand needed to be gotten rid of. As Christianity became the state re- ligion, people who borrowed from ancient philosophies werelikelyfelt to be her- etics rather than pagans. Half acentury later, Theodoret of Cyrrhus offers asimilarlyderisive picture on pagan philosophers. Theodoret penned what is considered to be the last apol- ogetic-polemical work of Antiquity,the TreatmentofGreek Diseases,between 427 and 437inthe Antioch area.³⁵ The bishop of Cyrrhus and author of aChurch his- tory,inthis text Theodoret appropriatedPlatonic philosophytoChristianity and addressed contemporary educated pagans.³⁶ Although to some extent Hellenism continued in Syria, to Theodoret Christian views and writings had largely re- placed the various philosophical schools by this point because most people werenow onlyinterested in Christianity. His implication is thatcontemporary learned pagans are few and, while the truth of Christianitycan be shown from some philosophers, ancient and Christian philosophies are generallyopposed to one another:³⁷
All the heralds of the truth, the prophets and apostles Imean, stood aloof from the Greek eloquence. They were, however,full of true wisdom and they brought the divine doctrine to all nations,the Greeks and the barbarians, and filled all earth and sea with books on virtue and piety.All people now,havingrejected the antics of the philosophers,gloat over the teachings of the fishermen and of the publicans and venerate the books of the shoemaker [Paul]. They do not even know the names of the Italic, Ionic and Eleatic schools,for time has done away with their memory…
That Theodoret adopts an eloquent Greek style in his treatise is, then, essentially to cut his adversaries with their own sword.³⁸ Indeed, he notes that by contrastto
Allusions to the Curatio arefound in Thdt. ep. (PG :A); (PG :A); (PG :B). Canivet(), SC :–,suggests adatebeforethe council of Ephesus in . Thdt. affect. pr. . Thdt. affect. .–: καὶ γὰρ ἅπαντες τῆς ἀληθείας οἱ κήρυκες, προφῆταί φημι καὶἀπόστο- λοι, τῆςμὲνἙλληνικῆςοὐμετέλαχον εὐγλωττίας, ἔμπλεοι δὲ τῆς ἀληθινῆς ὄντες σοφίας, πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι, καὶἙλληνικοῖςκαὶβαρβαρικοῖς, τὴνθείαν διδασκαλίαν προσήνεγκαν καὶ πᾶσαν γῆν καὶ θάλατταν τῶν ἀρετῆςπέρι καὶ εὐσεβείας ξυγγραμμάτων ἐνέπλησαν. καὶ νῦν ἅπαντες τῶν φιλοσόφων τοὺςλήρους καταλιπόντες τοῖςτῶνἁλιέων καὶ τελωνῶν ἐντρυφῶσι μαθήμασι καὶ τὰ τοῦ σκυτοτόμου ξυγγράμματα περιέπουσι· καὶ τῆςμὲνἸταλικῆςκαὶἸωνικῆςκαὶἘλεατικῆς ξυμμορίας οὐδὲ τὰςπροσηγορίας ἐπίστανται – ἐξήλειψε γὰραὐτῶνὁχρόνος τὴνμνήμην. Thdt. affect. pr. . 120 3Holy Men, Clericsand Ascetics the eloquenceofcontemporary Christians, the style of his adversaries is now pa- thetic and the knowledge of their heretical philosophical schools of the past lost:³⁹
We pity their temerity,because on the one hand, they know that barbarians have surpassed the skill of Greek eloquence, those elaboratelydecorated fables have been utterlybanned and the solecisms [errors] of the fishermen have destroyed the Attic syllogisms [arguments], while on the other they do not blush nor hide away,but impudentlyfight for the cause of their error.They aresofew that one can easilycalculatethem. They lack the Greek harmony of stylebut barbarise,asitwere, whenever they speak. They consider it the highesteduca- tion and gloryofspeech to invoke ‘the gods’ and ‘the sun’ and to smear other such vows in their speech. If Iamnot right,then tell me whosucceeded XenophanesofColophon, Par- menides of Elea, Protagorasand Melissus,PythagorasorAnaxagoras, Speusippus or Xen- okrates,Anaximander or Anaximenes,Arcesilaus or Philolaus in their heresy?Who is to- day’shead of the Stoic heresy?Who is safeguarding the teachings of the Peripatetics? […]For the whole earth under the sun has been filled with sermons.
Theodoret sarcasticallysuggests thatcontemporarypagan rhetoric is different to Christian rhetoric largely because of its use of invocationformulae to gods, indi- cating that contemporary pagans have insufficientknowledge of their literary patrimony. He could be right as far as most of the authors and schools men- tioned in this extract are concerned.⁴⁰ Like John Chrysostom, Theodoret takes this loss of knowledge to show the superiority of Christianity and to ridicule con- temporary pagans (whom he otherwise involves in adialogue). This passageis interesting because it clearlycounts anumber of philosophical schools among the heresies,however,excludingthe writings of Platoand Aristotle from this ver- dict.These twophilosophicalschools continued to be studied throughout Late
Thdt. affect. .–: ἡμεῖςδὲαὐτῶντὴνἐμπληξίαν ὀλοφυρόμεθα, ὅτι δὴὁρῶντες βαρβα- ροφώνους ἀνθρώπους τὴν Ἑλληνικὴνεὐγλωττίαν νενικηκότας, καὶ τοὺςκεκομψευμένους μύ- θους παντελῶς ἐξεληλαμένους, καὶ τοὺς ἁλιευτικοὺςσολοικισμοὺςτοὺς᾿Aττικοὺςκαταλελυ- κότας ξυλλογισμούς [cf. Aug. ord. ..], οὐκ ἐρυθριῶσιν οὐδ’ ἐγκαλύπτονται, ἀλλ’ ἀνέδην ὑπερμαχοῦσι τῆςπλάνης, καὶ ταῦτα ὀλίγοι ὄντες καὶἀριθμηθῆναι ῥᾳδίως δυνάμενοι καὶ οὐδὲ τῆς Ἑλληνικῆςεὐστομίας μετέχοντες, ἀλλὰ τοσαῦτα, ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, βαρβαρίζοντες ὅσα φθέγ- γονται, παίδευσιν δὲἄκραν καὶ λαμπρότητα λόγων ὑπολαμβάνοντες, εἰὀμνύντες εἴποιεν “μὰ τοὺςθεούς” καὶ “μὰ τὸν ἥλιον”, καὶ τοιούτους τινὰςτοῖςλόγοις ἐπιπλάττοιεν ὅρκους. εἰ δὲ οὐκ ἀληθῆ λέγω, εἴπατε, ὦἄνδρες, τίνα Ξενοφάνης ὁ Κολοφώνιος ἔσχε διάδοχον τῆςαἱρέσεως; τίνα δὲ Παρμενίδης ὁἘλεάτης; τίνα Πρωταγόρας καὶ Μέλισσος; τίνα Πυθαγόρας ἢ᾿Aναξαγόρας; τίνα Σπεύσιππος ἢ Ξενοκράτης; τίνα ᾿Aναξίμανδρος ἢ᾿Aναξιμένης; τίνα ᾿Aρκεσίλαος ἢ Φιλόλαος; τίνες τῆςΣτωϊκῆςαἱρέσεως προστατεύουσιν; τίνες τοῦ Σταγειρίτου τὴνδιδασκαλίαν κρατύνουσιν; … πᾶσα γὰρ ἡὑφήλιος τῶνδε τῶνλόγων ἀνάπλεως. Similarly, Thdt. affect. .. 3.3 Philosophy and Heresy 121
Antiquityand beyond, whereas many, but not all of the other philosophies (such as the Pythagorean and Stoic)had long gone lost. Writing in the earlyfifth century,Cyril of Alexandria in aBible commentary also links Greek philosophytoheresy and punishments.⁴¹ Christians, Cyril ar- gues elsewhere, should avoid non-conformist and certain pagan teachings: they should uphold the tradition of the Church, “despise the Greek talk of the heretics and turn away from the haphazardfables.”⁴² Prudentius and Augustine are further examples of Christian authorswho es- tablish this link occasionallythroughout their works.This is clear in theirtreat- ment of the motif of the vine and the branchesthatappears,for example, in Pru- dentius’ apologeticpoem, the Divinity of Christ (Apotheosis), in the context of burning of heresy,inaccordancewith the general themeofthe Apotheosis,a poem that refutes heretical opinions. It is worth having alookatthe parable of the vine and the branches from the GospelofJohn that underlies this motif:⁴³
Iamthe vine; youare the branches.Hethat abides in me, and Iinhim, the same brings forth much fruit,for without me youcan do nothing. If aman does not abide in me, he is thrownawaylikeabranch and withers;and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they areburned.
To summarisethe immediate context,inthis work’sprefacePrudentius refers to the “enemy” (41: hostis)and to the “slanderers” (25: sycophantae), who lead Christians into heresy through logical arguments (24: syllogismi). These people can be identified both as heretics (who use philosophical arguments perceived as opposed to arguments based on the gospels) and also non-Christian philoso- phers, as Prudentius polemicizesbroadlyagainst philosopherswho have put for- ward arguments disagreeing with Christianity (200 –214: Plato, the Cynics and Aristotle; 782ff.: Epicurean concept of causation).LikeJohn Chrysostom, Pruden- tius deploys Paul’sletter to the Corinthians in this context: “God has therefore chosen the foolish thingsofthe world to cut the sophisticatedarguments into pieces.”⁴⁴ Prudentius attributes their error to their tongue (lingua), ametaphor that recurs throughout his work:⁴⁵
Cyr. commentarius in Joelem prophetam .. (PG :A–B). Cyr. hom. pasch. . (PG :D): τά δὲ γραώδη τῶναἱρετικῶνδιαπτύων ῥημάτια, καὶ τοὺς μὲνεἰκαίους ἐκτρεπόμενος μύθους (based looselyonTitus :). Vet. Lat.John .– Jülicher: egosum vitis vos palmites.qui manet in me et egoinillo,hic adferet fructum copiosum, quia sine me nihil potestis facere. si quis autem in me non manserit, praecisus est sicut palmes et missus est foras et aruit, et colligent eos et in ignem mittunt et ardent. (Prudentius readthe Bible in the pre-Hieronymian Latin version). Prud. apoth. pr. –: idcirco mundi stulta delegit Deus, | ut concidant sophistica. 122 3Holy Men, Clericsand Ascetics
They challenge the nature of almighty God in plotted controversies and cut the faith in pieces with subtle ambiguities in proportion to the wickedness of their tongues […]Al- though they produce poisonous juice, the farmer suffers them to grow intoaplant,in order to avoid that perhaps the rootingout of the vain stem kill at the same time the stalk that bears the crop. He thereforewaits until ripeningsummer heat maturethe vicious plants and the wheat,that he maystore in his barns what the hoe selects and burn the chaff in the fire.
Prudentius’ metaphorical reference to burninghere is closer to averse in the Gospel of Matthew rather than the Gospel of John: “Letboth grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest Iwill saytothe reapers: ‘Gather to- gether first the tares,and bind them in bundles to burnthem: but gather the wheat into my barn.’”⁴⁶ Because of this contiguity,Iwould arguethatthe picture Prudentius conjures up is to specificallysuggest pruning the philosophicaltra- dition so that it fits in with Christianity and does not cause trouble to it by gen- eratingheresy.Itillustrates the unwillingness of Christian scribesand scholars to preservetexts that disagreed with Christian orthodoxy.Itisclear from the fol- lowing context that Prudentius alludes to false teachings that are not restricted to heresies. This passageonthe vine and the branchesshould be read alongside Augus- tine’streatment of the motif.The concept of Christianityasafruitful vine is found in atreatise instructing thosewho are about to convert,includinggram- marians and rhetoricians, the teachers of higher learning,whose libraries need- ed to be inspected for Christian conformism.⁴⁷
Prud. apoth. pr. –, –: statum lacessunt omnipollentis Dei | calumniosis litibus, | fidem minutis dissecant ambagibus | ut quisque lingua est nequior … quas de veneni lacte in her- bam fertiles | patitur colonus crescere, | ne forte culmum fibrainanis spiceum | simul revulsa in- ternecet. expectat ergodum vitiosa et farrea | fervens coquat maturitas, | det ventilabrolecta quae- que ut horreis, urit recrementum focis. Cf. apoth. –:God burns the blood-stained fruits and c.Symm. ,pr. –: dum virgas steriles atque superfluas | flammis de fidei palmite concre- mant, | ut concreta vagis vinea crinibus | silvosi inluviem poneret idoli. The motif of the wicked tongue appears frequentlyinthe Romanushymn, but also in the Apotheosis in regardtoMan- ichaeans: “Shut up, youmadman. Biteyour own tongue, youwicked dog, while devouringyour words in your lacerated palate.” (apoth. –: obmutesce, furor;linguam, canis inprobe, morde | ipse tuam, laceroconsumens verbapalato). Vet. Lat.Matt. : Jülicher: sed sinite utraque crescereusque ad messem; et in tempore messis dicam messoribus:colligite primum zizania et alligate ea fasiculos ad comburendum, triti- cum autem congregate in horreum meum. Aug. catech. rud. .: sed illa vitis quae per orbem terrarum, sicut de illa prophetatum et ab ipso domino praenuntiatum erat, fructuosos palmites diffundebat, tanto pullulabat amplius,quan- to uberioremartyrum sanguine rigabatur.quibus per omnes terras innumerabiliter profidei veri- tate morientibus,etiam ipsa persequentia regna cesserunt et ad Christum cognoscendumatque 3.3 Philosophy and Heresy 123
But the vine which was spreading abroad its fruitful branches throughout the world, as had been prophesied concerningit, and as had been foretold by the Lordhimself, flourished the morerichly, as it was the moreabundantlywateredbythe blood of martyrs.To these, as they died for the truth of the faith in countless numbers throughout all lands, even the persecutingkingdoms themselvesyieldedand wereconverted to the knowledge and worship of Christ,after the neck of their pride had been broken. Yetitwas fitting that this vine should be pruned,ashad repeatedly been foretold by the Lord, and that from it should be lopped the unfruitfulbranches,bywhich, under the name of Christ,her- esies and schisms were occasioned in various places, on the part of those who soughtnot his glory but their own, and by whose opposition the Church was moreand moreexercised and her teaching and long-sufferingboth proven and illustrated.
Augustine refers to at least two of the allegorical battles depicted by Prudentius in the Psychomachia: the battlesagainst Pride (Superbia)and against Long-Suf- fering (Patientia). The vine again symbolises the gospel, the unfruitful twigs, on the other hand, represent heretical literature and traditions. In the next chapter we will see in detail the propensity for earlyChristian apologists to regard vari- ous philosophicaltraditions,particularlymaterialist philosophies, as the origin of Christian non-conformism. Such an understanding mayhaveinformed Pru- dentius’ rhetoric, because it is clear in Augustine that the unfruitful branches in question had inspired heretical discourse. This section has shown that late antique Christian authorsdevelopedanum- ber of strategies to blame disagreeing theological opinions on the philosophical opinions of the past and that these philosophical traditions thereforethreatened the unity of the church. Their polemicaldiscourse reveals asense of danger de- riving from philosophical counter-arguments against Christianity.While this does not mean that clerics resorted to book-burning to getrid of these traditions, it does show that bookscontaining these traditions werefrowned upon by clerics and ascetics. In the following sections Ishall arguethat it was these Christians groups that took advantageofthe censorship legislation in Late Antiquity,with or without the help of Roman authorities.
venerandum fracta superbiae cervice conversa sunt. oportebat autem, ut eadem vitis, sicut ado- mino idemtidem praedictum erat, putaretur et ex ea praeciderentur infructuosa sarmenta, quibus haereses et schismata per loca facta sunt, sub Christi nomine, non ipsius gloriam, sed suam quae- rentium per quorum adversitates magis magisque exerceretur ecclesia et probaretur atque illustra- retur et doctrina eius et patientia. On the context,Aug. catech. rud. . (written between and ). It is not firmlyknown whether Prudentiuswas acquainted with Augustine or vice versa. Their common source could have been Iren. haer. ... 124 3Holy Men, Clericsand Ascetics
3.4 Zacharias’ LifeofSeverus
In the accounts of their livesthere is evidence that holymen sometimes de- stroyed books. Perhaps no other sourcegenre allows agreater insight into the reported dailylives of ordinary individuals and the culturaland religious power of the depicted holymen.⁴⁸ Written by contemporaries, eye-witnesses, and the studentsofthe sainted person, the LivesofSaints do contain fictitious elements. Yetthese accounts must have had agreat impact on the relatively large audience of contemporaries they weredisseminated among.These accounts weremeant to demonstrate the power of holymen as well as to encouragead- miration and imitationoftheir deeds. As such, they have significant worth as documents of cultural-historical dialogue in the context of this study. Ishallan- alyse the hagiographicalsources under the question of what genres of books werevulnerable to destruction, arguing that there wasagrey area of books that werebanned or destroyed and thatthis confirms the polemical discourse that Ihavejust discussed. The Life of Severus is often taken by scholars as asourcetoreconstruct the dailylife relations between Christians and pagans. Itsauthor,Zacharias Scholas- ticus (*465/6, d. after 536), studied literature and jurisprudence in Gaza, Alexan- dria and Beirut(Berytus) before he became bishop of Mytilene (on the island of Lesbos). Originallywritten in Greek but preserved in Syriac, his biographyof Severus, Monophysitepatriarch of Antioch, is an important sourcefor Christian book-burning in the late fifth century.Trombley argued that Zacharias’ account is largely reliable as ahistorical sourcebecause it waswritten by ahighlyeducated eyewitness of the events.⁴⁹ However,more recent scholarship often qualifies the account as atendentious and dishonest pamphlet,written to defend Severus from chargesofpaganism.⁵⁰ It is therefore likelythat the text emphasises Seve- rus’ zeal to fight paganism and exaggerates chargesagainst pagans. Zacharias was amember of aChristian group called the philóponoi. These philóponoi, “friends of the suffering”,wereasemi-monastic institution that is at- tested in various cities of the East in the sixth and seventh centuries.Their aim was to cure the sick and to monitor and attack pagans. The Life of Severus is the most comprehensive sourcewith which to reconstruct their activities.⁵¹ It illumi-
Brown (); Magoulias (). See Trombley (), vol. :. Watts (); Alan Cameron (), –,who in particular discusses parallel evidencefor the improbable episode of the Isis temple of Menouthis (see below). They werealso known as spoudaíoi. Another importantsource is Jo.Eph. de beat. orient. (PO :–). See Magoulias (), –.Watts ()with note (literature); 3.4 Zacharias’ Life of Severus 125 nates the atmosphere surroundingthe pagan insurrection in the reign of the em- peror Zeno that we have seen in section 2.6.⁵² Before his conversion, Severus studied rhetoric in Alexandria. Aconnoisseur of Greek literature until peerpressureforced him to embrace Christianity,heul- timatelyrejected his previous investment in Greek mythologies.⁵³ Despite his thorough education, at the time of his conversion he lacked knowledge of even the most basicaspects of Christianity,soheasked Zacharias for copies of common Christian bookssuch as thosebyBasil of Caesarea.⁵⁴ He was astu- dent of the imperial lawschool, like co-studentsattracted to amonastic life, and he later became an intellectual leader of the Monophysitebranch of Christianity. To facilitatethe process of conversion, Zacharias had prepared aprogram specif- icallyfor the needs of intellectuals such as Severus. Lawwas to be studied in school each dayofthe week except Sundays,which werereserved for the studyofcanonical Christian authors. Such readings werestrictlyprescribed, usu- allybeginning with various polemical treatisesagainst pagans and ending with Basil’s Address to Young Men on the RightUse of Greek Literature.⁵⁵ Basil’strea- tise allowed for acanon of morallyinoffensive writingstobestudied by Chris- tians. The purpose of the educational program wasquiteclear: it was tailor- made to persuade well-educated people to abstain from readingmore subversive pagan authorsand ideally even from readingany pagan author at all following their conversion. It alsoshows that those that wereinvolvedinbook-burning weretrainedinChristian polemicaltexts and had adopted their content. The Life of Severus describes the philóponoi as agroup whose provision of palliative care was coterminouslylinked to the practice of book-burning,notably in the cases of John Foulonfrom Thebes and two other pagan lawstudents in Beirut.Inthis instance, the underlying assumption appears to have been that the demonsinharmful bookscaused diseases. These lawstudents had areputa- tion of being involved in magic. It was alleged that they wereprepared to commit ahuman sacrifice in order to activate alovecharm addressed to awoman living in chastity to whom John was attracted. Forthe purpose of pagan sacrifice, it
Wipszycka(), – givesalist of various literary and papyrological texts attesting this group. On this connection, Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, –); Trombley (), vol. :–. This conversion story is narrated in ahomilybySeverus (Laudatio S. Leontii .–)that sur- vivesinaCoptic version, published with text and translationinGaritte(), quoted by Trombley (), vol. :–.This accountmatches the conversion account of the Life of Seve- rus (). Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, –); Trombley (), vol. :. Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, –); Trombley (), vol. :;Hall (), . 126 3Holy Men, Clerics and Ascetics was suggested that they forced one of John’sslavestothe hippodrome in the middle of the night.⁵⁶ The philóponoi decided to take action against John after the mistreated slave denounced John as having “booksofmagic” in his posses- sion. It seems they accepted the case because of the book accusation rather than because of attempted murder,which was difficult to prove. The intention of com- mitting ahuman sacrifice is not found in John’slaterconfession, as reported by Zacharias, although the philóponoi pronounced that John was possessed by a demon that had been urging him to commit his crimes. Accompanied by Polycarp, asoldier in the local bureauofthe Praetorian Prefect,and Constantine, alawyer, the philóponoi paid John avisit on the pre- tenceofsearchinghis house for incriminating booksand ruling him out of their inquiries. John permitted the house-search, knowing that he had carefully hiddenall of his suspicious books. When nothing was found following this search, the slave who had forwarded the initial accusation to the philóponoi in- dicated the hiding-place of the more problematic books.⁵⁷ As to the content of thosemagic books, Zacharias, who claims to have per- sonally examined them, is more specific than elsewhereinhis Life of Severus: “In these books werecertain images of perverse demons, barbaric names and ar- rogant,harmful signs,full of pride and quite fit for perverse demons.”⁵⁸ Howev- er,the booksofJohn Foulon did not onlycontain magic spells because Zacharias mentionsbooksauthored by Zoroaster,Ostanes, and Manethon.⁵⁹ While the Per- sian Ostanes is counted among the successors of Zoroaster and among the au- thors of booksonmagic and alchemy, two different authorsnamedManethon are known to have composed historicalworks on Egypt in the Hellenistic age(ex- tracts of which are found in Georgios Synkellos,awriter of the eighth century) and ahexametrical didactic poem on astrology of the second century AD respec- tively. It is likelythat Zacharias would have been keen to name those authors that could most easilybelinked to the unspecified field of magic in order to jus- tify his actions. John’sreaction to the findingsshows how the concept of forbidden books could be used as instrument of control in the laterempire. He immediatelycon- fessed and beggedthe investigatorsnot to hand him over for criminal prosecu- tion, confirming that he was in fact aChristian and promisingtoabstain from anyrecourse to demons in the future. In exchange, he denounced the names
Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, ). Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, –). Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, ); Trombley (), vol. :–,compares this to the magical pa- pyri. Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, ). 3.4 Zacharias’ Life of Severus 127 of others as owners of similar books.⁶⁰ Also, he personally burnt all of his in- criminating books in the fire thatthe investigators brought in. Following a long meetingduring which his repentance was tested and established, the philó- ponoi made sure he was provided with Christian texts and he was chargedtothe care and supervision of clerics at the Church of St Jude, who weretosee to it that he did not stray from the Christian wayoflife. Theinvestigators prayed to God for the sake of his soul, which had just been rescued from the demons of his forbid- den books.⁶¹ In addition to John’sdenunciation, ascribe had reported to Martyrius, church lectorinBeirut,and to Polycarp,the aforementioned soldier,that one George of Thessalonike had commissioned him to copy “abook of magic.”⁶² Trombley’sassertion that Zacharias refers here to the transcription of abook from papyrus scroll to parchment codex could be correct.⁶³ Martyrius and Poly- carp had in turn notified the philóponoi. Thecontent of this book is not known, but the allegation thatitwas amagical text must be viewed as dubious as strictly magical literature washardlyeverwritten on parchment.⁶⁴ As George was prob- ablyaware of the potential danger involvedinhanding over such abook to a Christian scribe it is more likelythat it was from apagan genre that he would have had arealistic hope would be allowed rather than amagical one which he knew would be forbidden out of hand. That Georgewas denounced in this fashion was not uncommon. Scribes wereasked to reportsuspicious literature to Church authorities in order that they could censor the books in question. Forexample, in asimilar case in Harran at the end of the sixth centuryascribe denounced the local governor as apractitioner of “paganism”,taking over the governor’sposition as aresult.⁶⁵ Thisshows thatitwas difficult to copy problem- atic books and that denunciation could occur for personal reasons such as jeal- ousy,anger or envy rather thanbecause of religious purity or social control. George had the additional problem of having been among the list of names divulgedaskeepers of forbidden books by John. His name was givenalongside those of other lawstudents, includingLeontius. The latterwas ateacher of law, although he had ceased to be at the time of composition.⁶⁶ The names werefor- warded to another John, the local bishop, by the philóponoi. These persons also
Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, ). See Trombley (), vol. :–. Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, ). Trombley (), vol. :. See Speyer (), –. DionysiusofTel-Mahre, Secular History (Palmer, ). Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, ). 128 3Holy Men, Clericsand Ascetics had the reputation among the population of the entire city of keepingsuch books. Searches for these books were well organized, included both Church and state authorities and specificallytargeted pagans.Their magic bookswere believed to have aharmful, contagious impact on the population because they contained demons:
The bishop assigned us to the membersofthe clergy and orderedustoexamine the books of all those people. The public notaries (demósioi)were with us. The entirecity was angry because they were often studyingmagic books instead of devoting themselvestolaw,and because the above-mentioned Leontius was harmingthem throughhis paganism. (Zach. v.Sev.66)
The term demósioi (transcribed into the Syriac language) points to publicslaves. Such public slaveswerecommon in the cities of the Roman Empire from the late Republic onwards.Besides some religious duties,their various tasks included managingarchivesand guarding prisons.⁶⁷ Further on in the text,the demósioi are described as having been in charge of watchingthe bonfire prepared for burning the offending books. They wereinformed of the content of the books, although it does not seem that they personally inspected them.⁶⁸ Their duty here might have been simplytooversee the carryingout of the sentence at the end of the criminalprocedure. There follows acharacterization of Leontius,inwhich chargesrelated to magic, such as predictingfuture events (for example, predicting the genderof an unbornchild), are linked to chargesmore broadlyrelated to “paganism” and astrology,such as “aiding them to have access to idols”⁶⁹.The philóponoi then successfullysearched houses for booksand the “magic” booksinthe pos- session of George and one Asclepiodotus of Heliopolis-Baalbek were deposited in the centreofthe city.Other alleged owners of such books, however,had fled and secreted their books. In addition,street-fighting occurred among the citizensafter the pagan Chrysaorius of Tralles had called in agroup of “trou- ble-makers” in order to halt the book-searches.Although the Christian Constan- tine of Beirut threatened to call in his band of rustics to fight back, the situation de-escalated whenthe philóponoi promised Leontius,not without hesitation on their part,thathecould leave the city without harm.⁷⁰ He did so, speedilyaccept- ing baptism at the churchconsecratedtoamartyr with the samename as his
See Lenski (), –;Weiss (). Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, ). Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, –). Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, ). 3.4 Zacharias’ LifeofSeverus 129 own.⁷¹ Notably, Leontiuswas not among thosereportedtohavebeen convicted of owning magic books so far and his case supports the view that the philóponoi argued it wasinthe interest of Christians to bring conversion rather thandeath to offenders. However,the evidence alsoshows thatattempts to burn bookswere often resisted, indicating the value in which some owners held their texts.⁷² Forthe book-burning itself, abonfire was prepared in front of achurch by the philóponoi. On order of the bishop,the defensor of the city,the demósioi, and members of the clergy gathered to watch the scene. We have seen in section 2.2that the defensores werelegallyacting as areligious police force. No titles are giveninthe narrative,but the books are described as having contained the fol- lowing: “fanfaronadeofwritings, atheistic and barbaric arroganceofdemons, evil statements full of hatred for human kind as well as the arroganceofthe devil, who teaches to promise and to perform horrible thingsofthis kind”⁷³. Such descriptions echo the assertions made against the books in John Foulon’s possession. In addition to denouncing the texts,statements wereread aloud to the effect that “the entire population yelled various shoutsagainst the pagans and the magicians, extolled and praised to the skies those who had seen to it that these writingsweredivulgedand cast into the fire.”⁷⁴ The readingaloud of the books destined for burning thus justified the deed. The whole process enacted aritual of triumph intended to inflict fear on the population and incite them against people who continued to practise magic. As such, it is probable that the reader mayhavedecided to read aloud onlythose statements which in- sinuated the crime associated with magic books. Accordingtothe public read- ing,the booksincluded advice on how to cause civil riot,how to forcea woman to have intercourse against her will, and how to commit and to conceal adultery and murder.This suggests that the books again seem to be full texts rather than just magic spells.Wewillsee in section 3.6that similar charges are found in legendary conversion accounts of magician-philosophers who burn their books. Even in rhetoric-schools in the West topics of an unrealistic, extremelyviolent nature werepopular at the end of the first century.⁷⁵ At any rate although Christians could also occasionallybechargedwith having recourse
Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, ). Contra Trombley (), vol. :: “The aim of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities in Be- rytus was eradicatingthe dangers thought to be posed by sorcery rather than imposingreligious conformity.” Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, ). Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, ). Petron. .–;Tac. dial. .–; .–. 130 3Holy Men, Clerics and Ascetics to magic, the magic books here in this late fifth-century text came to be associ- ated onlywith pagans. The fate of the booksowned by the pagan Chrysaorius of Tralles indicates that the Life of Severus made no difference between pagan and magic books. Chrysaorius was forced to flee the city because he was accused of assisting a number of “magicians” from Iran in stealing church property.Hetook it as proof of his religion’ssuperiority that his “booksofmagic” had not been burnt despite the allegations against him:⁷⁶
Afterhedecided to return to his homeland, he hiredaship onto which he loaded all the magic books he had reportedlyacquiredataconsiderable cost in gold, according to well-informed individuals.Healso embarked the lawbooks and most of the silverobjects he owned, as well as his children and their mother,who was his concubine. He orderedto set sail at the moment he and manyother personsthoughtfavourable, after he had consult- ed some treatise on magic, the movement of the stars, and made his own calculations.He himself had to return to his homeland by the overland route. The ship sailed with the prom- ise of the demons and astrologers that it would be savedwith all that it contained. Yetin spiteofthe magic and magic books,the ship was destroyed, and nothingthat Chrysaorius had embarked was saved.
Such stories of sinking ships, as asign of divine punishment,are acommon lit- erary topos in the hagiographical genre.⁷⁷ The destruction of books demonstrat- ed that the demons contained in these bookshad been overcome. The passage explicates the rangeof“magic” books. The Life of Severus divides books into magic books, books of law, and Christian books. Anything which did not fall among the latter two categories seems to have been classified as magic books by the author of this Life. Forexample, the apparentlyrational (albeit in this case useless) nautical calculations made by Chrysaorius are attributed exclusive- ly to the realmofmagic. As the text implies, such books must have been expen- sive to acquire. Their content is opposed onlytothat found in booksoflaw.Asa wealthyand learned pagan who owned valuable books, it is likelythatChrysao- rius intended to rescue all his books from the Christian mob and the local au- thorities. Hall correctlynotes that acomparison of three stories from the Life of Seve- rus indicatesthat the text applied the categoriesofmagical and pagan indiscrim- inatelytopeople.⁷⁸ The narrativeseems to have applied bothcategoriestobooks
Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, ). The contextfor this episode begins in Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, ). See V. Nicol. Sion. – with the commentary of Blum (), . Hall (), ,referringtoZach. v.Sev. (Kugener, ). 3.4 Zacharias’ LifeofSeverus 131 similarlywithout discrimination. This seems to be the case in the tendentious conversion story of Paralius of Aphrodisias,inwhich Zacharias attempts to de- bunk the efficiency of pagan miracles. Paralius studied under the grammarian Horapollon, who was “full of admiration for demons and magic.”⁷⁹ Paralius was alienatedfrom his circle after avisit to his brother Athanasius at the Enaton monastery.Paralius allegedlycame to consider Christian miracles as superior to pagan ones after he had found out that the incubation rites practiced at the Isis temple of Menouthis (close to Canopus) – which involved intercourse with a stone representation of Isis – had failed in the case of the pagan philosopher Asclepiodotus and his infertile wife. The couple instead was advised to adopt one of the priestess’ children. Paralius was physicallyattacked for doubting the efficacy of the ritual and for assuming that the priestess was atemple pros- titute. In retaliation the philóponoi incited the Christian population to march against the temple of Isis and to burn its idols, as well as thoseinpublic baths and privatehouses. These Christians wereaided by the authorities, notably by the defensor,who was in charge of conducting religious trials in the city.⁸⁰ We have seen that the Codex Theodosianus put defensores in charge of following up privateaccusations related to religious infractions, including book crimes. This highlights the wayhow Romanauthorities collaborated with local Christian groups. Before receiving baptism, Paralius burnt the invocation formulae to the gods in his possession, books which the following clause significantlycounts as “idols.”⁸¹ This indicates that destruction of cult statues (iconoclasm) sometimes involved the destruction of books withoutthe latter category being explicitlyor distinctlyrecorded. Paralius, however,continued to be troubled by demons and asked Zachariasfor help in this matter:⁸²
Iwalked over,havingwith me aChristian book, and Iwanted to read atreatise to him, Gregory the Theologian’shomilyofexhortation on redemptive baptism. Ifound him wet with perspiration and quitediscouraged after his battle with the demons.Hesaid that
Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, ). Watts ()argued that the Life of Paralius was ashort polemical piece, of questionable Quellenwert,originallywritten in the s, and included in the Life of Severus in the sors. On the defensor,Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, ). An extensive summaryfor the whole story in Trombley (), vol. :–. Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, ): “He [Paralius] receivedbaptism after he had first burnt the invo- cation formulae to the gods of the pagans,that is to the demons,that he owned. Forthese had harassed him beforedivine baptism and still filled him with horror during the night after the idols had been burnt.” Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, –); cf. Speyer (), . 132 3Holy Men, Clerics and Ascetics
he could hardly breathe under the influence of the Christian text. Iasked him if he might still have anyinvocation formulas to the pagan gods. Afterhehad searched his memory,he confessed that he owned papyri (chártes) of that type. Then he listenedtomeasIsaid: ‘If youwish to be deliveredfromthe obsession of the demons,throw these papyri into the flames!’ He did this in my presence, and was immediatelydeliveredfromthe obsession of the demons.
Although the text givesnospecific titles, Trombley has noted that by this point the “papyri of that type” can no longer be identified simply with magic booksor pagan prayers. Instead, Trombley argues that these burnt papyri might have con- tained Atticist prayers such as the hymns written by Proclus.⁸³ The book that Par- alius allegedlyburntinorder to signal and completehis conversion wasproba- blynot strictlyamagical one. Perhaps the papyri contained poetry thatincluded invocation formulae. At anyrate,this passageclearlyshows that books were burnt in order to destroy the demons containedinthese books and thus to re- lievetheir owner from the diseases that werecaused by these demons. After he had listened to apassageinGregory of Nazianzus concerning advice to shun all thingsmundane,Paralius responded that he should from now on em- brace divine philosophy. Shortlyafter,Paralius wrotetohis pagan brothers,ad- monishing them also to follow the one God.Perhaps it again wasthe philóponoi who had urgedParalius to denounce others. This showsthat denunciation could be an effective waytoprosecutebook-offences. The Life of Severus illuminates the practice of book-burning,asitdoes men- tion Church and state institutions as well as their acting as areligious police force. These institutions are relativelywell attested in othersources. As this sec- tion has indicated, monastic, semi-monastic and clerical institutions, appealing to the help of state authorities, initiated house-searches to identify and destroy forbidden books, and these books did not onlycontain magic spells, but also lit- erary texts associated with magic. We will also see in the following section that clerics and ascetics burnt booksmoreoften than the state authorities did.
3.5 “IGive YouPower to Trample on Serpents”
Hagiographical texts tend to emphasise the voluntariness of book-burning.But the line between persuasion and coercion was often elusive.This section will show that there is evidence to suggest thatthe clergy rather thanthe Romanau- thorities weresometimes proactive in enforcingbook-burning laws.
Trombley (), vol. : with note . 3.5 “IGiveYou Power to Trample on Serpents” 133
Hypatius was abbot of amonastery near Chalcedon in Bithynia in the first half of the fifth century.His life is recounted by his student Callinicus, another eye-witness.While performing divine services along with his brethrens Hypatius noticed that one man smelled like the devil. Although this man is often held to be asorcerer,there is no clear evidence in Callinicus’ text this was the case. Forced to give answers as to his origin and social position, the manreplied against his will that he came from Antioch and had the intention of becoming aChristian. After he had been searched, the man’sArtemis-belt was burnt.As the belt failed to ignite, Hypatius personally trampled on it,tearingitinto little pieces and mixing it up with dirt before throwing it into the latrines.⁸⁴ Hypatius further demanded: “If youwant to become aChristian, bring me the papyrus- scroll of yours and all your curious things”⁸⁵.The term “curious things” (períer- ga)isthe same as the one found in the Acts to describethe content of books that wereburnt in Ephesus. To ensure thathewould complythe anonymous man was taken in custodybyone of Hypatius’ brethren but managed to escape forced con- version and the destruction of his book. While much of the hagiographical dis- course on book-burning seems to be based on literary topoi, Iwould agree with Trombley that conversion often involvedthe destruction of written material which was obviouslynot in accordance with Christian faith.⁸⁶ Zealous Christians, often supported by authorities, sometimes burnt books as part of aviolent spectacle. They burnt booksalong with other religious ob- jects, primarily cult statues. In 402, Gaza’smost famous temple,the Marneion, whereZeusMarnas was worshipped, was destroyed along with other temples and burnt to the ground. In the wake of this religious struggle, houses were searched, just like in Antioch, in order to find both cult statues and books:⁸⁷
Afterthis,houses werealso searched. Fortherewere manystatues in most courts, and from those that werefound, apart was throwninthe fire,another part cast in sewers. They also found books filled with magic, which they call holyand from which they perform ritesand other unlawful things;they toleratethat these things are equal to their gods.
Asimilar sceneinpoetry is the destruction of Heresy in Prudentius,p. above. Call. v.Hyp. .: εἰ βούλει χριστιανὸςγενέσθαι, φέρε μοι τὸ βιβλίον σου καὶ πάντα τὰ περί- εργά σου. Trombley (), vol. :. Marc. Diac. v.Porph. : μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα καὶ τῶνοἰκιῶν ἐγένετο ἔρευνα. πολλὰ γὰρ ὑπῆρχεν εἴδωλα ἐνπλείσταις αὐλαῖς, καὶ τὰ εὑρισκόμενα τὰ μὲνπυρὶ παρεδίδοντο, τὰ δὲ εἰςβόρβορον ἐρρίπτοντο. εὑρίσκοντο δὲ καὶ βιβλίαπεπληρωμένα γοητείας, ἅτινα ἱερὰ αὐτοὶἔλεγον, ἐξ ὧν τὰςτελετὰςκαὶτὰἄλλα ἀθέμιτα ἐποίουν οἱ τῆςεἰδωλομανίας, καὶ αὐτὰ δὲὁμοίως ἴσα τοῖς θεοῖςαὐτῶνἔπασχον. 134 3Holy Men, Clerics and Ascetics
Sarefield here thinks that the bookspresumably burnt in the Life of Porphyry in- cluded not onlymagical but alsoother pagan books.⁸⁸ The author of the life clearlythought of pagan religious texts(ritual books) as magic books. The de- scription of theirhousesindicates that these pagans wererich. The general his- torical value of this hagiographical source, however,has frequentlybeen ques- tioned. Rapp largely follows MacMullen in questioning the face value of the sourceand even the existenceofits protagonist,but both scholars regard manyofthe historical details as trustworthy. In this case doubts appear to have risen duetothe different redactions of the extant text.The Greek and Geor- gian versions were developed from acommon Syriac source, perhaps in the sixth century.Inthis process, the original text was probablyreworded.⁸⁹ But the text must have appeared realistic to contemporary readers and thereforeallows us to learn about “the general ways thingshappened.”⁹⁰ Based on an extensive dis- cussion of its historical accuracy,Barnes recentlysuggested thatthe text is afor- gery from no earlier than the sixth centuryand probablyfrom the ageofJustini- an, although perhaps based on afifth-century source.⁹¹ Narrativesofbook- destruction appear with relative frequency in hagiographical texts from the ageofJustinian. It has been assumedthat John Chrysostom,atthat time bishop of Constan- tinople,was responsible for orderingthe temples of Gaza to be destroyed.⁹² To be sure, John’scareer at thattime was in shambles, but still it is reasonable to think he playedsome role in the events – if the Life of Porphyry is reliable here. John’s polemics, as we willsee,represented the extremistposition that Christians should ideallynot read anything pagan and he often condemns ancient philos- ophy. He equates some philosophical schools with magic. If the historical dis- course of the Life of Porphyry is correct here, then it wasmostlythe angry Chris- tian population that was involved in these house-searches,helped by the soldiery.⁹³ They maynot have takenthe time or have lacked the literary skill to make athorough decision between suspicious books. This incidentagain shows that zealousChristians collaboratedwith Romanauthorities in burning books.
Cf. Sarefield (), ;also discussed by Trombley (), vol. :;Speyer(), . And see Dickie (), – on the greyarea between magicand learned scholarship in Late Antiquity. Greek Text: Grégoireand Kugener (); Georgian version: Peeters (). MacMullen (), ;similarly, Rapp (), –. Barnes (), –. Kelly(), . Marc. Diac. v.Porphyr. –. 3.5 “IGiveYou Power to Trample on Serpents” 135
The practice of searchingprivate dwellings for prohibitedorquestionable texts is arecurrent themeinhagiographical texts.For example, Shenoute of Egypt,abbot of the White monastery (near Souhag), was the leader of agroup of monks intendingtowipe out the visible remainders of paganism. In the frag- ments of his works (as far as they are published), the destruction of cult statues and sanctuaries in upper Egypt went hand in hand with the destruction of pagan books on two occasions.Itispertinentthat according to one sourcethis violence was directed against a “book full of all magical arts” which could have been among the other objects of value that werebrought to the White monastery.⁹⁴ Ac- cording to another source, related to adifferent event,Shenoute had pagan books destroyed but thereisnohint these contained magic. Instead, it suggests that,with regard to the pagan Gesius of Paphos, “we have taken away all books from the house of this impious person.”⁹⁵ Twomoresources allude to this house search and the subsequent act of destruction without mentioning explicitlythat books weredestroyed.⁹⁶ This could indicate thatbook-destruction was less likely to enter the historical record than other acts of culturalvandalism performed by zealousChristians. Alan Cameron proposed that the owners of these houses wereGreek-speaking members of the elite who wereeducated in the classics and lovers of classicizing art.⁹⁷ The implication is that there was an underlying social conflict. While this is certainlytrue, it can alsobeargued that Shenoute was primarily interested in the eradication of pagan philosophy. He composed polemicalinvectivesagainst pagans, particularlyphilosophers. To him, the chargesofpaganism and heresy wereclosely associatedtoeach other.⁹⁸ He sure- ly had no intention to stamp out classicalculture(although it is possiblethata few classical texts wereburnt duringthis process), but it is likelythat philosoph- ical treatises disagreeing with the Christian worldview would have ended on a bonfire if discovered during his searches.
Leipoldt(), ..–: πϫωωμε ετμεϩ μμαγια ͷιμ;translated into Latin by Wies- mann (), no. .–: volumine omnium artium magicarum pleno. Emmel (), .. (p. =Table ,p.)dateditbetween and ,probablyafter Cyril’striumph in Ephesus in . Leipoldt(), ..–: αγω ͷτοϥ χρηϲιπποϲ νϵϥϩͷτπολιϲ τπανοϲϩͷͷϵϩοογ ͷταͷϥι ͷͷιϫωωμϵ τηρογ ϩμπηι μπιατηογτϵ.Wiesmann (), no. ..–: Et Chrysippus ille qui- dem in Panos urbe erat iis diebus,quibus ex domo istius impii omnia volumina abstulimus. Leipoldt(), –,note . Alan Cameron (), –. See Leipoldt(), no. , ;Emmel (), p. , , , .And see Hahn (), with note . 136 3Holy Men, Clericsand Ascetics
Shenoute’smonastery was built from temple spoils, includinghieroglyphic inscriptions.⁹⁹ Winter notes that Shenoute described what these hieroglyphics look like, but showed no indication of being able to understand them except for their power to condemn souls.¹⁰⁰ Zacharias’ Life of Severus reports that local Christians conducted athorough search in ahouse in Canopus storing pagan inscriptions (which were probablyhieroglyphic), noting thatall demons and idols wereremoved for destruction.¹⁰¹ To celebrate their destruction, these zealousChristians quoted aline from the Gospel of Luke: “And the seventy re- turned again with joy,saying, ‘Sir,eventhe devils are subject to us through thyname;’ and he [Jesus] said to them, ‘Ibeheld Satan as lightningfall from heaven. Behold, Igiveyou power to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shallbyany means hurt you.’”¹⁰² Cyril of Alexandriausesthe same rhetoric in apolemicaldigression against Greek philosophyand music.¹⁰³ Zachariaslinks the passagetothe Chris- tian parable of the harvest,which Prudentius also usedasapicture for the dis- semination of the gospel on the expense of other literature as we have seen in section 3.3. Thispolemicalrhetoric shows that the destruction of writing was thoughttodestroy the demons contained in these writingsand thus to combat their contagious pollution. Holymen also eradicated pagan articles in rural areas.Insixth-century Lycia, ahagiographical life, probablywritten by astudent of the saint,narrates the deeds of Nicholas of Sion (not to be confused with the bishop Nicholas of Myra, legendary model for SantaClaus). Blum has convincingly argued that this hagiographical account,writteninplain and simple Greek, is reliable in terms of demographic and institutional details.¹⁰⁴ Much of Nicholas’ celebrity in the areawas basedonhis miraculous fight against an evil tree. People from the small town of Plakoma came to Nicholas to seek his help against this evil tree, possessed by ademon and polluting bothhuman beingsand crops.Nicholas promised to investigate the matter and, upon closer examina- tion, found that there werecertain marks on the tree. No one from the populace
See Sauer (), . Winter(), ,referringtoYoung (). Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, –). Zach. v.Sev. (Kugener, ), based on Luke :–: ὑπέστρεψαν δὲ οἱἑβδομήκοντα [δύο] μετὰ χαρᾶςλέγοντες· κύριε, καὶ τὰ δαιμόνια ὑποτάσσεται ἡμῖν ἐντῷὀνόματί σου. εἶπεν δὲ αὐ- τοῖς· ἐθεώρουν τὸνΣατανᾶν ὡς ἀστραπὴν ἐκτοῦοὐρανοῦ πεσόντα. ἰδοὺ δέδωκα ὑμῖντὴνἐξου- σίαν τοῦ πατεῖν ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων, καὶἐπὶπᾶσαν τὴνδύναμιν τοῦἐχθροῦ, καὶ οὐδὲν ὑμᾶςοὐμὴἀδικήσῃ. Cyr. hom. pasch. . (PG :B). Both probablyborrowed from Ath. v.Anton. . Blum (), –. 3.6 Individuals Renouncing their Past 137
– atotal of 300 had arrivedexcited to watch Nicholas’ deeds against the tree – was able to provide areasonable explanation otherthanthat “along time ago” a man had tried to cut down the tree but was slain by the demon.After threehours of prayer,Nicholas finallycame to the resolution that it was necessary to cut down the tree. It is counted among the greatest miracles of Nicholas that he was able to gethold of enough woodcutters to sawthe treeupinto little pieces and ensure thatthe demon was overcome.¹⁰⁵ Such cutting down of evil trees is amplyattestedfor as apractice in both parts of the former empire.¹⁰⁶ The epi- sode illustrates the thoroughness with which pagan remains weredone away with in sixth-centuryrural areas.Moreover,Isuggest thatthe marks described in this tree mayhavebeen letters.Itislikelygiven the location and the cultur- al-historicalcontext that the treewas dedicated to some tutelage spirit whose name mayhavebeen engravedinthe tree. This conclusion can be arrivedatbe- cause if the marks weremerelyasymbol, the rustics would more easilyhave identifiedits meaning. Excepting the clergy,the rustics are described as involved in manufacturing and there is no indication that they wereliterate. While Ihave argued in this section that in hagiographical sources thereisaclear overlap be- tween magical booksand pagan booksingeneral, this passageagain shows that people thought that the demons were contagious and the cause of all sorts of diseases. We will see this justification again in the next section.
3.6 Individuals Renouncing their Past
Having discussed the reported cases of zealous Christians deliberatelyburning books to create aspectacle and to ward off demons, Iwill now surveythe inci- dents of voluntary book-burning attested in Christian literatureinorder to argue that in the Christian imagination magic bookswereoften placed on apar with or considered identical to philosophical books in these contexts. Obviously, these incidentsare very different from those thatIhavediscussed so far. There is no government or anyother agency involved in anyindividual decision to burn books thatare privatelyowned. These incidents need thereforetobeunderstood as purification rituals rather than as acts of censorship. The owners usually burnt bookstodemonstrate thatthey had renounced their past.AsIhave al- readyestablished, burning magical books had powerful political, social and re-
V. Nicol. Sion ff. The tree maybeattributed, not without doubt,toacypresspictured on a coinfromthird-century Myra. See Blum’s()commentary,adlocum, p. . See Trombley (), –;Blum (), on testimonials.Another testimonialis Prud. c.Symm. .–. 138 3Holy Men, Clerics and Ascetics ligious connotations and the act itself could takeonthe performative aspects of aritual. On the otherhand, in most cases therewas some kind of external per- suasioninvolved. There are conversion stories wheremagicians are reported to have burnt books either voluntarilyorunder the encouragement or direction of asaint. Their efficacy as an example relied on their depiction of the magician themselves becomingasaint,something designed to compel othersinners to recant and re- pent.Asisthe case in narrativesofthis type, there is athematic and stylistic consistencywhich meansthat they can be considered to depend and build on each other and thereforemake use of literarytopoi. However,these recurrent themesand tropes arose from real life applications and examples. The questions this section will investigate are,then, what genres of books, if any, are mentioned as books owned by magicians and what proven cases are known whereconverts actuallyburnt their books? The Acts of Lucianus and Marcianus could be the first example (after the Acts of the Apostles)ofboth this symbolic appropriation and the conversion sto- ries that came to be associated with the narrative of book-burning.According to these Martyr Acts demons summonedbythe twofail to trick aChristian virgin into intercourse. Because of its failure, Lucianus and Marcianus disavowtheir magical art and publiclyburn theirbooks(codices suos).¹⁰⁷ They went on to al- legedlysuffer martyrdom, being burnt alive in the ageofDecius (249–251). These Martyr Acts link magical, demonical arttopagan identity (errore gentilitatis).¹⁰⁸ The publicity of the event is adecisive factor both here and in cases of coerced book-burning.This text again shows the link between the burning of booksand the burningofbodies. Both events ensured that these individuals had vanquish- ed their demons and weregranted astatus of holiness. Similar themes emerge in the much morepopularconversion narrative of Cyprian of Antioch. In his autobiographical Confessio seu paenitentia Cypriani,¹⁰⁹ Cyprian refers to himself as a “magician-philosopher.”¹¹⁰ He had been amember of several ancient cults and was initiatedinthe mysteries of Mithras and of
Acta Luciani et Marciani (ActaSS Oct. :). Acta Luciani et Marciani , (ActaSS Oct. :–). German translation in Zahn (). Zahn identified this textasasource for the German Faust legend, in which ascholar is thirsty for knowledge,bequeathinghis soul to the devil. This was famouslyadopted by Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Radermacher ()editedsimilar leg- endary texts which include the bishop destroying Teufelspakte. (Narratio Helladii,p.; Nar- ratio Theophili,p., –), see Speyer (), ,note . Confessio seu paenitentia (ActaSS Sept. : = Zahn, ): μάγος φιλόσοφος. 3.6 Individuals Renouncing their Past 139
Demeter.¹¹¹ Well-travelled and educated, including in Greek philosophy, and hav- ing written manybooks,¹¹² it is likelythat his knowledge had been acquired dur- ing his stayinGreeceand Egypt.¹¹³ Following the usual narrative of Christian po- lemical writing (as we shallsee in the next section), Cyprian links philosophyto demons, suggesting that they are outwardly decorated but lacking substance.¹¹⁴ As a “teacher of impiety”,henotes that he had many students, thathewas also acquainted with astrological and astronomical studies and had associatedwith the devil.¹¹⁵ The narrative also positions Justina, aChristian virgin, as the cause of Cyprian’sconversion. Because his lovespells fail to attract her to asuitor,Cyp- rian repents of his sins, includinghaving previouslyburnt Christian scripture.¹¹⁶ Following this, the Christian presbyter EusebiusinstructsCyprian in Christian teachings,starting off with the conversion of Paul and the public burning of books in Ephesus. Having heard this, Cyprian decides to burnhis “booksof the devil” publiclytoo.¹¹⁷ Cyprian’sconversion from pagan to Christian was so successful, and complete, that he eventuallybecame bishop and was recognized as asaint after his death. Reitzenstein has shown that the legend of Cyprian is fictitious and wasgen- eratedgraduallyovertime.¹¹⁸ Krestan and Hermann have identifiedthree early sources for the legend: Conversio Iustinae et Cypriani,from c. 350; Confessio seu paenitentia Cypriani,datable between 350and 379; Martyrium Cypriani et Ius- tinae,datable after 379. Each of these is extant in various late antique transla- tions probablyfrom Greek originals,indicating the popularity of this subject.¹¹⁹ Empress Eudocia penned apoem relatingtothe legend in the fifth century.The Confessio shows some modifications compared to the other texts.Inthe earliest version (Conversion), Cyprian bringshis books to the bishop and asks him to burn them after the demon told Cyprian he had been overcome by the sign of the cross.Itsuggests thatafter the books wereburnt,Cyprian also demolished
Confessio seu paenitentia (ActaSS Sept. : =Zahn, ). Confessio seu paenitentia (ActaSS Sept. : = Zahn, ). Confessio seu paenitentia – (ActaSS Sept. :– = – Zahn, –). Confessio seu paenitentia (ActaSS Sept. : =Zahn, ). Confessio seu paenitentia (ActaSS Sept. : = Zahn, ): ἀσεβείας διδάσκαλος; Con- fessio seu paenitentia – (ActaSS Sept. :– = – Zahn, –). Confessio seu paenitentia (ActaSS Sept. : = Zahn, ): ἔκαιον,accordingtoZahn, p. ,note . Confessio seu paenitentia , (ActaSS Sept. :, = , Zahn, , ). Reitzenstein (). See Krestan and Hermann (), –. 140 3Holy Men, Clerics and Ascetics the cult statues in his possession.¹²⁰ This shows that he destroyed the demons represented not onlyinmaterial art work, but also in the books he owned. The story includes amother–daughter conflict: Justina is disobedient as she re- jects philosophyinfavour of Christianity.¹²¹ Accordingtothe late fourth-century Martyrium,Cyprian suffered martyrdom during the reign of Diocletian. The legend was interpreted differentlyovertime. Gregory of Nazianzus refers to the books that Cyprian burnt as “magic books.”¹²² By contrast,the earlyfifth- century version of Prudentius, who perhaps deliberatelyconfuses the legendary Cyprian with the famous Christian author Cyprian of Carthage, is slightly different.¹²³ Besides for magic, Cyprian had been known “for his skill in evil arts.” Thiswording comes close to Prudentius’ depreciation of the rhetorical tra- dition elsewhere.¹²⁴ In the prooemium to his versification of the material, Pruden- tius predicts thatevery Christian will be reading Cyprian’sPassion “as long as there shall be anybook, anycollections of sacred writings.”¹²⁵ Iwould argue that the line needs to be read as awarningagainst subversive pagan booksas the poet seems to be thinking of books as an endangered species limited largely to Christian content. The apocryphal Latin Passion of the Apostle James,written probablyinthe late sixth century,also explains book-burning as aconsequenceofrepentance and the vanquishingofdemons. By throwingthem into waterrather thaninto fire, one Hermogenes, an enemyofJames, destroyssuch anumber of books that his studentsneeded to help him carrying entire book chests. James’ Passion also mentions magic books(collectis libris magicis¹²⁶), calls Hermogenes amagi- cian (magus),¹²⁷ and narrates thatHermogenes acts like aphilosopher who in- volves the apostle James into aChristological controversy.¹²⁸ In the text,to avoid being troubled by demons in the future Hermogenes promises to abstain from readinganunspecifiedrangeofbooks: “Ishallthrow away all my
Conversio Iustinae et Cypriani ,Zahn, p. – (German), – (Greek). And see Ra- dermacher(), –. Conversio Iustinae et Cypriani ,Zahn, p. (German), – (Greek). Gr.Naz. or. . (PG :A): γοητικὰςβίβλους. Prud. perist. .–. Prud. perist. .–,at: doctissimus artibus sinistris,cf. , –, on rhetoric. Prud. perist. .–: dum liber ullus erit, dum scrinia sacralitterarum, | te legetomnis amans Christum, tua, Cypriane, discet. Ps.-Abdias . (Fabricius, Codex apocryphus :, ). Ps.-Abdias . (Fabricius, ). Ps.-Abdias . (Fabricius, ). 3.6 Individuals Renouncing their Past 141 books, in which therewereforbidden, presumptuous things, and Ishall re- nounce all the arts of the enemy.” As with other conversion stories,Hermogenes is advisedtodestroy his books along with cult statues and divination formulas and henceforward to encouragehis former auditors to convert as well (and thus to destroy their books).¹²⁹ The text thereforedevelops and echoesthe themes shown in Cyprian’sstory. Summarising these aspects, it is clear thatthe destruction of books and of cult statues served similar purposes. If individuals burnt theirbooks, they got rid of the demons thathad previouslyassisted them. They werehenceforward aided onlybyGod. The theoretical underpinning of this view is found in Augus- tine’s City of God. Accordingtothis work devils or demons are spiritual beings which float around in the air and thereby contaminate human beings.¹³⁰ Demon- ic bookscan thereforebecontagious. Because Augustine had probablyread the Latin poet Lucretius,hemay well have borrowed this contagion theory from the Epicurean theory thatdiseases, such as the plague, are caused by “seeds” (semi- na), which are floating in the air and oftenproduced in tropical regions.¹³¹ More- over,Augustine suggests that fire has the ability to burn not onlyhuman bodies, but also the aerial demons.¹³² This meansthat individuals wereable to destroy the demons that possessed them and therefore to avoid hellfire.Among monas- tic-ascetic communities,book-burning was thoughttobesalutary for the greater community because demons werecontagious and keen to drag people into hell. The Greek Life of Barlaam and Ioasaph,which appropriated some elements of the Buddha-story,links “magic books”¹³³ more clearlytopagan books than earlier conversion accounts.Ithas been thoughtthatthis legendary Life was written during the Iconoclastic Controversy of the eighth century as it echoes the polemicalpositions popular duringthis age. However,itisnow thought to be from the tenth century.¹³⁴ In it,the saint Ioasaph givesaninteresting speech in which he explicates the “books of superstition”¹³⁵ as being of poetical content, narratingabout child abuse,acommon polemicalstereotype for the pagan po- etical genre.¹³⁶ At the sametime, Theudas, apagan who burns his books, is
Ps.-Abdias . (Fabricius, ): ut omnes codices meos,inquibus erat inlicita praesumptio, abjecerim, et omnibus simul artibus renunciaverim inimici. Another conversion story that includes the burningofmagicbooks in sixth-century Galatia is Vita Theodori . Aug. civ. .. Lucr. .ff. Aug. civ. .. Ps.-Jo.D. Vita Barlaam et Ioas. . (Woodward and Mattingly, ): μαγικὰςβίβλους. See Volk (), whoalso edited anew critical edition (). Ps.-Jo.D. Vita Barlaam et Ioas. (W./M., –): συντάγμασι τῆςδεισιδαιμονίας. Ps.-Jo.D. Vita Barlaam et Ioas. (W./M., ). Cf. Prud. perist. .–. 142 3Holy Men, Clerics and Ascetics aligned with the “Chaldean race”,magic, Babylon and the art of philosophers and orators,who are “puffed up with pride.”¹³⁷ In its echo of themesand tropes common to the genre, therefore, it can be supposedthatthis Life is buildingona long tradition of literarytopoi. It is thereforeworth having alook at non-legen- dary conversion accounts. Is there evidence outside the hagiographical genre that magician-philoso- phers converted, burnt their booksand became important clerics or even saints? In section 3.4, we have alreadyseen that in the narrative of the Life of Severus Paralius was advised to burnany papyri containing invocations in his posses- sion. Moreover,inthe context of his sermon in which he says that a mathemati- cus was about to burn his books (section 2.3, above), Augustine calls attention to the fear of the congregation that the convert maywish to hold aclericalposition henceforward.Inline with the first examples we have discussed, this suggests that it must have been common for pagans educated in this art to be promoted to Church offices after conversion.¹³⁸ Augustine himself is perhaps the best exam- ple because he was aManichaean before he became abishop. In his letter to Di- oscorus,hecompares his previous teachingexperience to selling childishthings to children, words echoed by John Chrysostom with regard to philosophersand orators which we have alreadyseen.¹³⁹ In his sermon Augustine goes on to saythat although aChristian, this person needed to burnhis books to demonstrate his successfulconversion: “He brought in his books in order to burn these, on grounds of which he himself was to be burnt” (in hell).¹⁴⁰ This shows thatheburnt his books in order to avoid the pur- gatory effects of hellfire. In this case, Augustine also organizes anarrativethat tells of a mathematicus who burns his books in the hope of rising through the clericalranks and is afterwards to be monitored as to his reading interests. Ca- seauisthereforeright to arguethat opportune conversions among members of the elite aroused suspicion and it was thereforeinthe best interest of the convert to show that he now was agenuine Christian.¹⁴¹ As well as stating their conver- sion, burningsuspicious books could have emphasized their commitment.This
Ps.-Jo.D. Vita Barlaam et Ioas. : γένους Χαλδαϊκοῦ, , , , , : πλήρεις ἀλαζονείας ὄντες (W./M., , , , , , ). Also Aug. ep. .. says that nowadays manylearned persons have come to submit their knowledge to the disseminationoffaith. Aug. ep. ... Aug. enarr.in. psalm. . (CCSL :): portat se cum codices incendendos, per quos fuerat incendendus. Caseau(). 3.6 Individuals Renouncing their Past 143 is supported by other reportedcases whereconverts renouncedtheir past by re- jecting the books associated with their prior allegiances.Atthe beginning of the third century,the important Christian author Origen is said to have “disposed of whatever valuable books of ancient literature he possessed”–not onlytoget rid of what distracts from studying Christian scriptures,but also to make an ascetic living from the sale.¹⁴² We have seen that Arnobius in his polemicalwork called for the burning of pagan booksallegedlytoshow the bishop that his conversion was genuine. Asimilar case from the mid-fourthcentury is thatofFirmicus Maternus who first authored an astrological poem and after conversion wroteapiece of Latin Christian polemics, advocatingthe violent suppression of anyform of deviance (De errore profanarum religionum). While he is respectful towardsthe philoso- pher Porphyry in his earlywork (7.1.1), Firmicus derides him in the latter (13.4 – 5). Ammianus too reports of the mathematicus Heliodorus,who became in- strumental in prosecuting the magic trials underValens, duringwhich we have seen manybooks were burnt.¹⁴³ These examples suggest that people could turn from paganism but yetthen carry out verbaland actual persecutions of pagans. Aless radical but similar attitude emergesinfifth-century Gaul. At apoint when Christianitywas firmlyestablished, Sidonius Apollinaris,who had incorporated mythological elements in his earlypoems (10 –11), completelychanged his tone after he became bishop in 469. It is evident thatburningatleast the more problematic booksinone’spos- session (such as astrologicalpoems) was helpfulfor aclericalcareer and to fa- cilitate posthumous recognitionasasaint but ademonstrable changeofattitude helped and this can be no more clearlyshown than beingfirmlyagainst all of the elements thatmanyofthese individuals had previouslyembraced as life tenets. Conversion was possibleatany stageoftheir life. It is interesting in this context that in these conversion accounts, the magicians who burn their books are often equated with philosophers before their conversion. This emphasizes the reward strategies that appear in the legendary conversion stories – both as actual events and as part of their morallydidactic message.While the book-burning is depicted as avoluntary act,that coercion existed on legislative, one-to-one, and reward levels should not be doubted. In the next section Ishall arguethatagrey areaexisted between philosophy and magic as much as between philosophyand heresy.Ishall continue to dis- cuss this also in the following chapter with special emphasis on materialist phi-
Eus. h.e. ..–. Amm. ..; ..–. 144 3Holy Men, Clerics and Ascetics losophies. Iwould arguethat Christian polemical textsdoubted the worthiness of certain philosophical ideas and that these texts were appealing to clerics and ascetics.Inthis context,book-burning was apowerful tool to demonstrate the demonic content of books. The following section continues to discuss the metaphorical languagethat Christian intellectuals deployedtodescribe what books meant and what theirpower wasinthis period of time.
3.7 Philosophy and Magic
We have seen how and whymagic books were occasionallydestroyed by state authorities, monks and holymen throughout Late Antiquity. One of the most im- portant factors in this process was the progressive banning of magic booksby imperial law. It is thereforepertinent that some Christian authors, such as John Chrysostom, tended to equate magical and heretical literature with certain strandsofancient philosophyintheir polemicalattacks. While this rhetoric is not without precedent in pagan texts, this investigation supports the academic position that notes the contiguity of the languageofthis imperial legislation to that of important Christian authors, explaining whymagical literature was sometimeslinked to forbidden investigations into nature in legal language. This investigation alsoadvances the proposition thatthe philosophicaltradi- tions that werelinked to magic and heresy weredeliberatelyleft unpreserved and that in manyChristian communities arefusal to copy them arose. Unless the attitudes of authors like John Chrysostom in this regard were not shared by most other Christians, particularlyinmonastic institutions that came to be the preservers of ancient literature, this would appear to be an unavoidable con- clusion to draw. John Chrysostom, then, regarded Pythagoras not onlyasaphilosopher and mathematician, but also as amagician, an attitude that conflatedthese concepts that wasnot uncommon in the ancient world. Forexample, John argues thatPy- thagoras was a “sorcerer and magician” because his students had faith in him and they regarded his teachingtobetrue even without rational demonstration. Faith, in John’sformulation,isonlytorest in the one true God,however.¹⁴⁴ In the introduction to the group of homilies on the first letter to the Corin- thians, John explains that the apostle Paul converted Greeks in Corinth,aligning magic with philosophy. Because of their intimate acquaintance with pagan phi-
Chrys. hom. in Tim. (PG :): γόης καὶ μάγος.Similarly, hom. in Jo. (PG :). 3.7 Philosophy and Magic 145 losophy, “the mother of all evils”,Paulwas forced to use adifferent method of conversion to the one he would have applied vis-à-vis “thosewithin the spirit.”¹⁴⁵ John criticises these philosophers for always wantingtofind something new,for advancing ideas based on arguments (logismoí).¹⁴⁶ Such discussions, he notes, that had encouraged dissent and divided the congregation in Corinth werethe work of the devil, undertaken to prevent this large and wealthycity “full of rhet- oricians and philosophers” from passingovertothe truth. Deliberatelyornot, John here misattributes the scene of book-burning in Ephesus (accordingto the Acts of the Apostles) to Corinth: “In this city did thoseofthe sorcerers, who repented, bring together theirbooks and burn them, and thereappeared to be fifty thousand.”¹⁴⁷ He also seems to confuse the value of burnt books in silverdenomination with theiractual number.Itispossiblethathealtered these figures to lend weight to his argument,but the equation of sorcerers and of philosophersisobvious here. Maintaining his policy of reinforcing the distinctions between Christian and pagan learning,inhis sermon Praise of St Paul John defends Jesus against charg- es that he was amagician like the pagan miracle-worker Apollonius:¹⁴⁸
But whydoIsay that the magicians and charlatans have perished?Why have all of the tem- ples of the gods been extinguished, that of Dodona and that of Clarus,and all of these evil studios fallen silent and shut down?
The work links the termination of the “magicians” to the suppression of pagan cultureand acts of temple destruction. In his reading,the relics of the martyrs and the sign of the crucified Jesus caused the demonstotremble. They are shown to flee the name of Jesus as if it was fire.Thisshows that John regards fire as ameans of purification with which to destroy demons. The text makes it clear that Jesus is separate from the philosophers who are “deceivers”, “the large group of magicians”,and “the wise.”¹⁴⁹
Chrys. hom. in Cor. argumentum (PG :, ): ὡςπνευματικοῖς (referringtoActs :– ) … τῶνκακῶν ἡ μήτηρ. Chrys. hom. in Cor. argumentum (PG :). Chrys. hom. in Cor. argumentum (PG :, ): καὶῤητόρων πολλῶν ἔμπλεως ἠ πόλις καὶ φιλοσόφων … ἐνταύτῃτὰςβίβλους συναγαγόντες τῶνγοήτων οἱ μετανοήσαντες κατέκαυ- σαν, καὶὤφθησαν μυριάδες πέντε. Chrys. laud. Paul. . (SC :–): καὶ τί λέγω μάγους καὶ γόητας τοὺςσβεσθέντας; πόθεν τὰ τῶνθεῶνἐπαύθη πάντα, καὶὁΔωδωναῖος, καὶὁΚλάριος, καὶ πάντα τὰ πονηρὰ ταῦτα ἐργαστήρια σιγᾷ καὶἐπεστόμισται;Dodona in Epirus had an oracle-temple of Zeus, Clarus in Ionia atemple of Apollo. Chrys. Laud. Paul. . (SC :–). 146 3Holy Men, Clericsand Ascetics
Similarly,inaninteresting passage, Cyril of Alexandria describes the world before Christianisation as full of temples, idols, demons, divination, oracles and so on, which the gospels had dispersed:¹⁵⁰
The wise men have turned away,their councils have become foolish. He [Isaiah] hereseems to call prudent either the magicians among the Greeks – for these werecalled wise men amongthe Greeks – or perhaps those whohaveachieved the reputation of wise men amongthem…
This is aremarkable statement,asitsuggests that to Cyril in the earlyfifth cen- tury the polemical term “magicians” was largely synonymous with the Greek phi- losophers. This makes it likelythat bans on magic bookscould also comprise philosophical books (or books written in certain philosophical traditions), partic- ularlyinmonastic contexts, wheresuch interpretations werereasonablyattrac- tive.
3.8 Conclusion
While the first reported incidentofChristian book-burning datesback to the Acts of the Apostles, there is no other evidence of this practice duringthe first two centuries.Censorship laws began enteringecclesiastical legislation when it be- came systematised by the late fourth century and was purported to derivedirect- ly from the apostles.While hagiographical texts must be treated with great cau- tion as historicaldocuments, some patterns emerge.Eastern texts werewritten for acontemporary audience and do not appear to entirelyinvent narrations on book-burning.Aswehaveseen, the incident of book-burning in Antioch prob- ablyin555,for example, appears to be confirmed by non-hagiographical testi- monials. Most of the evidence for book-burning in the East is related to the ageofJustinian or reflects the discourses of this time period (as the Life of Por- phyry appears to suggest). Book-burning and persecutions of pagans and here- tics are well attested for the ageofJustinian. The earlier hagiographical Life of Severus appears to give evidence of book-burning on the basis of eye-witness ac- counts.However unreliable some of its reports on temple destruction appearto be, it is significant because it mentionsauthorities (such as the defensores)and
Cyr. in Isaiam . (PG :D): ἀπεστράφησαν δὲ καὶ φρόνιμοι εἰςτὰὀπίσω, καὶἐμωράν- θησαν αἱ βουλαὶ αὐτῶν. ἔοικε δὲ φρονίμους ἐντούτοις, ἢ τοὺςπαρ’ Ἕλλησι μάγους ἀποκαλεῖν· ὠνομάζοντο γὰρπαρ’ ἐκείνοις σοφοί· ἢ τάχα που καὶ τοὺς ἐνδόξῃσοφῶνπαρ’ αὐτοῖς γεγονότας. 3.8 Conclusion 147 religious groups (such as the philóponoi)acting togethertofind and destroy books. Texts like these are bellwethers for social and culturaldialogue, written to emphasise the religious zeal of their heroes and the wickedness of the pagan wayoflife. It is important to note that, while there is little evidence that Romanauthor- ities were proactive in identifying suspicious books, hagiographical textssuggest that the clergy was empowered either to burnbooks themselvesortonotify the Roman authorities of the whereabouts of suspicious books. The underlying so- cial conflict oftenwas one between poor and rich, staged as afight against pagan elite-culture. Giventhe rangeofimperial censorship laws discussed in the previous chapter,Romanauthoritieswererequired to follow up on anyno- tification. While thereislittle evidence for systematic book-searches,denuncia- tion reportedlywas an effective tool for the clergy to learn about suspicious books. We have alsoseen that denunciation, as can be expected, was motivated by reasons such as personal rivalry or jealousy rather than by purelyreligious reasons. In reported cases of deliberate book-burning by zealousChristians,magic books predominateasthey werebelieved to be powerful. It was, then, not so much about censorship of books than about eradicating harmful, demonic pow- ers in the world. While this was not uncommon to the ancientworld, however, book-burning came to be more commonlypractised probablyasaresultof magic being associated with illegitimate pagan cult practice. It is also evident that the exact content of these books remains unclear to us. There is some evi- dence to suggest that either full book stacks owned by pagans weredestroyed and thatthe books in question did not onlycontain magic spells as is the case with John Foulon’sbooks mentioned by Zacharias. Book-burning is some- times linked to the destruction of cult statues. It is likelythatthere weremore cases, when cult statues weredestroyed along with books, without the latter being explicitlymentioned, as we have seen in the case of Shenoute. The narrative of these sources suggests that house-searches to find and de- stroy forbidden bookswerewell-organised.Hagiographical texts depict state au- thorities, monks and holymen burning books as astrategyintheirpower strug- gles (with pagans and within the Christian community) from the fifth century onwards.The evidence is limited to certain regions.Nevertheless, the duration of reportedincidents would seem to account for areduction in interestinkeep- ing and multiplying books on subversive subjects as Christianisation progressed over the course of these centuries.Itisevenattestedthat scribes in charge of re- producing books could denounce suspicious textstoChurch authorities. It has also become clear that book-burning was aritual meanttodestroy the demons contained in these books. These demons werethoughttohaveaconta- 148 3Holy Men, Clerics and Ascetics gious influenceonthe owner of the book and potentiallyonothers. They were able to spread diseases and to prevent salvation. The burning of books is there- fore linked to the burning of bodies in hellfire. It was meant to be acurefor de- monic possession. Moreover,while therehavebeen ancient precedents to suggest thatcertain philosophers werecharacterised as magicians,inLate Antiquity magic and her- esy came to be linked more clearlytothese philosophical traditions. In the case of heretics,itisparticularclear that there was no exact definition, but it all de- pended on powerful partiesarguing that someone else’sopinions, even if long since accepted, werenot considered as viable anylonger.Heretics were thus not onlyunderstood as non-conformist Christians, but occasionallythose pagans whose opinions informed Christian-heretical discourse could also be dubbed as heretics in Late Antiquity,asopposed to the modern understanding of the term heresy thatislimited to Christians. Along with imperial and ecclesiastical legis- lation that outlawed magical, heretical and astrological texts, Ihaveargued that within Christian communities an unwillingness arose not onlytopreservetexts on these subjects but also texts thatwererelated to these genres or wereconsid- ered the basis for astrological or heretical world-views. Christian polemical dis- course and censorship legislation mayhavesomewhat reinforced each other. While treatises and sermons had little impact on public authorities, we have seen that censorship and book-burning laws wereoften carried out by the clergy which wasmore likelytoagree with ecclesiastical texts than anystate authority. We have thereforeseen that Christian authorsregarded anumber of texts and ideas as devilish, includingthose pertaining to astrology,magic, divination and pagan philosophy. This does not,however,mean that Christian intellectuals regarded anykind of pagan philosophyasdemonical, magical or heretical and as unworthyofpreservation. In the next chapter Ishall thereforelook into what differences and similarities existed between booksofastrology (and astronomy), magic, divination and philosophy, what wasconsidered to be helpful, what was considered to be devilish and who defined the line between good and evil. 4MaterialistPhilosophy
In the previous chapters,Ihave discussed the reported incidentsofbook-burning in Late Antiquity,the reliability of sources, the rangeoftexts that could be tar- geted, and in cases wherethe evidence presents itself how and whythey were targeted. This chapter will analyse the reasons whytextsassociated with materi- alist philosophies werevulnerabletodestruction. Although in most cases, Roman authorities or zealous Christians burntmagic books, we have seen that the evidence suggests that abroader rangeofgenres could have been vulnerable to destruction – whether deliberatelyorunconsciouslyaspart of awider legis- lative or authoritative remit.Inmost cases the actual titles of books that were destroyed are unknown. This lack of specificity is not blanket,however.There is one instance in the Life of Severus wheretitles are mentioned. In this case the books thatended in abonfire did not contain magical spells, but literary texts related to pagan religion, magic and astrology.Ihave also noted that some individuals mayhaveburnt philosophical treatises when renouncing their past.When books containing an unspecified rangeofliberal arts werede- stroyed in Antioch at the end of the fourth century,itisreported thatbook own- ers responded by burning their personal libraries across the Eastern empire and this allegedlycaused the death of pagan philosophy. Furthermore, if the informa- tion giveninthe anonymous Life of Symeon is trustworthy, then it appears that state authorities searched out and destroyed books associated not onlywith magic, astrology,and heresy,but also those containing pagan (religious)texts as well as Epicurean traditions in the East duringthe ageofJustinian. There is evidence that whole libraries owned by pagans weredeliberatelydestroyed dur- ing book-searches,notablyinthe case of Shenoute,who authored treatises spe- cificallyagainst pagan philosophers. Imperial and other censorship laws specif- icallydefined and targeted books on magic, astrology,heresy and philosophical works that wereconsidered hostiletoChristianity. The wording of these laws is rather general, and banned texts could include illegitimate inquiries into nature. The evidence suggests thatthese censorship and book-burning laws wereocca- sionallyenforced, albeit with varyingdegrees of vigour.Books, of course, may have burntmore often than is known from sources. The main reason of whybooks disappeared, however,was neglect.Aswell as anatural process incumbent on the materials involved in the productions of earlytexts,neglect was sometimes encouraged by exhortation or religious res- ervation. The deliberate refusal to copyorpreservebookscan thus be seen as an act of censorship when authoritative exhortation is involved and this refusalisin accordancewith the legal norms of that time. These exhortations and reserva- 150 4MaterialistPhilosophy tions can todaybediscerned in Christian treatises and sermons of Late Antiquity. While it is accepted that manyavowedlyChristian authorssince Antiquity were appreciative of the writingsofPlato, Iwill show that there was general agree- ment that the old materialist philosophieswerefundamentallyincompatible with Christian doctrine. The remainingphilosophical traditions wereoften label- led as heretical, magical, or pagan as aresult.Thisisakey point to establish as it links to the idea that bookswerenot so much actively destroyed by burning,but weresimplyallowed to fall into abeyance by deliberate neglect or refusal to re- cordphilosophical traditions that had survivedinoralculture. Obvious places werethese traditions could have continued to be discussed were the institutes of higher learning,such as academies and gymnasia. Christian authors of Late Antiquitysometimes perceivedclassicaltraditions as competingdiscourses,but their attitudes wereclearlyambiguous and many Christian authorsquoted the classics as long as they continued to be instructed in these classical authors in their earlyeducation. In this chapter Iwill show that Christian authors of Late Antiquityweremuch more concerned about ancient materialist philosophies, especiallyabout Epicureanism, thanthey wereabout most other literarytraditions of Antiquity.InLate Antiquity Epicureanism was hardlyarobust,living tradition. Ishall thereforediscuss the reasons why there was apersistent Christian debate against this school in particular. We have alsoseenthat there is evidence to suggest that texts associated with Epicu- rean traditions wereallegedlyamong the booksthat were searched out and de- stroyed in the ageofJustinian. Ishallthereforealso arguethat the specifically Christian disdain for Epicurean ideas, because of their link to heresy,was poten- tiallyserious enough to cause individuals to actuallydestroy these textsashe- retical texts rather than to simplypersuade others not to believeinthese texts.While it should be clear that criticism and competition between different groups usuallydoes not resultinto book-burning or censorship, Ishall argue that the irreconcilability between Christianityand certain materialist philosoph- ical ideas could actuallybethe turning point that led individuals either to active- ly getrid of these texts or to deliberatelyrefuse to copy these in order to prevent their circulation. Ishallfirst brieflyintroduce the history of materialist philoso- phy, paying special attention to its continuation into the Roman period and the transmission of related texts. Ishall then give an outline of the possible conflicts that evolvedaround the spread of Christianity in the earlycenturies and finally discuss the ongoing Christian engagement with these philosophicalideas in the late fourth and earlyfifth centuries. In doing so, Ishallpoint to rhetorical strat- egies that Christian authors (for example, Augustine) employed to align certain philosophical texts with the illegal areas of astrology,magic and divination, ar- guing that abroad consensus was established to dismiss materialist philosoph- 4.1 Materialist Philosophies in Late Antiquity 151 ical ideologies as dangerous to the unity of Christianity. Itsideological and cul- tural censuringcan be positionedashaving anegative influenceonthe survival of, and interest in, these philosophical traditions.
4.1 Materialist Philosophies in LateAntiquity
AccordingtoWhitehead, the European philosophicaltradition after Antiquity is afootnote to Plato. Yetcontrary to the perception that Platonism is the zenith of ancient philosophy, Platonism in fact enjoyed relatively little status and intellec- tual currencyduring the first centuries AD,emerging onlyasthe dominantphil- osophical school from the third century onwards. Literary and epigraphic evi- dence suggests that up until the earlythird century,the Stoics and Epicureans werethe dominant philosophical schools, especiallyamong the cultural elites.¹ These strands originated in the ageofHellenism and often built on pre-Socratic philosophical ideas. While often associated with old philosopherslike Epicurus (341–270), it is more persuasive to think of these schools as an ongoing tradition. The reasons for their institutionaldecline during the third century are unclear for want of sources.² It seems that,unlike Christianity, members of these philosoph- ical schools had little to answer to the military and economical turmoil during the third-century crisis. Nevertheless, it is also unclear how long these philoso- phies continued to be alive in the sense of aculturaltradition. Within the context of these philosophicalideologies, Platonism can be posi- tioned as an idealistic philosophy, placing the mind as superior to the material world. By contrast,the Stoics and Epicureans maybeconsidered materialist phi- losophies. Although there are other authorsand schools which shared similar views in Antiquity, in this book Iwill use the term materialist philosophies pri- marilyinrelation to these groups.Both of these schools often focused on natural philosophywhose enquiriesinto nature and the material principles underpin- ning reality foregrounded their interest in the material world. By contrast,and at timesincompetition with these views, earlyChristian authorsfocused on ide- alistic issues, stressingthe importance of God and of the soul of men. As aconsequenceofthe circumstances outlined aboveregardingthe surviv- al of ancient texts thereislittle representativeextant writing of these dominant philosophical schools from the ageofHellenism and the Roman imperial period.
See Brunt (); Maier (). See Hahn ()onthe marginalisation of Stoic and Epicurean philosophyduringthe third- century crisis. 152 4Materialist Philosophy
It is probable that most of the original textsbyancientmaterialist philosophers would have alreadybeenlost in pre-Christian times (that is before the fourth century). Where Christian authorsquoted these philosophiesitisthereforelikely that they wererelying on secondary quotations. In the case of the Epicureans, the extant ancient writings, such as Cicero’s De naturadeorum,tend to criticise and reject Epicurean philosophyboth for its perceivedmoral hedonism and its physical explanations. Nevertheless, Ciceroattested the popularity of Latin works written in the Epicurean tradition in Italy.³ Our view is thus likelydistorted by the dearth of writingsthatendorse this philosophy, although Epicurus him- self and his school had often been receivedascontroversial. An exception to this proposition is the work of the Stoic philosopher-emper- or Marcus Aurelius that is extant today. The Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum near Pompeii,buried under the ashes of the Vesuvius since the first century AD, has revealed fragments of approximately 1,800 papyri scrolls by the local Epicur- ean philosopher Philodemus.Diogenes Laertius probablyinthe mid-thirdcentu- ry AD wroteahistory of philosophythat contains quotations from the old philos- ophers(includingEpicurus) that indicate aprimary knowledge of the relevant texts.Epicurean textsstill circulated at the end of the second and well into the third century.Apapyrus from the Egyptian countryside, probablyfrom the late second century AD,confirms this as does asecond-century inscription from Turkey.⁴ There are even afew testimonials about rivaling pagan groups burning Epicurean books, or recommending these books to be burnt,from the late second to earlythird century.⁵ However,itmust also be noted that philoso- phyinAntiquity, similarlytothe doctrines of some mystery religions, had mostly been the realm of aminority of initiates.Disseminating these ideas in writing was not always considered to be appropriate, and we thereforehavetoassume that,despite the availability of certain philosophical texts,manyideas circulated orallyrather thanthrough mass-produced writings. This is consistent with the view that, while there was something like professional book publishers, most books of lesser importance circulatedasprivatecopies,especiallyinLate
Cic. Tusc. ..: post Amafinium autem multi eiusdem aemuli rationis multa cum scripsissent, Italiam totam occupaverunt;with Cic. acad. .: iam verophysica, si Epicurum id est si Democri- tum probarem,possem scribereita plane ut Amafinius.quid est enim magnum, cum causas rerum efficientium sustuleris, de corpusculorum(ita enim appellat atomos) concursione fortuita loqui?; Cic. fin. ..: tam multi sint Epicurei. Keenan (); Smith (). Lucian, Alex. ;Aelian, fr. , Hercher (vol. :–; –), aDomingo-Forasté. On adiscussion, Sarefield (), –. 4.1 Materialist Philosophies in Late Antiquity 153
Antiquity.⁶ At this point,the oral culture was still in competition with the writ- ten. In the Latin corpus,Seneca’slengthyStoic treatises are among the few phil- osophical texts still extant.Although manyother titles of Latin tragediesare known and at least some of his tragedieswereprobablywritten by someone else, Seneca is the onlyauthor whose tragedies have survived. His survival can be attributed to his appreciation by Christian readers.Tothe Christian apol- ogistTertullian, writing at around 200, he was “often our Seneca.”⁷ Similarly, in the fourth centuryJerome inserted Seneca in his catalogue of Christian authors, attestingtoacollection of letters allegedlyexchanged between Seneca and the apostle Paul.⁸ However,inanimportant article, Schmid argued against the assumption that Epicureanism was dead in the fourth and fifth centuries; in fact,itispossi- ble that even original writingsbyEpicurus circulatedinthe second half of the fourth century.⁹ Schmid has not takeninto account the evidence provided by Suidas, attesting that Marcianus, aChristian presbyter in Caesarea in Cappado- cia in around 479, became acquainted with Epicurean traditions under the em- peror Zeno (474 – 491) and was thereforeconsidered aheretic as having secret foreknowledge on the movements of the stars. This is important because it shows that the idea that the movementsofstars and planets was caused by me- chanicalprinciples rather than by divine arrangement continued to exist at least well into the late fifth century and was clearlyassociated with Epicurean atom- ism, divination and heresy.¹⁰ Marcianus was amember of the imperial family and he apparentlyused his foreknowledge to support his rebellion against Zeno as did others at that time, as we have seen in section 2.6.¹¹ Thisagain
See Schipke(), –. Tert. anim. : Seneca saepe noster. Hier. vir.ill. .See Hagendahl (), –. Schmid (), –,esp. :Bas. ep. ,based on vonder Mühll. Suid. s.v. Μαρκιανός, Adler: “this deviator was corrupting himself dailywith Epicurean teachings and he said that the universe was self-existent and orderednot by God, but by the forcesofthe stars.For in so far as each of them will come first carried around together because of their rotation, they obtain superiority according to the momentum of those that aregenerating it” (οὗτος ὁ πλάνος καὶ τοῖς Ἐπικουρείοις δόγμασιν ὁσημέραι αὑτὸνκακύνων, αὐτοφυῆἔλεγε τὸνκόσμον καὶ διοικεῖσθαι οὐκ ἐκθεοῦ, ἀλλ’ ἐξ ἐνεργείας τῆςτῶνἀστέρων. καθὸ γὰρ ἕκαστον αὐτῶντῇτούτων φθάσει συμπεριφερόμενον δινήσει, τῶνκατ’ αὐτὴντικτομένων τὴν ῥοπὴντὴν ἐπικρατείαν κληροῦνται). PLRE ,Marcianus , –. 154 4Materialist Philosophy shows that Epicureanism was closelylinked to astrology from aChristian per- spective.Investigatingthis, Iwill arguethat thereisevidence that Epicurean and other materialist philosophicaltraditions, albeit marginalised, were still known in Late Antiquity.This is to provemypoint that treatises associated with these traditions could well have circulated in the sixth century and that the anonymous author of the Life of Simeon is thereforeright thatthese books weresearched out and destroyed in the ageofJustinian, as we have seen in sec- tion 2.8. An important testimonial on the survival of Epicurean textsisaletter by the last pagan emperor and Neoplatonic philosopher Julian (361–363). He ordered that pagan priests should not read the philosophical works of Epicurus and Pyr- rho, attributing it to the good will of the gods that most books by the Epicurean and Pyrrhonic philosophershad perished alreadyinhis time.¹² With regardto the works of Pyrrhon, Eusebius of Caesarea says that this philosopher had him- self left nothing in writing.¹³ This indicates that Julian was thinking of philosoph- ical schools rather than of the works by the school founders themselves. Taken at face value, Julian’sstatement implies that the works of these philosophical schools werenot entirelylostatthat time, especiallysince at least some of the large libraries of Antiquity still existed. Julian would hardlyhavefelt it nec- essary to bar people from reading literaturethat did not exist anymore. While Alan Cameron brought forward evidence thatpagans and Christians studied the sametextsofclassical authorsinthe West of the late fourth and fifth century, he also came to the conclusion that the lastpagans of Rome,unlike their Christian peers, wereinterested in some of these old philosophies. Macro- bius, author of abook on pagan antiquities, and Servius, commentator of Vergil, displayknowledge of natural philosophy, for example, albeit probablybased on secondary quotations (especiallyfrom the late antique philosophers Plotinus and Porphyry). Similarly, pagan senators such as Praetextatus and Nicomachus Flavianus demonstrate considerable philosophicalexpertise and interest and refer to pagan religious writing and old philosophers such as Epicurus, although this too is probablyfrom secondary quotations.¹⁴ Marius Victorinus, however,a rhetoric professor who taught senators,translated the original Aristotle and Por- phyry from Greek to Latin in Rome of the mid-fourthcentury before he converted
Jul. ep. :C–C, at C(Bidez ., –,at): μήτε Ἐπικούρειος εἰσίτω λόγος μήτε Πυρρώνειος· ἤδη μὲνγὰρκαλῶςποιοῦντες οἱ θεοὶ καὶἀνῃρήκασιν, ὥστε ἐπιλείπειν καὶ τὰ πλεῖστα τῶνβιβλίων. Eus. p.e. ... See Alan Cameron (), –, , –. 4.1 Materialist Philosophies in Late Antiquity 155 and devoted himself to theology; but there is no firm evidence that Greek phil- osophical texts werestudied in late fourth-centuryRome.¹⁵ The onlypiece of Epicurean philosophythat survivedasawhole is the Latin poem On the nature of things (De rerum natura), authored by Lucretius in the first century BC.The transmission of this work was fortuitous as it was apparently based on asingle copy,ofunknown origin, from around 800.¹⁶ Lucretius gave apopularversion of Epicurean philosophy, designed to be receivedbyabroader audience, conflictingwith the traditionalviewthatphilosophywas to be made known onlytothe selectedfew.Hefollowed the Epicurean teaching that the uni- verse consists of atoms,which are invisible, impartible, uncreated and mechan- icallymoving in the infinite (1.483–634). The universe is indefinite, not intelli- gentlydesigned and has an infinite number of centres thatattract bodies because of theirweight (1.998–1082). There are different but limited types of atoms,with each type existing in infinite number (2.333 – 568). Within the uni- verse void and time exist (1.265 – 482).The atoms are draggeddown to earth be- cause of their weight(2.184–332). The world as we know it came into existence with the clash of atoms (5.416–508). He also proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection (5.772–1457). As aconsequence, Lucretius argued against reli- gious fear of gods (religio), because gods have neither createdthe world nor are they the cause for anyintimidating naturalphenomena, such as lightning, vul- canism and the plague, which are more properlyexplained as natural occurrenc- es (5.1161–6.1286). Asignificant impact on Latinauthors, Lucretius’ work was probablybased on contemporary scientific handbooks as well as recent Epicur- ean philosophers.¹⁷ It is probable thatLucretius wasread until the fourth century.Christian au- thors of Late Antiquity,such as Arnobiusand Prudentius, imitated Lucretian style and borrowed from his ideas. Lactantius and Jerome also both refer to Lu- cretius but as apossessed madman.¹⁸ However,there is no firm evidence that Lu- cretius continued to be read after c. 400.Isidore of Sevillestill mentions him in the seventh century,but he was based onlyonsecond-hand sources, that is the polemics of earlier ecclesiastical authors.¹⁹
Alan Cameron (), –, . VonAlbrecht (), ;Butterfield ()onthe transmissionofthe text. VonAlbrecht (), –. Lact. opif. .;Hier. chron.,a.Abr. , BC (GCS :). VonAlbrecht (), –.OnIsidoresee p. ,note ,p.,note and p. , note below. 156 4Materialist Philosophy
There is also avirtual silence on Lucretius throughout the Middle Ages until the Renaissance scholarPoggio discovered amanuscript in aGerman monastery in 1418, probablyinMurbach.²⁰ He had been granted papal permission to search for lost books “in the libraries or rather dungeons of the Germans.”²¹ As aresult of this chance discovery and the dissemination of Lucretian ideas, many modern philosophers, scientists or poets became influenced by this school of thought, notablyGiordano Bruno and his student Vanini, Galileo (while the first two wereburnt alive for heresy and magic, the latter was held in year-longcustody), Newton, Rousseau, Voltaire, Kant,Nietzsche and Marx. Newton, for example, traced his gravitational theory to Anaxagoras, Pythagoras,Epicurus and Lucre- tius, and he worked through the idea of the Epicurean swerveofatoms (Lucr.2.216–62), which laterinfluenced Einstein.²² There are some otherindications that non-Platonic philosophical traditions survivedinLate Antiquity.Schouler’svery extensive study on the pagan literary tradition in Libanius (c. 314–393), the pagan city-rhetor of Antioch, found that throughout he occasionallymentioned ancient philosophers otherwise now lost (p.515–18, 561–2) and quoted classicalpoetsand prose authors, such as historians.Libanius alsooften describes pagan cult traditions in different re- gions (p.696–745). Interestingly,while his work reflects discourses on natural philosophyand scientific explanations (p.776 – 802) most of the old philoso- phers are mentioned onlyinenumerations and anecdotal allusions.The excep- tion is Pythagoras, whose doctrines appear to be still studied,and Protagoras, whose writingsare occasionallyquoted(p. 516–18). Schouler concluded that Li- banius was informed by secondary transmission, probablyfrom exercise books used in his school rather than via exposure to the original writings(p. 572).Sim- ilarly, Maas collected evidence for the ancient authorities quoted by John the Ly- dian in the ageofJustinian (527–565).²³ With regard to ancient philosophy, John was demonstrablyrelying on secondary references,primarily from afirst-century neo-Pythagorean compendium rather than the original texts.²⁴ Moreover,while it is difficult to accuratelyascertain which pagan authors wereknown to Augus- tine, it seems that,besides classical authors, he was acquainted with texts
It should, however,benotedthat Nicholas of Autrecourt reintroduced ancient atomism to the scholastic world beforethe rediscovery of Lucretius. He was convicted of heresy and ordered to burn his incriminated writingsin/. Poggio, ep. . Tonelli: ex bibliothecis, ne dicam ergastulis Germanorum. See Passanante (); vonAlbrecht (), – with literature;Sorabij (), . List of quotations by Lydusinthe appendix of Maas (), –;for some ancient au- thors his is the onlytestimony. Maas (), –;Robbins (), –. 4.2 Christianity and Ancient Materialist Philosophy 157 less known, for example Stoic semiotics.²⁵ As Ishallargue in the next section, the reason for the eventual decline of materialist philosophies had to do with the rise of Christianity.
4.2 Christianity and Ancient Materialist Philosophy
During the first centuries, Christian proselytizers disseminatedtheir ideas in the Forum and other public places in direct competition with contemporary philos- ophers, especiallyfrom the Stoic and Epicurean schools. Ishall arguethat this disagreement and competition informed the desire of late antique Christian au- thors to getrid of these traditions. In direct,competitive public and ideological competition, we will see how earlyChristian apologists worked to position these philosophical schools as the origin of heresy in the world and as literarytradi- tions that wereinspired by demons. It is likelythatearlyChristian monastic movements were also involved in competition with similar pagan movements, like the Pythagorean and Cynic. Forexample, in the biblical Acts of the Apostles, Paul has discussions with materialist philosophersinAthens:²⁶
Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans,and of the Stoics, encounteredhim. And some said, ‘whatwill this babbler say?’,others, ‘he seems to be asetter forth of strangegods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.’
Continuing,Paulemphasises the uselessness of pagan religion and of religious statues in view of the Final Judgment and Resurrection. It is productive to read this verse against his Letter to the Colossians: “Beware lest anyman spoil youthrough philosophyand vain deceit,after the tradition of men, after the el- ementsofthe world, and not after Christ.”²⁷ Much scholarlydebate has centred on the meaning of the “elements of the world” in this context and which vain philosophyPaulwas alluding to.The various interpretationscan be broadlydiv- ided between Jewish-Gnostic, Hellenistic Syncretism and Hellenistic Philosophy.²⁸
See Pollmann (), –;Hagendahl (), passim; on prose authors, –;see Aug. ep. . on the rangeofAugustine’sacquaintancewith philosophy. Acts :: τινὲςδὲκαὶ τῶν Ἐπικουρείων καὶ Στοϊκῶνφιλοσόφων συνέβαλλον αὐτῷ, καί τινες ἔλεγον· τίἂνθέλοι ὁ σπερμολόγος οὗτος λέγειν; οἱ δέ, Ξένων δαιμονίων δοκεῖ καταγγελεὺς εἶναι, ὅτι τὸν Ἰησοῦνκαὶτὴνἀνάστασιν εὐηγγελίζετο.And see de Witt (). Col. :: βλέπετε μή τις ὑμᾶς ἔσται ὁ συλαγωγῶνδιὰτῆςφιλοσοφίας καὶ κενῆς ἀπάτης κατὰ τὴνπαράδοσιν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, κατὰ τὰ στοιχεῖατοῦκόσμου καὶ οὐ κατὰ Χριστόν. See DeMaris (), –. 158 4Materialist Philosophy
While Icannot answer this question in its biblical context,myargument is that laterChristian authors likeAugustine interpreted this verse as referringto ancient philosophies, especiallythe old materialist philosophies of the Stoics and Epicureans.While Augustine wasappreciative of Platonic philosophyand frequentlyendorses Platonic views in the City of God,hediscouraged the average Christian from acquaintance with materialist philosophies. This is clear in his in- terpretations of the Letter to the Colossians: “AChristian educated onlyinthe literatureofthe Church” maybeunaware even of the Platonists, but this should not hold him back from readingthe Platonists,although onlyinsofar as they agree with Christian theologians on God,the soul, and created nature.²⁹ He should, he warns, certainlybeware of the materialist philosophies because they oppose creation. In doing so, Augustine quotes from the Letter to the Colossians:³⁰
He will, however,bewareofthose whopractise philosophy ‘after the elements of the world’ and not after God, by whom the world itself was made. Forheisadmonished by the precept of the apostle, and faithfullyhears what has been said: ‘Bewarelest anyone spoil you through philosophyand vaindeceit,after the elementsofthe world.’
This shows that philosophicalviews on the origin and physical consistenceof the world if opposed to the biblical creation account wereconsidered most inap- propriate. Augustine further argued that philosophical views underpinning the Christological controversiesofLate Antiquityweresimilarlyinappropriate for the Christian reader.Inthe context of describing the apostles having triumphed over the philosophers, Augustine thus notes that there are “onlyavery few of the learned or unlearned left” who do not believeinincarnation (which was in ac- cordance neither with atomistic materiality of the soul as posited by the Epicur- eans nor with Pythagorean transmigration of souls). Augustine goes on to say that the incarnation of Jesus “those with whom we are dealingrefuse to believe.”³¹ This statement suggests thatAugustine regards as his adversaries peo- ple who still put forward ideas from materialist philosophy. It is interesting to
Aug. civ. . (CCSL :): homo Christianus litteris tantum ecclesiasticis eruditus. Aug. civ. . (CCSL :): cavet eos tamen, qui secundum elementa huius mundi philoso- phantur,non secundum deum, aquo ipse factus est mundus.admonetur enim praecepto apostolico fideliterque audit quod dictum est: cavetenequis vos decipiat per philosophiam et inanem seduc- tionem secundum elementa mundi,referringtoCol. :. Aug. civ. . (CCSL :, ): paucissimis remanentibus atque stupentibus veldoctis vel indoctis … noluntisti, cum quibus agimus,credere. Similarly, Aug. civ. .–. 4.2 Christianity and AncientMaterialist Philosophy 159 note thathehad similar concerns about the mathematici.³² This again shows that agrey area existed between these groups. The conflict is clear: wherematerialist philosophers did not believeinthe possibilityofincarnationand resurrection, Jesus’ resurrection had overcome the death barrier.Indoing so, he had redeemed Christians from the life–death cycle, as is noted in the Letter to the Galatians:³³
Even so we, when we were children, wereinbondage under the elements of the world: But when the fullness of the time was come,God sent forth his Son, made of awoman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law.
Ihavedemonstrated that Christian authorsborrowed from Plato in using (Greek) children as aperiphrase for ancient philosophers and their followers.But in the immediate context,the metaphysical origins of the conflict are clear.Inthe Sec- ond Epistle of Peter,itisargued that these elements (the physical substance of the material world) will meltfor the Second Coming of Christ:³⁴
But the dayofthe Lord will comeasathief in the night,inwhich the heavens will pass away with agreat noise, and the elements will meltwith fervent heat; both the earth and the works that areinitwillbeburned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dis- solved, what manner of persons oughtyou to be in holyconduct and godliness,lookingfor and hasteningthe coming of the dayofGod, because of which the heavens will be dis- solved, beingonfire, and the elementswill meltwith fervent heat?
This eschatological aspect of Christianity was popularlyadopted in Late Antiq- uity and the earlyMiddle Ages, when the fall of the Roman Empire, military in- vasions and natural disasters all contributed to apervadingfeeling that the end
Aug. gen.adlitt. . (CCSL .:): “Agood Christianmust thereforebewareofeither the mathematici or anyone whoimpiouslypractises divination, especiallywhenthe saythe truth, lest they deceive his soul by their fellowshipwith demons and ensnareitinsome treaty of as- sociation.” (quapropter bono christiano sive mathematici sive quilibet inpie divinantium, maxime dicentes vera, cavendisunt, ne consortio daemoniorum animam deceptam pacto quodam socie- tatis inretiant). Gal. :–: οὕτως καὶἡμεῖς, ὅτε ἦμεν νήπιοι, ὑπὸ τὰ στοιχεῖατοῦκόσμου ἤμεθα δεδουλω- μένοι· ὅτε δὲἦλθεν τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου, ἐξαπέστειλεν ὁ θεὸςτὸνυἱὸναὐτοῦ, γενόμενον ἐκ γυναικός, γενόμενον ὑπὸ νόμον, ἵνα τοὺς ὑπὸ νόμον ἐξαγοράσῃ. Pet. :–: ἥξει δὲἡμέρα κυρίου ὡςκλέπτης ἐν ᾗ οἱ οὐρανοὶῥοιζηδὸνπαρελεύσονται, στοιχεῖαδὲκαυσούμενα λυθήσεται, καὶ γῆ καὶ τὰἐναὐτῇἔργα εὑρεθήσεται. τούτων οὕτως πάν- των λυομένων ποταποὺςδεῖὑπάρχειν ὑμᾶς ἐν ἁγίαις ἀναστροφαῖςκαὶεὐσεβείαις προσδοκῶντας καὶ σπεύδοντας τὴνπαρουσίαν τῆςτοῦθεοῦἡμέρας δι’ ἣνοὐρανοὶ πυρούμενοι λυθήσονται καὶ στοιχεῖακαυσούμενα τήκεται. 160 4Materialist Philosophy of the world could be near. Accordingtothis interpretation, Christ becomes ac- tual substance. It impliesaliteral reading of the biblical text (cf. Col.2:17). In theirdrive to distinguish between orthodoxy and competing discourses as heretical, Christian authors positioned themselveswithin this dialectic from earlyon, while often excluding philosophical elements as forbidden. In particu- lar,tomanyChristian authors, the biblical figureofSimon Magus served as the prototype for illegitimate writingassociatedwith heresy and magic. An example of this, from the late second century is the apologist Irenaeus who attributedthe then popularGnostic systems to the works of Simon Magus, “from whom all her- esies derivetheirorigin.”³⁵ In the Acts of the Apostles it is alleged thatSimon took money in exchangefor curing people with the aid and in the name of the HolySpirit when in fact he had used “sorcery” to effect his cures.³⁶ Simon himself was also chargedwith having borrowed from philosophers such as Empedocles.³⁷ This means thatheresorted to demons to provide miracle-healing in competition with Christianity. Some of the first Christian authors even went as far as to exclude classical authorsfrom theirdiscourse of orthodoxy.For example, Justin Martyr (d. in around 165atRome) felt persecuted by the demons/gods of poetry as causing heresy,while feelingpity for the readers.³⁸ Hisstudent Tatian believed that the universe is governed by God and therefore linked alternative explanations to the influenceofdemons: “How can Ibelievesomeonewho says thatthe sun is ared-hot massand the moon an earth?”³⁹ Irenaeus,bishop of Lyons in the sec- ond century,claimed that his Christian adversaries had borrowed ideas from comic poetsand from ancient,particularlyPythagorean and Epicurean philoso- phers, with their concepts of atoms and the vacuum,⁴⁰ and as such weretobe burnt in hell.⁴¹ Having been established, this dialectic was reinforced over aclear trajectory of similar judgmentsand pronouncements. Half acentury after Justin, Tertullian in North Africa formulated the locus classicus for the mutual imbrication of her- esy and ancient philosophy, and their clear distinction and division from Chris- tianity: “What indeedhas Athens to do with Jerusalem, the Platonic Academy
Iren. haer. ..: ex quo universae haereses substiterunt. Acts :–. Hipp. haer. .. Just. apol. , –. Tat. orat. .: πῶςπεισθήσομαι τῷ λέγοντι μύδρον τὸν ἥλιον καὶ τὴνσελήνην γῆν; Iren. haer. ..– and . Iren. haer. ... 4.2 Christianity and Ancient MaterialistPhilosophy 161 with the Church, heretics with Christians?”⁴² He explicitlyaligned this judgment with the above-quoted statement on philosophyafter the elements of the world in the Letters to the Colossians, restating the Christian position in the biblical text.Therefore, “heresies themselvesare adorned with philosophy.” In this con- text,the Platonic, Stoic and Epicurean philosophies were each aligned with he- retical groups: “The same material is reconsidered by the heretics and the phi- losophers; the same repeated discussions are involved.”⁴³ However,itmust be noted thatall these Christian authorswerethemselveshighlyeducated and mayhavethought differentlyabout the usefulness of these philosophiesthan they publiclyannounced in writing.Rather thaneliminating philosophyfrom re- ligious discourse they wanted to put obsolete questions aside. These cultural and ideological distinctions became increasinglyreinforced as Christian hegemonyincreased, while on the other hand Christian authors started to integrate into their theologysome of the opinions of ancient philoso- phers, such as Plato. Forexample, an earlyfourth-century passagefrom Athana- sius of Alexandria links “magical” and philosophical “Greek” books to provethe divinity of Jesus. Athanasius is thereforeanexample of aChristian author who demonisesbooks as carriers of evil literary traditions.Inhis sermon on incarna- tion, Athanasius condemns “idolatry,the whole armyofthe demons” which he explains as being “the whole of the magical artand the whole of the wisdom of the Greeks.” To Athanasius, it is adivine mission to persuade “thosewho previ- ouslyworshipped idols” to smash them and to make “thosewho admired the magical treacheries […]burnthe bookswritten on this art.” Significantly, Atha- nasius suggests that “even the philosophersprefer the interpretation of the gos- pels to everything else” and give up what they previouslyadmired.⁴⁴ In the be- ginning of this speech Athanasius specificallysingles out the Epicurean school of philosophybecause of its incommensurability with the divine interpretation of creation and providence.Where Christianity attributed everything to God’s
Tert.praescr. : quid ergoAthenis et Hierosolymis?quid academiaeetecclesiae? quid haere- ticis et Christianis? Similarly, apol. ; idol. –. Tert.praescr. : ipsae denique haereses aphilosophia subornantur. … eadem materia apud haereticos et philosophos volutatur,idem retractatus implicantur. Ath. inc. . (SC :): τίςπώποτε ἄνθρωπος ἁπλῶς ἢ μάγος, ἢ τύραννος, ἢ βασιλεύς, ἐφ’ ἑαυτοῦ τοσοῦτον ἠδυνήθη βαλεῖν, καὶ καθ’ ὅλης τῆςεἰδωλολατρίας καὶ πάσης δαιμονικῆς στρατίας καὶ πάσης μαγείας καὶ πάσης σοφίας Ἑλλήνων, τοσοῦτον ἰσχυόντων καὶἔτι ἀκμαζόν- των καὶἐκπληττόντων πάντας, ἀντιμάχεσθαι καὶ μιᾷῥοπῇ κατὰ πάντων ἀντιστῆναι, ὡς ὁἡμέτε- ρος Κύριος, ὁ τοῦ ΘεοῦἀληθὴςΛόγος, ὃς ἀοράτως ἑκάστου τὴνπλάνην ἐλέγχων, μόνος παρὰ πάντων τοὺςπάντας ἀνθρώπους σκυλεύει, ὥστε τοὺςμὲντὰεἴδωλα προσκυνοῦντας λοιπὸν αὐτὰ καταπατεῖν, τοὺςδὲμαγείαις θαυμασθέντας τὰςβίβλους κατακαίειν, τοὺςδὲσοφοὺςτὴν τῶνΕὐαγγελίων προκρίνειν πάντων ἑρμηνείαν.With .. 162 4MaterialistPhilosophy will, Epicureans argued that everythingisfortuitous (automátos).⁴⁵ In fact,vari- ous Christian authors counted Epicureanism as aheresy because of this reason.⁴⁶ In context,Athanasius takes adifferent tack from previous commentators on the Christian−heretic dialectic. Rather thanonlyrefuting philosophical texts against the concept of the resurrection, he argues that these discourses are dying out naturallyaspeople are now more interested in fighting the demons. Paganism, he suggests, is dying naturally.⁴⁷ In his work Against the Pagans (c. 303), the Christian apologist Arnobius also followed the polemical discourse of other Christian authors, rejectingthe scien- tific explanations of the material world proposed by philosopherssuch as the Epicureans in favour of biblical explanations. Writing in immediate response to the Great Persecution, he argues thatscientific explanations detract from knowing the truth, namely that God created the world and is responsible for var- ious natural occurrences (2.56 – 61). Arnobius juxtaposes scientificexplanations with magicalpractices (2.62).This is important because we have alreadyseen that some Christian authorstended to align certain philosophical ideas with magic. Similarly,inbook threeofthe Divine Institutes Lactantius, Arnobius’ stu- dent,refutes manyofthe old philosophers. Mirroringother Christian authors, he is especiallyhostile towards Epicurus. Lactantius presents Epicurus’ teaching as based largely on joy/pleasure (voluptas), suggesting that this is whyEpicurean teachingwas so successful and positioning Epicurean teachingasopposed to Christian teachingand Epicurus’ naturalman opposed to the martyr: “To the man who is incapable of suffering and spoiled, it is said thatpainisthe greatest of all evils; to the braveman, it is said that it is wise to be happy even under tortures.”⁴⁸ Lactantius polemicized against Epicurean atomism, because he thought it absurdthat atoms (corpuscula)are invisible, limited in number,and by cohesion in varied order and position compose the various objects of the material world, without divine providence(3.17.16 – 25)or, in modern terminology, intelligent de- sign. He also argued thatitwas absurd that “they cannot be divided by the edge of anyweapon” (3.17. 26: nulla ferri acie dissici valeant), suggesting that the exis-
Ath. inc. .. Some examples,besides those mentioned throughout this book, areHier. in Is. ../ (= PL :A);Epiph. panarion .. (Holl :). And see Schmid (), –;Laßwitz (), –. Especially, Ath. inc. –. Lact. inst. ..: inpatienti ac delicato dolorem esse omnium malorum maximumdicitur,forti etiam in tormentis beatum esse sapientem. 4.3 Augustine’sLetter to Dioscorus 163 tenceofatoms undermined the probability of the soul’safterlife because the soul too would thereforeconsist of atoms that would perish along with the body (3.17. 30 –36). If this wasthe case, people would not need to fear punishments in hell and mayaswellindulge in joy (3.17.42: inferorum poenas non esse metuen- das). Lactantius’ work, then, is significant as it extends the arguments of Arno- bius in engagingwith the tensions between Christian and pagan discourses and their competition for primacyinthe context of the imperial edicts concerning il- legitimate texts. While Ihavenot intended to give afull survey of attitudes of earlyChristian apologists towardmaterialist philosophies, it should have become clear that these discourses informed the ongoing rivalry between both groups once Chris- tianity was the state religion and Epicureanism and similar traditions had be- come somewhat negligible, as Ishall argueinthe following sections. Within this context,Augustine has often been positionedasan outstanding representative of Western philosophy. While this is certainlytrue insofar as one specificallyChristian notion of philosophyisconcernedand insofar Augustine was awell-educated academic in his ageand not infrequentlyquotedancient au- thorities, scholars so far have paid scarceattention to the evidence of Augustine dismissing manyother materialistic ancientschools, repeatedlybringing up the idea of the death of their memory.Inthe following two sections, then, Ishall read Augustine’sletter to Dioscorus in order to establish Augustine’sattitude to- wards non-Platonic philosophyand his discussion of censorship in the eschato- logical City of God,alongside some otherrelevant letters and sermons. My argu- ment is that Augustine influentiallyput forward the view that literary traditions associated with materialist philosophies(and related books as carriersofthese ideas) should have no place in Christian society because of their demonicnature.
4.3 Augustine’sLetter to Dioscorus
Augustine (354–430) was aManichaean who became ateacher of rhetoric and grammar.When he converted to Christianity in 386 he stopped teaching, devot- ing his time to writing 33 treatises against Manichaeism. Later in his life, as his attitude hardened, he criticised his earlyChristian writings, such as Contra Aca- demicos,asdealingtoo favourablywith Platonic philosophy.⁴⁹ In his autobio- graphic Confessions,composed shortlyafter he became bishop of Hippo Regius
Aug. retract. pr. ; ..;Krämer (), . 164 4MaterialistPhilosophy in 395,Augustine disapproves of his having previouslytaughtthe classics. He did not criticise literacy as such but onlybecomingacquainted with this skill through introduction in classical poetry.⁵⁰ He also disapproved of his previous endorsement of Epicurean philosophy.⁵¹ This again shows thatManichaeans like the young Augustine werefollowers of Epicurean traditions. Thus afigure of tensions emerges: on the one hand, aclassicallyeducated scholar,aman who had knowledge of pagan philosophies and concepts; on the other,acom- mitted Christian, determinedlyopposed to them, excepting Platonic philosophy. As ascholar, he frequentlyengaged in discussions with pagans and Christians about classical scholarlythemes, includingclassicalphilosophy. His particular thrust in his various works and letters much depended on the audience or cor- respondent he addressed. It is therefore important to stress thatthe passages dis- cussed in this book mayappear to be somewhat selected, but Iamnot aware of anyinstances where he speaks favourably about materialist philosophies in con- texts of the physical understandingofthe world. Augustine’scorrespondence with Dioscorus (letters 117and 118) is among his best known letters,but has hitherto not been discussed as an importantpolem- ical attack against Greek philosophical traditions. Ishall read this text as a uniquedocument for the circulation of philosophical knowledge in various re- gions of the RomanEmpire at this time as well as its suppression caused by Christianity, arguingthat while the opinionsofthe materialist philosophers werelargely – but not completely – forgotten at this time, Augustine was con- cerned thatthese opinions continued to informboth pagans and heretics and that he was worried that these ideas could survive in writing or oral tradition. It is thereforesignificant that Dioscorus was awealthyGreek student of around 20 yearsofage,who had finished his rhetorical studies at Carthage and was about to leave for his parents’ homeinGreece. Moreover,asthe letters are written in late 410orearly411,⁵² it is likelythat Augustine had been informed about the sack of Rome and had witnessed afirst wave of refugees arriving from ItalyinCarthage. This is importantbecause there weremanypagans among these refugees, who werethus givenastrongargument to blame Christianity and the neglect of the victorious gods of Rome for this recent military disaster. He was also continuouslyinvolvedinthe Donatist conflict.His writingsatthis time thereforeare of amore polemicalnature than his earlier works.Hewas po-
Aug. conf. ..; ..; ..–.See Krämer (), – (literature); Gemein- hardt(), –;Hunink (). Aug. conf. ... R.B. Eno, in: Fitzgerald et al. (), . 4.3 Augustine’sLetter to Dioscorus 165 lemical towards ancient philosophical traditions, although he was surelymore concerned about writingsbynon-conformistChristians. In the opening letter (117) Dioscorus expressed curiosity regardingcertain in- terpretations of Cicero’sdialogues, framing his interest as adesire not to appear uneducated in his home country.The letter does not contain the actual questions by Dioscorus, but from Augustine’sanswer,itisclear that they concernedCice- ro’sworks Orator,Deoratore,and De naturadeorum.⁵³ The first two are rhetorical handbooks, the latter deals critically with pagan religion. There is no reason to think thatthese works wereoffensive to most Christians; on the contrary, in the ageofDiocletianithad even been proposed to the senate to search out and de- stroy all extant copies of De naturadeorum as if it wereaChristian book.⁵⁴ Dio- scorus,however,found it somewhat inappropriate to ask Augustine about the works of Cicero. This shows that he was nevertheless worried thathis questions werereligiouslyoffensive. In his reply(118), Augustine confirms Dioscorus’ worries,explaining that the questions were inappropriate not just ideologicallyand theologically, but also because he had avery busy office as abishop.⁵⁵ The repetition of his line of argu- ment indicates Augustine’sdetermination to hammerhis point home into Dio- scorus as if in aschool lesson: if Dioscorus was concerned about truth rather than admiration by others, he argues, then it would be unnecessary “to know the diversity of opinions from thosewithout”,such as the dialogues of Cicero.⁵⁶ However,inorder to subvert and destroy those previous falsities, errors, those childish,ridiculous, and superfluous things,⁵⁷ Augustine concedes that it can be helpful to know Cicero’sdialogues. His use of polemicalmetaphors is intrigu- ing as it demonstrates the rangeofterms that clerics employed to cast doubt on a text’sworthiness.This knowledge,hesuggests, can help aspeakertocapturethe attention of well-educated people and preparethem for conversion. However,he stresses,moral conduct is more important for this purpose – showing,rather than telling.⁵⁸ He goes on to note that knowledge of ancient philosophycan also be helpful in defending Christianity against pagans who seek to bring for- ward arguments against Christianityfrom the same source. But again, knowl- edge of and adherencetothe truth of Christianity is also sufficient for this pur-
Aug. ep. ... See p. above. Aug. ep. ... Aug. ep. ..: de diversitate cognoscenda sententiarum alienarum; .–. Aug. ep. ..: falsa; .: errore, puerilium rerum; .: ridiculum, superflua multa; .: destruat falsitates, falsa … subvertere. Aug. ep. ... 166 4Materialist Philosophy pose too.⁵⁹ There is less need now to acquire such rhetorical skills and philo- sophical knowledge thantherewas in the past,hesuggests, certainlyasfar as discussions with pagans are concerned. As these discussions have died out, he expects Dioscorus is more likelytoencounter non-conformist Christians in Greece: the Arians, Eunomians,Macedonians, Cataphrygians “and the other pests.”⁶⁰ While there is no record of Dioscorus’ initial inquiry,wecan surmise the areas and topics that he proposed from Augustine’sreplywhich infers that he wanted to know about Cicero’sreception of ancientGreek philosophers, includ- ing pre-Socratics like Anaximenes, Anaxagoras and Democritus.⁶¹ Although Di- oscorus,asamemberofthe upperstrata of society,had visited the best rhetoric schools in Carthage, it is tellingthat he had so far not been able to learn about such areas and therefore needed to consultaChristian bishop, although it must be noted that Dioscorus likelyasked Augustine for aletter in order to show off his social connections:⁶²
In Africa youare troubled by no questioner on these matters inasmuch as youcannot find anyone whowould be troubled by you, and because of that dearth youare forcedtosend your questions to bishopsfor an explanation.
But for all Dioscorus assumes Augustine’sknowledge,Augustine bewails that he does not even have access to booksbyCiceroathis see:⁶³
Aug. ep. ..;in. he mentions people in Greece, probably Neoplatonic philoso- phers,askingquestions about ancient Greek philosophers. Aug. ep. ..;also: “However,ifitisnecessary,asIsaid, to know in advancesome of the opinions opposed to the truth and to have thoughtthese through, we need to think about the heretics whocall themselvesChristiansrather than about Anaxagorasand Democritus.” (tamen si opus est, ut dixi, veritati adversantes praenoscerealiquas et pertractatas haberesententias, de haereticis potius,qui se christianos vocant, quam de AnaxagoraetDemocrito nobis cogitandum fuit.). Aug. ep. ... Aug. ep. ..: et in Africa usque adeo de his interrogatorem pateris neminem, ut nec te ipsum quis patiatur inveniaseaque inopia episcopis exponenda ea mitterecogaris. Also: “those professors of rhetoric at Carthage were of no help in this studyofyours.” Aug. ep. ..: cum in ipsa etiam scholari levitate et rhetoricis cathedris ita obmutuisse atque obtorpuisse videantur,utaCarthagine Hipponem, quo exponi possint, mittenda existimen- tur,ubi tam insolita atque omnino peregrina sunt, ut, si vellem respondendi curainspicere aliquid volens videre … codicem prorsus invenire non possem. Augustine mentionshis church library also in letters . and . but not anyofthe classics;Koopmans (), ad locum, p. ; Krämer (), . 4.3 Augustine’sLetter to Dioscorus 167
Foreveninthat scholarlylightness and in the chairs of rhetoric, they seem to have fallen silent and become numb to the point that people think that such questions should be sent from Carthage toHippo in order to be explained.But herethey are so unusual and utterly foreign that if Iwanted to review atext in my concern to reply[…], Icould not in fact find this book.
Echoing Jerome, Augustine explains thatbishops have knowledge of pagan phi- losophybecause of the education they receivedbefore conversion. As we have seen, canon lawprohibitedbishopstoread pagan books, but (Augustine says) prior knowledge meant that bishops “toleratedthem to remainintheirmemory”, even though “they would prefer to bury them in utteroblivion, when brought to mind.” Thisprior knowledge is evident as Augustine frequentlyborrows from Ciceroinhis works,perhaps from his memory.⁶⁴ Augustine admonishes Dioscorus to payclose attention to people who bring forward hiddenideas borrowed from certain ancient philosophers, because these are heretical ideas:⁶⁵
Ibeg youtosee and hear whether anyone producesanythingagainst us from Anaximenes and Anaxagoras,whennot even the ashes of the much morerecentand much moreloqua- cious Stoics or Epicureans are warm enough that anyspark can be struck out from them against the Christian faith.
In this passage, Augustine appears to be referringtothe ashes of the Stoic and Epicureans as writingslong lost,alludingtothe natural death of their memory.⁶⁶ Similarly,in386 or 387, concerning the pagan author Antiochus of Athens, who flourishedatthe end of the second century AD,Augustine wrote: “the evil thoughtfrom the ashes of the Stoics”,⁶⁷ while Jerome, on the otherhand, em- ploys the figure of the “spark” (scintilla)torefertoheretical authors, in the con- text of searches for books dealing with the beginningsofnature.⁶⁸ He advises
Aug. ep. ..: sibi in memoria durare paterentur … ipsa oblivione sepelire mallent recor- data. And see Hagendahl (), –;O’Donnell (), . Aug. ep. ..: orote, et vide atque ausculta, utrum aliquis adversus nos de Anaximene et de Anaxagoraproferat aliquid, quando iam ne ipsorum quidem multo recentiorum multumque lo- quacium Stoicorum aut Epicureorum cineres caleant, unde aliqua contrafidem Christianam scin- tilla excitetur. In ep. ..,Augustine writes about the lost literary remains of ancient philosophers which areknown onlyinsecondary quotations. Aug. c.Acad. .: nescio quid inferens mali de Stoicorum cineribus, quod Platonis adyta vi- olaret. Hier. ep. .: cernentes heretici de parva scintilla maxima incendia concitari et supposi- tam dudum flammam iam ad culmina pervenisse;and further on: “The method of condemning 168 4MaterialistPhilosophy
Dioscorus,however,toconceal this knowledge in anyother context,⁶⁹ further noting that the opinions of the natural philosopher Anaximenes have slept for ages, so thereisnoneed to learn these because of “idle curiosity.” However,Au- gustine appears to be rhetoricallydownplaying their actual importance since the onlyreason to be acquainted with these opinions is to be able to refute adversa- ries. This implies that therewas at least theoretical expectation thatcontempo- rary pagans could bring up these opinions as counter-arguments against Chris- tianity,probablyencouraged by recent resentments against Christianityafter the fall of Rome. It is thereforetellingthat both Anaximenes and Anaxagoras were natural philosophers. Their ideas of substance and of the void, respectively,are the most likelytohaveservedasarguments against Christianity at that time, al- though it is unlikelythat original writingscirculated; rather,much of the knowl- edge of these old philosophies in the West derivedfrom Cicero.⁷⁰ Augustine assumes that the knowledge of these branches of ancientphilos- ophywas practicallylost in his age, distinguishing certain regions.While Rome and Carthageare the “two great cities, masters of Latin literature”,Augustine does not think that ancient philosophicalstudies are continued in either city: “both here, where youcame to learn these matters, and in Rome youhaveexpe- rienced how insignificant they are considered and, for this reason, are neither taught nor learned.” Also, neither city will “annoy youwith questions on these pointsnor care about your nuisances so they listen to your questions about them.” Augustine suggests that the same applies not onlytoCarthage but to Africa as awhole, noting that the intellectual climate wassuch that there is not even tolerance concerning persons who wish to learn about philosophy.⁷¹ To my mind, this shows that the rhetoricians he alludes to were largely Christianised by the earlyfifth century.
the heretics was such […]that he brought in the scrolls ‘about the first beginnings’,which were shown to have been corrected by the hand of ascorpion” (damnationishereticorum haec fuit principium, … dum inpia περὶἀρχῶν ingeritvolumina, quae emendata manu scorpii monstrantur): Koopmans(), ad locum, p. ,with examples for the metaphorical use of “ashes”.Anex- ample for “ashes” actuallyreferringtobook-burningisOv. trist. ..–. Aug. ep. ..: “Whoever he maybewho asks of youthe questions youask of us,let him hear that youare morelearned and morewise in your not knowingthem.” Especially, Cic. nat. deor. .. Aug. ep. ..: hic, quo ad ea discenda venisti, et Romae expertus es, quam neglegenter ha- beantur et ob hoc neque doceantur neque discantur … nec taedio tibi sint, ut ateista perquirant, nec taedia tua curent,utteista perquirentem exaudiant … duae tantae urbes Latinarum litterarum artifices. 4.3 Augustine’sLetter to Dioscorus 169
As to these gymnasia now,Augustine adds that Dioscorus “found them also bare as well and cold to such matters.”⁷² Augustine is referringtothe gymnasia in Greece, Dioscorus’ home country.Hemay have been downplaying the interest in questions found in ancient natural philosophers: “Iamsurprised in adegree beyond all expression that you, ayoung man with such agood attitude, are wor- ried thatinGreek and Eastern cities youwill have to endureany annoying ques- tioner on these matters.”⁷³ Augustine here is exaggerating the position in order to manipulate Dioscorus.Earlier,in386,Augustine had noted that philosophers werescarcethen and if so these wereCynics, Peripatetics,orPlatonists.⁷⁴ In Ath- ens, however,philosophicaldebates continued as Neoplatonism had revived from the end of the fourth centuryonwards,something that Augustine acknowl- edges. His assumption in this exchangeisthat Dioscorus maystillencounter people in Greeceasking questions about Greek philosophyintheir own Greek texts,rather than about “certain dismembered and dispersed particles of their teachings,inLatin dialogues.”⁷⁵ This line indicates that contemporary Greek phi- losophers regarded Ciceroasanepigonic author rather thanthatthey werenot interested in pre-Socratic or other oldphilosophers. Despite these statedreservations, the upshotisthat after abecomingshow of reluctance Augustine finally agreed to introduce Dioscorus to the basics of pagan philosophy. The questions Dioscorus asks, he compares to a “dangerous illness of the body”,which requires doctors and medicine. The best wayto treat it was acourse of the Christian truth in his studies.⁷⁶ This explains why some philosophicalopinions as well as the booksthatcontainedthese opinions are portrayed as diseases in Christian polemical texts.Augustine lays out the course both of treatment and of study: among the philosophical schools to dis- cuss he lists the Stoics,the Epicureans and Platonists, whilst among the single authorstodebate he notes Arcesilaus, Polemon, Xenocrates – school heads of the Platonic academy – and Pythagoras alongsidethose alreadymentioned.⁷⁷ By comparison, Platonism is clearlygiven credencefor comingclose to the coreaspects of Christianity. Following this prescriptive course, Augustine ap- proaches the subject by systematicallydividing the respective tenetsofeach
Aug. ep. ..: invenisti talibus rebus nuda atque frigida. Aug. ep. ..: miror tantum, quantum dici non potest, vereri te, tam boni ingenii iuvenem, ne in Graecis atque orientalibus urbibus quemquamdehis rebus molestum interrogatorem feras. Aug. c.Acad. ... Aug. ep. ..: dogmatum particulasquasdamdiscerptas atque dispersas in Latinis dia- logis. Aug. ep. ... Aug. ep. ..; .:Pythagoras. 170 4Materialist Philosophy school into the areas of ethics, physics,and dialectics.⁷⁸ We will shortlysee that it is the area of physics thatposes the most problematic differencestoChristian- ity. On the subject of ethics, Augustine polemicizes against materialism, which previouslywas popularfor the masses in that “fleshlyenjoyment” (carnalis vo- luptas)was givenpriority over the good of the soul, mentioning the Epicurean tradition.⁷⁹ He mayhavebeen informed not onlybyLactantius (as we have seen), but also by Cicerowho attests the popularity of asimplified version of Ep- icureanism among the population.⁸⁰ In context,Augustine defends the concept of creation out of nothing (3.15) against the thesis of Epicurean causation. He also noted that the Stoicstoo werewrongbecause they think that everything in the natural world is bodily,which weakens the good of the soul (3.15). Against these, he argues, Platonists supported the preference of the soul to the body, an idea which comes closer to Christian truth. Historically, he suggests, the Plato- nists had been less successful (compared to both the materialist philosophies and Christianity) because they lacked “the example of divine humility”,revealed onlybyJesus: “Before that example all pride givesway,isbroken, and dies in the mind of anyone, who is wildlyarrogant.”⁸¹ As to the field of physics,Augustine argues that the materialism of non-Pla- tonist philosophical schools is to be condemned as they attribute the origins of nature to atoms (Epicureans) or to the four elements likefire (Stoics). The masses of “foolish” people, he suggests, followed these doctrines as they are drawnto the body. He argues thatthe Stoics and the Epicureans,unlike Christians, have been unable to recognise immaterial wisdom as the creator of nature.⁸² Likewise, concerning dialectics, he ridicules the Epicureans and Stoicsfor re- garding the senses, such as touch, smell, hearing,and sight,tovarious extents, as the sourceofcomprehending truth, whereas the Platonists are endorsed for their suggesting truth to be eternal, unchangeable and to be perceivedonlyby human reason.⁸³ AccordingtoAugustine, this controversy had continued through successive periods of time up to the Christian era, which is found, for instance, in the Acts of the Apostles, who had argued against these schools.⁸⁴
Aug. ep. ..: de moribus sivedenaturarerum sive de ratione investigandae veritatis. Aug. ep. .: carnales voluptates, : voluptas corporis. Cic. Tusc. ... Aug. ep. ..: cui uni exemplo in cuiusvis animo ferociter adrogantis omnis superbia cedit et frangitur et emoritur. Aug. ep. ... Aug. ep. ... Aug. ep. ..: Christiana aetas,referring to Acts :–. 4.3 Augustine’sLetter to Dioscorus 171
He goes on to saythat besides the Stoicsand Epicureans,there were also many and diverse other,less conspicuous schools continuingdown to the Christian era, but the learned men among the Christians had fought against these.⁸⁵ Thus it is likelythat Augustine was alludingtothe first to earlythird centuries, when these philosophies wereflourishing.Meanwhile, he suggests, these de- bates,and especiallythose by the Epicurean and Stoic schools, are suppressed:⁸⁶
We see that surelyinour agethey have fallen silent to the point that in the schools of rhet- oric it is now hardly mentioned as much as whattheir opinionswere about.These disputes, however,havebeen so completely eradicated and suppressed even in the most loquacious gymnasia of the Greeks that if anyschool of errornow emergedagainst the truth, that is, against the Church of Christ,itwould not daretostepforth for battle if it werenot covered under the Christianname.
Unlikethe earlier John Chrysostom (in the East), then, it is apparent that Augus- tine perceivedancientphilosophies as not anymoredangerous except when put forward by non-conformist Christians. Thisagain illustratesthatthe opinions of materialist philosophers continued to be transmitted in the writingsororalcul- ture of heretical groups rather than in the original writings(at least in the West- ern part of the Empire). It is also clear thatAugustine expectedGreek gymnasia as the most likelyplaces wherethese opinions were still known and discussed. These opinions could easilyhavebeen passed on in notebooks owned by stu- dents. The onlyexceptiontothe dearth of philosophical transmission of ideas again is the Neoplatonic school, which in order to survive in the Christian world, needed to adjust its doctrines to the Christians, from Augustine’sescha- tological standpoint:⁸⁷
Aug. ep. ..: multi atque multiplices … usque in temporaChristiana. Aug. ep. ..: quos iam certe nostraaetate sic obmutuisse conspicimus, ut vix iam in scholis rhetorum commemoretur tantum, quae fuerint illorum sententiae, certamina tamen etiam de loquacissimis Graecorum gymnasiis eradicata atque compressa sint, ita ut, si qua nunc erroris secta contraveritatem, hoc est contraecclesiam Christi emerserit, nisi nomine cooper- ta Christiano ad pugnandum prosilire non audeat. Cf. ep. ..: “we see that now no error dares to lift up itself to gather around it crowds of uneducatedpeople without seekingthe veil of the Christian name.” (nullum iam errorem se audereextollere ad congregandas sibi turbas imperitorum,qui non Christianinominis velamenta conquirat). Aug. ep. ..: ex quo intellegitur ipsos quoque Platonicaegentisphilosophos paucis mu- tatis,quae Christiana inprobat disciplina, invictissimo uni regi Christo pias cervices oporteresub- mittereetintellegere verbum Dei homine indutum, qui iussit et creditum est, quod illi velproferre metuebant. 172 4MaterialistPhilosophy
From this it is understood that those philosophers of the Platonic kind, havingchangeda few thingswhich Christian discipline rejects, needed to submit their necks piouslyto Christ,the one invincible king, and to understand that the wordofGod was clothed with ahuman being, who commanded and was believed, somethingthat the Platonists fearedeventostate.
Farfrom being unanimouslyaccepted, however,Augustine notes thatthis sub- mission of Platonist thoughts to Christianity had actuallyresulted into aquarrel within this school under the chairmanship of Plotinus in third-century Rome: “some of them werecorrupted by curiosity concerning the arts of magic, while others entered into his army, knowing that the LordJesus Christ bore the person of the immutable truth and wisdom, which they weretrying to attain.”⁸⁸ Augus- tine here is alludingtoIamblichus, Plotinus’ student,who practised theurgy, rather than to Porphyry,who wroteagainst Christianity and whose books were ordered to be burnt.Throughout his works,then, it can be noted that Augustine had an ambiguous attitude towards Platonism, somewhat in common with other Christian authors. Sometimes he would stress the interchangeability of Plato- nism and Christianity,and sometimes he condemns this school.⁸⁹ Augustine also shares with other Christian authorsthe view that Platocame into contact with the Jewish tradition duringhis travel to Egypt.⁹⁰ Nevertheless,Augustine frequentlydeprecated philosophicalschools out- side of Platonism, and in accordance with other Christian authors he tends to label Christianitya“philosophy” or “the true philosophy.” In doing so, he usu- allyemploys the Latinterm sapientia in aChristian understandingasopposed to much of ancient philosophywhich he addresses in common derogatory terms, calling it a “false doctrine” or “error.” He notes,however,that he has been able to studyagreat manydifferent philosophers.⁹¹ His attitude towards them, while displaying ambiguity in some areas,inothers is quite rigid. Thus it is un-
Aug. ep. ..;similarly, Aug. vera relig. .;cf. Aug.civ. . (CCSL :): “If, there- fore, Platohas said that the philosopherisanimitator,knower and lover of this God, and is blessed by participation in him, what need is there to browse the others?Noone has comecloser to us than the Platonists” (si ergoPlato Dei huius imitatorem cognitoremamatorem dixit esse sa- pientem, cuius participatione sit beatus,quid opus est excutereceteros?nulli nobis quam isti pro- pius accesserunt). Fuhrer (); Stock (), –.See Aug. ord. ... Aug. civ. .;Aug. doctr.christ. ... Aug. ep. ..;Aug.vera relig. .;Aug. c.Julian. . (PL :); Aug. civ. . (CCSL :): (neque enim continuo veraesapientiae suntamatores, quicumque appellantur philoso- phi): profecto ex omnibus,quorum sententias litteris nosse potuimus,eligendisuntcum quibus non indigne quaestio ista tractetur. Cf. Krämer (), –, –, ;O’Donnell (), –;Brown (), –;Conybeare (), . 4.3 Augustine’sLettertoDioscorus 173 surprising thatinhis letter to Dioscorus,Augustine, derogatory about other schools,⁹² is most strident about denouncing Epicurean philosophy, and partic- ularlytheirtheories of ancientatomism:⁹³
Epicurus indeed posits in the very beginning of the world onlyatoms, that is, acertain mat- tersosmall that it cannot be divided or perceivedeither by sight or by touch. And he says that by the fortuitous clash of this matter countless celestial bodies,livingbeings,souls themselves, and the gods come into existence.
Although it is clear that Epicurus conflictedwith Augustine’sviews because, ac- cording to the Gospel of John (1:1– 2),the wordofGod rather than the atoms ex- isted exclusively in the beginning of the world, his polemics against atomism are intense but not very specific here. The main thrust of his refutation is against Ep- icurean optics (4.30 –31) and he cites divine providence as contradictingthe for- tuitous clash of atoms (4.31). He also connects materialist philosophywith sin and sexual indulgence: “There exists such agreat blindness of minds because of the voracity of sinsand the loveofthe flesh, that even their freaky opinions could waste the leisure of the learned in disputing them.”⁹⁴ In TheUsefulness of Belief (4.10), Augustine givesamore detailedexplana- tion of whyEpicurean atomism is fundamentallyopposed to Christian faith. Au- gustine addresses this work to aformer Manichaean friend whom he seeks to turn away from heresy.This again indicates the contiguity contemporaryMani- chaeans were felt to have with the Epicurean tradition. WhyAugustine did not introduce these themes in his exchangewith Dioscorus is not clear,but it is prob- able thatheconsidered this knowledge to be unsuitable for Dioscorus on ac- count of his youth and the relativelyunset nature of his Christian faith. Augus- tine’sargument is that we have to trust the authorities, much as we do in school, and that some texts,although initiallydifficult,repaythe time and effort re- quired to engagewith them. In this latter context,Augustine sees “three kinds of error to which men are liable when they read.”⁹⁵ The first kind of error is to accept as true what is written, even though the author himself was aware that it is false. He givesthe description of afterlife in Vergil’s Aeneid as an example.
Aug. ep. ..:Academicians, Cicero, :Anaxagoras, –:Atomists. Aug. ep. ..: Epicurus vero neque aliquid in principiis rerumponit praeter atomos,idest corpuscula quaedamtam minuta, ut iam dividi nequeant neque sentiri aut visu aut tactu possint, quorum corpusculorum concursu fortuito et mundos innumerabiles et animantia et ipsas animas fieri dicit et deos. Aug. ep. ..: cum igitur tanta sit caecitas mentium per ingluviem peccatorum amorem- que carnis,utetiam ista sententiarum portenta otia doctorum contereredisputando potuerint. Aug. util. cred. .: tria generasunterroris,quibus homines errant, cum aliquid legunt. 174 4Materialist Philosophy
The third kind of error is one thatcould actuallyservetothe reader’sadvantage as Augustine givesthe example of someone who reads that Epicurus praised continence(in accordancewith Christian morals)and wronglyassumes that Ep- icurus believed in virtue rather than in bodilyjoy as the Supreme Good (this means, for example, that excessive eating and drinking needstobeavoided be- cause it can make people sick rather thanbecause it is morallywrong). The sec- ond kind of error certainlyisthe most detrimental, accordingtoAugustine:⁹⁶
if someone weretosuppose it as true and to be believed that the soul consists of atoms and after death is dissolvedinto the same atoms and perishes,because Lucretius wrote it.For he is no less miserable if he is convinced in so great amatter that this error is true, however much Lucretius, whose books have deceived him, imagined that.
Augustine outlines thatthe doctrinal problem with ancientatomism here (as in Lucretius’ De rerumnatura)isthatitweakens the likelihood of punishments in hell, which in turn serveasadeterrent to commit sin as causing these punish- ments. Augustine appears to be following the view of earlier apologists that if the soul consists of atoms which after death remain in the material world, then human bodies cannotenter the afterlife (heaven, purgatory or hell) nor be resurrected at the Second ComingofChrist.Aswewill see, Augustine’scon- demnation of Epicurean atomism is closer to Prudentius than to John Chrysos- tom, who sawthe automatic movementsofatoms as not in accordance with the power of the HolySpiritastheall-mover and giveroflife. In the next section Ishallshow thatAugustine attributed to the demonicalcity of Babylon those philosophical opinions which contradicted the Bible in ways like these, arguing that therefore anybooks containingthese traditions needed to be shunned.
4.4 The Eschatological Cities of Babylon and Jerusalem
The didactic letter to Dioscorus is not exceptional for the later Augustine. It is well known that Augustine wasmotivated to write the eschatological City of God against the Pagans (between c. 411and 427) because he wanted to refute the views of contemporary pagans who werearguingagainst the domination of Christianity. The original inspiration for his magnum opus was the sack of
Aug. util. cred. .: si quis,quia Lucretius animam ex atomis esse scribit eamque post mor- tem in easdem atomos solui atque interire, id verumacsibicredendum arbitretur. nam et hic non minus miser est, si de re tanta id quod falsum est pro certo sibi persuasit, quamquam id Lucretius, cuius libris deceptus est, opinatus sit. 4.4 The EschatologicalCities of Babylon and Jerusalem 175
Rome in 410. This event had strengthened the position of those who argued that the neglect of the old gods and the imperial religious policy against them had contributed to the military downfall of the empire. Augustine’smain argument is that Rome rose to power because of divine providencerather thanthe pagan demons, thus preparingthe dissemination of Christianity. The City of God arguablybecame the most important text next to the Bible in the Middle Ages and its attitudes and strategies with which it engaged with the pagan liter- ary patrimonyand particularlywith materialist philosophies are thereforeimpor- tant. While the City of God has often been read as an outstanding example of Christian scholarship engagingwith and borrowing from Platonic and Neopla- tonic philosophies, this section will show that Augustine was as intolerant of philosophical opinions disagreeing with the Bible as he was with regard to he- retical literature, arguing that,given the importance of his work, his attitudes mayhaveplayedarole in some texts surviving and others being lost as well as that they shaped later scholarlyengagements with ancient philosophical tra- ditions. Starting with his citation of Varro’sdivision of Romanreligion, this sec- tion will go on to discuss Augustine’spolemics against materialist philosophies, their link to Roman religion and Augustine’sattitudes towards censorship and book-burning. Augustine drawsonthe authority of the famous ancientscholarVarro(116– 27)tounderpin his point that anumber of literary genres are unworthyofpre- servation and should rather be removed and forgotten. Varro’sworks are lost today, but Augustine still had access to the work that he citesfor this purpose (Antiquitates rerum humanarumetdivinarum), the content of which is known principallydue to the information provided by Christian authors, aboveall Augustine.⁹⁷ In making his point,Augustine refers to Varro’sstructuring of the genres of pagan theology(generatheologiae): these are designated the mythical (mythicon), the physical (physicon), and the civil (civile), which are attributed to the poets, the philosophers, and the populace respectively.Astophysical theol- ogy, “concerning which the philosophers have left manybooks”,Varro notes,di- verse opinions had been discussed by the Stoics,the Pythagoreans,and the atomistic Epicureans.Augustine concedes the point that Varro had criticisedpo- etry as fictitious, immoral, and unworthyofthe gods and that he had had the physical kind (natural philosophy) “removed from the forum, however,that is,
Aug. civ. ..See Hagendahl (), –. 176 4Materialist Philosophy from the people, but enclosed it behindthe walls of the school.”⁹⁸ In endorsing Varro’sposition, Augustine is clear,asheisinthe letter to Dioscorus, thatma- terialistic philosophical systems and their physical world views should have no place in Christian society,asherepeatedlyimplies throughout the City of God. Book 18 of the City of God is apertinentexample for Augustine’spolemics against the old philosophers, whom he attributes to the sinful, demonicalcity of Babylon, which in the Bible is destroyed for its pride, while alsoacknowledg- ing their tremendousinfluenceonRoman society just avery few centuries ago. Thus, Augustine mentions the seven sages⁹⁹ and the first philosophers, such as the pre-Socratic Anaximander, Anaximenes, Xenophanes, and Pythagoras.They lived, Augustine alleges, “when the people of God wereheld captive in Babylon”, following Eusebius.¹⁰⁰ Augustine constructs acompetition between pagan and Christian discourses,noting that by comparison with the beliefs of the philoso- phers, the predictions of the prophets concerning the gospel and the Church are true and that the writingsofthe prophets had allegedlybeen circulating already before the philosophers.¹⁰¹ Developing this thought, Augustine puts the rejection of the writingsofthe ancient philosophers alongsidethatofuncanonicalbiblical writingsascontrary to the truth of canonicalbooksintwo separate paragraphs.Astocanonical scripture (scripturae canonicae), Augustine admits therehad been, and are still brought forward (proferuntur), other prophetic writings “but the purity of the canon has not admitted these works.” They are rejected as unauthentic espe- ciallywhen “in these anything is read that is even contrary to the faith of the canonicalbooks.”¹⁰² Augustine goes on to saythat the philosopherstoo pro- duced diverse opinions contrary to the truth. As they wereinspired by adesire for personal glory rather thandevotion to God,Augustine argues, they are to be shunned. He givesthe examples of this philosophic tendencytovainglory as the Epicureans,the Stoics,and the Socratic Aristippus and Antisthenes. Be- cause they existed as one of aseries of competingdiscourses (whereas Augustine argues that the Bible’sstrength and purity is that it offers onlyone), they belong to the “city of demon-worship.”¹⁰³ Like in the letter to Dioscorus,Augustine im-
Aug. civ. . (CCSL :): de quo multos librosphilosophi reliquerunt … removit tamen hoc genus aforo, id est apopulis;scholis veroetparietibus clausit. Aug. civ. .. Aug. civ. . (CCSL :): quo captivus Dei populus in Babylonia tenebatur. Aug. civ. .–. Aug. civ. . (CCSL :, ): sed ea castitas canonis non recepit … in quibus etiam contrafidem librorumcanonicorum quaedam leguntur. Aug. civ. . (CCSL :): daemonicola civitate. 4.4 The EschatologicalCities of Babylon and Jerusalem 177 plies thatbecause the teachers and studentsnow are Christians, the oldphilos- ophershad no place in the schools of rhetoric:¹⁰⁴
Finally, let our own authors,among whomthe canon of sacred writings is effectively fixed and limited, be far fromdisagreeingwith each other in anyrespect! It is thereforewith good reasonthat not just afew babblers in controversial disputations in schools and gymnasia, but so great numbers of people, in the country and in the towns,learned and unlearned alike, did believethat God was speakingtothem or through them, when they wrote these books.Itwas trulyfittingthat the authors themselvesshould be few in number […]For among the multitude of philosophers whohaveleft behind monuments of their teachings also in their literary efforts,noone will easilyfind anywho agreeinevery re- spect.
While Ihaveshown that the original texts of school-founders such as Epicurus werehardlystudied after the third century,wehaveseen that the Epicurean and Stoic branches of philosophywere, by contrast,the most popular among the elites of the RomanEmpire in the first centuries AD.Augustine refers to and con- demns this popularity:¹⁰⁵
Indeed, the philosophers debated publiclyinbands,each in favour of their own opinion, in the conspicuous and well-known Portico [the Stoics], in the gymnasia, in gardens,and in places public and private. Some asserted that there is onlyone world, others that there are innumerableworlds [Epicureans]; some said that this one world came intoexistence, oth- ers that it had no beginning; some that it will perish, others that it will exist forever; some said that it is drivenbyadivine mind, others by fortune and chance; some said that souls areimmortal, others mortal; fromthose whothoughtthe souls are immortal,some said that they passed intoanimals [Pythagoreans …]Some said that we should always trust the senses of the body…
Aug. civ. . (CCSL :): denique auctores nostri, in quibus non frustrasacrarum lit- terarum figitur et terminatur canon, absit ut inter se aliqua ratione dissentiant. unde non inmerito, cum illa scriberent, eis Deum vel per eos locutum, non pauci in scholis atque gymnasiis litigiosis disputationibus garruli, sed in agris atque urbibus cum doctis atque indoctis tot tantique populi crediderunt. ipsi sane pauci esse debuerunt … neque enim in multitudine philosophorum, qui la- boreetiam litterario monumenta suorum dogmatum reliquerunt, facile quis invenerit, inter quos cuncta quae sensereconveniant. Aug. civ. . (CCSL :–): nempe palam in conspicuaetnotissima porticu, in gym- nasiis,inhortulis,inlocis publicis ac privatis catervatim pro sua quisque opinione certabant, alii adserentes unum, alii innumerabiles mundos;ipsum autem unum alii ortum esse, alii vero initium non habere; alii interiturum, alii semper futurum; alii mente divina, alii fortuito et casibus agi; alii inmortales esse animas,alii mortales;etqui inmortales,alii revolvi in bestias … alii sensibus cor- poris semper … putantes esse credendum. 178 4MaterialistPhilosophy
This passagesummarises the various pointsofconflict that existed between Christianityand the oldphilosophies, notablythe origin, duration and size of the world, the interference of the divine with human beings, the nature of souls and the science of the senses (as represented, for example, in optics and acoustics). As can be seen, Augustine is inherentlycritical of the pagan Roman state of the past as it did not ban deviant philosophical teaching:¹⁰⁶
Have anypeople or senate, anypowerorpublic authority of the ungodlycity,evertaken care to judge these and other of the nearlycountless opinionsofthe philosophers, to ap- proveand receive some, to reject and dismiss others?
To Augustine, Rome had therefore “rightlyreceivedthe symbolic name of Baby- lon, for Babylon means confusion” and he positions all of the philosophers as belongingtothe devil, the king of the city.¹⁰⁷ The referencetoBabylon is both metaphoricallyloaded and polemicallysignificant.Inthe biblical book of Gen- esis, God destroyed the tower of Babylon as amanifestation of human pride and ambition.Elsewhere, Augustine notes thatBabylon had been punished in its pride (superbia), which was located in the tongue(lingua).¹⁰⁸ In asimilar vein, Prudentius usesthe metaphors of the tonguethroughout his work, notablythe Romanushymn. This shows the agreement of leadingChristian authors that Christianityhad overcome the old philosophies of the RomanEmpire, indicating that it was as intolerant of the views proposed by these philosophies as it was intolerantofheretical opinions. While Augustine thereforeclearlydisapproves of materialist philosophies, it must of course also be noted that he was far from condemningancient philoso- phyasawhole, but thathefound those philosophicalopinions to be useful that agreed with Christianity. Forexample, following the discourse above, Augustine argues that the philosophers had occasionallyfound some truths, but that in these instancesthey wereinspired by God and thereforepaved the waytoChris- tianity.Hegives alist of philosophicaltruths that thus agreed with Christianity: “that God made this world as ajust world and that he himself administers it by his very providence,the nobility of virtue, the loveofcountry,the fidelity in
Aug. civ. . (CCSL :): has et alias paene innumerabiles dissensiones philosophorum quis umquam populus,quis senatus,quae potestas vel dignitas publica impiae civitatis diiudican- das et alias probandas ac recipiendas,alias inprobandas repudiandasque curavit. Aug. civ. . (CCSL :): non frustratalis civitas mysticumvocabulum Babylonis acce- perit. Babylon interpretatur quippe confusio;cf. van Oort (), –. Aug. civ. . (CCSL :); cf. Gen. :–. 4.4 The Eschatological Cities of Babylon and Jerusalem 179 friendship, good works and everything pertainingtodecent morals.”¹⁰⁹ This list illustrates the rangeofsubjects thatactually werethe most likelytobepreserved and transmittedinChristian institutions. Just like in his letter to Dioscorus and contemplating about the justification of heretics within God’splan, however,Augustine perceivesthe danger threaten- ing the Church of his days deriving not anymorefrom the philosophers, attrib- uted to Babylon, the city of confusion, but from non-conformist Christians:¹¹⁰
But the devil, seeingthe temples of the demons deserted and humankind runningtothe name of the mediatorwho freesus, has moved the heretics, whounder the Christian name resisted the Christian doctrine,asifthese could be held indifferentlyinthe City of God without anycensure,just as the city of confusion indifferentlyheld the philosophers whohad diverse and mutually contradictory views.[…]For all the enemies of the Church, however blinded by error or depravedbymaliciousness,exercise her patienceifthey re- ceivethe power of inflictingbodilyharm; whereas if they oppose her onlybytheir evil thoughts,they exercise her wisdom. Moreover,they exercise her benevolence, or even char- ity,sothat she mayshow loveeventoher enemies,whethershe deals with them by per- suasive teachingorbyterrible discipline.
Augustine, similarlytoJohn Chrysostom, compares people with deviant philo- sophical opinions to persecutors while acknowledging that the counter-argu- ments by philosophers have shaped Christian theologyand caused the specifi- callyChristian kind of loveshown to these enemies. To my mind, Augustine thinks thatdemons are causing these opinionsand are therefore persecuting other human beings. This explains whybook-burning was seen as acure and as an act of charity because book-burning exorcised the demons. This passage also indicates that Augustine expected deviant philosophical opinions to be pro- posed by non-conformistChristians rather thanpagans, but this does not neces-
Aug. civ. . (CCSL :–): quod mundum iustum Deus fecerit eumque ipse providen- tissimus administret, de honestatevirtutum, de amorepatriae, de fide amicitiae, de bonis operibus atque omnibus ad mores probos pertinentibus rebus;onfriendship, White(). Aug. civ. . (CCSL :–): videns autem diabolus templa daemonum deseri et in nomen liberantis mediatoris curreregenus humanum,haereticos movit, qui sub vocabulo christi- ano doctrinae resisterent christianae, quasi possent indifferenter sine ulla correptione haberi in civitate Dei, sicut civitas confusionis indifferenter habuit philosophos inter se diversaetadversa sentientes. … inimici enim omnes ecclesiae, quolibet errorecaecentur velmalitia depraventur,si accipiunt potestatem corporaliter affligendi, exercent eius patientiam; si tantummodo male sen- tiendo adversantur,exercent eius sapientiam; ut autem etiam inimici diligantur,exercent eius be- nevolentiam aut etiam beneficentiam, sive suadibili doctrina cum eis agatursive terribili discipli- na. 180 4MaterialistPhilosophy sarilymeanthat he did not expectpagans to come up with such arguments, al- though they werefewer in number. Within this discourse of distinguishing pro-Christian and anti-Christian phil- osophical opinions, Augustine endorses Plato for his condemnation of poetry so much thatheevenfinds it respectable that M. Antistius Labeo (jurist of the Au- gustan age) ranked Platoamong the demigods, although he notes that attribut- ing divine honours to Plato is not in accordancewith Christianity. Rather,he thinks that Plato is ultimatelyinferior to anyfaithful Christian (2.14). Other phil- osophical schools,however,are to be detested if they werenot in accordance with Christianity,implying that theirtermination is asign of divine providence:¹¹¹
These arethe inventions of men who, endowed with the brightest intellects,tried to inves- tigatebyreason, as far as they could,whatwas hidden in the laws of nature, what should be desiredand avoided in the field of morals, and what, in the rules of logic, can be derived by strict deduction or what was inconsequentorevenerroneous.And some of them, when they were supported by God, did makecertain great discoveries.But when impeded by their human nature, they were wrong,especiallywhen the divine providence justlyresisted their pride in order to demonstrateevenbycomparison with them that the path of piety ascends from humility to the highest regions.
In context,Augustine puts poetry (but not classicalpoetry as awhole) and an- cient philosophy(except for Plato) alongside pagan cult practice.Itisworth not- ing that his statement on investigations into natural laws is close to the wording of an imperial lawinterdicting such practices.¹¹² Augustine clearlyalludes to Ep- icureanism because he directlyinverts the rhetoric of acouple of lines by Lucre- tius, who wrotethat people ascend to heavenifthey understand that the divine is not the cause of bodilymovements.¹¹³ Compoundinghis attitudes towards censorship with his views on non-Pla- tonic philosophers, in another section Augustine puts the writingsofnon-Platon- ic philosophers on alevel with Numa’sbooks and alsowith certain other priestly
Aug. civ. . (CCSL :–): …sed hominum inventa,qui utcumque conati sunt ingeniis acutissimispraediti ratiocinando vestigare, quid in rerum naturalatitaret, quid in moribus adpe- tendum esset atque fugiendum, quid in ipsis ratiocinandi regulis certa conexione traheretur,aut quid non esset consequens veletiam repugnaret. et quidam eorum quaedam magna, quantum di- vinitus adiuti sunt, invenerunt; quantum autem humanitus impediti sunt, erraverunt, maxime cum eorum superbiae iuste providentia divina resisteret, ut viam pietatis ab humilitateinsuperna sur- gentem etiam istorum comparatione monstraret. See p. above. Lucr. .–, –: …effringere ut arta | naturae primus portarum claustracupiret | … quare religio pedibus subiecta vicissim | obteritur,nos exaequat victoria caelo. 4.4 The Eschatological Cities of Babylon and Jerusalem 181 records accountingfor the humanity of Capitoline gods. It is decisive that he ar- gues that what these latter twogroups have in common is that they wereeither actuallyburnt, or proposed to be burnt,bypagans,while insisting that the ma- terialist philosophers who “have said that corporeal entities are the cause and beginning of nature” must give place to the Platonists “who have said that the true God is the author of nature.” Augustine thereforerules out the possibility that the world came into existencebythe clash of atoms and instead favours di- vine creation as the origin of the world. The examples he givesofthese materi- alist philosophersare Thales, Anaximenes,the Stoics,and Epicurus. Their opin- ions are considered, on various grounds,tobeequallycontrary to Christianity as the aforementioned records had been to the old religions and need to cease (ce- dere)asmuch as the mythical (poetry and theatre) and civil (temple) theologies. Within this context,Augustine again singles out Epicurean atomism as contra- dicting Christianity.¹¹⁴ This shows, Isuggest,that Augustine was very close to proposingthatnon-Platonic philosophicalbooks – if still circulating – should be burnt as much as he considered the accounts of Roman religion as worthy of destruction for the sake of Christianity and that his workcould easilybeun- derstood in this way. In asimilar vein it appears quite natural to him that certain authorsofthe past,such as Stoic philosophers, werenow dwelling in hell, as if their bodies werepunished for the corpus of literature they produced.¹¹⁵ While it must be noted that this does not necessarilymean that Christians actuallyburnt books following Augustine’stext,onbalance it seems plausible that his text had anegative impact on the text transmission or future re-emergenceofopinions related to these philosophies otherthan in the context of condemnation. In summary,inthe eschatological City of God,arguably the single most in- fluential workinthe West throughout the Middle Ages after the Bible,¹¹⁶ Augus- tine lays out his strongdisapproval of much of pagan philosophy – with the ex- ception of appropriated Platonism – as aligned with non-conformist Christian works or oral traditions. His treatment of Epicurean traditions in particular sug- gests that this tradition was not completelyforgotten by well-educated Christians or by pagans. As in the lettertoDioscorus,heperceivesthese philosophies as dangerous because they continued to inform contemporary non-conformist Christians, but he also seems to implythatcontemporary pagans too werestill familiar with materialist discourses and thereforeargued against Christianity. As the unity of Christianityisstill under threat from these discourses,the city
Aug. civ. . (CCSL :, ): Platonicis philosophis cedant, qui verum Deum et rerum auctorem … esse dixerunt … corpora, causam principiumque rerumesse dixerunt. Aug. civ. .;cf. Aug. ep. ..;Brown (), . See VanOort (), – on the influence of this work. 182 4Materialist Philosophy of God thus represents an eschatological ideal state that Augustine feels is cur- rentlyunrealised on earth. From this perspective,the City of God accords that certain philosophicaltenetsthat contradict the Bible need to be censured in an ideal Christian society,while other (idealist) philosophical tenets, despite their pagan origin, can actuallybehelpful. It is, in Augustine’sopinion, Epicu- rean natural philosophythat poses the most serious threats to coreaspectsof Christianity, such as creation, the nature of the soul, afterlife and the Second Coming of Christ.These views, while discussed alreadybyearlyChristian au- thors, became prominent in the fourth and earlyfifth centuries. In the next sec- tion Iwill show that Augustine’scontemporary Prudentius shared these views.
4.5 Prudentius and Epicurus
While Augustine’s City of God represents the appropriation of philosophyinthe service of religion, the work of Prudentius can be read as part of the Christian transformation of classical literary genres as wellasoutlining the reservations of some Christians against inheriting or preservingaspecificallypagan literary heritage. Prudentius would have agreed with Paulinus of Nola,who noted that all Christian poetry needed to be purified of the Muses, and purgedofits pagan content.¹¹⁷ Nowhereisthis transformative process more prominentlyde- picted by Prudentius than it is in his masterpiece, the Psychomachia. In the first battle scene the allegory of Paganism is smashed to the ground, just like an idol, her headtrampled down by Faith. It depicts paganism, however,as far from being dead: “The passagetothe throat is cut off, having been discon- nected and squeezing the evil soul, while her long gasps distress her death, mak- ing it difficult.”¹¹⁸ Ihaveargued elsewherethat the long death of Paganism foregrounds that openlyreligious pagans existed into the earlyfifth century.¹¹⁹ In this scene, Pa- ganism’sheadisdressed in “fillets” (vittae), which represent both priests in charge of sacrificesand poets.¹²⁰ Furthermore, Gnilka has noted aparallel be- tween this and apassageinLucretius, whereEpicurus (who explained the world without the interferenceofgods) tramplesonthe head of religion.¹²¹
Paul. Nol. carm. .–. Prud. psych. –: animamque malignam | fracta intercepti commercia gutturis artant, | dif- ficilemque obitum suspiria longa fatigant. Rohmann(). See Stat. Ach. .;Mastrangelo (), – on adiscussion. Lucr. .–;Gnilka(), –. 4.5 Prudentius and Epicurus 183
Figure 2. Indersdorfmonastery(Bavaria), ceiling fresco, scene from the lifeofStAugustine, 1755 by MatthiasGünther.Augustine hurling lightning bolts, which strike the booksand physical instruments of the false teachers, who fall into an abyss; next to Augustine the allegoryofthe Church, beneath the allegories of Europe, Africa and Asia. Photo: The Warburg Institute, with kind permission of the Indersdorfparish, photographed by Berthold Kress 184 4Materialist Philosophy
From this perspective,itappears thatPrudentius was thinkingofpagan groups who had been silenced in retaliation, although in ametaphorical picture. Augus- tine employed asimilar metaphor in his Confessions wherehenotes his regret that his earlywritings (more sympathetic with his education in the classics and ancient philosophies) had “still exhalated the school of pride as if in deadlock.”¹²² He was probablyalludingtohis previous endorsement of Epicu- reanism. To my mind, it is decisive thatbythe end of the poem sapientia (Chris- tian wisdom)rules over the temple of man’ssoul, holding asceptreprefigured by Aaron’sstaff. This imageoriginatedinthe Book of Exodus (7:8 – 13) whereMoses used the staff to swallow the serpents summonedbythe wise men and magi- cians in Egypt.Symbolically, it is chosen to show how Christianity had overcome ancient wisdom. In this section Ishallthereforeargue thatPrudentius was in manywaysclose to Augustine especiallyinhis polemical sections that engaged with traditions from materialist philosophies and that,while it can perhapsnot be proven who was building on whom, acertain amount of intertextuality be- tween the twoauthorsappears to be likely. As Ihavesaid before,itisextremelyunlikelythat there wereStoics or Epi- cureans left by that time in the sense of acultureorcommunity,but it is likely that some of the tenets of these once influential schools wereextant,for exam- ple, in astrological or heretical writings, in handbooks, notebooks or in oral tra- dition.Itisalso likelythese ideas had alingering influence. Afterall, we have seen that contemporary senatorslike Praetextatus and Nicomachus Flavianus wereinterested in natural philosophyand in Epicurus, and Prudentius may sometimesbealludingtothis influence. Even Prudentius himself can be positioned as an example of this ongoing transmission. That he was trainedinrhetoric cannot onlybededuced from his frequent imitation of classical lines, such as from Vergil, Ovid, and Horace, but is also evidenced from the prefacetothe Cathemerinon. Prudentius com- plains about his education in rhetoric and jurisprudence that had taught him to uttersins.¹²³ It has been established long agothat this otherwise Christian poet appropriated verse material from the Epicurean poem De rerum natura by Lucretius.¹²⁴ It is intriguing thathedoes so primarilyinhis two apologetic poems against heresy,the Apotheosis and the Hamartigenia. Both poemscon-
Aug. conf. .: adhuc superbiae scholam tamquam in pausatione anhelantibus. Prud. praef. –;cf. Aug. in evang.Ioh. ..Inperist. ,Prudentius narrates the example of the martyr Cassian, whowas detained as aChristian teacher and stabbed to death by the pens of his pupils,whom he mistreated. Perhaps Prudentius had bad memories about his own edu- cation. Brakman (). 4.5 Prudentius and Epicurus 185 demn Epicurean traditions. The Apotheosis defends the orthodoxassumption of creation out of nothing (Apoth.782 ff.), which contradicted the Epicurean concept of causation (nothing can be produced from nothing). In this, Prudentius specif- icallypolemicizes against Manichaeism (Apoth.952– 8) in order to defend the in- carnationofJesus despite the Manichaean counter-argument thatmatter is im- perfect.Inthis context,Prudentius mentions the “shadow of an abstruse doctrine, which is informed by [the theory of]fine atoms with aminute structure.”¹²⁵ While he could be referring onlytothe flimsiness of Manichaen doctrines, its wording and sentiment aligns it to the claims of other Christian au- thors that Manichaeans borrowed elements from Epicurean atomism. Similarly,the Origin of Sin (Hamartigenia)polemicizesagainst Epicurean teaching, while using spoils from Lucretius.Insummary,the poem as awhole is written against Marcion (pr. 36), who as we have seen was chargedwith having borrowed some aspects from Epicurean philosophy. In its main section, Pruden- tius explains that all things, includingthe devil (as afallen angel) but excepting God, true wisdom (164: sapientia vera)and the HolySpirit,are from nothing (162–4: ex nihilo). He alsointroduces apolemical discourse on the Epicurean no- tion of joy (252, 314: voluptas)and the related concepts of libido (253,305) and of indulgence(282, 298: luxus). In this work, Prudentius argues that current earth- quakes,natural disasters and invasions are caused by sin (236–43,492– 505), that is the affinity of contemporaries to voluptas (244–345, 506–620), rather than by natural phenomena of the material world, aview represented by Lucre- tius. Ithereforeagree with Dykes’ reading of the poem as appealing to the re- sponsibilityofthe reader to accept that his sins affect the cosmic order.¹²⁶ These motifsare mirrored in another work by Prudentius, book two of Contra Symmachum. Using afictitious speech of the emperors Valentinianand Gratian, Prudentius statesSymmachus’ famous quotation: “We cannot attain to so great a mystery by one wayalone.”¹²⁷ With this line, the pagan senator Symmachus wanted to persuade the emperors to be tolerant in religious matters and not to privilegeChristianity onlybut to allow different ways of religious cult practice. In presentingcounter-arguments to Symmachus’ plea to allow amultitude of ways in worship (90), Prudentius warns against belief in natural philosophy, ar- guing that God has power over his creation and is thereforeabletocause the end of the world: “Poor mortals, let not the teachings of the natural philosophers de-
Prud. apoth. –: …nebulosi dogmatis umbram | prodere, quam tenues atomi conpage minuta | instituunt. Dykes (). Symm. rel. .: uno itinerenon potest perveniri ad tam grande secretum. 186 4MaterialistPhilosophy ceive you!”¹²⁸ The line also appears to be an indirect allusion to the pagan notion of the independent movementofelements, posited by natural philosophers, as Prudentius indicates afew lines further below.¹²⁹ It specificallyappears to be ar- guing against Epicureanism, noting that bodily joy (voluptas)needstobeover- come by Christian values (146). Prudentius aligns Symmachus’ pagan position with the Epicurean belief in joy as the highest good, based on the view that there is no afterlife and that the movementofinanimate objects in the world are directed by no god.¹³⁰ This whole section is paralleledinthe prefacetothe Apotheosis: the wrong wayofphilosophy(16: iter devium)actuallylead men to stray from the wayof salvation (5: via). In this, aband of enemies has prepared manifold ways to drag people into hell by fooling them into accepting libido (5–17). This again il- lustrates the wicked nature of the demonswhich inspire philosophical opinions contrary to the Bible in order to produce sexual urgesinhuman beingsand thus to bar them from salvation. In sum, we have seen thatboth Prudentius and Augustine continued to argueagainst materialist philosophy, particularlyagainst Epicureanism in the earlyfifth centuryand thatitistherefore likelythat they perceivedEpicurean tra- ditionsasacontinuous threat to the unity of the Church. However,both authors perceivedthese old philosophiesashardlydangerous anymore except when put forward by non-conformist Christians, although within the works of bothauthors there seems to be acertain expectation that Epicurean ideas continued to circu- late among pagans in writing or oral culture. In the next section, Ishallargue that two polemical authors from the Greek East in the late fourth and early fifth centuries displaysimilar attitudes in this regard.
4.6 Polemicsagainst MaterialistPhilosophies in the East
Forthe purpose of this chapter,itisparticularlyinteresting to track down John Chrysostom’sattacks on the materialistic, Stoic and Epicurean, philosophies in order to determine whether these schools had been entirely forgotten or were still receivedbyJohn’scontemporaries. It is well-established that Christian au- thors frequentlyengaged with, and borrowed from, ancient philosophical schools, such as from the Stoicsand even the Epicureans.Itisthereforenot sur-
Prud. c.Symm. .: nil vos,omiseri, physicorum dogmata fallant. Prud. c.Symm. .: unus ego [Deus] elementa rego. Prud. c.Symm. .–. 4.6 Polemicsagainst MaterialistPhilosophies in the East 187 prising thatalongside manyother Christian authors, John in his sermons and treatises engageswith them as being in conflict with Christianity. Examining John’spolemicaldiscourse against philosophical schools willhelp us under- stand the reasons whyChristian clerics wanted to ban certain philosophical texts as obstaclestosalvation because of their link to demonic possession. The main reason giveninthe sourcematerial is the deviation of these discourses from the Bible on points of natural philosophy. Forexample, John criticised the Stoic interpretation of the world as “bodyand fire” while at the same time sug- gesting that the influenceofthe Stoics had now declined. He suggeststhat,at the time of writing,evenordinary uneducated men weresure thatthe world had been created by God.¹³¹ Ihaveshownthat the Epicureans,popularduringthe imperial period, were also vehementlyattacked by Christian authors. In a Homily on the Acts of the Apostles (related to Acts 17:16 – 33), John argues against bothschools. Ihaveal- readydiscussed the passagefrom the Acts of the Apostles in section 3.1, but John adds manyfurther interpretations to this passage. He writes that when Paul came to Athens he found it “acity full of idols” and “acity of talkers.”¹³² This is in line with the usual derogatory description of philosophersasbabblers. John’stext suggests thatitwas while Paul was preachinginthe marketplace that he came across Stoic and Epicurean philosophers, whom John describes as “children” debating “children’sfancies [and the] ravingsofdrunken men.”¹³³ Threatened by Paul’steachings,itproposes that some of these men chargedhim with introducing foreign demons to the city and brought him to the Areopagus, whereinclassicaltimes trials for murder were held, in order to scare him.¹³⁴ But in his speech there, John argues that Paul “overturned all the doctrines of the philosophers. Forthe Epicureans saythat the movements of the universe have amechanicalnature and are conjoined with atoms.”¹³⁵ To John, then, the scientific “hypotheses”¹³⁶ of these philosophieswerein- compatible with the existence of God. To John, God makes up the universe and everything thatistherein, acompleteness of creation that excludes partial
Chrys. hom. in Ac. (PG :). Acts :;Chrys. hom. in Ac. (PG :–). Chrys. hom. in Ac. , (PG :, ): ταῦτα δὲ παίδων εὑρήματα, καὶ μεθυόντων ἀνθρώπων ἐστιν. Chrys. hom. in Ac. (PG :); cf. Chrys. hom. in Ac. (PG :): καταπλήξοντες. Chrys. hom. in Ac. (PG :): πάντα κατέστρεψε τὰ τῶνφιλοσόφων. οἱ μὲνγὰρἘπι- κούρειοι αὐτόματά φασιν εἶναι τὰ πάντα, καὶἀπὸἀτόμων συνεστάναι. Chrys. hom. in Ac. (PG :): ὑποτιθέντες. 188 4Materialist Philosophy entities such as the atoms of Epicureanism. As God is boththe creator (poietés) and the lord (kýrios)hecreates all and everything in the world, includingits movements and energies. John’sreadingofthis is derivedfrom Paul’sspeech in the Acts: “he givestoall life and breath”–anotion of the HolySpirit as the “lord and giveroflife” that was included in the Nicene Creed.¹³⁷ The world and all therein is the “work of God.” Such aposition contradicts the re- ceivedwisdom of Epicurean philosophyasitperceivesthe natural laws that cause mechanicalmovementsasdemons: “His argument is an accusation against the atoms and against matter.Hethen proved that it is not partial. […] He said thatGod himself is the creator of heavenand earth, surely not the partial demons.”¹³⁸ John’steleologicalproof of God’sexistenceestablishes thatatoms cannot exist as partial, uncreated entities: “If he is God, then clearlyhemade all; but if he made not,heisnot God. Godsthat made not heavenand earth, he said, let them perish.”¹³⁹ So much did John adhere to physical explanations giveninthe Bible that, against ancientmodels of the world, he claimed the earth to float flat on the water,and argued that God causedthe changes of seasons in order to produce new seeds, and organized the length of daylighttofit into the human works that depend on warm weather.¹⁴⁰ Referring to the authority of the prophets, John interprets the fact thatthe earth did neither sink nor dissolve in the water despite its heavy weight as afurther proof for the power of God.¹⁴¹ At the end of this sermon, John again warns of the dangers of philosophical arguments against creation and Judgment Day, noting thatthe auditors should diligentlysearch for anysin committed.¹⁴² He drawsonthe example of achild that had lost its voice in afever attack but whose speech afterwards was mirac- ulouslyhealed by God.¹⁴³ It is intriguingtointerpret the child as asimile to the philosophers, who are sometimes named children in John. He then compares the
Chrys. hom. in Ac. (PG :): διδοὺς, φησὶ, ζωὴνκαὶπνοήν.John quotes Acts :. Chrys. hom. in Ac. (PG :): κατηγορίατῶντεἀτόμων καὶ τῆς ὕλης. ἐνταῦθα δεί- κνυσιν, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι μερικὴ … οὗτος, φησὶν, οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆςΚύριος. οὐκοῦνοὐχοἱμερικοὶ δαίμονες. Chrys. hom. in Ac. (PG :): εἰ Θεὸς, πάντα ἐποίησε δηλόνοτι· εἰ δὲ μὴἐποίησεν, οὐ Θεός. θεοὶ, οἳ τὸνοὐρανὸνκαὶτὴνγῆν,φησὶν, οὐκ ἐποίησαν, ἀπολέσθωσαν.Referringto Jer. :. See Chrys. hom. in Mt. (PG :), hom. in Mt. (PG :); hom. in Heb. (PG :)with Brändle (), ; stat. .– (PG :–); similarly, Ath. gent. ., ..Lact. inst. . toobelieved in aflat earth. Chrys. stat. . (PG :–). Chrys. hom. in Ac. (PG :). Chrys. hom. in Ac. (PG :). 4.6 Polemics against Materialist Philosophies in the East 189 child’smiracle-healing to the magic trials in Antioch, wherebooksof“magic” weresearched out and burnt.The dangers of possessing or hiding incriminating books is highlighted in this passageasJohn notes thathehimself scarcelyescap- ed the death penalty after he had found such an incriminating book.¹⁴⁴ John attacks Epicurean teachingonoccasion throughout his work, at times descendinginto profanities to describe them. Forexample, he describes their philosophyas“the atheistic errorofthe Epicureans”,their representativesas “teachers of error”,attesting that therehavebeen manyand linking them to heresy.¹⁴⁵ The Epicurean notion of the soul consisting of matter is said to be a belief caused by the devil and he repeatedlycalls it a “blasphemy.”¹⁴⁶ Moreover, John considers someone who trusts exclusively in reasoningasa“natural man”, “which is asign of folly.” By contrast,the soul of aChristian “has creation in- stead of abook set before her in open view.” John, then, specificallyplaces him- self in opposition to the Epicurean doctrine that nothing can be produced from nothing,known best todayfrom Lucretius’ Latin didactic poem De rerum natura.¹⁴⁷ It is worth noting that many earlyGreek philosophershad endorsed this view,although it was challenged by the Platonic and Aristotelian schools.¹⁴⁸ John’sargument against this doctrine, which implies that thereisascientific explanation for every physical phenomenon is that the devil has moved human- kind to believeinthis causal explanation rather thantorecognise God as the cre- ator of all thingsfrom the beauty of creation. In John’sview,this doctrine had created countless heresies.¹⁴⁹ Moreover,this principle is linked to the fall of Eveinparadise, who trusted the devil-snake tellingher “youwill be like gods” if youeat from the tree of knowledge.This concept of causation, John pro- poses, was later communicated “through the rotten mouth of the Manichaeans, and it invented the gods of the Greeks basedonthe disease of this hypothesis.”¹⁵⁰ This reading is important as it shows that John felt that Mani- chaeans had to some extent adopted the Epicurean principle of causation. Thus in adhering to the principle that “God made the thingswhich are,out of
Chrys. hom. in Ac. : βιβλίαγοητικὰ καὶ μαγικά.See section . above. Chrys. in incarnationemDomini (PG :): ἡἄθεος τῶν Ἐπικούρων πλάνη … πολλοὶ γίνονταιτῆςπλάνης διδάσκαλοι. Chrys. hom. in Ac. – (PG :–). Chrys. hom. in Cor. (PG :): ψυχικός … ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἀνοίας … ἀλλʼ εἶχε τὴνκτίσιν ἀντὶ βιβλίου προκειμένην ἐνμέσῳ;Lucr. .ff.; on the term ψυχικός,Pearson (). See Sorabij (), f. with note . Chrys. hom. in Cor. (PG :): ὁθεν καὶ μυρίας ἔτεκον αἱρέσεις. Chrys. hom. in Cor. (PG :): διὰ τοῦ σεσηπότος τῶνΜανιχαίων στόματος· καὶ τοὺς θεοὺςτοὺςπαρʼ Ἕλλησιν ἀπὸ τούτου τοῦ νοσήματος τὴς ὐποθέσεως ἀνέπλασε. 190 4MaterialistPhilosophy thingswhich are not” John places himself and Christianity in diametric opposi- tion to those concepts.¹⁵¹ Despite their obvious differences, thereisindeedreason to believethat Christian theologians perceivedManichaean cosmogony to be influenced by a number of old philosophies. No Manichaean text has been preserved in alibrary, but some Manichaean books have been discovered as chance finds and their teachingcan also be reconstructed from the refutations of theiradversaries. Noteworthypoints of confluence are the Epicurean belief in uncreated matter, the Pythagorean notion of the transmigration of souls and the Stoic belief in el- ementssuch as wind, light,water,fire and air.Another major point of conflict between Christianityand Manichaeism is their belief that God is outside the world, that his act of creation is partial work.¹⁵² This alsoimpliesanastrological system in which the movementsofthe stars and the zodiac signs indicate future events.¹⁵³ It is exactlythe Epicurean, Stoic and Pythagoreanphilosophies thatJohn ridiculeselsewhere. In the first instance he notes “they who introduceddestiny, and saythatthe universe is not the work of providenceand that there is no one to care for anything,but that it consists of atoms.” In the second, he alludes to Stoics as “others again who saythat God is abody” and to Pythagoreans as “those who make the souls of menthe souls of dogs.” He returns to his particular refrain of calling the Greeks “children”,¹⁵⁴ arguing that Christians should not onlylaugh at these thingsbut all of the other aspects of pre-Christian philosophy and society that are deserving of ridicule while seeing to it that “if anyone of our friends is falleninto the handsofthe enemy, we shallburst his bondsapart,we shall strip him off this most painful and ridiculous prison.”¹⁵⁵ The link between Epicureanism and destiny shows that it could be argued that Epicurean philos-
Chrys. hom. in Heb. (PG :): ὅτι ἐξοὐκὄντων τὰὄντα ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς,related to Heb. :–. These various views can perhaps be best appreciated in the fourth-century Acta Archelai –.This text has been editedbyVermes ()and atranslation is found in Gardner and Lieu (), –.Itisapolemical but informative piece. Itsnarrative on creation is con- firmed in AManichaean Psalm-Book. Part II,ed. Allberry, .–. =Gardner and Lieu (), –. See Kephalaia (ed. Böhlig and Polotsky), no. , .–.,translation in Gardner and Lieu (), –. Chrys. hom. in Ephes. (PG :–): οἱ τὴνεἱμαρμένην ἐπεισάγοντες, καὶἀπρονόητα εἶναι λέγοντες τὰ πάντα, καὶ μηδενὶ μέλειν μηδενὸς, ἀλλʼ ἐξ ἀτόμων συνεστάναι; ἀλλʼ ἕτεροι οἱ σῶμα τὸνΘεὸνεἰπόντες; ἀλλὰ τίνες, εἰπέ μοι; οἱ τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας ψυχὰςκυνείας ποιοῦντες. Chrys. hom. in Ephes. (PG :): εἴ τις ἡμῖντῶνφίλων ἑάλωκε, διαῤῥήξωμεν αὐτοῦ τὰ δεσμὰ, ἀποδύσωμεν αὐτὸντῆςχαλεπωτάτης καὶ καταγελάστου ταύτης εἱρκτῆς. 4.6 Polemicsagainst MaterialistPhilosophies in the East 191 ophywas linked to illegal, demonical prophecies about destiny,that is the Epi- curean notion of physical determinism. Moreover,John’sencouragement to res- cue captive friends can be seen as an exhortation to denounce to secular or cler- ical authorities people that did believeinEpicurean opinions. Laughter and compassion bothact as weapons to cast doubtonatext’sworthiness in ade- structive way. In other words, John regarded the view that the universe consists of atoms that are moving automaticallyasadeliberate strategyofthe devil, with which to denysalvation. Just likethe allegory of paganism in Prudentius was trapped in her ownbody, so toowerehuman beingsbelieving in this destined to remain in their prison and barred from enteringheaven. John’s Homily on the Letter to the Thessalonicians indicates that contempo- rary pagans continued to borrow from Epicurean atomism to argueagainst the actuality of resurrection. The philosophicalcounter-argument is thatthose who weredissolvedand had rotten away maynot be restored to theirformer shape.¹⁵⁶ Thisdialectic on the resurrectioniscovered in detail by chapters of the two last books of Augustine’s City of God,which refute similar arguments that were probablyput forward by contemporary pagans.John instructs his au- dience in how to deal with persons raising such questions, particularly “Greeks” but also “heretics.”¹⁵⁷ He advises ridiculing other ideas on the fate of the soul, such as the Pythagorean notion of metempsychosis, and to refrain entirely from discussing Epicurean opinions: “Othersintroduce atoms.With them, how- ever,wehavenoargument at all.”¹⁵⁸ This line indicatesthat John was still con- cerned about Epicurean traditions and thathethought his audience could be in- volved in discussions with heretical or pagan groups who borrowed from Epicurean ideas. In his treatise Demonstration against the Jews and Pagans John goes on to attack philosophicalschools such as Epicureans and Stoics,again pointing to ongoing debates between Christian and non-Christian philosophies. Thispas- sageisinteresting as it provides acatalogue of topics thatseverelydisagreed with the Bible:¹⁵⁹
Chrys. hom. in Thess. (PG :). Cf. Aug. civ. .. Chrys. hom. in Thess. – (PG :–). Chrys. hom. in Thess. (PG :): ἕτεροι ἀτόμους εἰσάγουσιν. ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἐκείνους οὐδεὶς ἡμῖνλόγος. Chrys. Jud. et gent. . (PG :): καὶὅμως τινὲςτῶνἀνθρώπων εἰσὶνοἱμὲναὐτόματα πάντα λέγοντες, οἱ δὲἀγέννητα τὰὁρώμενα, οἱ δὲ δαίμοσιν ἐπιγράφοντες τὴντούτων δημιουρ- γίαν καὶ πρόνοιαν, ἄλλοι τύχῃ καὶ εἱμαρμένῃ, καὶ γενέσει, καὶἄστρων περιφοραῖς. 192 4Materialist Philosophy
Nevertheless,thereare some human beings sayingthat the universe consists of automatic movements,that visible objects arewithout beginning, and attributingcreation and prov- idencetoademon, others to fortune, fate, evolution, and the circling of the stars.
Sorabij regarded as afundamental differencebetween pagan philosophies and earlyChristian views thatmost pagan philosophersdenied that the universe had abeginning that was caused by God, although Platonism allowed creation and was thereforecloser to the Christian view than other schools.¹⁶⁰ John goes on to saythat people with ideas, such as those quoted above, suffer from the in- fectionofavery serious disease,¹⁶¹ suggesting thatChristianityhas now replaced the ancient tradition:¹⁶²
Consider how great it is that everythingunder the sun has been filled with churches in such ashort time, so manynations and people have been converted, the tradition of the forefa- thers has been destroyed, the deep rooted customhas been tornout,the tyrannyofjoy,the force of evil drivenout likeashes,the altars, temples,idols, mysteries,the accursed festi- vals,and impuresacrifices have been obliteratedjust like smoke.
But he also acknowledgesthat Christianisation has been adifficult process. Al- ludingtothe pervasive human reality of sexuality as well as Epicurean hedon- ism, he refers to joy/pleasure (hedoné)asanobstacle to Christianity and the phil- osophical literarytradition that precedesit:¹⁶³
Foritdid not onlyoppose tradition, but it also subdued joy,two tyrannical factors. Forpeo- ple were persuaded to despise what in manyyears they had receivedfromtheir fathers, grandfathers, great grandfathers,their ancestors,their philosophers and rhetoricians.
Emphasising the theme, John again returns to the persecution and repression suffered by Christians and the Christian faith in the past.Inthis he was probably alludingtothe book-burning and ideological attacks the faith bore duringthe Great Persecution under Diocletian. While the primary meaning appears to be
Sorabij (), –, . Chrys. Jud. et gent. . (PG :). Chrys. Jud. et gent. (PG :–; . Harkins): καὶἐννόησον ἡλίκον ἐστὶ τὴν ὑφʼ ἡλίῳ κειμένην ἅπασαν Ἐκαλησιῶν ἐνχρόνῳβραχεῖ τοσούτων ἐμπλῆσαι, ἔθνη μεταθεῖναι τοσαῦ- τα, μεταπεῖσαι δήμους, ἔθη καταλῦσαι πατρῷα, συνήθειαν ἐῤῥιζωμένην ἀνασπάσαι, ἡδονῆς τυραννίδα, κακίας ἰσχὺν ὥσπερ κόνιν ἀπελάσαι, καὶ βωμοὺςκαὶναοὺςκαὶξόανα καὶ τελετάς, καὶ τὰς ἐναγεῖς ἑορτὰς, καὶ τὴν ἀκάθαρτον κνίσσαν ὥσπερ καπνόντινα ἀφανίσαι. Chrys. Jud. et gent. . (PG :): οὐ γὰρσυνηθείᾳ μόνον ἠναντιοῦτο, ἀλλὰ καὶἡδονήν κατεῖχε, δύοτυραννικὰ πράγματα. ἃ γὰρ ἀπὸ πολλῶν ἐτῶνπαρὰ πατέρων καὶ πάππων καὶἐπι- πάππων καὶ τῶν ἀνωτέρω προγόνων, καὶ φιλοσόφων καὶῥητόρων ἦσαν παρειληφότες, ταῦτα ἐπείθοντο ἀποπτύειν. 4.6 Polemicsagainst Materialist Philosophies in the East 193 that the messageofthe gospel and the power of the faith has weathered this and then torn apart its antagonists, there is perhaps amore literalmeaning to this readingofdestructions, that is an allusion to give up some readingsasaconse- quence of conversion or even to the burning of books authored by Porphyry:¹⁶⁴
And even though the tyrants prepared war against the Church, the soldiers attacked it,the people ragedmorevehementlythan fire, tradition opposed it,the rhetoricians,the so- phists,the rich, the unlearned and the rulers stood up against it,yet the Word overtook and destroyed these thorns morevehementlythan fire,purified the fields and sowedthe word of preaching.
Addressinghis uneducated audience, John frames it as though all emperors be- fore Constantine werenot onlypagan but attacked the Church to some extents. In aword, he holds the old philosophies responsible for their underpinning the religious conflicts and persecutions of the past. To summarisethus far,John does give several clear reasons whyChristians should not engagewith certain pagan traditions. With the possibleexception of Plato, he argues that this is because most of pagan philosophywas in opposition to Christianity’strue philosophy, and studying it would lead to deviance from the wordofGod. Natural philosophy, or ancient science, in particularcontradicted biblical teachinginawaythat John found insupportable. Forexample, certain philosophers preferred evolutionary ideas to the concept of creation out of noth- ing,and they argued for the primacy of natural laws and atoms against God as omnipotent and omnipresent. Even in the earlyfifth century therewas apparentlysome awareness that materialist philosophies werenot forgotten in religiouslydiverse cities like Anti- och and Alexandria. Thus in his treatise Contra Julianum Cyril of Alexandria pro- poses to quote and to discuss individual opinions (dóxai)found in the works of Greek philosophersinorder to demonstrate their inferiority to Moses’ writing.¹⁶⁵ He adduces these opinions through the secondary reference of Plutarch, proba- blybecause of alack of original writings. He denouncesPythagoras, Thales, De- mocritus, Epicurus, his disciple Metrodorus,Empedocles, Seleucus, Diogenes, the Stoics, Aristotle and Xenophanes. As to the atomistic philosophershemen-
Chrys. Jud. et gent. . (PG :): καὶ τυράννων κατʼ αὐτης ὁπλιζομένων, καὶ στρατιω- τῶν ὅπλα κινούντων, καὶ δήμων πυρὸςσφοδρότερον μαινομένων, καὶ συνηθείας ἀντιπαρατατ- τομένης, καὶῥητόρων, καὶ σοφιστῶν, καὶ πλουτούντων καὶἰδιωτῶν, καὶἀρχόντων ἀνιστα- μένων, πυρὸςσφοδρότερον ἐπιὼν ὁ λόγος τὰς ἀκάνθας ἀνήλωσε, τὰς ἀφούρας ἐξεκάθηρεν, ἔσπειρε τοῦ κηρύγματος τὸνλόγον. Cyr. Juln. .– (= PG :C–D). 194 4Materialist Philosophy tions their notion of infinite worlds in the infinite,¹⁶⁶ of the universe being ani- mated through atoms and the void, of its being perishable,¹⁶⁷ and of it not being governed by divine providence,but by automatic movements. According to Cyril, Christianity is superior because unlike this plurality of opinions, there are no contradictions among Moses, the prophets,and the apostles.¹⁶⁸ Their work complements and buildsoneach other’spronouncements. Throughout this work Cyril frequentlyrepeats the argument thatthe Judaeo- Christian tradition predates the ageofthe first Greek philosophers, arguing that Christianitywas therefore superior. In doing so, he drew aline between philos- opherslikePlatoand pre-Socratic philosopherslike Empedocles. Introducing the books of Julian as the subject of his refutation, Cyril characterizes the emperor Julian as an author “who composed intolerable accusations against our pure re- ligion by saying thatweerr” because Julian argued thatChristianityhad intro- duced anew wayoflife, which is consistent neither with the laws of Moses nor with the superstitions of the Greeks. Cyril concedes to Julian that Christians are indeed aloof from “the madness of the Greeks”,citing Paul who notes: “What communion has light with darkness or what part has he that believes with an infidel?”¹⁶⁹ Cyril identifiesthis Greek superstition as their philosophical tradi- tion: Anaximander, Empedocles, Pythagoras,Platoand “others” are givenby Cyril as examples of “the inventors of unholydogmas or,sotosay,the sources of their ignorance.” It is with these tenets that the Greek children have ap- proached Christianity.¹⁷⁰ Cyril, therefore, proposes to demonstrate the philoso- phers’ opinions as contradictory,discourses thatcompeteagainst each other whereas the truth of Moses’ books, regarding the subjects of both creation and legislation, is unified and inviolate.¹⁷¹ In order to provethe superiority of Christianity,Cyril here confines himself to claiming thatMosesismore ancient than the Greek philosophers.¹⁷² Cyril repeats this argument twice throughout book one.¹⁷³ In the first passageheadds that
Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :A). Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :B–C). Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :D–A);cf. . (= PG :D). Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :C): ὃςτῆςεὐαγοῦς ἡμῶνθρησκείας οὐ φορητὴν ἐποιήσατο τὴν κατάρρησιν, πεπλανῆσθαι λέγων ἡμᾶς … ὅτι μὲντῆςἙλλήνων ἀπηλλάγμεθα ἐμβροντησίας … “κοινωνίαγὰροὐδεμίαφωτὶ πρὸςσκότος, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ μερὶςπιστῷ μετὰἀπίστου.” Quotation: Cor. :– (abbreviated by Cyril). Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :D–A, at A): οἳ τῶν ἀνοσίων αὐτοῖςδογμάτων γεγόνασιν εὑρέται καὶἵνʼοὕτως εἴπω τῆς ἀμαθίας πηγαί;cf. . (= PG :D). Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :A). Cyr. Juln. .– (= PG :A–C). Cyr. Juln. .– (= PG :A–B); . (= PG :A). 4.7 Conclusion 195 some of the Greek authorities, such as the philosophersPythagoras,Thales, and Plato as well as Solon the lawgiver had travelled to Egypt and borrowed their knowledge from Moses there.¹⁷⁴ Later,henotes thatonlyPythagoras and Plato had done so, from whose travels other philosophersinAthens had come across some truth in theirtenets as well, whereas Thales, Anaximander, “and the others Imentioned before” were “babblers.”¹⁷⁵ Cyril goes even so far as to claim that Plato’salleged contact with Moses makes him abetter philosopher than others such as Aristotle. Thus, Cyril finds Plato’sarguments along with those of Pytha- gorascomingclose to Moses’,positioning this as aconsequence of their having travelled to Egypt,aplace whereMoses’ writingswereallegedly en vogue. Plato’s student Aristotle, on the other hand, had suggested ideas different from his teacher’s.¹⁷⁶ This illustrates that,while part of Cyril’spolemicaldiscourse intend- ed to justifysome ancient philosophiesasrelated to the Judaeo-Christian tradi- tion, he was as keen to stress that other ancientphilosophies did not fit this pat- tern. He therefore attributed pre-Socratic philosophers like Empedocles to the realm of “darkness.” Cyril alsoquotes the emperorJulian’scriticism of the biblical account of cre- ation, which is thatMoses does not mention the creation of anti-matter(that is the deep, the darkness,and the water as opposed to the earth, the light,and the dry land) nor does he mention the creation of angels.¹⁷⁷ Against this perspective, Cyril argues that the singularity of God indicates thathehad created everything, with the individual entities, such as the angels, being producedatthe point of principal creation. Moses, Cyril argues, thus felt it superfluous to explicitlymen- tion these.¹⁷⁸ This again shows that dissidence in terms of conflictingideas about biblical creation was aprime concern when Christian authorsidentifiedheretical or otherwise deviant ideas put forward by Christian or non-Christian groups.
4.7 Conclusion
Ihaveshown in this chapter thatfrom earlyoninthe emergence of Christianity there was ideological conflict and competition between Christian groups and those pagans who supported the ideas of materialist philosophies, although the sources for the earlycenturies are scanty.This debate can best be grasped
Cyr. Juln. .– (= PG :D–B); Similarly, Chrys. hom. in Jo. (PG :). Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :A). Cyr. Juln. .– (= PG :A–D). Cyr. Juln. .– (= PG :A–D). Cyr. Juln. .– (= PG :D–D); cf. .– (PG :A–C). 196 4MaterialistPhilosophy from the writingsofChristian apologists who argued against these philosophies, while the counter-position remains obscure for want of sources. It is interesting to note thattoChristian authorsofthe late fourth and earlyfifth centuries ma- terialist philosophies were linked to the persecutions of the past,inparticular the Great Persecution, probablybecause some philosophers acted as advisers of the emperors.Christianity and materialist philosophies wereprimarilyincom- patible in the area of the physical understanding of the world: Epicurean atom- ism, for example, was seen as precluding coreaspects of the biblical account, such as creation, afterlife, punishments in hell and concepts about the end of the world and the Second ComingofChrist.These opinions were also linked to physical explanations of the universe and thus to questions relatingtodivina- tion and astrology,aswehavealreadyseen. They werethereforefelt as threaten- ing the unity of the church as did the conflicting opinions of non-conformist Christians as well. Thuspagan philosophyitself came to be seen as the mother of heresies.While late antique Christian authors were concernedprimarilyabout heretics who had been informed about these philosophicaltraditions, there was also some expectation (in the east more than in the west)that some of the non- Christians of this time period continued to put forward ideas from materialist philosophies. With regardtothe overall picture presented in this book it is im- portant to note that as much as heretical bookswereburnt or actively excluded from preservation, similar thingscould happen to textspresentingthese ideas, although it is unclear whether original writingsbyEpicureans or similar groups continued to circulatebeyond the fourth century or these ideas weretransmitted orallyand thus mayperhaps have found their wayinto heretical treatises. Christian authorsemployed similar rhetorical strategiestocastdoubtonthe worthiness of these texts as they did in regardtomagic, astrology and divina- tion. These areas have in common that they became illegal because of their power to summon or consultdemons. Similarly,Christian authorsargued that physical or ethical world views werethe work of the devil and were disseminated by his agents, the demons. These demons werecontagious, caused diseases and sexual urges, and werekeen to prevent human beingsfrom salvation. Book- burning,for example, was an efficient tool to destroy these demons because fire had this purifying property.Myargument is that this is the reason whyin some historical accounts on book-burning magical books are aligned with phil- osophical books. This surelydoes not mean thatany kind of divination or physical explana- tion of the world was frowned upon by Christian authors such as those thatI have discussed. On the contrary,all of them regarded the divine prophecies of the Bible to be true. The difference, then, wasbetween divine and demonicaldiv- ination. Similarly,all Christian authorsregarded nature, the universe or planets 4.7 Conclusion 197 as the creation of God and thereforeassomething good and worthytoobserve and to describe. What they actuallyshunned is the methodological approach of explaining the movementsofthe universe as caused by the mechanical move- ments of atoms and the origin of the world as caused by the clash of atoms,with- out divine providence. While Idonot intend to arguethat by implication this means that writings containing ideas of materialist philosophywerespecificallytargeted in censor- ship legislation or that these books wereregularlyburnt along with heretical, magical or astrological books, my argument is that an unwillingness arose among Christian scribes to preserveany of the works that included these tradi- tions for future generations unless for the explicit purpose of refutation. This does also mean thatitwas unlikelythat these philosophical traditions, if pre- served in oral culture, were recorded and preserved in writing. Conversely, this imbrication with philosophicalideas in oppositiontoChristianity (as perceived by individual authors) was the common denominator that determined which texts wereworthyofdestruction or deliberate rather than incidental neglect. While it is unlikelythat secular authoritiesweresignificantlyinfluenced by trea- tises or sermons of Christian ecclesiastical authors, we have seen that imperial legislation defined the social norms within which clerics and ascetics rather than the public authorities acted. Moreover,while in the Roman minds many kinds of books had atouch of the magical, agreements about what was consid- ered heretical, magical or astrological could changeovertime, especiallysince a powerful external party such as the late antique clergy deliberately argued that texts that wereonce considered appropriate werenot appropriate anylonger.Just like amagic spell was considered to damagealiving being,sotoo did deviant opinions about the nature of Jesus, or of the universe and its origin, come to be considered as disturbing religious peace. In the next section, Ishall discuss the evidence for deliberate or unintentional neglect of books in Late Antiquity alongside moral reservations against literary genres and Ishall also put the Christian dialectic between competingliterary traditions into abroader context. 5Moral Disapproval of LiteraryGenres
In the preceding chapter Ihaveargued thatthe arguments by some Christian ec- clesiasticalauthors against materialist philosophies wereofadifferent quality compared, for example, to the Christian debate about classicalliterature. This is because Christian ecclesiastical authors appear to have perceivedcertain ideas borrowed from these philosophical traditions as an ongoingdanger to the unity of Christianity even in Late Antiquity.These Christian authors felt that the old philosophies had often informed dissident ideas of Christian think- ers. It is difficult to saywhether or not these Christian authors misrepresented the views of Christian adversaries, but on the balance of probability there is rea- son to believethat it is credible thatnon-conformist Christian authors werein- deed influenced by the old philosophies. There is evidence in Manichaean pri- mary sources to confirm this. ManyearlyChristian clerics and ecclesiastical authors felt that the pagan texts of the past werecompletelyunnecessary to lead aChristian life-style. This attitude, however,changed, when Christianitybecame acceptable to a major part of the population in the third and earlyfourth centuries. Thelate fourth and earlyfifth centuries wereatime duringwhich Christian clerics and ecclesiastical authors seriouslyreviewed the question of which texts werecon- sidered to be appropriate.Lay Christians,too, wereaffectedbythese changing attitudes. As classicaleducation came to be less and less importantfor worldly career paths, and clerical career paths became more and more attractive,the preservation of the works of old was endangered. It was at this time that texts weretranscribed from papyrus to parchment,and onlythose texts that werecop- ied on parchment survivedovertime. As Inoted in my introduction, the major proportion of the work composed in Antiquityhas not come down to us today. The bulk of this perishedbecause of neglect and loss of interest.The acknowledgementofits loss is not solelyacon- temporary feature. Writing in the late-fourth century,John Chrysostom recurring- ly alludes to the decline of ancient literatures,particularlyphilosophicaltexts,as we will shortlysee. John aside,though, other sources show little interest in whether or not the works of old werepreserved or would survive.Jerome’srefer- ence to the recent restoration of earlyChristian works in the library of Caesarea is the one well-known exception.¹ Illustrating this trend, Gregory of Nazianzus described the fate of rhetorical books in his household. Gregory receivedhis philosophical education in mid-
Hier. vir.ill. . 5Moral Disapproval of LiteraryGenres 199 fourth century Athens and he was among the Christian scholars who imbricated Christian theologyand ancientphilosophy. But when asked to sendout booksto afriend for rhetorical studies, books “thatonce we owned”,hehesitated to send from his stacks “what had escaped the bookworm and the smoke on top of which they werestored.”² This chapter will arguethat therewas ageneral neglect of ancient literature in Late Antiquity.Ishallidentify genres which Christian authors attributed to a demonicalcounter-world as much as they did in regard to some philosophical texts,arguing that, on one hand, the deliberate refusaltocopy texts related to ancient religion and cult practice can be seen as an act of censorship, while on the other the same Christian authorscame up with anumber of strategies to justify an allegoricalreadingofpagan gods in classical texts, thereby exempt- ing their content from demonisation. This chapter will first concentrate on anumber of statements by John Chrys- ostom, indicating that ancient philosophyasawhole wasindecline by the fourth century.Ishall then put these alongsideanumber of otherstatements by Libanius, the pagan city-rhetorician and John’scontemporary in Antioch, ar- guing that the evidence he givescorresponds to the rhetoric found in the ser- mons of John Chrysostom from adifferent perspective.Ishall then go on to dis- cuss Ammianus Marcellinus’ criticism of the luxurious life-style of Rome’shigh society.Libanius is known to have complained about the financial straits the new climate placed his school in. Ipropose that both authors indirectlyblame the neglect of classical and pagan authors on the religious policyofthe Christian emperors.Ishall go on to arguethat important Christian authors, like Jerome, felt themselvestobeinthe position to influencethe transmission of books. Fol- lowing Jerome’srelatively clear statement,Ishallthen discuss anumber of other Christian authorsand the different strategies and recurrent themesthey em- ployed to cast doubt on the worthiness of arangeoftexts(some more than oth- ers) within the spectrum of ancient literature. Finally, Ishall relatethese results to the current scholarlydebate on how long classical texts continued to be stud- ied in different parts of the RomanEmpire. In the context of this book, the aim of this chapter is to identify possible ways of censorship other than book-burning or outright legal bans.
Gr.Naz. ep. .: ἰδού σοι καὶ τὰ πυκτίαπαρ’ ἡμῶν ἅπερ αἰτεῖς, ὅσα τοὺςσῆτας διέφυγε καὶ τὸνκαπνὸν ὑπὲροὗκατέκειτο.Speyer (), . 200 5Moral Disapproval of Literary Genres
5.1 John Chrysostom and the Decline of Ancient Philosophy
Like other major cities of the east,Antioch became amajor scene for conflicting religious views in the late fourth century.Inthe wake of religious and philosoph- ical discussions, anumber of social conflicts and cases of outright violence did occur.This atmosphere of religious conflictwas heated up further by street- preaching, classroom education and sermons giveninchurches.The protago- nists wereJohn Chrysostom and his pagan counter-part Libanius. They bothrep- resent the attempts of thattime either to firmlyestablish Christianity within the urban upper-classpopulation or to keep thingsasthey were. Aprime question of that time was the role that ancientphilosophycould playinasociety veering towards Christianity, as Christianity came to define itself as the true and only philosophyonearth. Polemical rhetoric that addresses the end of pagan philosophyasawhole is thereforefound across John Chrysostom’scorpus of sermons. Identifyingrecur- rent themes of these polemics, Ishallargue that his sermons help us understand the different strategies with which to separate true from false philosophyand to cast doubt on the worthiness of the latter.³ Such passages are usually placed within John’scomments on Bible passages. In these sermons, John intended to persuade his audience (which he thoughttoo lax) to embrace an extreme Chris- tian lifestyle. The attitudes towards pagan literature in general displayedinJohn’sser- mons depict it as either unimportant or unnecessary to the other end of the spec- trum, wherehepositions it as adangerous and pernicious influencethatshould be eradicated. In establishingthese positions, John often assumes that the de- cline of the old philosophers (and their schools)was aconsequenceofChristian- isation, utilising arhetoric of destruction to depict this. But asignificant propor- tion of these diatribes must be taken as rhetoric only, part of an amplified polemicalattack designed to make its point unequivocallyand hammer it home to an audience. Forexample, whereheconflates all of pagan philosophy into aunity to depict it being overcome by the apostles and their successors, he is more careful in his discussions of Platoand the classics (for example, poetry). From an ex eventu view,John alluded to the competition between Christians and philosophers in the earlycenturies.
Earlier studies include Coleman-Norton(); Brändle (), –.See also Laistner (), with ,note ;Amand (), –. 5.1 John Chrysostom and the Decline of Ancient Philosophy 201
With regard to these philosophies, John sometimesdevelops his theme that Christianityintroduced anew life-style, replacingancestral traditions that were informed by ancient philosophies. An example is apassagefrom his fifth speech, Against the Jews.⁴ John here as elsewhereattempts to provethat the pre- dictions of Christ have come true. He frequentlyargues that as Christian teaching is widespread around the world and other memorable events are forgotten, Christianityismore powerful.⁵ Although the philosophers attempted to establish their wayoflife they wereultimatelyunsuccessful:⁶
Such men as Zeno [of Citium], Plato, Socrates,Diagoras, Pythagoras, and countless others: they have all failed to prevail to the point that they areunknown to the masses even by name. But Christ not onlywrote aconstitution but even planted it everywhereinthe world.
Name-checking philosophers from the sixth to third century BC and the rapidly declining interestintheir textsinthe past,John appears to imagine that their writingsare lost.Hecould be right because onlyPlato’swritingssurvive until today, while Socrates is not known to have left anything in writing.Itisnot clear whether or not Pythagoras left anything in writing,although it is known that his students, includingthe morerecent Neopythagoreans did. It can there- fore be surmised that John is downplaying the circulation of ancient textsfor purposes of evangelism and missionary conversion. Another recurrent theme in John’ssermons is to provethe truth of Christian- ity by its success in replacing ancient philosophies, suggesting that philosophi- cal writingswerethereforeobliterated. Written probablyinAntioch of the 390s (and therefore after paganism was practicallyoutlawed), acharacteristic exam- ple is apolemicalpassageinJohn’ssecond Homily on the Gospel of John:⁷
Chrys. pan. Bab. . (SC :)and Jud. .. (PG :). Lietzmann(), dates the homilies – against the Jews to autumn .Noother date has been proposed by Mayer(). Chrys. Jud. .. (PG :). Similarly, hom. in Ac. (PG :): “where is now the vanity of Greece? Where the name of Athens?Wherethe nonsense of the philosophers?” (ποῦ νῦντῆς Ἑλλάδος ὁ τῦφος; ποῦ τῶν ᾿Aθηνῶντὸὄνομα; ποῦ τῶνφιλοσόφων ὁ λῆρος;); hom. in Jo. (PG :). By the end of the fourth century,Athens was indeed relatively unimportant as acentre of philosophy: see Watts (), –. Chrys. Jud. .. (PG :): οἷον Ζήνων, Πλάτων, Σωκράτης, Διαγόρας, Πυθαγόρας, καὶ ἕτεροι μύριοι· ἀλλ’ ὅμως τοσοῦτον ἀπέσχον περιγενέσθαι, ὡςμηδὲἐξὀνόματος εἶναι τοῖςπολ- λοῖςγνώριμοι. ὁ δὲ Χριστὸςοὐκἔγραψε πολιτείαν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πανταχοῦ τῆςοἰκουμένης αὐτὴνκατεφύτευσε. Chrys. hom. in Jo. (PG :): οὗτος δὴ οὖν ὁ βάρβαρος, τῇ μὲντοῦεὐαγγελίου γραφῇ τὴν οἰκουμένην κατέλαβεν ἅπασαν, τῷ δὲ σώματι μέσην κατέσχε τὴν ᾿Aσίαν, ἔνθα τὸ παλαιὸν ἐφιλο- σόφουν οἱ τῆς Ἑλληνικῆςσυμμορίας ἅπαντες, κἀκεῖθεν τοῖςδαίμοσίν ἐστι φοβερὸς, ἐνμέσῳτῶν 202 5Moral Disapproval of Literary Genres
This barbarian [John], with his writingofthe gospel, has takenoverthe whole world. With his bodyhehas occupied the centre of Asia, where previouslyall of the Greek party phi- losophised, and he thus terrifies the demons,shininginthe middle of his enemies,quench- ing their darkness,and smashingthe stronghold of the demons.But in soul he has retired to that placewhich is fittingfor aperson whohas done such things.And the [writings] of the Greeks have all perished and areobliterated,⁸ but this man’sshine brighter daybyday. From the time that he was and the others,sincethen the [writings] of Pythagorasand of Plato, which seemed beforetodominate, have been kept secret,and the crowddoes not know them even by name.
John links obliteration of pagan books to religious conflict,particularlytotemple destruction, alleging thatthe destruction of pagan temples and of writingsbe- stows holiness and martyrdom on thoseinvolvedinsuch acts: “in soul he has retired to that place which is fitting for aperson who has done such things.” In this, John is endorsing acommon position as Christians who destroyed books were sometimes recognizedasholymen in the sources and they werecele- brated as such. Those Christians who died when the Serapeum was destroyed in 391, for example, wereelevated as martyrs. Name-checking Pythagorean philos- ophy, John justifies the obliteration of ancient philosophies by the beginning of the Gospel of John, implying that the word(lógos)ofGod is absoluteand unchal- lenged: “Hasnot all that with good cause perished and been utterlyobliterated? – Indeed with good cause and accordingtothe Word!”⁹ In his Demonstration against the Jews and Pagans John demonstratesJesus’ divinity as acorollary of the success of Christianisation and the subsequent dissolution of the ancient traditions.¹⁰ This, he suggests, is because the apostles weregiven power over the demons. In John’smetaphorical words, the apostles have “gagged the tongues of the philosophers and stitched shut the mouths of the rhetoricians.”¹¹ This passageechoes asimilar statement in an unpublished manuscript (attribut-
ἐχθρῶνδιαλάμπων, καὶ τὸνζόφον αὐτῶνσβεννὺς, καὶ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν τῶνδαιμόνων καταλύων· τῇ δὲ ψυχῇ πρὸςτὸνχῶρον ἀνεχώρησεν ἐκεῖνον, τὸν ἁρμόττοντα τῷ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐργασαμένῳ. καὶ τὰ μὲν Ἑλλήνων ἔσβεσται ἅπαντα καὶἠφάνισται, τὰ δὲ τούτου καθ’ ἑκάστην λαμπρότερα γίνεται. ἐξ ὅτου γὰρκαὶοὗτος καὶ οἱ λοιποὶἁλιεῖς, ἐξ ἐκείνου τὰ μὲνΠυθαγόρου σεσίγηται καὶ τὰ Πλάτωνος, δοκοῦντα πρότερον κρατεῖν, καὶ οὐδὲἐξὀνόματος αὐτοὺς ἴσασιν οἱ πολλοί. LSJ, ,lists for the passive voiceofσβέννυμι (literally: “to quench,toput out”,likewise Lampe, PGL, )the followingpertinenttranslations: “to become extinct,die” (of men), “to be quelled,lulled, quenched” (of wind, sound, of an orator), and “to be extinguished”. Chrys. hom. in Jo. (PG :): ἆρ’ οὐκεἰκότως πάντα ἐσβέσθη ἐκεῖνα, καὶἠφανίσθη τέλε- ον; εἰκότως, καὶ κατὰ λόγον. Chrys. Jud. et gent. . (PG :–): παλαιὰἔθη. Chrys. Jud. et gent. . (PG :): φιλοσόφων ἐπιστομίζειν γλῶσσαν, ῤητόρων ἀποῤ- ῥάπτειν στόματα. 5.1 John Chrysostom and the Decline of Ancient Philosophy 203 ed to John) which asserts that “the senate decrees have been overthrown, the philosophers and orators have been put to shame, and the Areopagus has been wiped out.”¹² This statement could be right because it is attested that in the lastquarter of the fourth century large private mansions wereconstructed on the Areopagushill,traditionallyaplace thathoused archives.¹³ Emphasising its success, John explains the rise of Christianity as aconflict between Christians and pagans, who had as teachers the apostles and the phi- losophers respectively,for example, in the context of discussing apassage from the Second Letter to the Corinthians: “Where is Plato? Nowhere! Where Paul?Inthe mouths of all! Where is Plato?Heiskept secret and has passed into oblivion.”¹⁴ In consequence, John thinksthat even uneducated individuals who believeinChristianityhavebecome true philosophersbecause Christianity is much easier to understand than ancientphilosophies.¹⁵ This again shows John’sunusually negative attitudes towardsPlatonic philosophythat werenot shared by most of his contemporaries. John links the success of Christianity to the physical decline of ancient phil- osophical books in the fifth Homily on the Acts of the Apostles,written in Con- stantinople probablyaround 400: “The sophists, rhetoricians, and philosophers […]haverotted away in the Academia and the Peripatos.”¹⁶ Suggesting that phi- losophyshould be aligned with magic in this context,itappears that John is con- ceptualising the books associated with these schools imaginatively rottingaway rather than positing thatthey actuallyrotted away in actual buildings. Neither the Peripatos nor the AcademyinAthens are attested since beyond the EarlyEm- pire, but that the writingsofbothphilosophers(Plato and Aristotle who founded these schools)werestill receivedevenafter John wrotethis text indicates the metaphorical nature of his attack. Further references to the decline of various philosophical schools and tradi- tions appear in John’swork, such as to the Cynics in the Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew.¹⁷ The Cynics wereaphilosophical school that enjoyed popularity up
Voicu (), : Senatsbeschlüssesind von den Aposteln umgestürzt, Philosophen u. Redner beschämt u. der Areopagvernichtet worden referring to the unpublishedmanuscript Cod. Vat. Gr. fol. v. Watts (), –. Chrys. ejusdem in illud, si qua in Christo (PG :): ποῦ Πλάτων;oὐδαμοῦ·ποῦΠαῦλος; ἐν τοῖς ἀπάντων στόμασι. ποῦ Πλάτων; σεσίγται, καὶ λήθη παραδέδοται. Thus in Chrys. hom. in Cor. (PG :); stat. . (PG :). Chrys. hom. in Ac. (PG :): πρὸςσοφιστῶν, πρὸς ῥητόρων, πρὸςφιλοσόφων πλῆθος, τῶνκατασαπέντων ἐν ᾿Aκαδημίᾳ καὶ Περιπάτοις. Chrys. hom. in Mt. (PG :). 204 5Moral DisapprovalofLiteraryGenres to the reign of Julian.¹⁸ John claims thattheywerenot popularany more, al- though it must be noted that he wasunlikelytobeinformed about the situation outside of Antioch. He notes,however: “The Cynics, mere outcasts as they were, have all passed by likeadream and ashadow”,juxtaposingthe disappearance of this school as well as of thoseofthe Platonists, Pythagoreans and Stoics to Christianity’sstruggle for acceptanceand the Christian martyrs.¹⁹ Cynical philos- ophersembraced an ascetic lifestyle and oftenled the livesofbeggars.They were thus arival group for monks. John’sargument must be viewed as areconstruc- tion ex eventu,however,because the Pythagoreans and Stoics had vanished by the late fourth century,although the Pythagorean and Stoic thoughts still influ- enced contemporary works. Repeatingthis attack, John alsoridiculed ancient philosophyinaspeech that he gave in Constantinople on Easter probablyofAD399 to the community of Gothic foederati.²⁰ This text is aunique document as it offers evidence for the communication between apowerful Christian bishop and the Goths. Although diminished by amassacre in Constantinople,these foederati wereasimilar cul- tural group to thoseGothswho invaded Rome about adecade later under the leadership of Alaric.²¹ At the beginning of his sermon, John statesthat he wishes that the Greeks werealso present so thathecould show them the truth of the Christian faith and the ridiculousness of theirdemons:²²
Forthat of the philosophers has been destroyed among those whospeak the same lan- guage, but our [teaching] has great power even amongthose whospeak foreign languages. The former has been tornapart easier than aspider’sweb, the latter has been fixed more firmlythan steel. Whereisthat of Plato, Pythagoras, and of those in Athens?Ithas per- ished.
This theme of Christianityproven as truebecause of its success informs another recurrent theme. On anumber of occasions John commemoratesChristian mar-
See Bracht Branham and Goulet-Cazé (). Other Christian authors wereless opposed to Cynicism because it was close to Christian asceticism: Downing(). The last Cynic known is Sallustius in the fifth-century,mentioned in Damascius’ Life of Isidore: Dudley (), –. Chrys. hom. in Mt. (PG :): καὶ τὰ Κυνικὰ καθάρματα ὥσπερ ὄναρ καὶ σκιὰ πάντες παρῆλθον. On the date,Mayer (), . On the historical context, Albert (), ;Schäferdiek (), ,note and –;Alan Cameron and Long (). Chrys. VIII homilia habita postquam presbyter Gothus concionatus fuerat (PG :– ): τὰ μὲνγὰρτῶνφιλοσόφων καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ὁμοφώνοις καταλέλυται, τὰ δὲἡμέτερα καὶ παρὰἑτερογλώσσοις πολλὴν ἔχει δύναμιν· καὶ τὰ μὲν ἀράχνης εὐκολώτερον διεσπάσθη, τὰ δὲ ἀδάμαντος στεῤῥότερον πέπηγε. ποῦ τὰ Πλάτωνος καὶ Πυθαγόρου καὶ τῶν ἐν ᾿Aθήναις; ἐσβέσθη. 5.1 John Chrysostom and the Decline of Ancient Philosophy 205 tyrdom during the Great Persecution, putting it as if the whole of pagan rulers and philosophers wereunsuccessfullyengaged in destroyingChristianity and thereforeperished.²³ Thus, commentingonaneschatological line from the Gos- pel of Matthew,John appears to be alludingeither to pagan intellectual attacks and destruction of words or,moreliterally, to Roman authorities burning Chris- tian booksacentury ago:²⁴
‘Heaven and earth will pass away,but my wordswill never pass away’ [Matt.24:35]. It is easier that the sun vanishes and that the heavenisobliterated than that the wordsof my Lord aredestroyed. The experience of facts bears witness to it,the length of time, and the attacks of our enemies;for it is miraculous of course not onlythat these words have not been destroyed but that these overcame the adversary’s.
The enemieshere are enemiesoffaith, notablyphilosophers. John’sattack against philosophical counter-arguments leads us to another recurringtheme: that John justified Christian rejection of ancientphilosophybyreferring to the Letter to the Corinthians. Forexample, rebutting the moderate position that phi- losophyhad to be counted among the work of God, John offers aline from the Letter to the Corinthians: “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him.”²⁵ John goes on to suggest that “curious research and superfluous sweetness of words” are the wisdomofthis world and should be shunned.²⁶ In another homilyofthis series, John frames the dialectic between Christianity and philosophyasabroken liter- ary tradition from the same Letter to the Corinthians, separating wisdom into that “of this age” and the secret wisdom of God.²⁷ Pagan wisdom is positioned as “foolishness.”²⁸ The “rulers of this age” are arbiters of “foolish” wisdom.
Chrys. hom. in Cor. – (PG :–); hom. in Jo. – (PG :–). Chrys. ejusdem in illud, si qua in Christo (PG :): “ὁ οὐρανὸςκαὶἡγῆπαρελεύσονται, οἱ δὲ λόγοι μου οὐ μὴ παρέλθωσιν.” εὐκολώτερον τὸν ἥλιον σβεσθῆναι, καὶ τὸνοὐρανὸν ἀφανισθῆ- ναι, ἢ τὰῥήματα τοῦἐμοῦ Δεσπότου καταλυθῆναι. καὶ μαρτυρεῖ τούτοις τῶνπραγμάτων ἡ πεῖρα, καὶ τοῦ χρόνου τὸ μῆκος, καὶ τῶνπολεμούντων αἱἔφοδοι· τὸ γὰρδὴθαυμαστὸν, ὅτι οὐ μόνον οὐ κατελύθη, ἀλλ’ ὅτι καὶ πολεμούμενος περιγίνεται.Similarly, PG :: “‘In the be- ginningwas the Word.’ Sincethe fisherman had spoken this word, how manytyrants had wish- ed to obliterate it but did not succeed?” (“ἐν ἀρχῇἦνὁΛόγος.” πόσοι τύραννοι ἐξότε ἐφθέγξατο ὁἁλιεὺςτὸῥῆμα τοῦτο ἀφανίσαι ἤθελον, καὶ οὐκ ἴσχυσαν;). Cor. :: ψυχικὸςδὲἄνθρωπος οὐ δέχεται τὰ τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ θεοῦ, μωρίαγὰραὐτῷ ἐστιν.Quotingonlythe first line in slight variation. Chrys. hom. in Cor. (PG :): καὶ γὰρσοφίαν ἐνταῦθα τὸ περίεργον τῆςζητήσεως λέγει, καὶ τὴνπεριττὴνεὐγλωττίαν. Cor. :–. Chrys. hom. in .Cor. (PG :–). 206 5Moral Disapproval of LiteraryGenres
These rulers, who John suggests are demons, are alsopopularleaders, such as philosophers and rhetoricians, emphasising that their rule does not extend into “the present age.” As aconsequence, it is inherently “of short duration” in the letter to the Corinthians and all of these groups have now been abolished.²⁹ John is thereforeagain using arhetoric of destruction in order to downplaythe actual importance that these authorsmay still have had among his audience. Describing the harmful effects of demons, John frequentlyattacks ancient philosophyasspider-webs snaring the unwary.This metaphor is based on John’sperception of philosophyasuseless, difficult,obscure and thereforewor- thytobeobliterated, as we can see in the following passagethat sets out to em- phasise Christianity’striumph over pagan philosophy:³⁰
Yetthese highdoctrines wereboth accepted and believed, and they flourish every dayand increase; but the others have passed away,and perished, havingbeen moreeasilyobliter- ated than spiders’ webs.And with very good cause, for they were demons that declared this. Besides their impudence, their darkness is great,and the trouble that they cause is greater.
Similarly in the context of alleged imperial attacks against Christians, he alludes to the role of saints and martyrs in this conflict,perhaps alludingtothe histor- ical background of the Great Persecution:³¹
Yet, all their schemes and chargeswere torn apart moreeasilythan spider-webs, they were dispersed moreswiftlythan smoke,and passed away faster than dust.For with such at- tacks they had increased the choir of martyrs,leavingbehind those immortal treasures of the Church, her pillars and ramparts.
Chrys. hom. in .Cor. (PG :): παρώναἰών … ὀλιγοχρόνιος … τῶνκαταργουμένων. Chrys. hom. in Mt. (PG :): ἀλλ’ ὅμως καὶἐδέχθη καὶἐπιστεύθη τὰὑψηλὰ ταῦτα δόγ- ματα, καὶ καθ’ ἑκάστην ἀνθεῖ τὴν ἡμέραν, καὶἐπιδίδωσι. τὰ δὲἐκείνων οἴχεται καὶἀπόλωλεν, ἀραχνίων εὐκολώτερον ἀφανισθέντα. καὶ μάλα εἰκότως· δαίμονες γὰρταῦτα διηγόρευον. διὸ μετὰ τῆς ἀσελγείας καὶ πολὺν ἔχει τὸνζόφον, καὶ πλείωτὸνπόνον. Chrys. Jud. et gent. . (PG :): ἀλλʼ ὅμως πᾶσαι αὖται αἱἐπιβουλαὶ καὶἔφοδοι ἀρά- χνης εὐκολώτερον διεσπάσθησαν, καπνοῦ θᾶττον διελύθησαν, κονιορτοῦ ταχύτερον παρῆλθον. διʼ ὦνγὰρἐπεβούλευσαν, πολὺνμαρτύρων χορὸν ἑργασάμενοι, καὶ τοὺς ἀθανάτους ἐκείνους τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἀφέντες θησαυροὺς, τοὺςστύλους, τους πύργους.Cf. in Diem Natalem Jesu Christi (PG :–)onphilosophical arguments against Christians (for example, against incarna- tion). 5.1 John Chrysostom and the Decline of Ancient Philosophy 207
So, this text posits astrategyofChristianisation that focuses on the conversion of the uneducated and emphasises the ways that Christianityhas metaphorically torn apart pagan wisdom and repelled imperial attacks against it. Emphasising the faith-based nature of Christianity over the curiosity that in- formedthe previous philosophies, John pictures Paul the apostle (a tentmakerby profession) standing in the Forum holding the tentmaker’sknife to show that even the unlearned could philosophiseifthey wereChristians.³² Implying that Christianityhas demolished other schools, this symbolism alludes to the persua- sive forceofChristianity:³³
But still he appeared in public, and it was onlybymeans of his appearance that he con- founded all that of his enemies,overthrowing it all, and as if fire was fallingonstraw and hay, in this wayheburned to ashes that of the demons and, in whatever wayhewant- ed, overturned everything.
In context,John takes up anumber of motifs thatwehavealreadyidentified. Thus, in ahighlychargedpassageJohn compares the dissemination of the gos- pel to abattle between high and low,between educated and uneducated, in which Christians fought back with bare hands, noting that Christianity was suc- cessful as people had to give up their comfortable life-style and security:³⁴
Tell me the reasonwhy those from the oppositeside [Christians] overcame their enemies, whenever yousee the oppositeofprevious values occurring, and their wealth, nobility, force of rhetoric, their security,their widely-practised cultand all their innovations having at once been extinguished.
Enforcingthis, John argues thatChristianity was successful as it replacedthe old religion, the pagan customs and ancient traditions of people, again alluding to the purifying forceoffire and its power to expel demons:³⁵
Chrys. laud. Paul. . (SC :). Chrys. laud. Paul. . (SC :–): ἀλλ’ ὅμως ἐλθὼνεἰςμέσον, καὶ φανεὶςμόνον, πάντα ἐτάραξε τὰ τῶν ἐναντίων, πάντα συνέχεε, καὶ καθάπερ πῦρεἰςκαλάμην ἐμπεσὸνκαὶχόρ- τον, οὕτω κατέκαυσε τὰ τῶνδαιμόνων, καὶ εἰς ἅπερ ἐβούλετο, πάντα μετέστησε. Chrys. laud. Paul. . (SC :–): ὅταν γὰρ ἴδῃςτὰἐναντίατούτων συνδραμόντα, καὶ πλοῦτον, καὶ εὐγένειαν, καὶ πατρίδος μέγεθος, καὶῥητορείας δεινότητα, καὶἄδειαν καὶ θερα- πείαν πολλήν, καὶ εὐθέως σβεσθέντα τὰ καινοτομηθέντα, τούτους δὲἀπὸτῶνἐναντίων περιγε- νομένους, τί τὸ αἴτιον, εἰπέ μοι; Chrys. laud. Paul. . (SC :–): καὶὥσπερ πυρᾶς ἀναφθείσης, αἱἄκανθαι, κατὰ μικρὸνδαπανώμεναι, εἴκουσι καὶ παραχωροῦσι τῇ φλογί, καὶ καθαρὰςποιοῦσι τὰς ἀρούρας· οὕτω δὴ καὶ τῆςΠαύλου γλώττης φθεγγομένης, καὶ πάντα πυρὸςσφοδρότερον ἐπιούσης, εἶκεν ἅπαντα καὶ παρεχώρει, καὶ δαιμόνων θεραπεῖαι, καὶἑορταί, καὶ πανηγύρεις, καὶ πάτρια 208 5Moral Disapproval of Literary Genres
And just like afire is started, the spikes aregraduallyburnt and disappear,consumed by the flames,the fields havingbeen purified; in this way, the tongue of Paul shouts,attacking all morevehementlythan fire, and everythinggives way, the cult of the demons,the spec- tacles and festivals, the tradition of the forefathers […]and the evil works of the false prophets.[…]Wherever Paul has sown this, the error is dispelled, the truth remains. Smokeand fume, all the cymbals, the drums,carousals,drunkenness,frivolity,adultery, and other horrors,which they used to celebrate in their temples of idols,havegone out and have been torn apart,just like wax is melted by fire and strawisconsumed by the flame.
Following this, John reminds his audience of those philosophers that had been expelled alreadyinclassicaltimes in order to admonish his audience thatthe time of pagan philosophers is over.³⁶ In sum, we have seen that throughout his voluminous sermons, John Chrys- ostom oftenpresents the rise of Christianity as astruggle between the apostles and their successors, Christian martyrs,and ancient philosophersasrivalling groups.Heclaims thatasaconsequenceofthis rivalry,much of the knowledge of the latter (in written or oral tradition) has been obliterated; however,with re- gardtosome of these philosophies, John’sclaim is wishful thinking,aimed at downplaying theirimportance as he wanted to persuade others not to believe in these opinions. Although it is difficult to date exactlyJohn’svarious works,the changingat- titudes of his texts can be traced and interpreted as occurringoverthe course of acareer.Wefind some of the most radical polemics in texts thatare probably related to the Statue Riot in Antioch of 387, which Ishalldiscuss in the next sec- tion in greater detail. At this time in particular,his discourses against pagans ap- pear to reflectthe attitudes of the ascetic-monastic communities that he was per- sonally acquainted with as he vigorouslyjustified the actions of the monks and their clashwith the local philosophers. As Tiersch has noted, it was John’srole in the affair that ultimatelysaw him recommended to the election for the vacant see in Constantinople.³⁷ However,once in this position he oscillatesbetween con- tinuing to encouragethe obliteration of pagan books and being realistic enough not to attempt to fullydissuade Constantinople’supper strata entirelyfrom being
ἔθη … καὶ ψευδαποστόλων κακουργίαι· … καὶ τοῦ Παύλου πανταχοῦ τοῦτο διασπείροντος, ἠλαύ- νετο μὲν ἡ πλάνη, ἐπανῄει δὲἡἀλήθεια, κνῖσαι δὲ καὶ καπνός, καὶ κύμβαλα καὶ τύμπανα, καὶ μέθαι καὶ κῶμοι, καὶ πορνεῖαι, καὶ μοιχεῖαι, καὶ τὰἄλλα, ἃ μηδὲ εἰπεῖνκαλόν, τὰἐντοῖςἱεροῖς τῶνεἰδώλων τελούμενα ἔληγε καὶἐδαπανᾶτο, καθάπερ κηρὸς ὑπὸ πυρὸςτηκόμενα, καθάπερ ἄχυρα ὑπὸ φλογὸςδαπανώμενα. Chrys. laud. Paul. . (SC :–). Tiersch (), –. 5.2 Libanius’ Complaints 209 educated in what is helpful for awordlycareer,particularlyinrhetoric and in pagan literature. In the next section Ishallargue thatthere is some confirmation for this decline of ancient philosophyand of classical studies in general and that this can be grasped from the statements found in John’spagan contemporary, Libanius.
5.2 Libanius’ Complaints
Neglect of ancient literature could take manyforms. Outwith of deliberate or ideologicallymotivated disregard, it is reasonable to assume that then as now public libraries in Late Antiquity could suffer from funding cuts. Traditionally, the decurions of the city were in charge of maintaining public institutions out of their ownprivatewealth. But from the third century onwards,itisevident that these local elites increasingly began to avoid the burden of public liturgies, often disbursingthese expenses by enteringthe military and the clergy – profes- sions which exempted them from this financial obligation. In Christian citiesthe bishop graduallyreplacedthe ancientadministrative infrastructure and with- drawingfunding from institutions that could disseminate pagan or anti-Chris- tian material was in the interest of both the clergyand the Christian emperors.³⁸ Although emperors could and did patronise learning,their inclination and em- phasis was not towardspagan philosophy.³⁹ As evidence of the impact the shift in this administrative emphasis caused, around 370, Basil complained that there werenolearned discussions anymore in the forum and thatgymnasia had been closed in Caesarea.⁴⁰ It is likelythat this was because their funding had been choked off. Basil’sposition, and the likelihood that the emerging infra- structure was the cause of this, is indicated by Salvian’scriticism of Greek gym- nasia in Carthageinthe fifth century.Salvian argued thatthey wereimmoral and unchristian because men used to exercisenaked there.⁴¹ Libanius’ work highlights the impact of funding cuts by aChristian emperor on the teachingofthe classics, as Ishallargue in this section. He is arepresen- tative of the pagan group which John had in mind when he spoke out against ancient literature. He was the city-rhetor of Antioch and allegedlyJohn’searly teacher.Inaspeech probablydelivered in 361⁴²,Libanius asked the city council
See Liebeschuetz (), –. See Schlange-Schöningen(), esp. on Constantinople. Bas. ep. .. Salv. gub. .–. On the date,Norman (), –. 210 5Moral Disapproval of LiteraryGenres to maintain the public teachingprofession. His argument acknowledgesthat he is fortunate enough to holdasecure position, but bewails “the misery of our schools” in asking for the reinstatement of the financial aid that pays for the “four assistantswho lead the youth towardsknowledge of the classics.”⁴³ Al- though it indicatesthat financial constraints in education are not simply acon- temporary issue but aperennial theme in civilised societies, if the date is correct Libanius is effectively blaming Constantius II personally for this. He argues that the emperor despises this profession and its teachings, “even though it is natu- rallygood.” Placinghis argument within awider context,Libanius brieflyal- ludes to monks demolishing temples and the increasingdisrespect that is being shown to his pagan religion.⁴⁴ While Sandwell has dismissed these state- ments as being incidental,⁴⁵ Norman correctlynotes that Libanius is criticising the educational policy of the Christian administration in ageneralized and non-specific way, to avoid further conflict.⁴⁶ To my mind, as scholars like Festu- gière have argued, this is significant: Libanius as apagan scholar was witnessing the Greek culturaltradition being threatened by the suppression of paganism.⁴⁷ Although its tone thereforeacknowledgesthe forces ranged against him, he is clearlymaking astand and this should be recognized. The epilogue to this episode is that in another speech probablygiven in 382 Libanius expresses his hope shortlyafter the accessionofTheodosius that the new emperorwould be more tolerant than Valens, aruler who had persecuted philosophers.⁴⁸ He contends that Constantius had never invited philosophers and teachers of rhetoric to his court,insteadwelcomingChristians in the sena- torial rank, “confounded eunuchs […], those enemies of the gods, denizens of grave-yards, whose proud boast it is to belittle Helios and Zeus and his fellow- rulers”,arguing that these Christians had “expelled the rhetorical education.”⁴⁹ As aconsequence, he argues that students had lost anyinterest to “go through manypoets, manyorators and all kinds of literature” because they did not see it
Lib. or. .: τῶν ἐντοῖςδιδασκαλείοις κακῶς … τέτταρες ἡγούμενοι τοῖςνέοις ἐπὶ τὴνγνῶ- σιν τῶν ἀρχαίων,similarly: ., . Lib. or. .: κἂνχρηστὸν ᾖ τῇ φύσει, . Sandwell (), . Norman (), ;Lib. or. .: “Iknow how to singthe praises of those whoreacha right decision and how to writeappropriatelyabout those whooppose it” (ὡςοὖνεἰδότος ἐμοῦ καὶ τοὺς ἃ δεῖ ψηφιζομένους ἐπαινεῖνκαὶπερὶ τῶν ἐναντιουμένων ἃ προσήκει γράφειν). Festugière (), –;Petit(), –. On the date and background, Norman (), –. Lib. or. .–: ὀλέθρους τινὰςεὐνούχους … οἱ δὲ τὴνμὲντῶνλόγων παίδευσιν ἤλαυνον … τοὺςθεοῖς ἐχθρούς, τοὺςπερὶ τοὺςτάφους, ὧντὸσεμνὸνδιασῦραι τὸν Ἥλιον καὶ τὸνΔίακαὶ τοὺςσὺνἐκείνῳἄρχοντα,with Norman (), notes –. 5.2 Libanius’ Complaints 211 as aiding them in their careers.⁵⁰ Thisshows that classicalliterature(although still studied at that time) became less and less important for career paths and was thereforelikelytobeneglected. Moreover,in387 ariot also brokeout in Antioch, known as the Riot of the Statues, amajor example for the religious unrest of that time. When emperor Theodosius called for heavier taxation, the crowdpulled down imperial images and statues. Following the riot,John composed On the Statues,aseries of 21 homilies in which he argued that the reaction of the emperorwas ultimatelyben- eficial to the city as he did away with all pagan spectacles – sinful from asincere Christian standpoint – albeit temporarily.⁵¹ In the seventeenth homilyofthis series, delivered on 27 March 387, ⁵ ² John says thatAntioch’s “pagan philosophers, dog-like outcasts who are more pitiful than dogsunder the table and do everything for the sake of their stomachs”,⁵³ had all left the city apparentlyout of fear of punishment,having been suspected of antagonism towards the Christian emperor.Apparently, they werecynical phi- losophers (from kyniká, “dog-like”). John suggests that when the philosophers fled to the desert outside the city,local monks came to Antioch to appeal to the imperial magistrates “like noble warriors who […]shout and put theirrivals to flight”,noting that as aresultthe forum was now roamed onlybytrue philos- ophers – the monks.⁵⁴ They later retreated to the mountains. In another homily in this series, he observed that “unseasonable laughter,shameful words and all cheerfulness wereexpelled”,alludingtoand suggesting that the flight of the phi- losophers was causedbythe arrival of the monks and that thereforeChristian faith had metaphoricallydrivenout pagan philosophies.⁵⁵
Lib. or. ., : διὰ πολλῶνμὲνποιητῶν ἀφικέσθαι, πολλῶνδὲῥητόρων καὶ παντοδαπῶν ἑτέρων συγγραμμάτων.Similarly, in aspeech probablyfromaround the same time (Martin, , suggests or as the date of composition) Libanius again blames the decline of education in the classics on Christianswhom he addresses but refusestocall by name: Lib. or. ..See also:Lib. or. ., –; .–, . On this argument,Chrys. stat. . (PG : =Mayer and Allen, –). Dateaccording to vandePaverd (), –. Chrys. stat. . (PG : =Mayer and Allen, ): οί τῶν ἔξωθεν φιλοσοφοι, τὰ κυνικὰ καθάρματα, οἱ τῶν ἐπιτραπεζίων κυνῶν ἀθλιώτερον διακείμενοι, καὶ γαστρὸς ἕνεκεν πάντα ποιοῦντες. Chrys. stat. . (PG : =Mayer and Allen, ): καθάπερ οἱ γενναῖοι τῶν ἀριστέων… καὶ βοήσαντες τρέπονταιτοῦςἀντιπάλους.Lib. or. .: “They left their workshops,their houses and tenements” (οὕτω κενὰ μὲν ἐργαστήρια, κενὰςδὲοἰκίας τε καὶ συνοικίας ἀφέντες). Chrys. stat. . (PG :): ὅτι γέλως ἄκαιρος καὶ αἰσχρὰῥήματα, καὶ διάχυσις ἅπασα ἀπε- λήλαται.See van de Paverd (), .Similarly, hom. in Rom. (PG :): “In the present time … both in the city and in the desert itself … all impiety has been drivenout.” (τὸνπαρόντα 212 5Moral Disapproval of LiteraryGenres
Despite John’spolemics and the historical circumstances, Libanius was able to continue operatinghis school.⁵⁶ Yetaswehaveseen even Libanius sawfund- ing chokedoff for his school and personally felt some pressure: he himself was repeatedlychargedwith practising magic.⁵⁷ He notes that in the same year, pagan teaching wasindeed in aparticularlydifficult situation: “The studies on rhetoric and the teachingofgrammarhavebeen abolished. There is no teach- er and no student.”⁵⁸ In another sermon, Libanius goes on to describethe con- sequencesofthe riots of 387inmore detail, noting “students seized upon the event as an excuse for holidays […]tied up their books, mounted their horses…”⁵⁹ While it is clear that he blames Christianityfor this, it is also appa- rent that they did not desert their studies for long,ashedescribes in alater speech (Or.34.12). While this episode appears to be somewhat limited in time, nevertheless it does show the increasingtendencythat upper-classyoungpeo- ple, while continuingtobeeducated in the classics,became less likelytoinvest much money,time and effort in learning these. In the next section, Ishall argue that Ammianus criticised the imperial policy in ways similar to Libanius and thereforeconfirmed the general feeling thatsome pagan literatures wereinde- cline, as is indicated also in the polemical passages by John Chrysostom that I have alreadydiscussed.
5.3 The Decline of Libraries in Rome
The city of Rome was the main supplier of books in the Western RomanEmpire. Despite all military setbacks, it continued to hold this position throughout the earlyMiddle Ages and reportedlyserved as acentre for literary studies until at least the earlyfifth century. In the late fourth century, most of its senators wereswift to convert to Christianity,although pagan religion continued to be pre- served among some of their members associated with Symmachus and Nicoma- chus Flavianus.This religious changegaverise to anumber of conflicts, known
καιρὸν … κατὰ κώμην καὶ πόλιν, καὶἐναὐτῇτῇἐρήμῳ…πᾶσα ἀσέβεια ἐξελήλαται)and (PG :). This is known from Lib. or. (and other speeches by Libanius),translated and commented by Norman (), –. Lib. or. .–, , –, –, – (Lotz, , ). Lib. or. .: καταλέλυνται μὲναἱπερὶ τοὺςλόγους διατριβαί, καταλέλυνται δὲ αἱ περὶ τὰ γράμματα διδασκαλίαι. διδάσκει δὲ οὐδεὶςοὐδὲμανθάνει. Lib. or. .: τῶννέων … οἱ μὲν ἥρπασαν τὸνκαιρὸνεἰςἀργίαν, … δήσαντες τὰςδιφθέρας ἀναβάντες ἐφ’ ἵππους. 5.3 The Decline of Libraries in Rome 213 best from the controversy surroundingthe altar of Victory in 384.The traditional view is that people associated with Symmachus and Nicomachus Flavianus,a group that was pagan at first and Christianised later,commissioned the manu- script tradition of Latin classical works thatsurvive until today, while the emper- ors had little interest to preservethe works of old. Libanius’ defence of pagan traditions in Antioch thereforeprovides aperti- nent background against which to reread Ammianus’ well known passageonthe fate of ancient libraries in Rome. Ishallput this passageinto the context of other pertinentpassages by Ammianus, arguing that he alludes to an atmosphere of denunciation thatwas potentiallydetrimental to the interestinsome pagan works of old. Originallyfrom Antioch, Ammianus came to Rome and wrotein Latin. Based on parallel sources the following digression in one of Ammianus’ earlybooksisassumedtobefrom the early380s.⁶⁰ SimilarlytoLibanius, he complains about the decadence of fourth-century highsociety and thereforeac- counts for the loss of books at that time:⁶¹
In this situation the few houses which were previouslycelebrated for the serious cultureof studies arenow filled with the trivial pursuits of passive idleness,echoingwith the sound of singing and the resoundingtwanglingsofstrings. Finally,instead of the philosopherthe singer is called in and instead of the oratorthe teacher of entertainingarts,while the libra- ries,like tombs, areclosed forever.
Earlyresearch and some modern scholars have read Ammianus’ line on the clo- sure of the libraries as indicating thatthe publiclibraries of Rome wereshut or dismantled by the Christian emperors.⁶² However,Houston has convincingly ar- gued thatAmmianus was alludingonlytoprivatelibraries, indicating that the fate of Rome’spublic libraries remains unknown. In this context,itisclear that Ammianus is complainingabout the frivolity and ignorance of senators,a tack which does not explicitlysuggest the involvement of Christianityinthis process. On the other hand,Houston does not find it implausible that most pub- lic libraries disappeared as aresultofimperial religious policy.⁶³ This is because
De Jonge(), ad locum, p. ;Houston (), –. Amm. ..: quod cum ita sit, paucae domus studiorumseriis cultibus antea celebratae nunc ludibriis ignaviae torpentis exundant vocabili sonu perflabili tinnitu fidium resultantes. deni- que prophilosopho cantor et in locum oratoris doctor artium ludicrarum accitur et bibliothecis se- pulchrorum ritu in perpetuum clausis. See Houston(), – on previous literatureinfavour of the destruction theory.More recently, vonAlbrecht (), with note ,links the passage to Rome’spublic libraries.So tooFedeli (), –;Lapidge (), . Houston (), note . 214 5Moral Disapproval of LiteraryGenres catalogues and inscriptions from around 400 and later,such as the Notitia dig- nitatum,donot mention libraries or librarians and templesweregenerallynot restored anymore in Rome since the late fourth century.⁶⁴ By contrast, two docu- ments from the fourth century respectivelyattest 28 and 29 libraries for the city of Rome, although they do not mention their size.⁶⁵ Seven of these are archaeo- logicallyattested, seven more in historicalaccounts.⁶⁶ Apart from people likeSymmachus and Nicomachus Flavianus,the majority of aristocrats whose religious identification is known wereChristians.⁶⁷ It there- fore appears that Ammianus is alludingtoChristian rather than to pagan sena- tors in the passageonthe libraries. Ammianus continues with this polemical theme within acatalogue of vicesrelated to the situation in Rome in 371/2 wherehehighlights:⁶⁸
first the errors of the nobility,asIhave done afew times beforeasfar as spaceallowed[…] confiningthe incidents to arapid digression. […]Some detest learninglikepoison, but read Juvenal and Marius Maximus with fairlycareful eagerness,whereas they touch no other vol- umes in their profound leisuretime, but whythis should be so is not for my poor judgment to decide.
As we have alreadyseen, Prudentius,aChristian poet close to the senate, also depicts the pagan studies represented by Symmachus as “poison.”⁶⁹ Other Chris- tian authorsand also imperial laws frequentlyemploy the poison-metaphor in regard to forbidden texts. Following on from his attack,Ammianus goes on to mention that the nobles use magic chargestoblackmail people financially.⁷⁰ Such allegations could be personallydamagingand it was not in the interests of most individuals to be chargedwith disseminating magic or to be found own- ing anywritingslinked to this practice. Afew decades after Ammianus, Macrobius complains about earlypoetssuch as Ennius being neglectedinhis age. This passagehas been much debated, but it
See recentlyAlan Cameron (), –. See Houston (). See Pöhlmann (), . See Salzman (), p. ,Table . and p. –. Amm. ..: et primo nobilitatis,utaliquotienspro locorum copia fecimus … errata, inciden- tia veloci constringentes excessu, … :quidam detestantes ut venenadoctrinas Iuvenalem et Ma- rium Maximum curatiorestudio legunt, nulla volumina praeter haec in profundo otio contrec- tantes, quam ob causam non iudicioli est nostri. Forexample,Prud. c.Symm. pr. : ingenii virus. Amm. ... 5.3 The Decline of Libraries in Rome 215 appears thatMacrobius positions stylistic rather thanreligious reasons as the cause of the neglect of “anyold library.”⁷¹ In alandmark article, Bloch had coined this notion of apagan revival among senators of Rome in the late fourth and earlyfifth centuries. Bloch suggested that pagan senators,such as Symmachus and his contemporary Nicomachus Flavia- nus, activelysafeguarded the classicalliterary heritageagainst ahostileChristi- an surrounding. His argument is basedonsubscriptions which name late an- tique Romanaristocrats and which are found in the manuscripts of many Latin classics that senatorial households had transcribed from papyrus scrolls to the parchment codices which monasteries preserved.⁷² Despite its pervasive currency, the notion of apagan revival in Rome at the turn of the fifth century has been questioned.Neither the notion of aclose-knit circle nor theirpagan direction is believed anymore today. Alan Cameron, in par- ticular,has qualified this assumption, forwardingthe idea that exactlythese books survivedbecause they werevaluable luxury codices.⁷³ He argued that sen- ators engaged in preservingthe literarypatrimonydid not do so from strongre- ligious motivations and indeed had often alreadybeen Christianised since the beginning of the fifth century.Infact,hesuggests that Christians rather thanpa- gans madeextensive use of these subscriptions. It is therefore more correct to say that the subscriptions thatcame into use in the fourth century have alreadybeen linked to Christian book production and undeniably reflect the highsocial status of subscribers.⁷⁴ Pöhlmann is closer to Bloch’sposition when in his history of text transmis- sion, he argues that the classicalheritagewas preserved because senators (and upper-class people elsewhere) wereexempt from Christian censorship.⁷⁵ Howev- er,subscriptions account for the Christian canonisation of texts rather than pagan preservation efforts. Nevertheless,Alan Cameron provides an interesting exception in amathematical text which givesthe names of late antique pagans
Macr. Sat. ..: nam quia saeculumnostrum ab Ennio et omni bibliothecavetere descivit, multa ignoramus,quae non laterent si veterumlectio nobis esset familiaris. Cf. Bloch (), ;Alan Cameron (), ,who concludesthat archaic authors were neglected in favour of SilverLatin authors.Onthe date, religion and identity of Macrobius,see recentlyAlan Camer- on (), –. Bloch (); Jahn (); morerecentlyHedrick (); and see recentlyAlan Cameron (), esp. –.The best known subscription reads Victorianus v.c. emendabamdomnis Symmachis,found in manuscripts at the end of each of Livy’sfirst books. Alan Cameron (), , –. Alan Cameron (); Alan Cameron (). And most recently, Alan Cameron (), esp. –. Pöhlmann (), –. 216 5Moral Disapproval of Literary Genres
(like the Alexandrinian scholar Theon and his daughter Hypatia). Similar sub- scriptionsare alsofound in earlier texts such as in an old copyofEpicurus’ De rerum natura,found among the Herculaneum papyri, which indicate the above-average care for correctness of these texts and perhaps the specifically pagan interest for textsonmathematics, astronomyand natural philosophy.⁷⁶ At anyrate, it is importanttonote thatinthe Latin West these Christian subscrip- tions are linked to the successful preservation of the accompanying text.This in- dicates that atext survivedbecause of Christian approval. Underpinning this trend towardscanonisation is acolophon which Irenaeus of Lyons in the second centuryadded to the end of his book and which is quoted and endorsed by Eusebius, Jerome and Rufinus:⁷⁷
Iadjure youwho transcribe this book, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by his glorious advent when he will judge both the livingand the dead, to transcribe, collateand correct it very carefullyagainst the master-copyfromwhich youhavetranscribed it; similarly, youshould also transcribe this oath, as youhavefound it in the master-copy.
The colophon displays eschatological ideas proscribinghow aChristian religious text should be transcribed. In Irenaeus’ case, the addendum appears to be ade- termined effort to make sure that he will be judgeddeservedlyaccordingtohis writingsatJudgment Day, and by avoiding scribal errors that would otherwise give the impression thathis writingslack doctrinal canonicity. It has been assumed that Cassiodorus rescued much of Latin classical literature,⁷⁸ but this belief is no longer givenwide credence. The wealthysenator Cassiodorus (sixth century) was among the earlyinitiators of monastic book pro- duction in the West.Cassiodorus collected booksinItaly, Africa and for many years he livedinConstantinople, which preserved the classical tradition more than anyother city.Earlyresearch on the surviving copies of pagan Latin texts identifiedthe senatorial circle in Rome, originating with the late fourth-century senator Symmachus and terminatingwith sixth-century senatorial authorssuch as Boethius and Cassiodorus, as the common sourcefor the transmission of manysuch texts.⁷⁹ However,not much is known about the fate of Cassiodorus’
Alan Cameron (), – with –. Hier. vir.ill. : adiurotequi transcribislibrum istum, per dominumnostrum Iesum Christum et per gloriosumeius adventum quo iudicaturus est vivos et mortuos,utconferas,postquamtranscri- pseris,etemendes illum ad exemplar unde transcripsisti, diligentissime; hanc quoque obtestatio- nem similiter transferas, ut invenisti in exemplari. Eus. h.e. .. (and the translation by Rufi- nus), Rufin. de principiis,pr. =Hier. ep. ..See Alan Cameron (), (translation). Momigliano (), –. Jahn (); Bloch (); Reynolds and Wilson (), –. 5.4 The Jerome–Rufinus Controversy 217 library in the monastery of Vivarium, although it is assumedits books werere- ceivedfirst in Rome and the monastery of Bobbio and eventuallybeyond the Alps.⁸⁰ In his Institutiones,Cassiodorus givessummaries and titles of books in his possession, in what Hagendahl has called “the first medievallibrary catalogue.”⁸¹ These titles scarcelyexceed the amount of ancient Latin titles ex- tant today.⁸² The evidence, therefore, suggests that ancient Latinliterature suf- fered its greatest loss certainlybefore the sixth century (perhaps much earlier).⁸³ In sum, Ammianus blames the decline of literaturetochanginginterests, yet without overtlyspecifying that Christianityiscausing this change, he subtlyal- ludes to the current religious policy creating an atmosphere detrimental to the survival and promotion of pagan literatures associated with magic. In the con- text of this book, this is importantbecause it shows that these literatures were actuallyneglected and that the reason for this wasthe religious atmosphere. It can therefore be argued that this neglect was due to censorship of books, but this does not mean that there was anyattempt to ban classical literature in general.
5.4 The Jerome–Rufinus Controversy
Giventhe evidence examined so far,itisnot implausible that librarians physi- callyremovedbooksthey disliked from libraries. At anyrate, monasteries gave the greatestcare to preservethe works of ecclesiastical authorities and followed their recommendations, givenatatime when doctrinal controversies within Christianitywereattheir peak. Speyer has therefore argued that the following letter by Jerome mayhavehad some impact on scribal decisions not to copy of- fensive classicaltexts in latercenturies. To my mind, it is more important to read this passageasatestimonial for the wayinwhich Christian scribes, in Jerome’s very own ageorshortlyafter,decided which books or passages of atext to copy and which books or passages not to copy.Inthe letter,and borrowingfrom a similar interpretation givenbyOrigen,⁸⁴ Jerome compares the fate of pagan ten- ets in ancient,secular literature to that of acaptive woman in the Old Testament. Christians, he argues, should avoid pagan literaturejust like acaptive woman.
See Lapidge (), –;O’Donnell (), –.Troncarelli ()rejected Vivarium as the origin of some manuscripts containingclassical texts. Hagendahl (), . Titles arelisted in Mynors (), –. Ward (). Orig. hom. in Lev. (GCS ,Orig. , –). 218 5Moral Disapproval of LiteraryGenres
However,ifthe captor desires her because of her beauty,she needstobethor- oughlycleansed before marriage(21.13.8 – 9):⁸⁵
We arealso used to do that when we read the philosophers,when the books of secular wis- dom come into our hands.Ifwefind anythinguseful in these, we convert it to our own doc- trine, but if we find anythingsuperfluous – concerningidols,love, the care for secular knowledge – these things we scrape off, for these we decree baldness,these we cut off likefingernails with avery sharp blade.
Speyer puts this forward to show wheremonastic scribes mayhavegot the idea to delete problematic, lascivious lines from manuscriptsthatcontain poetry.⁸⁶ Yetdespite its drastic wording,Jerome’sletter also reveals thatastrategy of ap- propriation existed, allowing for the classicalheritagetobeabsorbed in the Christian era. To my mind, Jerome is alludingtophilosophical texts, such as those written by Plato, rather thantopoetry.Hitherto this passagehas not been read alongside asimilar verdict on the part of Jerome’sadversary Rufinus:⁸⁷
With your censor’srod⁸⁸ and by your own arrogant authority,you announce: ‘This book should be banned from libraries, that book should be included; […]This author should be regarded as Catholic, even though he seems to have erredinquiteafew things;that au- thor should have no mercyfor his error.’
Rufinus, his adversary in the Origenist controversy of the 390s, accuses Jerome of power abuse because he applied selfish, arbitrary rules when judging which books to ban from libraries. However,the critical thrust is of apolemicalnature, as Jerome was not actuallyincharge of library reforms.Itisknown that Jerome at that time was in Palestine and had no authority over libraries. In context,Ru-
Hier. ep. .: atqui et nos hoc facere solemus, quando philosophoslegimus,quando in manus nostras libri veniuntsapientiae saecularis: si quid in eis utile repperimus,adnostrum dogma convertimus, si quid verosuperfluum, de idolis, de amore, de curasaecularium rerum, haec radimus,his calvitium indicimus,haec in unguium morem ferro acutissimo desecamus;refer- ring to Deut. :–. Speyer (), with givesthe examples of Ausonius,Juvenal and the Latin Anthol- ogy. Rufin. apol.adv.Hier. . (CCSL :): tua autem illa censoria virgula et arroganti aucto- ritate decernis:ille arceatur abibliothecis,ille recipiatur … Hic autem catholicus habeatur,etiam si in aliquantis videatur errasse; illi erroris venianon detur. Censoria virgula is another word for obelus,aline markingcontent as not authentic or suspi- cious:Quint. inst. ..;Hier. ep. ., .; .: cum hoc reieceritis et quasi censoria virgula separaveritis afide ecclesiae, tuto legamceteranec venenaiam metuam,cum antidotum praebi- bero. 5.4 The Jerome–Rufinus Controversy 219 finus criticises Jerome’sverdict to reject the works of the martyr Pamphilus be- cause they are of dubious authenticity.Rufinus’ claim thatJerome wasexpelling books from libraries can thereforebetaken as ametaphor for judging their or- thodoxy,something which nevertheless could stigmatiseabook as being heret- ical and make it unlikelytobetransmitted or receivedinlibraries because of Je- rome’sauthority. Jerome himself alludes to this qualityinaletter addressed to Vigilantius, who also became his opponent.While claiming the same authority for himself, Jerome raises this rhetorical question: “Are youthe onlyone allowed, with your very wise head, to pass sentenceupon all Greek and Latin writers, as it werewith your censor’srod to eject some from libraries and to admit others?”⁸⁹ He notes that he himself has omitted unorthodoxpassages from his Latin translation of works by Origen while criticising that Vigilantius kept copies of Origen’streatise on Job. In these he notes that “while discoursing against the devil and concern- ing the stars and the sky,hehas said certain thingswhich the Church does not receive.”⁹⁰ This circumstantial allusion nevertheless indicatesthe value and im- portance of natural philosophytoChristianity’sdoctrinal interests. It is particu- larlynoteworthyasithighlights the degree to which rivalChristian authors strug- gled for power among each other by attemptingtodefine what books(including their own) werepermitted in libraries. In doing this, neither Rufinus nor Jerome explicitlymention pagan books and it appears that the focus of their debate was on Christian books that deviated from accepted orthodoxies rather thanacon- certed effort to push certain pagan texts into aterminal decline.However,pas- sages like these still account for the fact that texts opposed to Christian ortho- doxy weredeliberatelyleft behind. In the next section, Ishall brieflyoutline some of the attitudes thatChristian ecclesiastical or layauthors displayedtowardspagan literatures in general. As we have just seen, Christian authors, such as Jerome, were aware that their au- thority could mean that some books werepreserved in libraries, while others werenot.Therefore, we can observe that these attitudes towards pagan litera- tures had asignificant impact on the preservation of ancient literatures.
Hier. ep. .: tibi soli licet, τῷ σοφωτάτῳ κρανίῳ,decunctis et Graecis et Latinis tractato- ribus ferre sententiam et quasi censoria virgula alios eiceredebibliothecis, alios recipere. Hier. ep. .: contradiabolum et de stellis caeloquedisputans quaedam locutus est, quae ecclesia non recipit? 220 5Moral Disapproval of Literary Genres
5.5 Christianity and ClassicalLiterature
It is well known that Christian ecclesiastical authorsoften wroteabout pagan and classical authorsinanegative way. Of course therewas no general agree- ment on the question of whether Christians should continue to studythe clas- sics. The fourth and fifth centuries are of particularimportance as Christianity necessarilyneeded to become increasinglyopen to individuals thathad received arhetorical education. Indeed, manyChristian ecclesiastical authors argued that it wasanimportant conversion strategytoshow that manyofthe ancientauthors and philosophershad put forward views similarlytothose found in the Bible. In this section, we will see anumber of strategiesthat Christian authors employed to exempt classicalliterature from demonisation despite the fact thatthese texts frequentlymention pagan gods. We willalsosee thatother textswereactually attributed to ademonicalcounter-world and thatthere are reasons to believe that this differentiation had an impact on the survival of pagan literatures. The prime example of aChristian ecclesiastical author relatively tolerant of classicalliterature is Basil of Caesarea (c. 330 – 379). In his much discussed trea- tise Address to Young Men on the RightUse of Greek Literature,Basil raised the question of to what extent young Christians should receive education in pagan literature. He employed the metaphor of bees collectinghoney to suggest how Christians can take advantageofclassical literature.Scholars have taken this treatise as the prime reason for whyChristian readers in the East did not reject the classics.⁹¹ Fourth-centuryChristian authors, such as Basil and Jerome, had receivedarhetorical education before theirconversion. This education had shaped them intellectuallytothe point wherethey continued to quote classical works even as bishops.⁹² Unlikemanyearlier Christian authors they werethem- selvesmembers of an educated elite. This was not always unproblematic. In adream, Jerome was haunted by God torturinghim for someone who preferred Ciceroand Plautus to readingthe Bible. Criticising the luxurious life-style of Roman society as opposed to monastic life, he passionatelyvowed “Lord, if ever again Ipossess secular books, or if ever again Iread such, Ihavedenied you.”⁹³ Jerome’sallusion to Peter’sdenial of Jesusafter the Last Supper is significant,asitplaces readingsuch texts on a par with this act.Jerome did not adhere to his promise, however.The monk Ru- finus of Aquileia became Jerome’sadversary in the Origenist controversy and he
Klein (). Jerome complains about bishops and presbyters still teachingsecular,particularly dramatic, texts: Hier. in Eph. .. (PL :A). Hier. ep. .: Domine, si umquam habuerocodices saeculares, si legero,tenegavi. 5.5 Christianity and Classical Literature 221 publiclyrepudiated Jerome for not living up to this standard,claiming that Je- rome continued to quote Cicero, Vergil, Horace,and even booksbyPythagoras otherwise considered lost.⁹⁴ This is significant because,ifcorrect,itmeans that books by Pythagoras (or perhaps more likelybyPythagorean philosophers) werestill circulating at that time. In his defenceofthis charge,Jerome declared he had in fact quoted such passages merelybecause he had memorised them duringthe rhetorical education he received. He implausiblywent on to suggest that he never returned to classical texts following his education, turning the ta- bles on Rufinus by alleging that he had studied Cicero “in secret” in order to gain areputation of being eloquent.⁹⁵ Their correspondence represents the hostileat- titudes of monastic communities towards the classicalheritage. LayChristians had afar more relaxed attitude towards rhetorical training.A passagebySocrates Scholasticus is the locus classicus showing thatChristian lay authorsofthe East wereappreciative of classicalliterature. In Constantinople of the first half of the fifth century – acentrefor classicallearning in the east –,the Church historian Socrates gave alist of reasons as to whyChristians should make use of Greek education. This can be summarized as follows: it was neither recognised nor entirelyrejected by Jesusand the apostles;some philosophers came close to Christianityand opposed the Epicureans and other schools; and Greek education ultimatelyishelpful for Christians to refute adversaries with their own weapons. To accomplish the latter,itisnecessary to engagewith the former, Socrates suggests. Where extremist Christians put forward the opinion that Greek paideia is pernicious because it “teaches polytheism”,Socrates thus argues that contemporaries appreciated Greek paideia.⁹⁶ Socrates’ line of ar- gument nonetheless shows that he felt it necessary to defend classicaleducation from clerical reproaches. Some Greek ecclesiastical authors shared similar attitudes. The works of Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria (412–444), contain anumber of typical motifs with which Christian ecclesiastical authors intended to appropriatethe classical heritagetothe contemporaryChristian reader.For example, several times Cyril refers to Greek literature and philosophymetaphoricallyasthe spoils of gold and silverwhich the Israelites took out of Egypt.⁹⁷ While Cyril rejected ancient materialist philosophy, his disdain for classical authors (still being studied)
Rufin. apol. adv. Hier. ..See Speyer (), . Hier. contraRuf. .: aut ego fallor,aut tu Ciceronem occulte lectitas et ideo tam disertus es. See also Hier. ep. and Jeffrey(), –. Socr. h.e. .(.): πρὸςβλάβης γὰρεἶναι τὴν Ἑλληνικὴνπαιδείαν πολυθεΐαν διδάσκουσαν. Cyr. ador. (PG :D–B), (PG :D); in Joelem .. (PG :B); in Zacha- riam .. (PG :D); .. (PG :B). 222 5Moral Disapproval of Literary Genres was less harsh; he occasionallyquoted classical authors, but mostlyinorder to add authority to his claims beyond citing biblical works. Within this context of endorsing classical authors, Cyril refers particularlyto Homer in order to appropriate classicaltexts for the Christian reader.Although Homer is positionedas“not quite remote from the dancers on the stage” (which wereoften despised because of their low social status), it is conceded that he had introduced the literarytheme of battling virtues and vices(aChris- tian theme elaborated by Prudentius). In the field of physics,however,Homer had sung about the clashofelements, while also speakingof“godhimself” in- stead of “someoneofthe gods.” Cyril takes this latter point as an indication for Homer being “not entirelyignorant of the truth.”⁹⁸ Similarly,Cyril elsewhere quotes and summarizes passages on creation from Hesiod in order to show their lack of clarity and both engagements can be taken as asign of his genuine interest in classical culture.⁹⁹ While some Christian authors thereforeheld classicaltexts in high regard, others considered ancient literarytraditions as potentiallyharmful. John Chrys- ostom wrote apedagogical treatise,arguing that the “fables” (mýthoi), the mate- rial of ancient poetry such as the story of Jason and the Fleece, should be re- moved from child education.¹⁰⁰ He also suggests that as these thingsexcite sexual feelingsparticularlyduring puberty, the child needs to be taught that hell- fire follows sexual indulgence to curb these feelingsorany attempt to act on them.¹⁰¹ John thereforeproposes an educational strategysimilar to thoseem- ployed in the educational training that monks and ascetics received, as we have alreadyseen. However,thereisalso an acceptance in John’swork that upper-class people are likelytohavecome into contact with Greek paideia fol- lowing their childhood education. Although he criticises paideia for its non-ac- cordance with Christian teaching, he himself possessed this higher education and he appears to attach some value to it.¹⁰² Indeed, as earlyChristian educa- tional pedagogyaccordingtoJohn was deeplyconcernedwith fortifying the child against later temptation, in asermon giveninConstantinople John sug-
Cyr. Juln. .–,at (= PG :D–C, at B, C): οὐκ ἠγνοηκότα παντελῶςεὑρή- σομεν τήν ἀλήθειαν … θεὸςαὐτός…θεῶντις. Cyr. Juln. . (= PG :C–D). Chrys. educ.lib. , , , –.Similarly, hom. in Eph. – (PG :–); hom. in Mt. (PG :–); cf. Maxwell (), –. Chrys. educ.lib. –. Chrys. educ.lib. ;cf. Hom. in Jo. (PG :). 5.5 Christianity and Classical Literature 223 gests that classical paideia maybesuitable to provide illustrative examples of ancient misfortunes.¹⁰³ Attitudes in the West werenodifferent.Augustine’sfour books De doctrina Christiana (mostlywritten in 396/7 and finished in 426/7) became alandmark guide for the West on how Christians should deal with the ancient literaryher- itage. De doctrina Christiana was primarilyahandbook for bishops and priests, providingguidance on how they were to be trained.¹⁰⁴ It was in line with the council of Carthageof398, which prohibited bishops to read pagan books (libros gentilium)and permittedtoread heretical books in exceptional cases only.¹⁰⁵ It has been argued that these books werewritten specificallyfor contemporary mo- nasticism which was radicallyhostile against ancient education.¹⁰⁶ But it is also apparent that Augustine justified the Christian appropriationofancient authors. Similarly to Cyril, he makes specific referencetothe Israelites taking jewels of gold and silverfrom Egypt and the Egyptians but leaving behind the idols and burdens – aclear metaphor for Christians selecting ancientmaterial that accord- ed with and supported the Bible.¹⁰⁷ Generally, however,Augustine assigned Christian and biblical rather than classical authorstobestudied in rhetorical ed- ucationascanonical authors.¹⁰⁸ The dual nature of rhetoric is also important in his writings. Rhetoric is useful to disseminate Christian doctrine and to refute enemies.¹⁰⁹ Thus Augustine’s De doctrina Christiana,although far from account- ing for the end of education, does so – it seems – in what amounts to denying the transmission of classical texts in schools, programmaticallyatleast; but it has also rightfullybeen argued that he actuallyopened up apath for theirlegit- imate survival.¹¹⁰
Chrys. hom. in Thess. (PG :): “Read, if youwant,both our own works and those of the pagans;for they arealso filled with such examples. If youdisdain ours fromlaziness;if youadmirethe works of philosophers,goeventothem. They will teach youabout ancient mis- fortunes,aswill poets,orators,sophists and all historians”: ἀνάγνωθι, εἰ βούλει, καὶ τὰ παρ’ ἡμῖν, καὶ τὰἔξωθεν (καὶ γὰρκαὶἐκεῖνα γέμει τούτων τῶνπαραδειγμάτων), εἰ τῶν ἡμετέρων καταφρονεῖς ἐξ ἀπονίας· εἰ τὰ τῶνφιλοσόφων θαυμάζεις, κἂντούτοις πρόσιθι· ἐκεῖνοί σε διδά- ξουσι, συμφορὰςπαλαιὰςδιηγούμενοι, καὶ ποιηταὶ, καὶῥήτορες, καὶ σοφισταὶ, καὶ λογογράφοι πάντες.Perhaps written in .See Mayer(), –. Pollmann (), –. Collectio Hispana (Conc. Carthag. )can. (CCSL :)=stat. eccl. ant. can. (CCSL :): ut episcopi libros gentilium non legant,haereticorum autem pro necessitate et tempore. Prinz (), –;Pollmann (), –. Aug. doctr.christ. ..;Exod. :–; :; :–;Orig. ep. .. Aug. doctr.christ. ..; ... Aug. doctr.christ. ..; ..; ..;Krämer (), –, –, –;cf. Ge- meinhardt (), –. Cf. Kaster (), ;Chin (), –. 224 5Moral DisapprovalofLiteraryGenres
Augustine’s On Cathechising the Uninstructed (c.400) is another important text on the practice of Christian religious instruction as it suggests that coercion involves monitoring reading interests. Augustine here givesadvice on how to in- quire potential converts. If the missionaries getintouch with people well-educat- ed in the liberal arts, they should interrogate themabout the booksthey either possess or have previouslyread. The missionaries then should praise canonical books, particularlybiblical ones, and criticise other authors:¹¹¹
And when he has told us this and if these books areknown to us, or at least if we heardthat according to the tradition of the Church, they were composed by some Catholic man of note,then we should gladlyapprovethem. But if he has fallen victim to the volumes of some heretic and, unknowinglyperhaps, remembers and considers somethingtobeCath- olic what the true faith condemns,wemust diligentlyinstruct him, settingbeforehim the authority of the universal Church.
This shows thatthe converts wereadvised to getrid of their heretical books. These books mayhaveinvolvedpagan books opposed to the Christian world view because the potential converts werewell-educated pagans. At anyrate, they were likelytobeharassedifthey came up with anythoughts contrary to Church doctrines. Forexample, in the City of God Augustine refers to contempo- rary pagans thatheintends to refute, just as some of them werethemselvespre- paring arefutation against him:¹¹²
When Ihad published the first threeofthese books and they had comeintothe hands of many, Iheardthat certain personswere preparingagainst them awritten replyofone kind or another.Then, it was reported to me that that they had alreadywritten it,but were seek- ing atime when they could publish it without danger. Iadmonish these persons not to de- sire whatisnot helpful for them.
Augustine takes the tack that their biased vanity is opposed to the truth of Au- gustine’sdiscourse, proposingtotear out their ‘most impudent garrulity’ and suggesting that they would be much happier if they ‘werenot allowed to do
Aug. catech. rud. .: quod cum dixerit, tum si nobis noti suntilli libri, aut ecclesiastica fama saltem accepimus acatholico aliquo memorabili viro esse conscriptos, laeti approbemus. si autem in alicuius haeretici volumina incurrit et nesciens forte quod vera fides improbat, tenuit animo et catholicum esse arbitratur:sedulo edocendus est, praelata auctoritate universalis eccle- siae… Aug. civ. . (CCSL :): quorum tres priores cum edidissem et in multorum manibus esse coepissent, audivi quosdam nescio quam adversus eos responsionem scribendo praeparare. deinde ad me perlatum est, quod iam scripserint, sed tempus quaerant, quo sine periculo possint edere. quos admoneo,non optent quod eis non expedit. 5.5 Christianity and Classical Literature 225 this at all’.Nevertheless,heconcedes that in consultations with theologians peo- ple can voice their different opinions and listen to them in order to be corrected.¹¹³ Augustine deals explicitlywith the subjectofcensorship of poetry in two major sections of the City of God. Explicating his point thatsexuallyoffensivepo- etry should not be read,¹¹⁴ Augustine argues that theatrical performances en- couragesexual indulgence contrary to Christian morals and that in this regard they are thus comparable to mystical rites.Heblames their origin on the wicked- ness of the pagan demons, while conceding that comedyand tragedy, although they alsocontain manyshameful things, are more tolerable than otherperfor- mances.Augustine also says that young studentsare still forced to studydramat- ic texts,perhaps in allusion to his own school days,indicating the continuation of classical studies in North Africa.¹¹⁵ Firstly, Augustine refers to Cicero’sopinion in his work On the State. It is not firmlyknown whether or not Augustine misrepresented Cicero’sview as the rel- evant sections of Cicero’s On the State are lost today, but there is reason to belief, as Ishall argueshortly, that he was at best looselybasedonancient authorities in this regard. Cicero’swork is important because it was apioneering work on state theory in Latinclassicalliterature. Summarising Cicero, Augustine thus ar- gues the ancient Romans had never been appreciative of poetical license as much as the Greeks had been, but rather than allowing living persons to be sat- irised, they had, in the archaic Lawofthe Twelve Tables, ruled capital punish- ment to “anyone who had performed or composed apoem in order to bring in- famyordisgrace on someone else.”¹¹⁶ Moreover,hecomments,Cicero had credited the great Roman statesmanScipio with approving the ancient practice that persons involved in theatrical shows, such as actors,should be allowed nei- ther to hold officesnor to vote.¹¹⁷ Augustine thereforeused Cicero’sclassical text to arguethat the ideal Christian state should be restrictive of poetical licence.
Aug. civ. . (CCSL :): garrulitate inpudentissima … multo erit felicior,sihoc illi om- nino non liceat … contradicere. In twoletters, Augustine wanted to persuade his correspondents to give up opinions opposed to orthodoxy.Inone case he refused to send his requestedsixth book on music (ep. ), in the other he discouraged one Consentiustopublish his theological book (ep. –). Aug. civ. .–. Aug. civ. .;cf. .; .;Aug. conf. .. Aug. civ. . (CCSL :): si quis occentavisset sivecarmen condidisset, quod infamiam fa- ceret flagitiumve alteri =Cic. rep. . Ziegler = Leg.XII tab.fr..Crawford. Aug. civ. . (CCSL :): non solum ei nullus ad honorem dabatur locus,verum etiam cen- soris nota tribum tenerepropriam minime sinebatur. 226 5Moral Disapproval of LiteraryGenres
Secondly, Augustine quotes the example of PlatoinOn the State in order to further discuss whether or not poets are to be considered as infamousasactors (who were of low social status) in Christian society.Augustine largely endorses Plato, who allegedlyargues that “they should be expelled from the city as ene- mies of the truth.” However,asPlatohad onlyliterallywritten this concerning the pantomimes he is somewhat erroneouslyreproducedhere, although Augus- tine mayhaveread the Greek text and Plato did indeedwrite that the youth should be protected from some problematic, imitative pieces of poetry such as Homeric battle-scenes.¹¹⁸ In regardtothe quotations from Cicero, Augustine writes that he abbreviatedand altered the text “to make it easierto understand”,¹¹⁹ but in the caseofPlato it is obviousthat he has somewhat mis- represented the original text to fit his argument and his conclusions. Yet, he does not denounce those (recent) poets who allegedlypredictedthe advent of Christ and argued against othergods.¹²⁰ Thisstatement is interesting because Augustine could well have been thinkingofVergil, without mentioning him, because Vergil allegedlypredicted the birth of Christ.Although Augustine generallydisapproves of pagan poetry,his exemption of Vergil from this verdict is arecurringtheme.Indeed, in Augustine’sworks Vergil is the poet quoted most often, frequentlyinnon-polemical contexts, although Augustine always stressed the unbridgeable gapbetween Vergil’svalues and that of the Christian society.¹²¹ The verdict on booksabout Roman religion was far less favourable. Having established the link between pagan poetry and religion, Augustine dedicates a section of book six to suggesting that knowledge of Roman religion should be choked off in Christian society.Explicating this point,Augustine drawsonthe ancient authority of Varro in order to show that the opinions of pagans on the subjectofthe afterlife are erroneous.¹²² As with the case of pagan philosophy, constructions of the afterlife wereaprime concern for Christian authors. Augus- tine’suse of Varro for his purpose is revealing.Ifhis work was stillextant Varro would be the ultimateauthority for reconstructing Romanreligion today. But Au- gustine is the last author who is known to have had access to his work. (Similar
Aug. civ. . (CCSL :): tamquam adversarios veritatis poetas censuit urbe pellendos; based on Pl. r. .a. See Sorabij (), .Passagesoncensorship of poetry:Pl. r. .b–b(on Homer,e.g. d, d, a). Aug. civ. . (CCSL :): haec ex Ciceronis quarto de Republica libro ad verbum excerpen- da arbitratus sum, nonnullis, propter faciliorem intellectum, vel praetermissis, velpaululum com- mutatis. Aug. civ. .. MacCormack (), esp. . Aug. civ. .–. 5.5 Christianity and Classical Literature 227 thingscan be said about Cicero’spioneering work On the State thatwas deleted and overwritten with atext authored by Augustine, in an early-medieval monas- tery as we willsee in the final chapter). Generally, Augustine argues that the re- ligious institutions of the past are inspired by unclean demonswhich inspire men with “noxious opinions.”¹²³ It is thus likelythat it gotlost soon after.Ithere- fore suggest that Augustine’sdiscourse explains whyChristian institutions thoughtitinappropriate to preservethis work, namelybecause it attempted to preservethe demonicalknowledge of Romanreligion. Augustine’sattitudes towards knowledge of Roman religion informhis po- lemical discourse of pagan historicalaccounts. Thus in book 18 Augustine cites the Bible, accordingtowhich the world is no older than6,000 years alto- gether.InAugustine’sopinion, the truth of the Bible is evident because the “his- torians” (historici)haverecorded contradictory accounts whereas the Bible offers one. True Christians, he suggests, do not believethese authors and maynot even read them as uncritical readers of pagan historians are the descendants of the people of Babylon:¹²⁴
Moreover,the citizens of the ungodlycity,scatteredeverywherethroughout the earth, read the most learned authors,whose authority can apparentlynot be condemned, although these authors disagree amongthemselvesconcerning events most remotefromthe memory of our own age, and they cannot find out whom they should morelikelytrust.We, by con- trast,are grounded in the history of our religion by divine authority and strongly believe that anythingcontrary to it is entirelyfalse, no matter whatdifferences thereare in secular books,which, whether true or false, contributenothingofmoment to livingaright and blessed life.
Ancient historians, he notes on the otherhand,are useful for provingthat con- temporary arguments against Christianity are untrue. They have worth as a means for hoisting the enemywith their own petard. Augustine himself uses this strategywhen he quotes ancient authoritiesinorder to persuade his audi- ence that the Roman Republic was no better than the present age, despite all re- cent military setbacks.¹²⁵
Aug. civ. . (CCSL :): noxias opiniones. Aug. civ. . (CCSL :): porroautem cives impiae civitatis diffusi usquequaque per terras cum legunt doctissimos homines,quorum nullius contemnenda videatur auctoritas,inter se de rebus gestis ab aetatis nostrae memoria remotissimisdiscrepantes, cui potius credere de- beant, non inveniunt. nos veroinnostrae religionis historia fulti auctoritatedivina, quidquid ei re- sistit, non dubitamusesse falsissimum, quomodolibetsese habeant ceterainsaecularibus litteris, quae seu vera seu falsa sint, nihil momenti adferunt, quo recte beateque vivamus. Aug. civ. . (CCSL :): in the context of the likelihood of bodies burningeternallyin hellfirewithout beingconsumed, “we must produce from the writings of their own most learned 228 5Moral Disapproval of Literary Genres
Finally, Augustine also criticises the Roman state for insufficient censorship measures,approvingofthe few cases wherethe earlyRoman state actuallyburnt books. In the seventh book, he mentionsthatthe senate in 181 BC ordered books allegedlywritten by the archaic Romanking Numa to be burnt.Drawingfrom Varro’saccount,Augustine concludes that Numa “by an unlawful curiosity” was inspired by demonstowrite down the causesfor Roman rites,but decided to bury these books(which were allegedlyinfluenced by Pythagorean philoso- phy) as he wasworried thateither their dangerous content became known if publishedorthe demons would rage against him if he had destroyed these books. This again shows thatpeople like Augustine believed that bookscon- tained demons. Augustine seems to be sympathetic with the senate’sdecision to burn these books, arguing that “human curiosity” would otherwise have been tempted to search for these books since the matter had alreadybeen divulged.¹²⁶ Similarly to Augustine, the works of the Christian poet Prudentius (earlyfifth century) contain anumber of statements that disapproveofcertain literary gen- res and art forms. However,astothe content usedinhis poetry,itistoPruden- tius’ aesthetic and literarymerit to have elaborated, and so appropriated, classi- cal motifs, while other Christian poets (such as Proba, Juvencus and Sedulius) largely kept on versifying biblical or earlyChristian prose. Prudentius also plead- ed for preservation of pagan statues as works of art.¹²⁷ In one of his hymns the martyrRomanus appeals to the reader to takeresponsibility for what he is read- ing,framing this as adiscourse between martyrand persecutor:¹²⁸
Yousay the poets fabricatethese tales,but they are themselvesdevoted, as much as you, to such mystic cults, and they worship what they describe. Whydoyou find such pleasurein reading of sin?
The end of the Romanus hymn drawsanextensive picture of Judgment Day, fea- turing Romanus’ rewards and the punishment of sinners. In this, Prudentius’
authorities some instances to show that this is possible” (de litteris eorum, qui doctissimi apud illos fuerunt, aliquid proferendum est, quo appareat posse fieri). On the moral vices of the Roman Republic, Aug. civ. .–. Aug. civ. . (CCSL :): curiositateinlicita … humana curiositas,and see .;Speyer (), ;earlier sources for the burningofNuma’sbooks include Liv. ..; ..;Val. Max. ... Prud. c.Symm. .–;Callu(), –.cf. Döpp (), –;Gnilka(), vol. :–;Gnilka (), –. Prud. perist. .–: dicis licenter haec poetas fingere, | sed sunt et ipsi talibus myste- riis | tecum dicati quodque describunt colunt. | Tu cur piaclum tam libenter lectitas? 5.5 Christianity and Classical Literature 229 narrativeisclose to asimilarlyeschatological passageofPaulinus of Nola, who warned in one of his poems thatthe end is near and therefore: “the true oracles warn everyone to believeinthe sacred books mentioned, and to preparethem- selvesfor God.”¹²⁹ This latter point is also mirrored in Prudentius’ poem Apo- theosis,which suggests thatpeople should now read the right thingswith refer- ence to the Second ComingofChrist.InPrudentius’ rhetoric, not onlyhave Bibles largely replaced other books, but also the Bibles are new (transcribed) books: “Forwhat literature now does not contain Christ?Whatbook-case is not filled with the praise of Christ,celebratinghis miracles in new books?”¹³⁰ Prudentius intends to demonstrate the superiority of Christianity and was likely aware that at this time the Bible has not replaced otherbooks as much as he wants us to think. This passagealso presents apossiblehint that old Latin trans- lationsofbiblical books were replaced with anew canonicalversion, perhaps alludingtothe Vulgate, written by Jerome at the end of the fourth century.By implication, this suggests that uncanonicaltexts were unlikelytobetranscribed – an ideologicallyand authoritatively endorsed selection process thatcomes close to modern understandingsofcensorship. Older versions of the Bible, how- ever,continued to circulatefor centuries to come. Despite the polemical thrust of this position, Prudentius elsewheredirectly argues for the preservation of the work of the pagan senator Symmachus, his enemyagainst whom he wrote the two books Contra Symmachum,oncondition that he himself is allowed to refute it: “Let his book rest unharmed, his excellent volume keep the fame it has earned by his flashing eloquence.”¹³¹ Whether ates- tament to Prudentius’ persuasiveness or the vagaries of history,much of Symma- chus’ writing does, in fact,survive.Symmachus’ letters as well as the Relationes, written duringhis prefecturein384/5 are extant.Posthumouslyedited by Sym- machus’ son, the letters wereprobablythen censored to suppress dangerous material.¹³² Cardinal Angelo Mai discovered and edited apalimpsest of Symma- chus’ speeches in 1815.The original copy dates from before the mid of the sixth century.¹³³ The text was deleted probablyinthe seventh century and overwritten
Paul. Nol. carm. .–: omnes vera monent sacris oracula libris | credere praedictis seque parareDeo. Cf. Prud. perist. .–. Prud. apoth. –: nam quae iam litteraChristum | non habet, aut quae non scriptorum armaria Christi | laude referta novis celebrant miracula libris? Prud. c.Symm. .–: inlaesus maneat liber excellensquevolumen | obtineat partam di- cendi fulmine famam. Cf. Alan Cameron (), and –, –,where he also argues that Symmachus could himself have revised and edited book one of the lettercollection. Mai (), xiii on the date of the lower script; Seeck (), viii. 230 5Moral Disapproval of LiteraryGenres with the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon of 451. The original codex contained other texts considered to be lost: letters from the second-century author Fronto (who wroteagainst Christianity) and Cicero’s opus maius on the republic. There is some sense in Gnilka’sreadingofvolumen as exclusively related to Symma- chus’ third relatio on the altar of Victory,¹³⁴ but Prudentius’ plea,aswewill see, could also be understood by monastic copyists as covering his works as a whole. Prudentius does not then re-emerge until the earlymedievalperiod when the interest of monks in commentary scholarshipsaw are-engagementwith Pruden- tius’ poetry.These glosses wereoriginallypenned probablybetween 650and 750.¹³⁵ They are important for this book because they werewritten by monks and thereforegiveaninsight into the attitudes of people who wereincharge of copyingbooksatatime for which little information is available. The glosses do not suggest that thosewho carried them out had aspecific untrammelledknowledge of the history of some 300 yearsbefore as the com- ments therein do not significantlysurpass the level of elementary, non-informed scholarship. Forexample, Theodosius and Honorius,the emperors mentioned in the books Contra Symmachum are confused with Constantine. Their significance, however,isthat the glossators read and understood some of the passages dis- cussed as warningsagainst heretical literature. The eloquence of the snake that symbolizes Symmachus is explained as “heretical” and so too is its poison- ous bite.¹³⁶ They thereforeemphasise thatthe distinction between pagan and non-conformist Christian thoughts was void. This is an indication that the writ- ingsofimportantChristian authors of Late Antiquitywhich warned against sub- versive branchesofpagan literature weretaken seriouslybythose who made de- cisions about which textstocopy and which texts not to copy. Having brieflyexplored the confluence between Christian and pre-Christian literarycultures, Ihavenoted that while Christian ecclesiastical authors often criticised the classics, this does not mean that layChristians agreed with this ver- dict.Nevertheless, the canon of classical authors clearlynarrowed down in Late Antiquitycompared to the EarlyEmpire and accordingtoestablished research there is little evidence of anyinterest in classical authors in Western Europe after the fifth century, as we will see in the next section.
Gnilka(), vol. :. See Burnam (), . Burnam (), ,adC.Symm. pr. : ELOQUII scilicet haereticorum;adC.Symm. pr. :MORSUM haeresim; ad C.Symm. I., , ;p.,ad:Constantine; ad . TYRAN- NORUM antiquorum regum. (Eugenius and Maximus). 5.6 Christianity and Paideia 231
5.6 Christianity and Paideia
As said before, it is likelythatthe transmission and preservation of ancient texts dependedonthe interest of readers in anygiven period. While changinginterests or moral disapproval can neither be regarded as forms of censorship nor as suf- ficient reasons for anyone to destroy these texts, these factors could contributeto ageneral feeling that studying ancient textswas no longer helpful for aworldly or clerical career. In consequence, and along with other important factors such as the political and economic decline of the Roman Empire, particularlyinthe West,books came to be neglected. Krüger has published asurvey which shows that the pro- duction of books dropped significantlyand that Christian texts replaced pagan ones duringthe fourth and fifth centuries.The survey was based on the 1,612lit- erary fragments from OxyrhynchusinEgypt edited by this time. From literary fragments,41and 30 per cent date from the second and third centuries respec- tively, 7per cent to the fourth and less to latercenturies. The percentageofChris- tian fragments among literary papyri per century ranges from 0.9inthe second century to 8.2 in the third century,but suddenlychanges to roughly40to60per cent from the fourth to seventh centuries each. During the same period, the amount of classical texts declined from more than 30 per cent to less than 5 per cent at the turn of the fourth century.The absolutefigure of pagan texts then is very low compared to the earlycenturies. Krügerconcluded that the fig- ures are due to the earlyChristianisation of the city.¹³⁷ This coincides with poetic contests evidencedfor Oxyrhynchus, acity with astrongliterarytradition, only until the end of the third century.¹³⁸ Based on the papyrological material pub- lished at this time, Cavalloobserved afurther decline in the circulation of books, particularlyofpagan content,after the reign of Justinian.¹³⁹ It is thereforepertinentthat some Christian authors disapproved of certain literarygenres and artforms. However,itisalso important to stress that many of these forms that Christian authorscriticised have not been unanimouslyac- cepted in the ancientworld either.For example, because of their low social sta- tus mimes and actors werenormallyheld in low esteem among classical, upper- class writers during the imperial period. My aim in this section is to brieflyaddress the question of how long classical texts continued to be studied after the RomanEmpire became increasinglyChris-
Krüger(), –, .And see Luijendijk ()onthe trashingofChristian writ- ings. POxy ;see Alan Cameron (b), . Cavallo (). 232 5Moral Disapproval of LiteraryGenres tianised in the fourth and fifth centuries, outlining recent research and anumber of relevant sources on this subject.Inorder to do this, it is particularlyimportant to analyse the meaning of paideia in late antique sources because this term has often been used by scholars to arguethat Christians appreciated classicaltexts. It is also important to distinguish between different regions (Western Europe, North Africa whereLatin was dominant and the Greek East)because these re- gions came to be increasingly independent when the RomanEmpire fell apart in Late Antiquity.The aim of this section has implications on the book’sgeneral question of when and whyChristian attitudes towardspagan literaturespossibly affected the transmission of texts. As said before, attitudes towards ancient literature and education in general wererelativelyambiguous among Christian authors. In this context,much has been written on the relationship between Christianityand ancienteducation. To give afull survey of the rangeofattitudes of Christian authors towards clas- sical literature is not the remit of this investigation. But studies indicate acon- tinuation of paideia (education) in earlyChristianitydespite the critical opinions of Christian authors. In this context, paideia is usuallydefined todayaseduca- tional instruction in arangeofauthors accepted by pagans and Christians in Late Antiquity.Thus it appears that earlyChristian authors developed different strategies in order to appropriate ancient scholarship for the Christian reader. Gemeinhardt recentlypublished an important book on the subject of Latin Christendom and AncientPagan Education. Gemeinhardt’swork has the merit of deepening our understanding of how Christian authors appropriated ancient education, specificallyinthe West,beyond the fifth century. However,tomy mind, Gemeinhardt sometimes too easilypresumes that whenChristian sources mention education (or paideia)they weretalking about classical rather than Christian authors or (at best)the knowledge derived from grammar books. More recently, Siniossoglou has rightfullyemphasised that manyGreek-speaking Christians in the East wroteabout their education as quite opposed to the notion of education in ancient,pagan texts.¹⁴⁰ Iwillnow discuss some relevant state- ments by diverse Christian (ecclesiastical or lay) authorsregardingpagan litera- ture and education. In Christian texts paideia does not always mean education in the classics. Forexample, the apocryphal fourth-century Acts of Philip contain afictitious speech to the Athenians,which commends Christianity to educated people but
Siniossoglou (), –,quotingSocr. h.e. ..–,and .See Prostmeier (), too. 5.6 Christianity and Paideia 233 as very different from ancient education: “Formylord brought a paideia which is new and unknown into this world in order to devour all the paideia of the world.”¹⁴¹ Gemeinhardtreads this testimonial as “not abandoning the term and content of paideia.”¹⁴² Yetwhile the termitself indeed remains the same, the content of paideia is different here. More explicitly, the fourth-century Recog- nitions,anovel by Pseudo-Clement, pictures the apostle Peter as asserting that education (eruditio liberalis)isruinous “if used for the errors of antiquity”,but very useful “for the dissemination of the true way.”¹⁴³ There is evidence for these claims also in non-fictitious texts. Bishop Lucifer of Cagliariinaspeech to the emperor Constantius II (337– 361), for example, wrotethatNicene Christians are “aloof from anyknowledge of pagan literature”,but of course this is wishful thinking.¹⁴⁴ In the earlyfifth century,Eucherius of Lyon sought to persuade his correspondent to give up ancientphilosophicalfor biblical readings.¹⁴⁵ In both passages criticism of studies outside of the Bible indicatesthat these studies ac- tuallycontinued. Similar attitudes can be traced throughout Late Antiquity and the earlyMiddle Ages. This does not necessarilymean that the critics were hos- tile to this literature.Christians could criticise pagan literaturebecause they felt to be dealing with asuperior rather thananoutdated enemy. The samedivision emergesinthe treatise Contra Julianum by Cyril of Alex- andria.Answering the emperor Julian’sclaim that children educated onlyin the Bible werenobetter than uneducated slaveswhengrown up, Cyril concedes that children raised as Christians do lack eloquence, yet, to be ascertained of the loveofGod is the onlyaim of Christian education. Christians learn all genres of virtue exclusivelyfrom the Bible,¹⁴⁶ although they use the words of the Greeks, “because we takeadvantage of thatwhich is useful as a propaedeuticum to the true paideia.”¹⁴⁷ He goes on to saythat because Christians did not practice the
A. Phil. ()(Bonnet, ): καὶ γὰρπαιδείαν ὄντως νέαν καὶ καινὴν ἤνεγκεν ὁ κύριόςμου εἰς τόνκόσμον, ἵνα πᾶσαν ἐξαλείψῃ κοσμικὴνπαιδείαν. Gemeinhardt(), . Clem. recogn. ..: si utamur in antiquitatis erroribus … ad adserendum veritatem;Ge- meinhardt (), . Lucif. moriend. (CSEL :): alieni ab omnia scientia ethnicalium litterarum, ad omnem destruendam haeresem valemus. In apolemical speech against pagan philosophy, the earlyChristian author Tatian attributed each philosophical school its own paideia: Tat. orat. . (.–)with Gemeinhardt (), –, . Eucher. cont. – (Pricoco, ). Cyr. Juln. (PG :D). Cyr. Juln. (PG :D–A).Cf. Regazzoni (), .Clem. str. ...–.,here . similarlyspeaks of Hellene learningasγυμνάσματα,cf. Orig. Cels. ..–.Both au- thors,however,clearlyhaveamoreliberal view on such learning. Siniossoglou (), . 234 5Moral Disapproval of Literary Genres
Hebrew language, they strip the Attic languagethey use of anypagan connota- tion, because Attic, like Hebrew,was created by God.¹⁴⁸ Cyril, therefore, uses the notion of paideia in aChristian understanding, as the true paideia.¹⁴⁹ Cyril’ster- minologyofpaideia matches that used by Julian, as Malley has indicated. In- deed, in several passages of Julian’swritings, paideia is intrinsically tied to Hellenism.¹⁵⁰ Christians,onthe other hand,havetheir own paideia,aseducation based on biblical texts.¹⁵¹ Iagree with Malley who concluded that Julian felt Greek paideia to be endangered by this Christian paideia.¹⁵² It is, then, amatter of ongoing debate how long classicalliteratures contin- ued to be activelytaughtaswell as actively studied.Itwould appear logical that if teachers did stop teachingclassicalauthorsafter they converted to Christianity, then it would mean that these subjects would be taught less as more teachers converted. However,that Gemeinhardtargues “thatChristian teachers did nor- mallynot replace classicalauthors with their own”¹⁵³ suggests that it is adifficult question to answer categorically. Forexample, an exercise book surviving from fourth-century Egypt shows that studentspenned the sign of the cross on each pagetoexorcise the names of gods used to learn the alphabet.¹⁵⁴ While this meansthat the students were likelytostudy the classics, it also pointsto- wards reservations regardingusing pagan textsascurricularmaterial in educa- tion because the Christian cross exorcised the studentsfrom anyharmful effects. It is also known that classicaltextswerestudied in Egypt throughout the Byzan- tine period (this is known for this region from papyri finds), but the canon of classicalworks narrowed down compared to the first three centuries AD,with Homer being the classicaltext most often attested.¹⁵⁵ The main evidence Gemeinhardtdraws on to show that the classics were read in schools in Western Europe after the fifth century is atreatise written by an anonymousgrammariansome time between 450and 550.Although Schin- del has identifieditasacommon sourcefor Isidore of Sevilleand Julian of To- ledo, he does not agree that it directlydraws on classical authors as sources.
Cyr. Juln. (PG :A). So too Regazzoni (), ;Malley (), –;esp. note (p. ). According to Malley’s()index, instances of Julian using paideia in this understanding are: Jul. ep. :D(Bidez .:); ep. :A(.:); ep. c:A(.:); or. .:C (Bidez .:); Gal. D–A(Neumann, ). Malley (), – on further references,esp. Jul. ep. :B(Bidez .:). Malley (), . Gemeinhardt(), . Papyrus Bouriant (Ziebarth, , –,no. ); Gemeinhardt(), ;Markschies (), –. See Cribiore(), –. 5.7 Conclusion 235
Rather,hesuggests that the treatise can be taken as indicating the declining in- terest in classical education in the West.¹⁵⁶ This treatise quotes from Cicero, Ter- ence and Vergil to give stylistic examples of good wording,albeit in fragmentary form. It is therefore possible that these allusions werenot direct quotations.They mayhavebeenbased on earlier extracts of classicalquotations. It thereforeap- pears thatgrammaticaleducation in this time and region did include classical studies, but that these studies consisted onlyofshort quotations rather than full texts. Riché has thereforecorrectlywarned against the presumption thatafter the fall of Rome school educational praxis in the West continued to include ancient authorsother than Vergil. Instead, exercise and grammatical handbooks con- taining quotations from arangeofclassical literature (florilegia)werein use.¹⁵⁷ But the scale of these allusions and references stand in markedcontrast to what we do know about rhetorical education from extant handbooksofthe EarlyEmpire (Quintilianstandsasapertinentexample). Thisbodyofevidence suggests that afar largercanon of ancient authorswas available in the first and second centuries. Nevertheless, the Life of Fulgentius,bishop of Ruspe (in modernTunisia), attests thatgrammarschools continued to exist under Vandal reign, well into the late fifth century.Itisclear that the students learned Latin authorsthere. Whether these included the classics or onlyChristian Latin au- thors is difficult to say. All we know is that the Christian mother of young Fulgen- tius made him studyHomer and Menander intensively in privatelessons. These authorswerenot taught in schools because they wroteinGreek, but it appears that they werestudied in private.¹⁵⁸
5.7 Conclusion
John Chrysostom and other Christian authors repeatedlypresent Christianityasa new wayoflife that has finallyreplaced the ancestral tradition thatwas based on the teachingsofphilosophers. Using arhetoric of destruction and ridiculisa- tion, John in particular links this dialectic to the martyrs and persecutions of the past,such as to the Great Persecution, while acknowledging that the philosoph- ical knowledge of the past was not entirelylost at that time. This historic link informs the overall claim of the Christian authorsthat Ihavediscussed to physi-
Schindel(), –;contra: Gemeinhardt (), . Riché (), , –, . Vita Fulgentii (Eno, ). 236 5Moral Disapproval of Literary Genres callyremoveancient philosophical knowledge from the Christian community as elitist,demonical, producing heretical opinions and so as detrimental to the unity of Christianity.These exhortations maythereforehaveinfluenced the deci- sions of Christian communities about which textswereregarded not to be worthy of preservation. However,inengaginginextensive readings of John’swork, one needs to be careful not to mistake their rhetoric for the reality thatthey purport to depict. Radical sermons can have little relevancetothe actual behaviour of much of so- ciety and theirbiases and polemicalintents are often clear and distinct.Their consecutive readings in this text indicate, for example, that likeLibanius, John makes excessive use of the florid style of late antique rhetoric to draw dire pic- tures of the groups who exist outside the parameters of Christian orthodoxy.¹⁵⁹ But it must also be noted thatJohn was acontemporary,speaking to his contem- poraries, in an accepted contemporary style. As such, as Hartney has argued, the homilies discussed in this chapter had acentral place in the Christian liturgy performedinchurches.¹⁶⁰ While the question of who attended John’ssermons has been amatter of some academic debate, it appears that he spoke primarily to the upperechelonsofsociety,and to asociallydiverse group in Antioch, and later Constantinople.¹⁶¹ At that time, the power of the see of Constantinople was second onlytoRome’sand John’sepiscopal tenurethere granted him great power and influencewherehehad been an unwordlycleric with little authority in Antioch. His preachingwas not necessarilysuccessful. Forexample, John was committed, too, to abolishing the games,but was unsuccessful in this as the games continued to enjoypopularity.¹⁶² In manyways, it is clear that John was an extremist and anuisance. But that does not denythe reality that his writ- ingswereconsidered important in the centuries to follow.Their preachingofa radicallypure Christianity that excluded anypagan element was attractive to similar-minded ascetics.Although it did not necessarilyfilter through to all as- pects of the broader influenceofChristianityordown to the rest of the Christian population it wasaninfluenceonits development, and must be acknowledged as such. Libanius and Ammianus are two examples of pagan authors who complain that the current imperial policyisresponsible for the decline of ancient literature
Wilken (), – and Hahn (), – in favour of rhetorical exaggeration. Hartney (), –. Surveysofthe debateare found in Hartney (), –;Maxwell (), –;Mayer and Allen (), –,esp. : “effective communication networks”;Illert (), –, esp. :John addressed both humiliores and honestiores in his homilies. See Leyerle (); Hartney(). 5.7 Conclusion 237 as wordlyorclerical careers no longer required education in the classics. As a consequence, it is occasionallyattested thatinstitutions which preserved these traditions wereshut down. It has been argued by others that Ammianus blames the physical decline of books and libraries mainlyonchanginginterests, but on the balance of probability Ihaveprovided evidence to suggest that he occasion- allycriticised the changingreligious climate in away similar as Libanius did. While in the case of Jerome it is clear that he felt to have the authority to exclude from long-term preservation certain works that he disapproved of, I have discussed evidence from other important Christian authorstosuggest that their moral engagement with ancient literarytraditions had asimilar long-term influenceonthe preservation of literature. On the one hand, it is well known thatthere was abroad consensus shared by both ecclesiastical and layauthors to generallyexempt classical works from demonisation, al- though the interest in classicalauthors increasinglydeclinedinwestern Europe after the fourth century.Augustine, for example, frequentlyendorsed the works of Plato, and manyChristian authors of Late Antiquity werebasedonPlatoand other ancient philosophers, whose opinions they held in high regard as long as they did not contradict the Bible. Their strategywas to allegethatthese positive philosophical views werethemselvesinfluenced by the Judaeo-Christian tradi- tion. On the other hand,ithas also become clear that textsthat dealt specifically with pagan religion were considered as demonicalasbooks on magic or divina- tion. The most obviousexample for this are the pertinent works by Varro, which are quotedand discussed by Augustine, but seem to have gone lost soon after. This chapter thereforeillustratesthe power that was attributed to books with dif- ferent contents in Late Antiquity. Keeping in mind these specific powers of books in Late Antiquity, in the next chapter Ishalldiscuss the evidence for the destruc- tion of libraries either intentionallyoraccidentallyinthe wake of religious riots. 6Destruction of Libraries
In the last chapter we have seen that some Christian groups,such as monks and ascetics,wereopposed not onlytospecific aspectsofpagan literature such as magic, astrology,heresy and the philosophical discourses that informed it,but also to pagan literatureasawhole. Thisdoes not mean that therewas aconcert- ed effort to destroy these books, but thereare reasons to think thatincases of violent religious conflicts books could also be the object of destruction, given the power that some attributed to books. The fourth and fifth century are gener- allycharacterised by anumberofreligious conflicts having to do with the eccle- siastical and social controversies at that time. Ecclesiastical dissent and Christi- an−pagan tensions often gave rise to factionalism, riots and street-fighting in the major cities of the RomanEmpire. In this context,ithas been assumedthat Christians in Late Antiquityde- stroyed large libraries.¹ But the sourceevidence for this assumption must be questioned. These incidents are often best viewed as isolated reactions set within abroader context of religious violence thatfrequentlybrokeout in Late Antiqui- ty.Ishallthereforenow scrutinisethe incidents of books burnt incidentallydur- ing raidsand riots, arguing thatinmanycases religion was an important factor that instigated mob violence. While Ihavesofar discussed incidents of book- burning thatusually had to do with imperial legislation, this chapter will deal with instances in which anydestruction of books was probablyunintentional, but perhapsopenly tolerated as the necessary outcome of abuildingbeing de- stroyed. Ishall first discuss the case of alibrary foundedbythe emperor Julian in Antioch and destroyed by his successor Jovian. While this incident at first glance appears to be aclear caseofdeliberate destruction on religious grounds,upon closer studyitisclear that the sourceevidence is ambiguous. Ishall then discuss the destruction of alarge library in Rome, arguing that this too mayhavebeen the resultofareligious riot,although the evidence is unclear.Ishall go on to analyse the sourceevidence for the end of Alexandria’stwo main libraries. My aim is to support the view put forward in previous scholarshipthatthe library in the Museion maywellhavecontinued to exist until the religious riot in 391, duringwhich the Serapeum was reportedlydestroyed. In this context,itis also interesting to read the evidence on the philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria as acasestudyfor allegations lodgedagainst subversive booksatthat time. I shall then analyse the scant evidence for the destruction of libraries or archives
Prinz (), . 6.1 ATemple Destroyed in Antioch 239 duringthe sack of Rome in 410, arguing that Prudentius mayhavehad knowl- edge of this and that he justified the destruction as welcome from aChristian apologetic standpoint,asOrosiusdid as well. Finally, Ishall discuss the evi- dence for the repeated destruction of the library in Constantinople.
6.1 ATemple DestroyedinAntioch
Julian’splan to revive paganism as the central religion of the Roman Empire in- evitablyled to irritation. Christians and pagans alike felt that the emperorhad stretched it too far.His immediate successorswerethereforekeen to present themselvesasvery distant from Julian’sreligious policy after his untimelyand ominous death in battle in 363. All of the emperors after him werequick to pres- ent themselvesasChristian rulers. Because Julian was supportiveof, and himself advised by,prominent pagan philosophers, his short rule had evoked the mem- ories of the persecutions of the past.The immediate policy following Julian’s death was to reverse this kind of protectionism of pagan philosophy. Statues of Julian wereoverthrown, his name erased from inscriptions. It is therefore perhaps not unsurprising that one library was allegedlyde- stroyed by aChristian emperorduringthe shortrule of the emperorJovian, suc- cessor to the lastpagan emperor Julian. However,this casehas manyproblem- atic elements. It is onlyrecorded in late, unreliable and hostileaccounts, especiallybyJohn of Antioch, amonk of the sixth or earlyseventh century.Frag- ments of his work onlysurvive in later collections (from the tenth century in this case). Thetext from Mariev’srecent edition is agood place to start unpicking these:²
They [the inhabitants of Antioch] directedtheir mockery at his wife as well, because of the destruction of atemple. Forthe emperor Hadrian had established asmall eleganttemple for the deification and honour of his father Trajan, which Julian the Apostatemade into alibrary.Itwas this temple that Jovian burned down alongwith all its books.
The destruction of the temple-library would have resulted in ariot had not Jovian left the city.Itwas probablythe pagan population that forced Jovian to leave.The following parallel text,preserved by Suidas, mentionsthat Jovian was influ-
Jo.Ant. fr. (Mariev, ): καθαπτόμενοι καὶ τῆςγυναικὸςαὐτοῦ διὰ τὴντοῦἱεροῦ κατα- στροφήν. ᾿Aδριανὸςμὲνγὰρὁβασιλεὺςεἰςἀποθέωσιν καὶ τιμὴντοῦπατρὸςΤραϊανοῦἔκτισε μικ- ρόντινα καὶ χαριέστατον ναόν, ὃν Ἰουλιανὸς ὁ παραβάτης βιβλιοθήκην κατεσκεύασεν· ὅνσὺν τοῖςβιβλίοις Ἰοβιανὸςκατέκαυσεν. 240 6Destruction of Libraries enced by his wife and givesaninteresting addition to the reaction of the Antio- chians. It probablycontains afragment from Eunapius,acontemporary pagan philosopher:³
And Jovian, incitedbyhis wife, burned down an elegant temple, erectedbytheemperor Hadrian for the deification of his father Trajan and turned intoalibrary by Julian for the eunuch Theophilus.Heburnt it down alongwith all the books it had, and the concubines themselveslaid the fire, under laughter.The Antiochians weredispleased with the emperor and threwout some of the books on the ground so that whoever wanted could pick them up and read them, but they attached other books to the walls.
We have seen thatChristian polemicists often use terms of deriding and laughter to deprecateancient, pre-Christian, or competing literatures.This could mean that accordingtothis account in Suidas the destruction of bookswas not only incidental to the destruction of the temple but that Jovian’sconcubines deliber- atelydestroyed books. Yetthe historicity of the text is not without doubt. If the original text was written by Eunapius,then this accounts for acertain amountofhostility against Jovian. Zonaras, writinginthe twelfth century but using earlier sources reports that Jovian returned the exiledChristian priests to Antioch when staying there but alsodecorated Julian’smemorial in Tarsus, suggesting that he was not al- ways hostile towards Julian. We know that Jovian’swife was not present at his death soon after;⁴ but it is unclear whether or not she waswith him in Antioch, as John of Antioch claims. Neither Zonaras or Philostorgius, or the contemporary Ammianus Marcellinus mention the destruction of the library when reporting Jo- vian’sstayinAntioch.⁵ John’saccount is detailed, but the whole fragment is very hostile, and it is thereforenot clear that the burningwas directlyordered by Jo- vian. Speyer put forward the idea that it “certainlywas hatred of his predecessor”⁶ (in reaction to Julian’steacher edict)that caused Jovian to act in this wayand there is evidence thatduringhis short time in charge Jovian indeed
Suid. s.v. Ἰοβιανός, Adler =Eun. fr. . Blockley: ὁ δὲἸοβιανός, ἐκτῆςγυναικὸςαὐτοῦ κινηθεὶςτὸνὑπὸ᾿Aδριανοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως κτισθέντα ναὸνχαριέστατον ἐς ἀποθέωσιν τοῦ πατρὸς Τραϊανοῦ, παρὰ δὲ τοῦἸουλιανοῦ κατασταθέντα βιβλιοθήκην εὐνούχῳ τινὶ Θεοφίλῳ, κατέφλεξε σὺνπᾶσιν οἷςεἶχε βιβλίοις, αὐτῶντῶνπαλλακίδων ὑφαπτουσῶνμετὰ γέλωτος τὴνπυράν. οἱ δὲ ᾿Aντιοχεῖς ἠγανάκτησαν κατὰ τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τὰ μὲν ἀπέρριπτον τῶνβιβλίων ἐςτὸἔδαφος, ὥστε ἀναίρεσθαι τὸνβουλόμενον καὶἀναγινώσκειν, τὰ δὲ τοῖςτοίχοις προσεκόλλιζον. Zonar. epit. hist. .. Philost. h.e. .;Amm. .. felt instead urgedtopass over pagan philosophy. Speyer (), –. 6.2 The Palatine LibraryinRome 241 took actionsagainst pagan philosophers.⁷ Whether or not he actuallydestroyed the library is less clear. Julian’slibrary in Antioch was also atemple dedicated to Trajan by Hadrian, Trajan’sadoptive son. It is well known thatalsoother ancient libraries werelo- cated in temples,such as in the case of the Museion, an ancient research insti- tute, which mayhavehousedthe great library of Alexandria and was atemple to the Muses. Books werealso stored in baths and in gymnasia.⁸ As with temples, these institutions, seen as housing demons, wereoftendemolished or aban- doned as aconsequenceofChristianisation in Late Antiquity unless they were turned into Christian buildings.⁹ In this context,several laws at different times in the Codex Theodosianus ruled against the temples.¹⁰ While there are laws to preservestatues and orna- ments because of their value (they could be reused as images of saints),¹¹ other laws later ordered the destruction of sacreditems.¹² Constantine’sson and successor in the West,Constans (337–350), in 346 ruled that “all supersti- tion must be completelyeradicated” in the city of Rome.¹³ The Codex Theodosia- nus is silent on the question of what to do with booksfound in temples.Howev- er,alaw issuedbyArcadius and Honorius in 399,related to Africa, ordered that constructions of temples stillstanding have to be “emptyofillegal things.”¹⁴ The lawexplicitlymentions sacrifices and idols, although it is possiblethat “illegal things” could also be interpreted as books, especiallyiftheir content was directly related to pagan religion or divination. It is safe to assume that repeatedbans to access pagan temples weredetrimental to the preservation of anybooks they contained as templesand libraries wereprone to natural disasters.
6.2 The Palatine LibraryinRome
Unlikethe previous example, wherethe cause of destruction can be inferred, there are some cases wherelibraries weredestroyed but no clear reason is
Them. or. .c(Schenkel and Downey, .). Overview:Wendel (); thereisless evidencefor public libraries in the West than thereis for the (Hellenistic) East.Onlibraries in the West,Vössing(). On culturalvandalism, Sauer (). Cod.Theod. ..–, , –, , . Cod.Theod. .. ()and (). Cod.Theod. .. (/); Const. Sirmond. (). Cod.Theod. ..: omnis superstitio penitus eruenda sit. Cod.Theod. ..: Aedes inlicitisrebus vacuas, nostrarum beneficio sanctionum, ne quis conetur evertere. 242 6Destruction of Libraries known. There is evidence for the accidental destruction of alarge library in Rome before the 380s.¹⁵ Ammianus reports that the emperorJulian was troubled by nightmaresonthe eveof19March 363duringthe earlyphases of his Persian campaign, noting that:¹⁶
On this same night the temple of Palatine Apollo in the eternal city went up in flames dur- ing the prefectureofApronianus.Had therenot been help fromvarious sides the raging flames would even have consumed the Sibylline oracles.
The Palatine libraryhad been foundedbyAugustus. Located in the portico of this temple, it was among the largest libraries in Rome.¹⁷ Ammianus does not mention explicitlythat the library was destroyed on this occasion nor does he saythat the temple was destroyed deliberately; but templum usuallyrefers to the sacred area as awhole rather than the actual building(aedes). Augustus himself had canonizedthe Sibylline booksbyburning more thantwo thousand prophetic writings that wereanonymouslycirculating in order to bar unwanted prophesies about his reign from circulation. He deposited the remains deemed authentic in two gilded cases under the pedestal of the Palatine Apollo, outside of the Palatine library.¹⁸ These are the booksmentioned in the sourceashaving been rescued from the flames. During Julian’sreign it is likelythatthese werethe first to be rescued.While it is possiblethat other books were destroyed in the fire, this is not explicitlyevidenced. Commentators are right to see alink between the fire in the temple of Apollo in Rome and that in the temple of the same godinDaphne on 22 October 362, less than half ayear earlier.¹⁹ While Ammianus does not blamethe fire on Anti- och’sChristian community either,the Christian community could have had amo- tive because Julian displaced the neighbouringmartyr shrine when he arrivedin Antioch.²⁰ Julian himself thought that Christians wereresponsible for the fire. One Christian author offers the implausible explanation that the building was struck by lightning.²¹ John Chrysostom, on the otherhand,wrotethat God burnt the temple to punishJulian, and he also propagated fire as an instrument
Vössing(), –;Fehrle (), –. Amm. ..: hac eadem nocte Palatini Apollinis templum praefecturam regente Aproniano in urbe conflagravit aeterna, ubi, ni multiplex iuvisset auxilium, etiam Cumana carmina consumpse- ratmagnitudo flammarum. See Horsfall (), . Suet. Aug. ..See Rzach (). Rike(), –;followed by den Boeft et al. (), ad locum, p. . Amm. ... Thdt. h.e. .. (GCS :). 6.3 The LibraryofAlexandria 243 necessary for Christians to extinguish “the fire of idolatry.”²² Somekind of reli- gious motivation as the sourcefor the fires both in Antioch and Rome can, there- fore, perhaps be inferred. However,various reasons could have been the cause for anyfire in the ancient world, and all we can sayisthat some Christians wel- comed the accidental destruction of temples, especiallysince the Sibylline books wereaprestigious symbolofJulian’sreligious policy. The fate of the Palatine library continued to fascinate scholars in the centu- ries to come. John of Salisbury wroteinthe twelfth centurythat Pope Gregory the Great (590 –604) not onlypersecuted astrology (mathesis), “as reported by our ancestors”²³ but also burnt the Palatine library so “that there might be more space for the HolyScriptures”,causing its final destruction.²⁴ But as this is large- ly anecdotal, scholars have unanimouslydismissed the trustworthiness of this later report at least on the case of its second point.²⁵ John of Salisbury was an earlyrepresentative of late-medieval humanism and an enthusiastic reader of the classics. He therefore bewails the dearth of classicalwritingsinhis age, blaming this on the neglicence and culpable behaviour of late antique clerics. The reason for the destruction of libraries is clearerinthe case of Alexandria.
6.3 The LibraryofAlexandria
The fate of Alexandria’slibrary,the largest of the ancient world, although fre- quentlydiscussed, is shrouded in mystery.²⁶ Because of its size and importance, the fate of its books has an obviousimpact on the preservation of ancient liter- ature. Anumber of destructions are recorded. The first happened whenCaesar attacked the city and set Ptolemy’sfleet on fire. Yet, the ancient sources contra- dict each other as to the extent of the loss. The earliest testimonial is that of Seneca,who in the first century AD states that 40,000 books weredestroyed
Chrys. pan. Bab. .–,quotation at (SC :– and ). Joh. Saresber. policr. .: ad haec doctorumsanctissimusille Gregorius,qui melleo praedica- tionis imbre totam rigavit et debriavit ecclesiam, non modo mathesim iussit ab aula sed, ut traditur amaioribus,incendio dedit reprobatae lectionis scripta, Palatinus quaecumque tenebat Apollo,in quibus erantpraecipua quae caelestium mentem et supernorum oracula videbantur hominibus re- velare. Joh. Saresber. policr. .: fertur tamen beatus Gregorius bibliothecam combussisse gentilem, quo divinae paginae gratior esset locus et maior auctoritas et diligentiastudiosior. Werner (), ;Beeson (), ;Speyer(), ,note lists literature on the Renaissancedebateofwhether or not Gregory the Great destroyed whole volumes of Livy. Publications include contributions in El-Abbadi (); El-Abbadi (); Barnes (); Canfora (); Parsons (). 244 6Destruction of Libraries on this occasion. This is supported by the earlythird centuryhistorian Cassius Dio, who attests that only “storehouses of grain and books” readyfor export weredestroyed.²⁷ By contrast, the manuscripts of both Aulus Gellius(second century) and Ammianus Marcellinus (fourth century) give the figure of some 700,000 books lost while the Christian Orosiusspeaks of 400,000 losses.²⁸ This variation maybedue to scribal errors as most scholars todayagree that the damagecaused by Caesar’sAlexandrian war was marginal, and that Alexan- dria continued to be ascholarlycentre.²⁹ Itsworth and standing in this context are shown by the EmperorDomitian (81–96) replenishing the stocks of two large libraries that had recentlybeen destroyed by afire in the city of Rome by order- ing booksfrom everywhere, which werethen proofread against booksinAlexan- dria to ensure their accuracy.³⁰ Figures on the amount of books in the library of Alexandria need to be treated with caution. In the ageofHellenism, the Serapeum was the daughter library and it was said to have held 42,800 scrolls,while the main library had 490,000.³¹ It appears to have playedamore important role after Caesar’sAlexandrian WaruptoLate Antiquity.³² Accordingtoseveral contemporary sources, Christians destroyed the Serapeum in 391 (or 392).³³ The accounts of this werewritten by Christians, with the exceptionofthe Neoplatonist Eunapius who givesthe most extensive ac- count of the destruction. The specific biases of the sources have thereforeto be taken into account. Alexandria had long been characterised by ethnic and religious diversity as well as atradition of factionalism and rioting, compounded by Theodosius’s anti-pagan legislation in 391, which provided the background for the destruction of the Serapeum. Aided by imperial support,Theophilus,bishop of Alexandria,
Sen. de tranquillitate animi .;Dio Cass. ..: ἀποθήκας καὶ τοῦ σίτου καὶ τῶνβίβλων. All extant manuscripts containingSeneca’stext have quadraginta milia (,). The variation quadringenta milia (,)isamodern emendation based on Orosius’ text.See Reynolds (), ad locum. Gell. ..;Amm. ..;Oros. hist. ...Den Boeft et al. (), ad locum, p. – suggest that the manuscript containingAmmianus’ text mayhavebeen corrupt and was cor- rected based on AulusGellius. Pöhlmann (), ;Barnes (), ;onfurther testimonials,El-Abbadi (), . Suet. Dom. . Tzetzes Comicorum Graecorum Fragmenta I (), p. and .Onthe acquisition of books,J.AJ .– Tert. apol. .: “To this day, at the temple of Serapis,the libraries of Ptolemyare to be seen” (hodie apud serapeum Ptolemaei bibliothecae … exhibentur); Amm. ..–;Ath. v.Anton. , . DatesuggestedbyHahn (). 6.3 The LibraryofAlexandria 245 turned alocal temple of Dionysius into achurch. Zealous Christians plundered the temple and paraded around anything found therein in triumph. As aconse- quence of this provocation, violence and street-fighting occurred. Pagans retreat- ed to the Serapeum, probablybecause it waswell fortified. Concerned about the scale of the violence, the local authority formallyasked the emperor Theodosius about how to proceed. Theodosius’ acknowledgement of Christians as martyrs that had been killed during the riot prompted Theophilus to feeljustified in stormingthe building.When this happened, the temple was razed to the ground and everything in it spoiled and destroyed. At manypointsthe contents of the temple wereburnt throughout the city – an action supported by the authorities. The temple was eventuallyreplaced by achurch.³⁴ After this, monks under the command of Theophilus are said to have destroyed other templesinand around Alexandria, searched and exorcised privatehouses and obliteratedsymbols re- lated to paganism found therein.³⁵ The Church historian Rufinus reports for Can- opus that among their targets wasaschool that seems to have stored hieroglyph- ic writings:³⁶
Therewas somethingsimilar to apublicschool of magicalarts, underthe pretense of the studyofpriestlywritings, forsotheycallthe ancientletters of theEgyptians.The paganswor- shippedthisplace as asourceand origin of demons to such an extent that it wasmuchmore famous than that of Alexandria.[…]Everythingwas destroyedand razed to theground.
This episode illustrates the general decline of the knowledge of hieroglyphs in Egypt in the late fourth and earlyfifth centuries. An inscription dating to 394, found on the island of Philae in Upper Egypt,has been identified as the last ex- tant hieroglyphic inscription.³⁷ While it is known that Asclepiades along with fel- low latter-daypriestsofOsirisperformed traditional funeral rites involving the use of hieroglyphs in Alexandria as late as in the fifth century,these hieroglyphs wereapparentlyunintelligible to these last pagans, for Asclepiades’ son Hora- pollon later published two volumes on the allegorical interpretation of hiero- glyphs which he wasunable to understand.³⁸
Socr. h.e. .–;Rufin. hist. .;Joh. Nik. .; .. Rufin. hist. .–;Eun. VS (Wright, ); Historia ecclesiae Alexandrinae (Orlandi :–,cf. – on further sources); See Leppin (), –. Rufin. hist. .: ubi praetextu sacerdotalium litterarum, ita etenim appellant antiquas Ae- gyptiorumlitteras,magicae artis erat paene publica schola. quem locum velut fontem quendam atque originem daemonum in tantum venerabantur pagani, ut multo ibi maior celebritas quam apud Alexandriam haberetur. … vastata sunt omnia atque ad solum deducta. Barb (), . Haas (), –. 246 6Destruction of Libraries
Some scholars have proposed that the books from the libraryinthe Sera- peum might have survivedbecause no sourceexplicitlymentions book-burning, noting that Aphthonius, formerstudent of Libanius, suggests that he knows of the book collection (perhaps after 391). Against this position, El-Abbadiconvinc- ingly argues that Aphthonius referred to the book collection in the past tense only.³⁹ Apassagefrom Orosius’ earlyfifth century apologetic Historyagainst the Pagans givesevidence that bookswereplundered and probablydestroyed:⁴⁰
Even todaythere arebook chests extant in temples which we ourselveshaveseen. People remember that these books were destroyed and the book chests emptied by our own people in our own time, which is indeed atrue statement.
The passageisrelated to the destruction of the Serapeum in Alexandria because Orosius inserts it as adigression into his account of Caesar’swar there.⁴¹ Orosius claims to have seen the emptybook shelves with his own eyes but this can be disputed as he is not unequivocallyknown to have visited Alexandria.⁴² The plunderers, “our own people in our owntime” are almost certainlyChristians be- cause in Latin the personal pronoun “our” (noster)refers to the group that the author identifies himself with, more clearlythan in English. It must be noted that in my translation the relative pronoun quibus corresponds to librorum (“books”)because it directlyfollows it,but others think that quibus corresponds to templis because of the order of events. This would mean that the templeswere plundered rather than that the books wereplundered or destroyed and that,al- though the book chests wereemptied, the fate of the booksisunknown, but this readingdoes not correspond to the normaluse of Latin grammar. The passageis thereforeindicative of the fateofmanybooks in the library. Twofurther testimonials indicate thatthere was probablystill alibrary in the temple of Serapis before its destruction. According to Sozomenus, the fifth-century Church historian, aman namedOlympius persuaded the pagans in the Serapeum to continue its defence by suggesting that it was better to die
El-Abbadi (), –.Aphtonius (Botti, , –); the temple was demolished:Eun. VS (Wright, –); the imageofSerapis burnt: Thdt. h.e. . (GCS :). Oros. hist. ..: Unde quamlibet hodieque in templis extent, quae et nos vidimus,armaria librorum, quibus direptis exinanita ea anostris hominibusnostris temporibus memorent – quod quidem verum est. RecentlyBarnes (), . Orosius was from Bracara (today in Portugal),came to Africa in ,travelled to Jerome in Bethlehem and participated in the council of Jerusalem in . 6.3 The Library of Alexandria 247 than to give up their ancestral tradition.⁴³ Although the temple rather than the library it contained was the object of the religious zealand ire, Olympius seems to have been worried about the philosophical tradition contained in the library because Olympius ostentatiouslyshowed himself in the philosopher dress.The destruction of the Serapeum has alsobeen traditionallylinked to the well-known epigramwritten by the pagan teacher Palladas who bewails the end of Hellenism: “Are we pagans not dead and living onlyinappearance, plungedinto misery,likeninglife to adream?Dowenot live alife that is dead?”⁴⁴ Alan Cameronhas put forward the interpretation that after Theodosius’ leg- islation of 391, Palladas lost his profession as agrammarianbecause he taught the classics and was accusedofpaganism. Palladas himself wrotethat he had to sell his “worrisome book-scrolls” because his poetry could potentiallycause his death.⁴⁵ He complains that “we Hellenes are menreduced to ashes.”⁴⁶ Yetif pagan teachingwas actually prohibited, then accordingtoCameron the ban at that time was singular and short-lived.⁴⁷ It is interesting that his extant poems contain Pythagorean philosophy. To my mind, this rather than his poetry as a whole could have rendered his books offensive at that time and he mayhave felt threatened by ascetics rather than by state authorities, while his profession was in decline rather than prohibited. Wilkinson, however,recentlydated Palla- das’ poems to the ageofConstantine. The main evidence produced in favour of this earlydate and not discussed in previous scholarship is acodex fragment, which he assumes to be from before 350.The fragment contains epigrams which wereprobablyauthored by Palladas.⁴⁸ However,while recent research has argued convincingly that Palladas wrotehis poemsbefore the 390s and the new epigrams confirm this, Wilkinson’sreasons to assign Palladas’ work to the ageofConstantine are basedoncircumstantial evidence. As such it cannot be ruled out that Palladas wrote this poem on the end of paganism after Con-
Soz. h.e. ..–,esp. : ἔπειτα δὲ καὶὈλύμπιόςτις ἐνφιλοσόφου σχήματι συνὼναὐτοῖς καὶ πείθων χρῆναι μὴἀμελεῖντῶνπατρίων, ἀλλ’ εἰ δέοι ὑπὲραὐτῶνθνῄσκειν. AP .: ἄρα μὴ θανόντες τῷ δοκεῖνζῶμεν μόνον,|Ἕλληνες ἄνδρες, συμφορᾷ πεπτωκότες,|ὄνειρον εἰκάζοντες εἶναι τὸνβίον;|ἢζῶμεν ἡμεῖςτοῦβίου τεθνηκότος;OnPal- ladas and the destruction of the Serapeum, Hahn (). AP .: Ὄργανα Μουσάων, τὰ πολύστονα βιβλίαπωλῶ.|εἰςἑτέρας τέχνης ἔργα μετερχόμενος.|Πιερίδες, σῴζοισθε· λόγοι, συντάσσομαι ὑμῖν· | σύνταξις γὰρ ἐμοὶ καὶ θάνατον παρέχει. AP .: Ἕλληνές ἐσμεν ἄνδρες ἐσποδωμένοι. Alan Cameron (), –. Wilkinson (); Wilkinson (), ,note . 248 6Destruction of Libraries stantine and even as late as the ageofValens.⁴⁹ In this case the Palladas poem could even give further evidence for book-burning or other sanctions against pa- gans under Valens or earlier. The second library testimonial is alsofrom aChristian author.Inhis first speech against the Jews, John Chrysostom discoursed on the question of whether or not Christian booksmake the synagogue aholyplace. He thoughtitevident that the Septuagint Bible does not do so with regard to the Serapeum library of Alexandria:⁵⁰
So what?Will the temple of Serapis be holybecause of its books?Ofcourse not! While those books do have aholiness of their own, they do not shareitwith aplaceifthose whomeet there aredefiled.
In context,heholds that the Serapeum and its library are as “impure” as, for example, the temple of Apollo in Daphne, the destruction of which had been welcomed by the Christian congregation. The speech dates from the autumn of 386 in Antioch,⁵¹ afew years before the Serapeum was actuallydestroyed, indi- cating that there werestill booksatthis time in the Serapeum. As to the fate of the Museion, it has frequentlybeen suggested that the build- ing was destroyed when EmperorAurelian in 272took Alexandria from Zenobia, queen of the breakaway kingdom of Palmyra. Scholars rate the likelihood that this occurred as variouslyfrom acertainty to apossibility.⁵² Despite the wars of the third century that involved Alexandria, the archaeologicalevidence to date does not determine exactlywhen the areaceased to be inhabited.⁵³ More- over,itisnot firmlyevidenced thatthe Museioncontained all or parts of the li- brary.Atfirst glance, the destruction of the large library seems to be supported by Epiphanius of Salamis who wroteabout the “libraryinthe same city of Alexander,inthe so-called Brucheion; this is aregion of the city todaylying
Wilkinson (), : “it is temptingtoplacethe compilation of this work [byPalladas] be- forea.d. .Atany rate, it was almost certainlyinexistencebythe s.” Chrys. Jud. . (PG :): τί οὖν, ἅγιος ἔσται τοῦ Σεράπιδος ὁ ναὸςδιὰτὰβιβλία; μὴ γέν- οιτο! ἀλλ’ ἐκεῖνα μὲν ἔχει τὴνοἰκείαν ἁγιότητα, τῷ τόπῳ δὲ οὐ μεταδίδωσι, διὰ τὴντῶνσυνιόν- των ἐκεῖ μιαρίαν. Meeks and Wilken (), . Den Boeft (), : “mayhavebeen completelydestroyed”;Barnes (), : “proba- bly”,Pöhlmann (), : wurde … zerstört.Vössing(), : seit der Tetrachenzeit zerstört (en). See Mojsov (), . 6.3 The LibraryofAlexandria 249 waste.”⁵⁴ But Epiphanius wrotein392 and could have noted the recent destruc- tion caused by the religious riot.⁵⁵ El-Abbadi argues that the Museion continued to exist until the end of the fourth century, because Synesius of Cyrene still men- tions the Museion and described the images of the philosophersinit. Further- more, Suidas refers to Theon, philosopher and mathematician, father of Hypatia, as afellow of the Museion earlyduringthe reign of Theodosius (379–394), which is the last evidence for its existence.⁵⁶ El-Abbadithereforesuggests thatthe Mu- seion wasdestroyed in 391 or shortlyafter.⁵⁷ Vössing,however,recentlyproposed that in other cities Museion could refergenerallytoaschool and thatZacharias Scholasticus mentions to témenos ton Mousón in Alexandria after 512.This school could be identical with the Museionmentioned by Synesiusand therefore different from the Hellenistic Museion and its famous library.⁵⁸ On the other hand, témenos refers to atemple district rather than the actual building (naós, hierón). The passageisinteresting,but it does not provide clear proof thatSyn- esius and Zacharias had the same place in mind. In anycase, El-Abbadicould be correct in challengingthe common scholarly readingofAmmianus as attesting the destruction of the area in which the Mu- seion and the library werelocated in 272. Ammianus, in fact,wrote that Alexan- dria “lost” (amisit)the Brucheion.⁵⁹ The onlyevidence for the actual destruction of the area before Theodosius is Jerome’stranslation of Eusebius’ chronicle which is generallyunreliable. The destruction is dated thereerroneouslytothe end of the reign of Claudius Gothicus (268–270) rather than to 272.⁶⁰ The ac- count in Eusebius’ Church history,onthe other hand,knows onlyofthe siege, but not of the destruction.⁶¹
Epiph. de mens.etpond. (Moutsoulas, l. –): βιβλιοθήκην … ἐπὶ τῆςαὐτῆς᾿Aλεξάν- δρου πόλεως ἐντῷΒρουχίῳ καλουμένῳ (κλῖμα δὲἔστι τοῦτο τῆςαὐτῆςπόλεως ἔρημον τανῦν ὑπάρχον). Contra Hahn (), ,who argues that Epiphanius’ silenceonthe destruction of the Serapeum means that the Serapeumwas not destroyed in early in the first place. On the date,Epiph. de mens. et pond. (Moutsoulas,l.–). Synes. calv. ;Suid. s.v. Θέων, Adler. El-Abbadi (), . Zach. opif. (Minniti Colonna, ): τὸ τέμενος τῶνΜουσῶν;Vössing(), –, –.Contra: McKenzie (), , mentionsabonfireofcult statues there. Amm. ..: “The walls weredestroyed and Alexandria lost the greatest part of the re- gion called the Brucheion, which had longbeen the dwellingplaceofoutstandingmen” (Ale- xandria … prolapsis dirutisque moenibus amisit regionum maximam partem, quae Bruchion appel- labatur,diuturnum praestantium hominum domicilium). Generallyonthe reconquest, Hist.Aug. Aurelian. ;Hist Aug. Firmus . Hier. chron.,a.Abr. ,AD (GCS :): In Alexandria Bruchium, quod per multos annos fuerat obsessum, tandem destruitur. Eus. h.e. ..–. 250 6Destruction of Libraries
Iwant to contributeone passagesofar unnoticed by scholarship to these questions. In aletter,Jerome refers to the Brucheion as independent from Alex- andria.Hementions “Brucheion, not farfrom Alexandria” as the dwelling place of monks,⁶² apparentlyhaving in mind amonastery close to this area.⁶³ The Christian anchorite Hilarion fled there because the authority of Gaza duringJu- lian’sreign chargedHilarion with practising magic and searched for him. Je- rome’sgeo-political knowledge is trustworthybecause he had travelled to the East.This note suggests thatAmmianus meant the area wasdetachedfrom the city of Alexandria rather thandestroyed. This reading makes more sense be- cause the Romansare known to have punished citiesbyreducing them in their size rather than by destroyingthem. Aurelian seems to have givenGaza admin- istrative rights over the Brucheion, which is located on the Eastern outskirts of the city,heading to nearby Gaza. Constantine had raised Gaza to the status of acity because its residents had destroyed the templeslocated in the harbour area.⁶⁴ This explains whyitwas officials from Gaza rather thanfrom Alexandria that soughtout Hilarionthere, as Jerome continues his account.This interpreta- tion supportsthe assumption that the library was not damaged duringthe recon- quest of 272, but that accordingtoEpiphaniusitwas destroyed by 392. There are more reasons to think that some books wereseen as problematic in Alexandria duringthis period of time. Evidence for this can be found in the correspondence of Synesius with his teacher Hypatia, who was eventuallymur- dered and mutilated in achurch by aChristian mob. Hypatia and her father Theon werethe last scholarlymembers of the Museion in Alexandria. Reporting on Hypatia’sdeath in the seventh century,John of Nikiou describes Hypatia as a magician, suggesting thatagrey area existed in designations of and between an- cient philosophy, science,and magic.⁶⁵ In not condemningthe bishop Cyril of
Hier. Hilar. : “…he went to Alexandria […]and because he had never stayedincities since he had become amonk, he diverted to some brethren that he knew in Brucheion, not far from Alexandria.” (perrexit Alexandriam … et quia numquam, ex quo coeperat esse monachus,inurbi- bus manserat, divertit ad quosdam fratres notos sibi in Bruchio,haud procul ab Alexandria). Based on the manuscripts used by Morales in SC (), – there is no variation of Bruchio in both instances where Jerome refers to it in this text(Hilar. ./). PL :– (published in based on the eighteenth-century edition by Vallarsi), note ,explainsthat despiteall manuscripts containing Bruchio and the term beingwell known from Ammianus and elsewhere, previous editorshavepreferred the otherwise unknown Brutio. This mayhave contributed to the confusion. This is clear from Jerome’sother account, Hilar. (PL :C–): Βρούχιον … mittunt Bruchium … monasterium (from Sophronius’ translation). Eus. v.C. .,Soz. h.e. .. Joh. Nik. .–, –;Socr. h.e. .–. 6.3 The Library of Alexandria 251
Alexandria, who was holdresponsible for her death, John echoes the Alexandri- ans who named Cyril “the new Theophilus; for he had destroyed the last remains of idolatry in the city.” He also mentionsthat at this time “the orthodoxinhab- itants of Alexandria werefilled with zeal and they collected alarge quantity of wood and burned the place of the pagan philosophers” (perhaps alibrary or some other pagan institution).⁶⁶ From the ageofEnlightenment to the nineteenth century,the narrative of Hypatia and Cyril has been used to show the alleged hostility of the Church against science.⁶⁷ Most famously, EdwardGibbon (1737– 1794) gave an emotional account that suggested that Hypatia’scase could be taken as the prime example of Christian intolerance to othercompeting discourses,anintolerance which he argues substantiallycontributed to the downfallofthe Roman Empire (chapter 47). Morerecent research, however,oftenemphasises the political motivesimpel- ling the murder of Hypatia. Dzielska, for example, argues that most Alexandri- ans not onlytoleratedbut alsorespected Neoplatonic philosophers in the earlyfifth century,anargument that implies thatHypatia did not deviate from Neoplatonicphilosophy.⁶⁸ The heightened circumstances surroundingHypatia’sdeath suggest thatre- ligious motivesplayedasignificant part in the events: afourth-century lawhad ruled thatarangeofpersons involved in divination, including mathematici,were to be tortured in asimilar way, to be stripped of their flesh.⁶⁹ Hypatia, in fact, was ahighlydistinguished mathematician and philosopher,aNeoplatonist who also mastered abroad rangeofphilosophical authorsand subjects.⁷⁰ But her Neoplatonic adversaries appear to have criticised her,calling her amathema- tician rather thana(Neoplatonic) philosopher,and openlyaccusing her of indis- criminately teaching all philosophies.⁷¹ Between these twoperspectivesitispos-
Joh. Nik. . with Haas (), ,note . See Dzielska (), –. Dzielska(), . Cod.Theod. ..: eculeo deditus ungulisque sulcantibus lateraperferat poenas proprio di- gnas facinore (addressed to the praetorian prefect of Italyand Africa); Rougé and Delmaire (), note (literature). Rist (). And see Shanzer (), too. According to Socr. h.e. ..,Hypatia succeeded to the school of Platoand Plotinus. Dam. Isid. fr. (Zintzen, ): “Isidoreand Hypatia were very different,not onlyasaman differs from awoman but as aphilosopherdiffers from amathematician.” (ὁ Ισίδωρος πολὺ δια- φέρων ἦντῆς‘Υπατίας, οὐ μόνον οἷαγυναικὸς ἀνήρ, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἷαγεωμετρικῆςτῷὄντι φιλόσο- φος); Suid. s.v. Ὑπατία, Adler: “She explained publiclytothose whowished to hear either PlatoorAristotle or anyother of the philosophers” (ἐξηγεῖτο δημοσίᾳ τοῖς ἀκροᾶσθαι βουλο- μένοις ἢ τὸνΠλάτωνα ἢ τὸν ᾿Aριστοτέλην ἢἄλλου ὅτου δὴ τῶνφιλοσόφων). 252 6Destruction of Libraries sible to surmise that she was perhaps nominallyaNeoplatonic scholar,but one who actively undertook research that was more subversive to the Christian world view.Hypatia’sworks have thereforenot survived. To unravel the mystery,itisworth having alookatthe letters written to Hy- patia by her student Synesius,who later became bishop of Cyrene. Aletter writ- ten by Synesius in 405 appears to allude to books in his privatelibrary that could arouse suspicion. Synesius of Cyrene can be taken as the prime example of aper- sonality combiningnon-conflictingreligious identities, as he unusually com- bined Christian and Neoplatonic thinking with athorough knowledge and liberal handling of classicalauthors. Along with Hypatia, Synesius was alifelong mem- ber of acircle of Alexandrians with whom he was initiated and shared in the mysteries of philosophy.⁷² In this letter,Synesius complained about “those in the white or dark mantle.”⁷³ He goes on to explain that those dressed in white are “sophists” (wearingthe white mantle of the philosophers), aterm apparently used here to describeNeoplatonic philosophers.⁷⁴ It is likelythat thosewho wear the dark mantle are Christian theologians or monks.⁷⁵ Both groups accused him of deviance from their philosophyand of keepingunrevised books in his library:⁷⁶
They sayIviolatethe laws of philosophybecause Iwant to examine the beauty of styleand rhythm and because Ienjoy sayingsomething about Homer and about rhetorical figures. In their eyes one must hate literatureinorder to be aphilosopherand must studydivine mat- ters only. […]Finally, it defends my library,which the same men accused because it con- ceals unrevised books.These spiteful persons have not even refrained fromdenigration.
On this circle, Bregman (), ;Dzielska(), –;Watts (), –;Lacom- brade (), concludes: zweifelsohne [hat es] bei den verbliebenen Heiden eine Geheimlite- ratur gegeben. Synes. ep. .–: καὶ γὰρτῶνἐνλευκοῖς ἔνιοι τρίβωσι καὶ τῶν ἐνφαιοῖς. Thereisadebateonthis, see Garzyaand Roques (), –,note , , .Yet,Syn- esius’ allusions to the Platonic philosopherXenocrates almost excludes anyalternative sugges- tion. Synes. ep. .–: “Some of them […]the readiest of all to lectureabout God” (ἀλλ’ ἐκείνων οἱ μὲν … προχειρότατοι πάντων εἰσὶ περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ διαλέγεσθαι). Some, including Dziel- ska (), –,understand those in the dark mantle as monks.Contra: Garzyaand Roques (), ,note .And see –,note ,onanoverview of scholarlyinterpretations. Synes. ep. .–: ἔφασάνμεπαρανομεῖνεἰςφιλοσοφίαν, ἐπαΐοντα κάλλους ἐνλέξεσι καὶ ῥυθμοῦ, καὶ περὶὉμήρου τι λέγειν ἀξιοῦντα καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐνταῖςῥητορείαις σχημάτων, ὡςδὴ τὸνφιλόσοφον μισολόγον εἶναι προσῆκον καὶ μόνα περιεργάζεσθαι τὰ δαιμόνια πράγματα. –: τελευτῶνδὲκαὶὑπὲρτῶνκιβωτίων ἀπολελόγηται, σχόντων τινὰ καὶ τούτων αἰτίαν, ἀδιόρθωτα κρύπτειν βιβλία. οὐδὲ γὰροὐδὲτῶντοιούτων οἱ τελχῖνες ἀπέσχοντο. 6.3 The Library of Alexandria 253
Commentators have thought thatthe booksSynesius was alluding to had not been finishedyet,hence they are “unrevised.”⁷⁷ Thisseems to be the same un- derstandingofthe term “unrevised” used in Cicero.⁷⁸ However,this understand- ing can be reviewed from the perspective of Alan Cameron’sinvestigation into the practice of subscriptions in the Christian period of the fourth centuryand later.Cameron notes that while in most cases subscriptions point to not more than proofreading against an exemplar, he also found some evidence of revi- sions certifyingthe correct expression of Christian faith.⁷⁹ This idea of revision is therefore closer to censorship than it was in the Ciceronian period. ForSyne- sius, these unrevised copies could even be the object of serious accusation. The offence seems to have consisted of an affinitytoHellenism as astylistic or reli- gious-cultural category: “some of my poetical attemptsseemed to them the work of an artist who reproduces the antique, as we are usedtosay about statues.”⁸⁰ In the sameletter Synesius complains that abook, admired by Hellenists,disap- peared from his library.⁸¹ To my mind, Synesius’ letter therefore indicates thathe was worried about censorship of specificallypagan content in writing. Within this context of censorship, the letter to Hypatia also indicates thatdif- ferent kinds of booksweresuitable to Christian and Neoplatonic philosophers as well as to pagans respectively:atthe end, Synesius mentions his new book con- taining “astudyonthe whole imagination of the soul and on some other points which the Greek philosophers have not yetaddressed.” He suggests thathesent Hypatia an unauthorised copy: “after myself youwill be the first of the Greeks to have access to this work.”⁸² Synesius explicates that these “Greeks” are “philos- ophersand orators.”⁸³ The sameletter notes that he sent to Hypatia another book, an astronomical treatise. At least one commentator has thereforeconsid- ered the possibility that Synesius’ library contained papyrus rolls thatwere
The argument is that Synesius was alludingtohis Dion which he revised (Synes. Dion ). Cic. Att. .a: ἀδιόρθωτα. Alan Cameron (), chapter –,esp. p. , . Synes. ep. .–: καί τινα τῶν ἐκποιητικῆς ἐπιμελῶς ἔχοντα καὶ παραδεικνύντα τι τῆς ἀρχαίας χειρός, ὅπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνδριάντων λέγειν εἰώθαμεν. Synes. ep. .–. Synes. ep. .–: ἔσκεπται δ’ ἐναὐτῷπερὶ τῆςεἰδωλικῆς ἁπάσης ψυχῆς, καὶἕτερ’ ἄττα προκεχείρισται δόγματα τῶνοὔπω φιλοσοφηθέντων Ἕλλησι.Synes. ep. .–: σὺ γὰρδὴμετ’ ἐμὲ πρώτη τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐντεύξῃ. Synes. ep. .–. 254 6Destruction of Libraries not yetcopied on parchment and that contained works suspicious to Christian institutions which wereonlycirculated as privatecopies as aresult.⁸⁴ Synesius expressedsimilar concerns earlier in aletter written in Cyrene (Lybia) in c. 399,addressed to Herculian, afellow student in Alexandria. Syne- sius admonishes Herculian of the Pythagorean custom to keep theirknowledge secret from the mob. This admonition arises because Herculian has previously divulged “thingswhich deserved to remain hidden”,something Synesius found out from certain people around Herculian who had asked him to explain the meaning of writingsthey had exchanged among each other: “But according to my custom Idid not claim to them thatIunderstood these writings, nor did I saythat Irecognised them.”⁸⁵ These writingscontained what Synesiuscalled “the mysteries of philosophy.”⁸⁶ As he explains in another letter,itisthat which “we have seen with our own eyes, we have heard with our own ears” at Hypatia’s.⁸⁷ Apparently, his betrayal of asecret which had consisted in “collect- ing knowledge from all sides”,⁸⁸ had caused Herculian to leave Alexandria (ep.137). Scholars have interpreted this secret differently, suggesting that it means theurgy,⁸⁹ diverse texts,⁹⁰ aPythagorean numbertheory rather than Em- pedocles’ natural philosophy⁹¹ or astronomycombined with geometry and arithmetic.⁹² So delicate did Synesius consider this knowledge that he repeatedly worried that the letters and works they exchanged could be intercepted, stating his need to hand these over to amessenger they could trust.⁹³ This appears to be acommon fear.The pagan grammarian MaximusofMadaura(in Numidia) also expressed his concern thathis letter,addressed to Augustine and written prob-
Treu (), – ad Synes. Dion ,refers to ep. , aand , d, where Syn- esius mentions the rolls and roll containers in his library (κιβώτιον, βιβλία)and the extension of his library in ep. .,with Birt (), –, –, – and Porph. Plot. . Synes. ep. .–: τὰἄξια κρύπτεσθαι … ἀλλʼ ἡμεῖςτὸνἡμέτερον τρόπον καὶ πρὸςαὐτοὺς οὔτε μετεποιήθημεν τῶνσυγγραμμάτων οὔτʼ ἐπιγινώσκειν αὐτὰἔφαμεν. Synes. ep. .: τῶνφιλοσοφίας ὀργίον. Synes. ep. .–: αὐτόπται γάρτοι καὶ αὐτήκοοι γεγόναμεν τῆςγνησίας καθηγεμόνος τῶνφιλοσοφίας ὀργίων. Synes. ep. .–: τὸ φρονεῖν ἁπανταχόθεν συλλέγοντες. Alan Cameron (b), –. Dzielska(), . Garzyaand Roques (), ,note . Bregman (), refers to Syn. astrolab. , D–A: “disciplines which one can properlycall afixed canon of truth” (καὶἐπὶτὰςἀποδείξεις οὐκ ἀμφισβητησίμως πορεύεται, ἀλλ’ ὑπηρέτισι χρῆται γεωμετρίᾳ τε καὶἀριθμητικῇ, ἃς ἀστραβῆ τῆς ἀληθείας κανόνα τις εἰπὼνοὐκἂνἁμάρτοι τοῦ πρέποντος). This means as opposed to the actual canon of writings studied at that time. Synes. ep. .–; .–; .–. 6.3 The Library of Alexandria 255 ablyin390,could be intercepted, burntorotherwise destroyed.⁹⁴ The reasons for such concerns were, obviously, that his letter defendedpaganism and ridiculed Christianity. There is further information on the content of these suspicious writingsat the end of letter 143: among the writingsthat Synesius and Herculian shared wereanastronomical poem and some unexplained ancientfragment.⁹⁵ In anoth- er letter, Synesius reveals that he is hesitant to accept the beliefs thatare disse- minated to the uneducated, namely that the world is corruptible and perishing soon. He was thus close to the Christian author Philoponus (c. 490 –570), who argued that the worldiseternal and thatthe stars and planets movedynamically, but an anathema was imposed on him in 680.⁹⁶ While it must be noted thatthe evidence about suspicious writingsexchanged between Synesius and others is scattered throughout his correspondence, it is reasonable to assumethat these writingscontained material that was offensive to Christianity and probably linked to physical explanations of the world.⁹⁷ Hypatia’sastronomical researchcould be of interest to explain the mystery, but the evidence supportingsuch aview remains obscure to us. However,itis known that she worked on an edition of Claudius Ptolemy’s Almagest,while her father Theon, the last member known from Alexandria’sMuseion,worked on acommentary of the Almagest.⁹⁸ She also maintained astrolabes for research on the stars. Ptolemy’s Almagest famouslyinterpreted the earth as the centreof the solar system and came to be accepted as the standard book on astronomy throughout the Middle Ages. Research in the earlynineteenth and again in the twentieth century showed it to be aspectacular case of plagiarism as Ptolemy had borrowed earlier computations based on the heliocentric system, although he claimed to have used his own computations.⁹⁹ The idea thatthe earth is not the centre of the universe, but moves around in perpetual motion, weakens the likelihood that the world is perishing soon. Synesius’ correspondence indi- cates that ideas such as these werediscussed between Hypatia and her students and that notebooks containingthese ideas wereexchanged amongst them. In the next section we will see thatChristian authors seem to have welcomed the de- struction of pagan institutions alsointhe West.
Aug. ep. .: hanc epistulam aliquorum furto detractam, flammis vel quolibet pacto peritu- ram. Synes. ep. .: καὶἔστιν ἀρχαῖον. See Sorabij (), . Synes. ep. .– with Siniossoglou (), .And see Watts (b), ,too. Alan Cameron and Long(), –. Newton (); Delambre(), lxviii. 256 6Destruction of Libraries
6.4 The Sack of Rome
There are some other occasions wherelibraries or archivescould perhaps have been destroyed in the context of raidsorriots, but we cannot saythatthese buildingsweredestroyed deliberately in the context of book-burning.¹⁰⁰ This sec- tion willargue that thereare some reasons to think thatlibraries or archiveswere destroyed duringthe sack of Rome in 410and thatChristian authorsregarded this as an act of punishment for Rome’spagan past.This again illustrates the power of booksand the specific view on book-burning in Late Antiquity. The city of Rome was plundered by the Visigoths in 410but for threedays only. Although the city had long ceased to be the capital of the empire, this event was regarded as pivotalbymanycontemporaries as Rome had never been taken by enemies ever since its rise to power.The remainingpagans inter- preted the downfallofRome as an obviousindication that the Christian God was unable to live up to Rome’sglorious pagan past,especiallysince the Visigoths werethemselvesArianChristians.This event thereforeled anumberofChristian authorstodefend Christianityfrom these charges. Orosius wrotehis Christian apologetic history to respond thatsimilar disastershad happened also in Rome’spagan past and thatthe current evils are not due to neglect of the old gods. Orosius is very shortonthe imperial period and also on the sack of Rome itself. While there is no evidence that either the Visigothic plunderers or locals deliberatelydestroyed pagan sites at this occasion, Orosius claims that lightningdestroyed some monuments in Rome:¹⁰¹
At the same time lightningdestroyed the city’smost famous sites, which the enemies could not set on fire,sothat no one should doubt that the enemies were givenpermission to chas- tise the proud, lascivious and blasphemouscity.
The allegation that temples weredestroyed by lightning mayhavebeen astrat- egy to assign actual acts of arson to divine power.Sharing this view with Augus- tine, Orosius described the destruction of certain buildings as welcome from a Christian apologetic standpoint.Hemay have been alluding to the legend that the Christian aristocratic ladyProba had admittedthe Goths into the city.Ac-
On accidental destruction, Speyer (), –.Justinian’sarchive in Constantinople had been destroyed by afirebut the reasonisunknown:Greg. M. ep. . (CCSL A:). Oros. ..: et ne quisquam forte dubitaret ad correptionem superbae lascivae et blasphe- mae civitatis hostibus fuisse permissum, eodem temporeclarissima urbis loca fulminibus diruta suntquae inflammari ab hostibus nequiverunt. 6.4 The Sack of Rome 257 cording to Orosius’ view,the destruction wasmeant to punish the Babylon of his dayfor its sins. It is intriguingthathecompares this destruction to those caused by the Celtic invaderswhen Rome wassacked the onlytime before, in 387BC, as well as to the fire during the principateofNero in AD 64 because historical re- cords weredestroyed at bothoccasions.¹⁰² Tacitus notes that besides several temples and artwork, “the ancientand untainted monuments of writers of gen- ius” wereburntinAD64.¹⁰³ While Suetonius blames the fire on Nero,wedonot know the actual cause.¹⁰⁴ Tacitus chargesthe Christians onlywith “hatred of humankind.”¹⁰⁵ It is not implausible that these earlyChristians stronglydisap- proved of the sites destroyed. Some Christians were burnt alive,suggesting that the authorities actuallyblamed the fire on the Christians because the pun- ishment of burning alive in retaliation for arson was traditional in Roman law.¹⁰⁶ At anyrate, it is likelythat books weredestroyed in Rome at some point as acon- sequence of invasions because Cassiodorus in the sixth century was worried about this.¹⁰⁷ It is possible that Prudentius is alludingtothe actual destruction of written records in his owndaysthrough metaphoric implication: in the Hamartigenia,he givesanunhistorical picture of the destruction of Sodom, in which archiveswere burnt.Incontext,the wife of Lot (who was rescued from Sodom) sinfullylooks back to the burning city and is thereforepetrified:¹⁰⁸
Lot, by contrast,kepthis proposed vows unchangedonce he started on his way, and did not look back to the city-walls which had crumbled to ashes like alofty funeral-pyre, or to its burnt people and its people’straditions,its archives, courts, market-place, baths, hawkers, brothels, temples and theatres, the circus and its audience, and the mouldytav- erns.The flamesofSodom enwrap all the people’sactivities in just fire and condemn them under the judgment of Christ.
Liv. ...However,Roberts (), –,followed by Speyer (), – argued that the sack of Rome affected onlyfew,ifany,temple archives. Tac. ann. ..: monumenta ingeniorum antiqua et incorrupta. Suet. Nero . Tac. ann. ..: odio humani generis. The Lawofthe Twelve Tables ruled arsonists to be burnt alive: Leg.XII tab.fr..Crawford (= Gaius . ad legem XII tabularum; dig. ..). See Doer (). Cassiod. inst. .: quem [sc.librum] in bibliotheca Romae nos habuisse atque studiose legisse retinemus.qui si forte gentili incursione sublatus est, habetis hic Gaudentium Mutiani Latinum. Prud. ham. –: voti | propositum contranon commutabile servat | Loth ingressus iter nec moenia respicit alto | in cinerem conlapsa rogo populumque perustum | et mores populi tabu- laria iuraforumque, | balnea propolas meritoria templa theatra, | et circum cum plebe sua ma- didasque popinas. | quidquid agunthominesSodomorum incendia iustis | ignibus involvunt et Christo iudice damnant. Cf. Prud. apoth. . 258 6Destruction of Libraries
The passage, which adds all specific locations, institutions and buildingstothe biblical passage(Gen.19:24–9), can easilybeidentifiedasaveiled criticism of contemporaryRome by inference(for example, because of the circus). It is often assumedthat Prudentius had completed most of his works in 404/5 when he wrote the prefacetothe Cathemerinon which the manuscripts place at the very beginning of his works,but there is no specific allusion to the Hamar- tigenia within this preface. It is therefore interesting thatOrosius compares the absenceofpope Innocent from Rome duringthe siegetoLot’sabsencefrom Sodom.¹⁰⁹ In Prudentius’ interpretation, the destruction of Sodom thus also seems to have prefigured the destruction of Rome.¹¹⁰ To my mind, there is no other waytoexplain this analogybecause Orosius clearlywroteafter 410. If my interpretation is correct,then this would mean that Prudentius did actually witness the siegeofRome in 410orwas notified of this event.Scholars have so far agreed that he did not mention this event and had therefore died before that year because of his silence on this. At anyrate,this interpretationhelps to under- stand Augustine’sviewthatBabylon (that is Rome) had been justlypunished, as we have seen in section 4.4, and it supports the assumption thatarchivesorli- braries could have been destroyed by this time.Constantinople, however,contin- ued to be ascholarlycentre long after these events.
6.5 The LibraryofConstantinople
The imperial library of Constantinople, the lastlarge library known from Antiq- uity,was mostlyafoundation by the pagan emperor Julian, based on earlier col- lections of his predecessors.¹¹¹ Because Constantinople continued to be acentre for the literarytraditions of the past,the fate of its library had an obvious impact on the preservation of literature from Late Antiquity to the EarlyMiddle Ages. In 475, afire destroyed the imperial library of Constantinople, supposedlyalong with 120,000 books. The twelfth-century Byzantine historian Zonaras givesthis figure for its collection and refers to adetailed fifth-century source, writtenby Malchus but lost today, to support his claim, but figures in ancient textsneed to be generallytreated with caution. The tenth-centuryByzantine encyclopedia
Oros. hist. ..: ut beatus Innocentius, Romanae urbis episcopus,tamquamiustus Loth subtractus aSodomis occulta providentia Dei apud Ravennam tunc positus,peccatorispopuli non videret excidium. Cf. Aug. urb. exc. (CCSL :). Prud. ham. –: accipe gestarum monumenta insigniarerum, | praelusit quibus historia spectabilesignum. | Loth fugiens Sodomis… See Wilson (). 6.5 The Library of Constantinople 259
Suda also has an entry on this source, mentioning the fire in the library.¹¹² While some scholars assume that the library contained papyri rolls,others morerea- sonablyassume the figure largely refers to parchment codices as the newer more voluminous book forms.¹¹³ The content of this librarycould therefore have been close to thatofAlexandria. Speyer categorises this and the following destructions as causedbywar and violence.¹¹⁴ But Zonaras, the onlysourcefor the destruction does not in fact ex- plicitlysay what caused the fire.However,hewritesthat the interim emperor Ba- siliscus (475 – 476) was anon-conformist Christian, opposed to the council of Chalcedon, and tried to damagethe orthodoxChurch. As aresult, he was openly hated by the orthodoxpopulation.¹¹⁵ This and not the civil war with Zeno in 476 is the onlyindication in the sourceofwhat could possiblyhavecaused the fire.It is thereforepossible that the library could have been accidentallydestroyed dur- ing the riot.Zonaras continues that the fire also consumed certain statues of goddesses (Juno, Minerva, Venus). Thismay be an indication that the fire occur- red during the religious riot.When Zeno returned as emperor,welcomed by the orthodoxpopulation, he seems to have provided some justification for the fire, when he condemned Pelagius,senator and author of ahistory work and of po- etry,of“Hellenism.”¹¹⁶ Zonaras and other authorsfrom the ninth century onwards further report that the iconoclastic emperor Leo III in 726destroyed 36,500 secular and theo- logical books contained in the new library of Constantinople, but this could be abiased account because texts about the Iconoclastic Period are generally hostileand unreliable.¹¹⁷ It has been assumedthat the library was destroyed again in 1204,when the crusaders plundered Constantinople, and yetagain in
Zonar. epit. hist. ..–;Suid. s.v. Μάλχος, Adler.And see AP .,too. Mango (), : “not an impossible figure if those were mostlyrolls”;Hunger (), –:probablycodices. Alan Cameron (), : “must have been codexes”,based on Cod. Theod. .. and Them. or. .d–c. Speyer (), . Zonar. epit. hist. ..–.The fourteenth century author Ephraem, hist. chron. –, also mentions that the fire destroyed the , books of the library.Wendel (), ,as- sumes that the , books werepagan books,but that the , books in the second li- brary weretheological and, to alesser extent,secular books. Zonar. epit. hist. ..;Theoph. AM –;Cedr.(Bekker :–). Zonar. epit. hist. ..–;Cedr.(Bekker :–); Michael Glycas, ann. ,P.C–D (PG :D–A).Onother cases of book-burninginthe iconoclastic period, Averil Camer- on (), , –.Onthe extensive production of polemical writings during this period, Averil Cameron (). John of Damascus, for example, labelled Epicureanism aheresy because it did not accept divine providence:Jo. D. haer. (PG :B). 260 6Destruction of Libraries
1453when the Turks sacked the city.However,itisnot firmlyknown that the im- perial library continued to exist at all after Late Antiquity.¹¹⁸ As to the Turkish conquest of Constantinople, the contemporary Dukas says onlythat the Turks sold precious manuscripts both in the West and in the East and thatthey de- stroyed some of the gospels which wereadorned with gold and silverand sold others. Thisdoes not mean that the manuscripts weretaken from the imperial library.Aletter from the 15th July of 1453addressed to the pope Nicholas V, men- tions that120,000 codices perished, but this is most likelyasecond-hand and speculative figurethat seems to be based on the first destruction of the library in 475. In fact,the letter is extant onlyasquoted by the seventeenth-century scholarHumphrey Hody, who givesnodirect quotation of this passage(only of the rest of the letter).¹¹⁹ The Turkish conquest of Constantinople maytherefore have contributed to the re-circulation of Greek textsinthe West rather than to the loss of texts.
6.6 Conclusion
It is therefore possiblethat books stored in temples or otherpublic religious buildings(includinggymnasia) did not survive the Christianisation of the Roman Empire, especiallywhen it is considered thatthese buildings were often abandoned or even razedtothe ground. However,while the evidence for temple destruction is often unclear,the evidence for the deliberate destruction of buildingscontainingbooks is even scantier.There are reports thatalibrary was destroyed in Antioch underJovian, but the sources attested to this event are late and unreliable. On the balance of probability,bookswereprobablyde- stroyed when the Serapeum of Alexandria was demolished in the ageofTheodo- sius. However,the primary object targeted was the temple rather than its books, and this occurred in the context of amajor riot in Alexandria rather than acon- certed public policy.The different groups that dominated the culturallife in Alex- andria had religious reservations against booksthat wereoffensive to Christian- ity,aswehaveseen in the correspondence between Synesius and Hypatia. There is evidence to suggest thatafew other large libraries of Antiquity were destroyed in the context of religious riots, but the evidence is not conclusive.Although there is no clear indication that books weredestroyed deliberately duringthe
Queller and Madden (), ,note . Krumbacher (), refers to Dukas, Historia Byzantina (Bekker, ), with Greek text,and to the letterbyLaurus Quirinus in Hodius, De Graecis illustribus (London, ): ait se acardinale Rutheno accepisse, ultracentum viginti millia librorum volumina fuisse devastata. 6.6 Conclusion 261 sack of Rome in 410, it is interesting to note that some Christian authors de- scribed these destructions as justified and welcome from an apologetical stand- point.The need to justify the destruction and the arguments used by Christian authorsilluminatethe power that books had at that time as well as their link to the demonicalpast of the Roman Empire, aview thatIhave presented in the previous chapters. In the next chapter we will seethatsome of these atti- tudes continued to exist in the centuries to follow. 7The Post-RomanSuccessor States
After the fall of the Roman Empire pagan bookswerehardlyaccessible. This was atime of radical transformation from awritten to an oral cultureinWestern Eu- rope. Citiesfell into decayasthe masses and elites alike came to dwell on estates in the countryside. While the Latin language(unlike Greek)continued to be spo- ken in Rome’sformer provinces for awhile, the literaryculturewas largely re- duced to monasteries as the remainingplaces of liberal studies. The most impor- tant scholars now wereChristians, and the bulk of them wereclerics, responsible for textual preservation and transmission. After the abolition of the imperial tax system there was agrowingpoverty among the aristocrats who increasinglylost interest to invest in luxury items such as books. There was no longer anystate funding for teachers,and people ceased to be interested in paying towards their education in aperiod characterised by invasions,warlords and political in- stability.Wewillsee in this chapter that bookscontinued to be occasionallyde- stroyed, that therewas little interest in preservingany pagan literature and that the polemical discourse of late antique Christian authors probablyinfluenced censorship legislation and decisions as to which books to copy or not to copy. Ishall first give asurveyofextant testimonials for book-burning up until the earlymedieval period, but focussing on the period up to the seventh century.My argument is that there is evidence for remainingpagan groups which wereac- quainted with literaryand philosophicaltraditions otherwise thought to be lost and that these groups wereconcernedabout missionary activities having to do with the ejectionoftheirliterary heritage. Ishallalso arguethat pagan books discovered by coincidencewereprone to destruction at that time because of the demonical power that continued to be associated with ancient texts.I shall then discuss the educational requirementsfor bishopsinecclesiastical leg- islation of the post-Roman period, arguing that there is no firmevidence that bishops wererequired to receive aclassical education or to be acquainted with anyclassical text but that on the contrary clerical education should be con- fined to biblical studies, while classicaltexts were frowned upon among clerics and monks. In this context,Isidore of Sevilleisanimportantauthor because his works tell us agreat deal about attitudes towards classicaltextsand ancientphi- losophies and because he givesinteresting insights into monastic book produc- tion at that time. This leadsusto thefinal section, in which Ishallargue that this legislation and these attitudes had adiscernible effect on the transmission of classicaltexts in the period between 550 and 750. This can be best appreciated by investigatingthe so-called membradisiecta,single booksthat wereproduced from multiple older books, which weredeleted in the process. 7.1Burning and Confiscation of Booksafter the Fall of Rome 263
In the context of the overall argument of this book, it is worth noting that this time period was pivotalfor the transmission of classical texts in the Latin West because texts thatwereavailable by the end of the eighth century usually surviveduntil today. This chapter will thereforeilluminatethe ways in which clerics and ascetics vying for authority dealt with the ideas of others, thoseof their contemporaries or those masterswho livedlong ago. It willshow that by this time they often drew on the authority of the texts and ideas that Ihavepre- sented in the previous chapters.
7.1Burning and Confiscation of Booksafter the Fall of Rome
So far Ihavediscussed the instances for book-burning in hagiographical textsof the East in Chapter 3, in which Ihaveargued that monks and ascetics conducted house searches to identify and destroy forbidden texts,oftenwith the help of local state authorities, in order to provide miracle-healingtothe Christian pop- ulationand to encourageconversion. Iwill now address how the practice of book-burning arisesand figures in the Latin hagiographical texts from the suc- cessor kingdoms in Western Europe, arguing that missionaries could burn books in order to demonstrate the superiority of Christianity and to defeatde- mons. ManyLatin LivesofSaints werewritten in the MiddlesAges, few in Late An- tiquity.Nevertheless, monasticism and religious legislation developed similarly in East and West,suggesting productive parallels can be drawn. Forexample, the sixth-century Life of Caesarius of Arles (c.470 – 542) has its hero dreaming of asecular knowledge book transformed into adragonchewing his arm.¹ The daybefore, his teacher had givenyoungCaesarius what probablywas agrammar book. He seems to be putting forward the view thatsecular knowledge was dif- ficult to acquireand not needed anymore for asuccessful life. It is also obvious that he was concerned about the demon thatdwelt in this book. Perhaps he had read some lines thataroused the demon of his sexualityand he thereforephan- tasised about the book as adragon. Caesarius,however,did not shun books. In fact,hecriticised other book owners of his age, includingreligious people, for keepingtheir valuable books locked in their cupboards and not readingthem or giving them to others to read. He intimates that this is because of the “obsta-
Vita Caesarii ..(MGH SS rer.Merov. :): saecularis scientia. 264 7The Post-Roman Successor States cles of this world.”² This seems to indicate that book-owners regarded reading books, even Christian books, as too much of aleisure activity;and perhaps they wanted to avoid suspicion, depending on the content of the books in ques- tion. Like the Life of Caesarius,medieval hagiographical textsdeploy the literary topoi of holymen fighting against dragons or serpents. The origins of these topoi are oftenunknown to us, but they seem to represent the battle against paganism and its material culture (as demons), and even against subversive literary genres or books. Let us have acloser look at the twoearliest livesofPatrick, the late fifth-cen- tury patron saint of Ireland. Legend todayhas it that Patrick droveall serpents from Ireland. This is an allusion to the biblical book of Exodus,whereMoses and Aaron perform amiracle in front of the Pharaoh. Aaron’sstaff turns into asnake that swallows all snakes summonedbythe wise men and magicians at Phar- aoh’scourt.³ Other biblical passages use Aaron’sstaff as afigure for the wisdom of the HolySpirit that needs to be protected against rebellion.⁴ Thismetaphor seems thereforetoderive from Patrick’smissionary activities that Ishall outline shortly. Patrick was an important missionary to Ireland. Ireland had never been a provinceofthe RomanEmpire and thereforelacked historicalrecord and the de- gree of civilisation of the provinces. As the history of Ireland duringthis period remains obscure,much of what was written about Patrick in the earlyMiddle Ages is thereforesupposition. Nevertheless, his story represents the ongoing en- gagementofChristian missionaries with Irish pagans and pagan warlords.Two texts from the seventh century(by Muirchú and Tírechán),contained in the Book of Harmagh, describe the deeds of Patrick largely as abattle against magicians,a theme borrowed from the apocryphal Acts of the Apostles of Pseudo-Abdias.⁵ For example, when the “magician” (magus)Locru had aphilosophical discussion with Patrick, astone miraculously dashes the magician’sbrains out in what seems to be retaliation for intellectual challenge.⁶ These textscan be seen as em- blematic for the social and culturalconflicts at the time of composition and it is thereforestriking that the differencebetween true and false philosophiescontin-
Caes.Arel. serm. (Délage, –): multi sunt, et forte aliqui religiosi, qui plures libros et satis nitidos et pulchreligatos haberevolunt, et eos ita armariis clausos tenent, ut illos nec ipsi legant,nec aliis ad legendum tribuant: ignorantes quod nihil prodest libroshabere, et eos propter mundi huius inpedimenta non legere. Exod. :–. Num. :,Heb. :. See O’Leary (), – on repercussions between Muirchú and Pseudo-Abdias. Muirchu, vita Patricii ... 7.1Burning and Confiscation of Booksafter the Fall of Rome 265 ued to be of interest in the seventh centurywithin the context of missionary ac- tivities. In the rhetoric of his hagiographers,Patrick’smission was not simplyaphys- ical struggle, but an intellectual one thatcentred on the battle of books. Engaged in another contest now with the “magician” Lucetmail, advisor of king Loegaire, Patrick offered to throw the books of each party into water or fire in order to per- suade the king of the superiority of his faith: “Throw your books into the water, and him whose books remain unharmed, we shalladore.”⁷ Patrick then ordained abishop in the regionand invested him with Christian books.⁸ To the popula- tion, books werepowerful symbols and it can be persuasively argued that this informs the missionaries’ desire to make sure that they remained exclusive to them. As such, it is no surprise thatthe seventh-century LivesofPatrick give the impression that the missionaries have selectively destroyed books to per- suade the multitude of the primacy of theirfaith. Scholars identify these magicians with druids, but the evidence for this as- sumption is scanty and the Irish word druí for magus is blurred.⁹ Julius Caesar wrotethatCeltic druids considered it asacrilegetocommit their doctrine to writings.¹⁰ Unless laterdruidsdeviated from their ancientways, there was noth- ing to destroy then, if indeedthere wereany druids on the BritishIsles afterthe Roman period giventhatthe Romans largely eradicated druidism as a superstitio in the areas they occupied. Muirchú describes Loegaire’smagicians in words that are similar to those used in the Codex Theodosianus: “magicians,enchanters, fortune-tellers, and inventors,orrather doctors,ofevery evil art”,who came to- gether at Tara, “their Babylon.”¹¹ Muirchú mentions two of these individuals who prophesised that Christian missionarieswilleject their works of art:¹²
Muirchu, vita Patricii ..–: libros vestros in aquam mittite, et illum cuius libri inlessi evas- serunt adorabimus. O’Leary (), – sees asimilarity with apocryphal Acts of the Apos- tles,particularlywith Hermogenes in Pseudo-Abdias,PassionofJames (see section . above), because of the watermotive.This is perhaps toogeneral an allusion. Tirechan, vita Patricii .: exustus est ante faciem omnium in vindictae signum, .. Charles-Edwards (), ,note refers to O’Brien (), : “Simon magus is Símón druí.” Caes. Gall. ..:[Druides] neque fasesse existimant ea litteris mandare, cum in reliquis fere rebus,publicis privatisque rationibus, Graecis utantur litteris. Cf. ..–:Druids travelfrom Gaul to Britain for instruction. Muirchu, vita Patricii ..: magis, incantatoribus,auruspicibus et omnis artis omnisque doli inventoribus doctoribusve … istorum Babylone. Cf. Cod. Theod. ..; ... Muirchu, vita Patricii ..: moremquendam exterum futurum in modum regnicum ignota quadam doctrina molesta longinquo trans maria advectum, apaucis dictatum,amultis suscep- 266 7The Post-RomanSuccessor States
Acertain foreign wayoflife will come,akingdom, as it were, with acertain unknown and burdensome doctrine, imported fromfar beyond the sea, dictatedbyfew,endured by many, to be honoured by all, to overthrowkingdoms,tokill the kings whoresisted, seduce the crowds, to destroy all their gods, and, havingejected all their works of art,toreign forever.
Because it separates the “works of art” from the destruction of gods, these works maywell refer to books and the “gods” to cult statues. It is therefore pertinent that among these “magicians”,the author goes on citing one of theirpoems, also werepoets, with one of them ordained as bishop after conversion.¹³ This shows that the missionaries had access to the works written by this group. This group has also been identifiedwith agroup of scholars mentioned in the Leyden Glossary,which contains asurprising note, probablyfrom the sixth or seventh century,explaining that learned men fled from Gaul to Ireland as acon- sequence of the invasions:¹⁴
From them [the Huns] the destruction of the whole empire took its beginning, and it was finalised by Huns and Vandals,Goths and Alans,atwhose devastation all the wise men on this side of the sea took flight,and in transmarine parts,namelyinIreland and wherever they betookthemselves, brought alongthe highestdegreeofprogress in wisdom to the in- habitants of those regions.
The letters of Sidonius Apollinaris and other contemporary testimonials also ac- count for the difficulties of teachers to make their living in view of the invasions in fifth-century Gaul. In aletter from the 470s, Sidonius Apollinaris bewails the abolition of scholarship and encourages the grammarianJohn to continue “as the onlyscholar in this time of wars”,charging him to take care of the Latin language.¹⁵ Although Sidonius is flatteringJohn, this indicates that grammarians had become rare because of the military,civil, and culturalturmoil thatensued when Gaul finallyceased to be part of the Roman Empire. The Hisperica famina is an interesting sourcethatmay allow us to identify the magicians in the Lives of Patrick with pagan immigrants. UmbertoEco’s
tum, ab omnibus honorandum, regna subversum, resistentes reges occissurum, turbas seducturum, omnes eorum deos distructurum,etiectis omnibus illorum artis operibus in saecula regnaturum. Muirchu, vita Patricii ..: poeta. Et ab his depopulatio totius imperii exordium sumpsit, quae ab Unis et Guandalis Gotis et Ala- nis peracta est, sub quorum vastatione omnes sapientes cismarini fugam ceperunt et in transma- rinis videlicet in Hibernia et quocumque se receperunt, maximum profectum sapientiae incolisilla- rum regionumadhibuerunt. The Latin textisfound in Müller (), ;And see Kenney (), – for acommentary (whothinks an “exodus on aconsiderable scale” is reasonably evidenced by the sources). Sidon. ep. .. (MGH Auct. ant. :): uno magistro sub hanc tempestate bellorum. 7.1Burning and Confiscation of Booksafter the Fall of Rome 267 novel TheName of the Rose (1980)mentions this work alongsidealetter by Ald- helm of Malmesbury (the one discussed further below) among the poisoned books in the mysterious monastic library, indicating that its content is pertinent to the survivalofclassical literatures. It is believed that the Hisperica famina (a Hiberno-Latin collection of poems) waswritten in the seventh century,perhaps earlier,inIreland or Britain.¹⁶ CardinalAngelo Mai, the palimpsest hunter,first edited the text from aVatican manuscript of unknown origin in 1833.Written in a bucolic style, the poem accounts for the dailylife of ascholarlygroup in Ireland with foreign origin (A9), which like the magicians in the LivesofPatrick engage in scholarlycontests. Like its author,the scholars of the Hisperica famina speak Latin, whereas the other people around them speak Irish (A271–4). Their choice of topics seems to implythat the scholars wereworried about Christian mission- aries. Herren suggested thatits unknownauthor belonged to agroup of remain- ing pagans.¹⁷ This is an obvious interpretation as the text mentionspagan gods like Phoebus throughout; it also mentions thatsacred trees werecut (A62– 3, 185–9) and refers to naturalphilosophers in an unpolemical context,within a catalogue of explanations for natural phenomena. The term phisici (A378, A484), not unlike mathematici,isambiguous and mayrefer to astrologers and physicians,but natural philosopher is the commonest meaning and it is one that fits the context,clearlypointing to non-orthodoxauthorship.The poem also apparentlyparodies the Second ComingofChrist (A561–70)and the B- text includes apageonthe “sphere of Pythagoras”,which is clearlyofpagan character.¹⁸ It is worth quoting apassagewhich highlights the antagonism be- tween missionaries and Latin scholarlygroups that had long agomigrated from Italy:¹⁹
Roth (). Herren(), –. Jenkinson (), . Hisperica famina A–, –: sed presto horrendus asstat chelidrus, | qui talem vipereo ictu sauciabit turbam, | nisi vasti exigerintrectorem poli | qui florigerum agmen reguloso solverit discrimine. | novello temporei globaminis cyclo | hispericum arripere †tonui sceptrum; | ob hoc rudem scemico logum | ac exiguus serpit per orarivus. | quodsi amplo temporalis aevi stadio | Au- sonica me alligasset catena, | sonoreus faminis per gutturapopularet haustus, | ac inmensus ur- bani tenoris manasset faucibus tollus. | quod propriferum plasmas orgium? | utrum alma scindis securibus robora, | uti eo quadrigona densis scemicares oratoria tabulatis? | an flamigerococtas obrizum clibano, | auriferas solidis cuderelunulas marthellis? | seu tinolam tensis suscitas odam chordis? | forte concavas sonoreis proflas cicutas armoniis; | sed non intelligibili mentis acu- mine prestulor | quod lanigerosas odorosa observas per pascua bidentium turmas, | qui obessa ar- catorum assiduo tramite sectaris concilia, | ac cicniam gemellis baiulas curvanam scapulis … ac furibundus teneram superat ursus bidentem, | intantum nostraloquelosi tenoris segregantur altrin- 268 7The Post-Roman Successor States
But nearby lurks ascary serpent,which will hurt this group [of scholars: arcati,A44] with its poisonous strike, unless they request the ruler of the vast sky to release this flourishing crowdfromthis kinglybattle. In the latest cycle of this time sphereIwas able to seize the Latin sceptre.Therefore, Ifashion an uneducated speech, and ascanty stream sneaks through my mouth. But if for along course of time-duration the Italian chain had bound me, abreath of sweet-soundingspeech would be alive in my throat, and an unmeasureable riverofsophisticated sound would flow from my mouth. What secretrite of your own do youbuild up?Doyou cut down the fertile oaks with axes in order to fashion squarehouses of prayerwith massive planks?Ordoyou cook gold in aflamingpan in order to forge gold- en crescents with solid hammers?[cf. Apoc. 12:1] Or do youraise ajinglysongonstretched strings? Perhapsyou blow jinglymelodies into the hollow hemlock. But with my acuteness of mind Iexpect that youtend woollyflocks of sheep in fragrant pastures, and in your per- sistent manner hunt out the foolish assemblies of the scholars,carry aswan-white bag on your twoshoulders[…]and as much as the ragingbear is stronger than the tender sheep, so much different areour spirits of eloquenceonthe other side.
The passagerefers to two groups:the we-group, scholars that werefamous in the West along time agowho wereharassed by the other group in or around this period. Theother group builds chapels from the trees they cut and melts gold in the fire. Thismay be read as an allusion to the melting and recycling of cult statues. Both are activities that characterise Christian missionaries of the time. Thesceptrealludes to the philosopher’sstaff ²⁰ or Aaron’sstaff and gener- ally(Isuggest) to the supremacyofpagan education in the past.The serpent-met- aphor here represents the Christian group, in an inverted rhetoric. The motif of the sheep and its accompanying rhetoric seem to refer to Christians, who are led by Jesus the Good Shepherd. Finally, the “kingly battle” correspondsto the “kingdom” of Christianityinthe prophecyquotedfurther above. The Hispe- rica famina thus confirms the idea that therewas abattle between true and false (or “foolish”)philosophies. It is not clear which group was responsible for the past violent attacksde- picted at the end of the passage(A571–612).They are simplycalled latrunculi (A573, 595, “robbers”). These could be missionaries or pirates.The intruders kill aboar and roast it on afire made from ahugeoak they have felled.This oak was perhaps asacredtreebecause in retaliationthe nativesfight backbut are violentlydefeated. The intruders then return and tell stories and invent fables
secus numina. Herren (,p.)translates curvana as booksack, but the meaningisnot clear (p. , ). It is describedatlength as acontainer used by the scholars in A–,but no books arementioned.Archaeological finds show that earlyChristian book satchels in Ireland wereofblack or dark colour: Roth (), –. Mart. ... 7.1Burning and Confiscation of Booksafter the FallofRome 269 about their deeds.²¹ This could point to the dissemination of hagiographical tales. Isuggest that the Hispericafamina originated from works that were confis- cated in the context of missionary activities. Herren is therefore probablyright to speculate that the end of Hisperic scholarship in the seventh century,asrepre- sented by the Hispericafamina, was caused by outright suppression.²² Is thereother evidence for the survival of ancient philosophical traditions on the British Isles?Contrary to apopular opinion it is not firmlyattested that Irish monks had access to anyclassical texts before the CarolingianRenaissance. The first surviving copyofasubstantial collection of classicaltextsdates from the ninth or tenth century (Berne 363). Scholars todayagree that the Christian au- thors who did quote from or allude to the classics probablygleaned their knowl- edge from handbooks or from earlier studies on the continent.²³ After Lachmann’searlyedition (1850), Duvau and other scholars have as- sumed thatacopy,now lost,ofLucretius’ De rerumnatura,may have originated in England or Ireland perhaps in the seventh centuryand that it became the in- termediary for the archetype of the earliest extant manuscript.Thisassumption is based on the fact that the two oldest surviving manuscripts (O and Q) contain anumber of insular abbreviations (for quae and quoniam)and of scribalerrors typicalfor an insular intermediary.Brown has doubted this old hypothesis be- cause the text is not attested in anyinsular catalogue. She also argued that these scribal errors can alternativelybeexplained as accidental mistakesand that the abbreviations maybedue to the insular education of the scribe because Bischoff had since identifiedthe corrector of Owith Dungal, an Irishmanwho migrated to the court of Charlemagne. Brown is thereforecorrect to dismiss the possibilitythatOwas directlydependent from alost insular archetype, but she agreed thatanintermediary between the late Romancopy and the arche- type existed, although she concluded that it is best “possibly[…]togiveprefer- ence to an intermediary in Carolingian minuscles.”²⁴ However,Brown assumed that onlyone scribe copied O, whereas two different scribeswereinfact involved in copying this oldest surviving manuscript and it is therefore unlikelythat the different scribes of Oand Qshared the samepreferencefor insular
Hisperica famina A–: “Then retreatingtotheir home soil on abackwardway the in- habitants narrate awealth of tales” (hinc reduci tramite paternum remeantes in solum | fabulosam exprimunt accolae soriam). Herren(), . See Herren (), –,based on Bieler. Brown (); Butterfield (), – on other scholars whoposited the existenceofan insular copy. 270 7The Post-Roman Successor States abbreviations.²⁵ On the contrary,itisclear that the lost archetype of Oand Qal- readyincluded these insular abbreviations. Theidentification of the corrector of Ohas thereforelittle relevance to the question of whether or not the scribe who copied the archetype had usedinsular abbreviations thatwerenot included in the hyperarchetype (the assumed insular intermediary). Theestablished view that the manuscript tradition of Lucretiusisofinsular origin can therefore not be ruled out. Scholars have so far not takeninto account the evidence discussed above, although it supportsthe assumption thatacopyofLucretius mayhavecirculated on the British Isles. If it circulated among anygroup of pagan scholars on the British Isles, then it is clear that the text is not attested in anymonastic cata- logue. Lucretius is recorded in continental catalogues (without atitle) not before the ninth century.AsIshall argueinthe final section, it is unlikelythat this text would have been copied in monasteries before the CarolingianRenaissance.The scholars mentioned in the Hisperica famina mayhavehad direct or indirect knowledge of Lucretius’ poem as the text itself mentions the possibility that scholars at that time wereinstructed in texts, perhaps without themselvesown- ing acopy.²⁶ We have seen thatthe authors of the Hisperica famina mention natural phi- losophers as their associates and cover arangeofthemesonnatural phenomena similar to Lucretius, such as the sky (A358– 80), the sea (A381–425), fire (A426 – 50) and wind (A477– 96). While these themes occur in Isidore’s De naturarerum, Ihavefound anumber of motifs thatsuggest knowledge of Lucretius’ rather than Isidore’stext.²⁷ Because the Hisperica famina is not written in hexameter,there are no verbal allusions to anyLatin poem, but because of the similarity of motifs it is clear that its authors wereacquainted with some classicalpoems.²⁸ Forex- ample,both texts explain that rainbows are caused by the refraction of sun light in the rain,²⁹ that astrongwind destroystrees and beats upon the sea³⁰ and that
Butterfield (), ,note . Hisperica famina A: quos edocetis fastos? Herren(), , thinks it is possible that the author(s) of the Hisperica famina had used Isidore’s De naturarerum as asource mainlybecause both texts use orion as awordfor star,but this is not astrong indication for intertextuality. On acquaintancewith Vergil, Herren (), , –. Hisperica famina A: multiformis solifluis pretenui nubium vapore scemicatur arcus radiis; Lucr. .–: haec ubi sol radiis tempestateminter opacam | adversafulsit nimborum aspargine contra, | tum color in nigris existit nubibus arqui. Cf. Isid. nat. . (Becker, –). Hisperica famina A–;Lucr. .–; .–.This is unparalleled in Isidore. Both A and Lucr. . use the rare word fabris. 7.1Burning and Confiscation of Booksafter the Fall of Rome 271 the sea encircles the shores of the earth.³¹ Moreover,the passagementioned aboveindicates that the missionaries expected the pagan scholars to accept the kingly rule of God as the “the ruler of the vast sky”,while Lucretius wrote that people concede the kingly rule to the divine if they are ignorant of the nat- ural causesofthe functioningofthe sky.³² Finally, Herren has identified alarge number of unusual suffixes thatfrequentlyappear in the Hisperica famina and that can often be traced back to the languageused by Lucretius.³³ As the Hispe- rica famina indicates,these pagan scholars had asufficient command of the Latin languageand they could have acquired Lucretius’ text from Italy, their country of origin. Moreover,itisknown that Dungal (who apparentlywas the onlyannotator able to clearlyunderstand the text) bequeathed to the monastery of Bobbio a number of books of insular origin.³⁴ To my mind, Bishoff’sidentification of the corrector of Owith Dungal can as well be interpreted as supporting the ex- istenceofaninsular copyofLucretius.Dungalwas apoet and astronomer from Ireland and probablyalso abishop. He explained to Charlemagne the double solar eclipse of 810 and it is plausible that he gothis knowledge from Lucretius because he seems to have corrected the pertinent passages in Lucretius dealing with that subject matter. An obscure letter by Aldhelm (d. 709), abbot of Malmesbury,gives some fur- ther evidence for pagan philosophical studies in Ireland of the late seventh cen- tury.Aldhelm waswell-educated at the school of Canterbury and imported books from Rome. In this letter,Aldhelm warned the Christian Wihtfrith to travel to Ire- land for the purpose of studying at people that he calls philosophi. Instead, he should respect his orthodoxfaith by readingonlythe Bible. He calls these phi- losophers “garrulous frogs” and says that their studies on gods and goddesses (among others he mentions Helen and Orestes) are similarlyimmoral as visiting prostitutes in Ireland.³⁵ At anyrate,itisclear thatterms like philosophi or magi are labels with which to refer to either unbaptised people or possiblyheretics.
Hisperica famina A: hoc spumansmundanasobvallat pelagus oras;Lucr. .–: pos- tremo quoniam raro cum corporetellus | et coniunctast, oras maris undique congens. Lucr. .–: ceteraquae fieri in terris caeloque tuentur | mortales,pavidis cum pendent mentibu’ saepe, | et faciunt animos humilis formidine divom | depressosquepremuntadterram propterea quod | ignorantia causarum conferredeorum | cogitadimperium resetconcederere- gnum. Herren(), –. Bieler (), . Aldhelm, ep. (MGH Auct. ant. :): garrulitas lanarum. 272 7The Post-Roman Successor States
Aldhelm alsoadmonished Heahfrith to respect orthodoxy after he returned from studies in Ireland.³⁶ In the opening lines of this letter,hementions aser- pent, “vomiting contagious poison through the ages”,and he adds thattemples as the dwelling places of this serpent have been eradicated and replaced with churches.³⁷ The serpent seems to be alludingtostudies in Ireland because Ald- helm was aware that one could study “physical instruments” besides grammar and geometry in Ireland.³⁸ This knowledge they “strictlyconceal to be preserved until death in consideration.”³⁹ This implies that there was agroup of scholars who shared and transmitted secret knowledge,probablyofascientific or forbid- den nature. Despite the obscurity of this text,itisnot impossiblethatthe group of scholars who transmitted this knowledge could be related to those who au- thored the Hisperica famina. Patrick himself, in his own writings, appears to mention agroup of Latin pagan scholars, suggesting that there wasahistorical basisfor his fight against the magicians.Inhis Confession,the holyman boasts of having become an im- portant missionary despite his unlearned background: “Listen and payclose at- tention, yourhetoricians who youare unaware of the Lord!”⁴⁰ These rhetoricians could be related to the rhetori mentioned several times in the Hispericafamina as agroup different from, but related to the poets who composed the Hisperica fa- mina (A8, 21,476,546). The exact nature of these rhetoricians, however,isopen to interpretation and has been discussed most extensively by Bradley. First,the interpretation is dependent on the readingof“unaware of the Lord” (domini ignari). The manu- scripts offer severaldifferent readings, among which the most significant is do- mini cati (“learned in the Lord”). Bradleyconvincingly argued in favour of the first reading: onlyone codex has domini cati,several others have either domini ignari or the haplographic domini gnari. In contrastive juxtaposition, Patrick dis- tinguishesthreegroups of people in Ireland: those of high(magni)and of low social standing (pusilli)who are Christians (qui timetis Deum), both of whom ought to admire him, before finally mentioningthe rhetoricians that ought to lis-
Aldhelm, ep. (MGH Auct. ant. :–). Aldhelm, ep. (MGH Auct. ant. :): luridum qui linguis celydrum trisulcis rancida viru- lentaque vomentem per aevum venena torrentia tetrae tortionis in tartaratrusit et, ubi pridem eius- dem nefandae natricis ermula cervulusquecruda fanis colebantur stoliditate in profanis,versa vice discipulorumgurgustia, immo almae oraminum aedes architecti ingenio fabre conduntur. Aldhelm, ep. (MGH Auct. ant. :): fisicae artis machinas. Aldhelm, ep. (MGH Auct. ant. :): meditatione letotenus servanda condentes abdunt. Patric. conf. : Unde autem ammiramini itaque, magni et pusilli qui timetis Deum, et vos, domini ignari rethorici, audite et scrutamini. 7.1Burning and Confiscation of Booksafter the Fall of Rome 273 ten to him (who are different in that they are not Christians).⁴¹ Bradley then pro- posed three alternative interpretations on the meaning of the term domini ignari rethorici: learned pagans (based on the note in the Leyden Glossary mentioned above), Pelagian heretics and Christians who believeinGod but not in the true way.⁴² Bradley qualified the pagan-theory because Patrick does not mention learned pagans elsewhereinhis Confession. However,hedoes mention pagans, without specifying,though, whether or not they are highlyeducated. Elsewhere in his Confession and in his letters,Patrick uses expressions similar to the above, such as gens externa Deum ignorans (ep.14.4– 5: “foreign people not knowing God”), with regard to Irish pagans.⁴³ Bradleydismissed these parallels because Patrick uses Dominus instead of Deus more often in biblical than in non-biblical contexts,⁴⁴ but this is not astrongargument against the pagan-theory, especially since gentilis is the Latin wordfor “pagan” and it is clear that Patrick refers to contemporaryrather than biblical pagans.Itcan thereforebeargued that Patrick was saying thathewas more capable of converting these people than his better educated fellow Christians, as he reiterates in the following sentence. Patrick mayindeed have fought against educated pagans rather thandruids, and there seem to be some repercussions of this conflict represented in seventh-cen- tury textsfrom the BritishIsles and beyond. The letters and Life of Boniface,the Anglo-Saxon missionary to the Franks, too, attest that certain heretics from Britain wereassociated with ancientphilos- ophy. It is alsopossible thattheir teachings werereceivedamong the remaining continental pagans until the eighth century.Willibald, the eighth-century author of his Life, credits Boniface (c.675 – 755) with having recalledthe Thuringians from “the perversity of their teachers.”⁴⁵ Similarly, Pope Gregory III addressed aletter to the pagan Saxons, admonishing them to follow Boniface and to give up paganism as demon worship (referringtoCol.2:8): “beware lest any man spoil youthrough philosophyand vain deceit.” We have seen that Augus- tine refers this biblical line to materialist philosophies. Gregory called their teachers “sons of darkness” as opposed to the Christian “children of light.”⁴⁶ Bo- niface, anative from the kingdom of Wessex (nearWales), referred to learned pa-
Bradley (), –. Bradley (), –,esp. –. See Bradley (), . Bradley (), –. Willibald, vita Bonif. (MGH SS rer. Germ. :). Bonif. ep. .(MGH Epp.Sel. :): ‘videte, ne quis vos amplius decipiat per philosophiam et inanem fallatiam’.astutiores enim sunt filii tenebrarum quam filii lucis.Discedite, filii, ab idolorum culturaetaccedite et adorate dominum Deum nostrum. 274 7The Post-Roman Successor States gans from Britain alongside “false and heretical priests.”⁴⁷ In Francia of the early eighth century,Boniface warned his correspondentyoung Nithard to pursue lib- eral studies onlythrough the Bible, avoiding other scholarship, denouncing it as “spiders’ fragile webs.”⁴⁸ We have seen that other Christian authors used the metaphor of spider-webstodenigrate ancient philosophicaltraditions. Boniface also had “the pagan rite expelled and the erroneous custom destroyed” in Frisia,⁴⁹ but no teachers are mentioned. However,itisunlikelythat these teach- ers had anyfirst-hand knowledge of ancient philosophy; rather,the term of an- cient philosophyisusedasalabelagainst pagans or heretics,who may, howev- er,havehad some knowledge of these oldphilosophical traditions, similarlyto the pagan groups represented in the Hisperica famina. Books continued to be burnt occasionallyinsome of the other kingdoms that succeeded the Roman Empire in the West.InVisigothic Spain, Arian and Catholic versions of Christianity wereinconflict.Reccared, king of the Visigoths (586–601) converted to Catholicism but faced anumber of Arian conspiracies. Following the third Council of Toledo in 589,heordered all Arianbooks to be forwarded and burnt in order to convert the ArianVisigoths to the Catholic faith.⁵⁰ He appears to have been successful in this aim as there are no surviving Gothictexts from Spain. Boniface suffered martyrdom in 754inFrisia and the Frisians plundered his books.⁵¹ AccordingtoWillibald’sLife, pagans carrying weaponry spoiled Boni- face’scamp of the book chests and relics it contained, later scattering the books widelyamong the fields and throwing some into the marshes. Christians, however,found the books and rescuedthem, Willibald suggests.⁵² Kurth has ar- gued that afamous codex in Fulda, linked to Boniface’sdeath,shows signs of a nail having been hammered into it,⁵³ an allusion to apagan purification ritual similar to crucifixion.Willibald’ssuggestion thatgreed motivated the pagans cor- responds to established literarytopoi on outsider groups.Rather,the thorough scatteringand destruction of books mayhaveserved the purpose of retaliating similar Christian rituals of purification. We have seen that people sometimes de-
Bonif. ep. .(MGH Epp.Sel. :): gentilitatis ritum et doctrinamvel venientium Brittonum velfalsorum sacerdotum hereticorum. Bonif. ep. .(MGH Epp.Sel. :–,at): fragilia aranearum. Willibald, vita Bonif. (MGH SS rer.Germ. :): Per omnem igitur Fresiam pergens, verbum Domini, paganico repulso ritu et erraneo gentilitatis more destructo,instanter praedicabat eccle- siasque, numine confracto dilubrorum, ingenti studio fabricavit. Fredegar, chron. . (MGH SS rer. Merov. :). Speyer (), . Willibald, vita Bonif. (MGH SS rer. Germ. :–). Kurth (). 7.1Burning and Confiscation of Booksafter the Fall of Rome 275 stroyed books not so much in order to erase its contents from memory but in order to vanquish the demons associated with these books and thereforeapplied thorough methodsofdestruction. As we have seen, there are examples in the East of confiscated books being brought to monasteries. It is thereforeintriguing that the Carolingian Renais- sance started in the late eighth century and that it was at this time thatasignif- icant amount of classical titles werecopied in monasteries.There is no evidence that these titles werestored in monasteries before thattime and they mayfirst have been brought to monasteries at thattime.The onlysurviving manuscript of Livy’sfifth decade, for example, was at this time first owned by the bishop of Utrecht,which was the missionary centre of Frisia.⁵⁴ This could mean that the book was originallyowned by pagans in Frisia before it came to the monas- tery. In alengthyletter minuting areligious trial, Boniface provides evidence of the burning of books. He accused two Christian bishopsas“heretics and schis- matics” and pleaded for them to be counted among the “pagans” (ethnici)be- cause he suffered persecution from their teaching.⁵⁵ This again illustrates the de- monical power of books. Apontifical commission in Rome found that aprayer forwarded as proof contained the names of demons instead of angels. Pope Zacharias answered to the commission’sunanimous decision: “It has been very well arranged by your holiness thatall his writingsshould be burntin the fire; but it is advantageous for his rejection and everlasting confusion to pre- servethem in our holybook shrine.”⁵⁶ The judgment was to be read publiclyin Francia to deter others.⁵⁷ About acentury later,the tradition of Boniface’smar- tyrdom has it that he used the gospel to protect him from the strikes aimed at him,⁵⁸ what perhaps is an allusion to abattle-of-books tradition. Boniface also reported to Zachariasthat the Irish priest Virgilius, activeat that time in Bavaria, had put forward the view thatlife exists on the southern hemisphere of the earth and that the sun and the moon movearound aspherical earth. Lucretius had discussed this view.⁵⁹ Augustine primarily rejected it as in-
CLA . Bonif. ep. (MGH Epp.Sel. :–). Bonif. ep. (MGH Epp.Sel. :–): ‘optime provisum est avestrasanctitate,utconscrip- ta illius omnia igne cremarentur; sed oportunum est, ut ad reprobationem eius in sancto nostro scrinio reserventur ad perpetuam eius confusionem. Cf. Bonif. ep. (MGH Epp.Sel. :–). Bonif. ep. (MGH Epp.Sel. :–). See Russell (). Radbod. Traiect.(?) Bonif. (MGH SS rer. Germ. :). Lucr. .– argues against the view that individuals on the other side of the earth walk upside-down as thereisnocentre in an infinite universe. 276 7The Post-RomanSuccessor States consistent with biblical creation and with the view that all human beingswere descendants of Adam and Eve, although he did not rule out the possibility of aspherical earth.⁶⁰ Zacharias approved Boniface’srequest:⁶¹
Concerningthe perverse and unjust doctrine, which he [Virgilius] professed against God and his own soul, if it shall be clarified that he confesses in this waythat thereare another world and other human beings underneath the earth or even the sun and the moon, do de- prive him of his priestlydignity and expel him from the Church, once acouncil has been held.
It is not known, however,what happened after this. Because Virgilius eventually became bishop of Salzburg, he likelyescaped the chargesagainst him, perhaps because he repented. In apastoralletterof866,Pope Nicholas IinRome advocatedthe same pol- icy to the Bulgarians,who were just Christianised. Like the Christian authors of Late Antiquity, he too referred to First Corinthians (15:33) regardingthe “profane books” which they had taken from the “Saracens” (the Muslims): “Theseare by no means to be preserved; for it is written: ‘evil communications corrupt good manners.’ They must be thrown into the fire as dangerous and blasphemous books.”⁶² Nicholas does not specify what booksthese were; because the Muslims preserved texts from the RomanEmpire (such as Aristotle), it is possiblethat these books wereburnt. Moreover,there is evidence that Christian monks destroyed ancientbooks, found by coincidence, from St Albans (nearLondon) of the ninth or tenth cen- tury.The Historyofthe abbeyofStAlbans dates from as late as the fourteenth century,but it is basedonearlier compilations. Constructions on anew church uncovered the remains of the ancient town of Verulamium, including books from its extant period. The workmen, supervised by the abbot,discovered ahoard of books: “books found everywhere”,which wereofold age.⁶³ Among these was a
Aug. civ. .. Bonif. ep. (MGH Epp.Sel. :–): de perversaautem et iniqua doctrina, quae contra Deum et animam suam locutus est, si clarificatum fuerit ita eum confiteri, quod alius mundus et alii homines sub terrasint seu sol et luna, hunc habito concilio ab ecclesia pelle sacerdotii ho- nore privatum. Nikolaus I., Responsa ad consulta Bulgarorum c. (MGH Epp. :): de libris profanis, quos aSarracenis vos abstulisse ac apud vos habereperhibetis,quid faciendum sit, inquiritis. qui nimirum non suntreservandi: corrumpsunt enim, sicut scriptum est, mores bonos colloquia mala, sed utpote noxii et blasphemiigni tradendi;Werner (), , . Gesta abbatum monasterii S. Albani,p.: cum quibusdam minoribus libris et rotulis,cujus- dam codicis ignotum volumen, quod parum fuit ex tam longaevamorademolitum. Cujus nec littera nec idioma alicui tunc invento cognitum, prae antiquitate fuerat. … similiterque in aliis codicibus, 7.1Burning and Confiscation of Booksafter the Fall of Rome 277 luxury codex with golden titles. Asearch was undertaken to find an oldpriest able to read the old writings. He found thatthe luxury codex contained the Life of the local martyrAlban. In the other bookshefound “invocations and rites of idolatry”,specificallyinvocations to Phoenix.⁶⁴ Some of these books werewritten in Old English, others in Latin. Invocations to Phoenix,the mythical creature, are frequentlyfound in ancient poetry,particularlyinLate Antiquity.⁶⁵ All books wereburntexceptfor the Live of Alban.⁶⁶ The abbot had this book translated into Latin. Although this book was in good condition when it was discovered,⁶⁷ the author claimed it crumbledinto dust whenitbecame known to others.⁶⁸ Thisstatement is suspicious; it is rather more probable that the cler- ics did not want an alternative version to be distributed. Significantly, the text does not question whythe books needed to be burnt but their status as pagan artefacts is alikelyreason giventhat other pagan remainders,such as vessels with artwork werealso destroyed.⁶⁹ This is supported by the fact that agenera- tion earlier,abbot Ealdredus had ancient writingsfound in the soil of the ancient city examined and destroyed.⁷⁰ It seems to have been the general practise at least of this abbey at this time, when bookswerefound to keep what was useful for the propagation of faith and to destroy the others. The magicalcharacter of booksisevidencedwellinto the ninth century.Ac- cording to ahagiographical text on Ansgar,the Apostle of the North, pirates burnt down achurch in Hamburgtogether with the books it contained. The text indicates that the pirates burnt these and other books deliberatelyaspart of their effort to devastatethe whole city.The reportcontinues with the surpris- ing anecdote thataplundered Christian book magicallycaused an influential
in eodem armariolo,etineodem habitaculo,repertis;p.: libris passim inventis;cf. Speyer (), . Gesta abbatum monasterii S. Albani,p.: in aliis verolibris,passim inventis,reperit lector praedictus invocationes et ritus idolatrarum civium Warlamcestrensium; in quibus comperit quod specialiter Phoebum,deum solis, invocaverunt et coluerunt. See van den Broek (). Gesta abbatum monasterii S. Albani,p.: abjectis igitur et combustis libris,inquibus com- menta diaboli continebantur,solusille liber in quo Historia Sancti Albani continebatur,inthesauro carissime reponebatur. Gesta abbatum monasterii S. Albani,p.: parum fuit ex tam longaevamorademolitum. Gesta abbatum monasterii S. Albani,p.: cum autem conscripta historia in Latino pluribus, ut iam dictum est, innotuisset, exemplar primitivum ac originale, – quod mirum est dictu, – irre- staurabiliter in pulverem subito redactum, cecidit annullatum. Gesta abbatum monasterii S. Albani,p.. Gesta abbatum monasterii S. Albani,p.: Ealdredus, abbas.iste antiquas scripturas subter- raneas veteris civitatis,quae ‘Verlamcestre’ dicebatur,perscrutatus,evertit omnia, et implevit. 278 7The Post-Roman Successor States pagan from Sweden to lose most of his familyand household possessions. A pagan with religious authority (quendam divinum)recommended that he get rid of the book. It was nailed to afence along with anote that whoever wanted could takeit.⁷¹ This shows the magicalsymbolism that was attachedtobooksat this time, but the context and the trajectory of the storyindicates that it is pos- sible that the tale could have been made up by the Christian who found the book. In the next section, Ishall arguethatany non-Christian texts became in- creasinglysuspicious amongst monks and clerics as ecclesiastical laws narrowed the educational requirement for bishopsdown to biblical studies.
7.2EcclesiasticalLaw
Ihavealreadyshown thatsome canonsofecclesiastical lawattempted to bar the clergy from readingpagan or heretical books, although Ihavealso noted that some bishopsand other office-holders among the clergy had demonstrable expo- sure to classical texts,oftenasaconsequence of an education that grounded them in these works.The question thus remains: which books wereclerics or lay- persons supposedtoavoid in ecclesiastical lawinthe earlyMiddle Ages? Gemeinhardt argued thatinthe West canon lawbarred onlythe clergyfrom readingpagan books, noting that bishops continued to be educated in literature and displayknowledge of pagan literature when writing and proselytizing about its exclusion as this practice became firmly established in the late sixth century.⁷² However,the passages discussed by Gemeinhardt provide no firm evidence that there was arequirement for bishops to receive an education in the classics, al- though Gemeinhardtisprobablycorrect to assume thatsome read them in pri- vate. There is evidence to suggest that canon lawrequired clerical education to be receivedinBible studies,but this does not mean that clerics never read the classics.⁷³ Gregory of Tours in the late sixth century,for example, endorsed the work of Martianus Capella thatcontains mythological material.⁷⁴ It does not axiomaticallyfollow that all classical literature was privatelyread, however.
Rimbert, Vita Anskarii (biblioteca … una cum pluribus aliis libris igni perdiit), (MGH SS rer. Germ. :–). Gemeinhardt(), – and : Bildung in antikem Sinne der artes liberales wird damit zurPrivatsache. Brev.Hippon. Can. (CCSL :): ut primum scripturis divinis instructi vel ab infantia eru- diti, propter fidei professionem et assertionem, clerici promoveantur. Greg. Tur. Franc. .. (MGH SS rer. Merov. .:): he calls him Martianus noster;Ge- meinhardt (), –. 7.2Ecclesiastical Law 279
MartianusCapella employed aNeoplatonic allegorized technique that was both palatable to and also appropriated by the Christian readership. Jerome (d. 420), on the other hand, complained about clerics being educated in classicalwrit- ings, at the turn of the fifth century.⁷⁵ This is aclear statement thatclassical texts werestillstudied at that time, but the statement by Gregory of Tours is dif- ferent. In this context,the Statuta EcclesiaeAntiqua (c. fifth century) statesthat a bishop needed to be “literate” (litteratus).⁷⁶ Scholarship has interpreted this dif- ferently. Gemeinhardtisprobablycorrect to assert that this term in context refers to literacy and Bible knowledge rather than to education in the classics because the Statuta EcclesiaeAntiqua barred bishops from readingpagan and heretical books unless the knowledge of the latter was goingtobeuseful to refute adversaries.⁷⁷ Itscollation of canon lawwas widelyknown from the fifth century onwards,suggesting that it was established orthodoxy by this point.Bycontrast, acanon of the FourthCouncil of Toledo in 633required literacy for episcopal candidates,indicating that illiteracy among bishopshad become aconcern in the Visigothic kingdom.⁷⁸ Pope Gregory the Great alsowishedChristians,includinglaypersons,toab- stain from studies related to the classical tradition: “Bishops must explain the holyscripture instead of grammar.”⁷⁹ The passageisincluded in the twelfthcen- tury Decretium Gratianum,taken from aletter Gregory wrotetobishop Desiderius of Vienna in 601. In this letter Gregory reports of complaints about,and strongly disapproves of, Desiderius teachinggrammar: “The praise of Christ does not fit in one mouth along with the praise of Jupiter. How serious and unholyitisfor a bishop to teach what is not even fitting for areligious layperson.”⁸⁰ Gregory, however,rather than thinking of classical textsingeneral, was concerned about teachingofgrammar as such. When he elsewherecondemned “these fool- ish and secular writings”,heprobablydid not mean the classics,⁸¹ as he wrote in another letter, “because Iconsider it utterlyunworthytorestrict the words of the
Hier. ep. .; in Eph. .. (PL :A). Stat. eccl. ant. pr.(CCSL :). Gemeinhardt(), ;see p. ,note above. Conc. Tolet. can. (Mansi :)and see Gemeinhardt(), note for exam- ples of illiterate bishops. Decret. Gratiani ..: sacram scripturam, non grammaticam debet episcopus exponere (Cor- pus Iuris Canonici I, Friedberg). Decret. Gratiani ..: in uno se ore cum Iovislaudibus Christi laudes non capiunt. et quam gravenefandumquesit episcopis canere, quod nec laico religioso conveniat. Greg. M. in reg. . (MGH Epp. :) nugis et saecularibus litteris. 280 7The Post-RomanSuccessor States heavenlyoracle under the rules of Donatus.”⁸² Farfrom being acontroversial writer,Aelius Donatus was the author of agrammatical handbook most com- monlyused in the Middle Ages and ascholar who had personallytutored Je- rome. The sixth-century Decretum Gelasianum offers alist of Christian canonical books. It also givesalist of heretical and apocryphal texts and authors which are to be condemned forever: “afew which have been handed down” (5.1). This indicates that other texts werenot seen as dangerous anylonger and not included as they wereobviouslydeviating from canonical texts.Itwas widelyre- ceivedinthe West duringthe Middle Ages and several parts of this Decretum can be traced back to the fourth-centurypope Damasus. Similarly,alate sixth-century rule from an unknown monastery in southern Gaul barred secular fables (fabulaesaeculares)unless they contributed to the au- dience’sedification. Gemeinhardtinterprets this line as allowing the study of “textsofpagan education” in this monastery,but it must be noted that it is doubtful that the term “secular” means pagan texts because the canon onlymen- tions “secular fables” in conversation.⁸³ In 789, Charlemagne addressed the General Warning (Admonitio generalis)to the clergy and people of the Frankish empire, ruling that “onlythe canonical books, the Catholictreatises and the words of the saints are to be read and pre- served” in order to keep the populace away from anyerror. “Everything against the Catholic faith” was not to be read but burnt.⁸⁴ Monasteries and episcopal sees were advised to ascertain that schools contained corrected books (emenda- tos libros). Charlemagne’saddress demonstrates the care which was taken to en- sure thatthe material usedinschools, manyofwhich werejust founded, was correct.They were supplied with alist of literarygenres which besides various liturgical books included grammar books, but not full classicaltexts (cap. 72). It is probable thatthe classics had ceased to be studied in the West long before this edict was issued. Nevertheless, Charlemagne’seducational reforms werere-
Greg. M. reg. .a(MGH Epp. :): quia indignum vehementer existimo,utverba caeles- tis oraculi restringamsub regulis Donati;not included in Norberg’sedition. Regula Tarnat. (PL :B): nec collocutione quarumcunque fabularum saecularium occu- pentur,nisi fortasse hoc proferat sermo relatoris, quod animam aedificet audientis. Gemeinhardt (), . Admonitio generalis cap. : omnibus.item et pseudographia et dubiae narrationes,vel quae omnino contrafidem catholicam sunt et epistola pessima et falsissima,quam transacto anno di- cebant aliqui errantes et in errorem alios mittentes quod de celo cecidisset, nec credantur nec le- gantur sed conburentur,neinerrorem per talia scripta populus mittatur. sed soli canonici libri et catholici tractatus et sanctorumauctorum dicta legantur et tradantur. On the “letterfromheaven”, Brown (), –; . 7.3Isidore of Seville 281 sponsiblefor the revival of learning in the earlyninth century. While education was thus based on Christian authors, few manuscriptscontaining classical texts are still extant todayfrom this time period. In sum, while thereisevidence that ecclesiastical lawrequired office holders to be educated and acquainted with litterae,this probablydid not mean that they wererequired to read the classics. However,bishops and other clerics mayhave continued to studythese texts privatelyuntil around the sixth century even dur- ing theirtenure. But if education in the classics became unnecessary for career paths (as we have seen in Chapter 5), then this probablycorrelates to areduced interest in preservingthese works in this period, as Ishall demonstrate in the final section. In the next section, we will see that Isidore of Seville givesanillu- minatinginsight into contemporaryattitudes towards classical authors, ancient philosophyand books in monasteries.
7.3IsidoreofSeville
Isidore, bishop of Seville, (d. 636) widelyacclaimed as an important Christian scholarinWestern Europe of the seventh century, wrotethe Etymologies in the last years of his life in Visigothic Spain. As Merrills put it,itis“perhaps the sin- gle most influential book of the Latin Middle Ages”,⁸⁵ not least because of its sta- tus as an authoritative text for the use of ancient literature. In this regard, the Etymologies serveasanintermediary between Antiquity and the Middle Ages. As has been assertedbyDiesner,Isidore wasacentral figure in as much as he attempted to safeguard ancient culturefor the first time during the invasions, while also contributing to the dearth of education in his age.⁸⁶ This is because Isidore aimedatlimiting accesstopagan books to the small elite thatneeded to be able to refutethem.⁸⁷ Although Isidore himself quoted classicallines in his Etymologies,Iagree with thosestudies which have argued that Isidore’squo- tations werebased on extracts found in Christian authors rather than on the orig- inal books.⁸⁸ Hithero, Isidore’sworks have not been read against the terminologyoflate antiquelegislation with regardtocensorship and destruction of books. At the
Merrills (). Diesner (), . Diesner (), . On sourcesIsidore used in the Etymologies (.), MacFarlane (), –.These areall Christian authors,exceptfor Servius and perhaps abridgements of Varro.Isidorequotes classical lines from Christianauthors.Cf. Fontaine (), –,at: pseudo-citations. 282 7The Post-RomanSuccessor States time of Isidore, the Breviary of Alaricwas in forceasalegal code in the Visigoth- ic kingdom. It included the Codex Theodosianus (the relevant laws of Christian emperors), later novels and certain juristic works.⁸⁹ Thus the prevailing climate informed Isidore’scomposition of guidelinesfor ecclesiastic and monastic af- fairs. As we have seen, imperial and ecclesiastic legislation had banned magical, divinatory and heretical books as well as those of the mathematici. His work is interesting not so much as ahistorical sourcefor previous centuries, but rather as highlightingwhat he thought about this past.Itshows the difficult relation- ships that people at that time had in regard to books, their efforts to rewritea history that was hardlyaccessible to them and the magical powers they contin- ued to attribute to the booksoftheir past. The Etymologies include achronographic table which helps reveal how the history of Antiquitywas perceivedinthis transitional period. Forexample, the table catalogues the burning of Christian booksamong the memorable deeds of Diocletian, indicating that this event was stillcommemorated after centuries had passed.⁹⁰ While Christian writings are central to its table of world ages, pagan ones are not even mentioned. Although he himself occasionallyquotes the classics, in Isidore’swriting it is clear thatthe culturallyrelevant canon of literaturewas apurelyChristian one.⁹¹ Isidore names the martyr Pamphilus as the first noteworthyChristian to have founded alibrary,with the samezeal as Peisistratus (Peisistratushad canonised the Homeric texts in archaic Greece, while Pamphilus,who died in 309/10, was afriend and contemporary of Euse- bius and among the founders of the theological library of Caesarea).⁹² Isidore bridgesthe gapthat existed between the large Greek and Roman libraries (he wronglygives the figure of 70,000 books for the Hellenistic library of Alexandria⁹³)tothe Christian canon citing Jerome’sauthority:hehad ransacked the whole worldfor Church writers and “integrated the results of their studies in asingle-volume mini-index”.⁹⁴ He alsonotes thatwhile the pagans had used a variety of techniques to produce books, the Christian book is the codex.⁹⁵ Book eight of the Etymologies dealswith the Church and anykind of devi- ance in the following order:heresies,pagan philosophers, poets, sibyls,magi- cians, pagans and their gods. To Isidore, the “catholic” Church is global whereas
See King (), –. Isid. orig. ..: iste divinis libris adustis martyria fecit. Isid. orig. .–, , –;Isid. eccl. off. .. Isid. orig. ... Isid. orig. ... Isid. orig. ..: eorumque studia in uno voluminis indiculo conprehenderunt. Isid. orig. .–. 7.3IsidoreofSeville 283 the heretics are confined to regional areas.⁹⁶ Isidore defines these heretics firstly “as the Peripatetic, Academic, Epicurean, and Stoic philosophers, as well as oth- ers who, inventing aperverse doctrine, have retreated from the Church by their own will.”⁹⁷ Deviance from apostolic teaching, even in case of some angel evan- gelising differently, “will be called accursed, anathema.”⁹⁸ Isidore alsolists su- perstition, which is often usedasaderogatory term for paganism, as asub-cat- egory of heresy.⁹⁹ Aftercompletingthe catalogues of heretical groups with a Judaeo-Christian background, he lists philosophical groups,noting the Pythag- oreans and Cynics in addition to those just mentioned.¹⁰⁰ Epicurean atomism is the last on Isidore’slist.Natural philosophers in general are alsocalled theo- logi,astheir teaching, too, impliedspeculation on the nature of God.¹⁰¹ This shows that he perceivedquestions on the nature of the world intrinsically linked to Christian faith. Isidore also considered Christian heresies and ancient philos- ophies as twosides of the same coin. In this context,various philosophical ten- ets had influenced prominent heretics – Isidore explicitlynames Arius, Valenti- nus and Marcion¹⁰² – and it is interesting that the book searches in the ageof Constantine, as reported by Eusebius, included the writingsofthese three non-conformist authors and thoseoftheir respective schools as the target groups.¹⁰³ This does not mean thatIsidore considered these old philosophies a living tradition, but rather he repeated the warningsofthe ancient Christian au- thors that he studied. Similarly,inhis Synonyma,which deal with sin and conversion, Isidore warns of “curiosity” (curiositas), that is the teachingofanything not included in the Bible. Isidore links curiositas to heresy and fables:¹⁰⁴
Isid. orig. .. Lindsay(=PG :–,book : –). On book ,see Henderson (), –. Isid. orig. ..: ut philosophi Peripatetici,Academici,etEpicurei et Stoici, velsicut alii qui perversum dogma cogitantes arbitrio suo de Ecclesiarecesserunt. Isidorehere borrowed fromJe- rome, in Tit. .– (PL :): philosophi quoque Stoici, Peripatetici,Academici,Epicurei, illius velillius haereseos appellantur;cf. Tert. praescr. –.Fontaine (), ,note . Isid. orig. ... Isid. orig. ... Isid. orig. .., –. Isid. orig. ..;cf. ..–; ..Onatomism in the Etymologies,Henderson (), –. Isid. orig. ..–: hi philosophorum errores etiam apud Ecclesiam induxerunt haereses … Eadem materia apud haereticos et philosophos volutatur,idem retractatus inplicantur. On Valen- tinus,Hipp. haer. .. Eus. v.C. . with .See section . above. Isid. synon. .: nulla autem tibi sit curiositas sciendi latentia. cave indagarequae sunt a sensibus humanis remota. praetermitte quasi secretum quod Scripturae auctoritate non didicisti. 284 7The Post-RomanSuccessor States
Youshall not be curious to know what is hidden. Bewareofinvestigating what is removed from the human senses.Ignorewhatyou have not learned from the authority of Scripture as if it wereasecret.You shall not searchfurther than whatiswritten, youshall not inquire morebroadly than that what the divine scripturedeclares. Youshall not wish to know what youare not allowed to know.Curiosity is dangerouspresumption, curiosity is harmful knowledge.Itisacall to heresy,itprecipitates the mind into sacrilegious fables.
Accordingly, Isidore’s Etymologies counts pagan poetsamong religious deviators, quoting Suetonius in order to link poetry to the origin of pagan religion and to temple culture as two ways of worshipping.¹⁰⁵ Also, in the section “on the gods of the pagans” he suggests that the poetshad praised gods and contributed to their worship.¹⁰⁶ Underpinning this is the belief that worshippingany gods ex- cept for the Christian God is idolatry (idololatria).¹⁰⁷ Isidore’sjudgment on trag- edyand comedyaswellasother dramatic genres was anegative one.¹⁰⁸ Else- where, in the Sententiae,hegives aguide on the ideal Christian conductof life. Hereheequates readingpoetry to sacrifices,which werefrequentlyprohib- ited under the threat of capital punishment too. Thus while he himself some- times quotes classicalpoetry,Isidore endorsesthe position thatgenerallyChris- tians are forbidden to read pagan poetry at all.¹⁰⁹ He also includes “some poets” in the samecategory as naturalphilosophers, that of theologi,which we have seen he considered heretical. While poems such as Lucretius’ De rerum natura seem to be the primary candidatesfor this verdict, this category applies to thosethathad written poems on the gods.¹¹⁰ To be sure, Isidore quotedLucretius onlyfrom earlier Christian authors.¹¹¹ Exceptionsare those poems that versifyhistory,thosewhich tell “that which reallyhappened.”
nihil ultraquam scriptum est quaeras, nihil ampliusperquiras quam divinae litterae praedicant. scire non cupias quod scire non licet. curiositas periculosa praesumptioest, curiositas damnosa peritia est. in heresim provocat, in fabulas sacrilegas mentem praecipitat. Cf. .: omnia quae Scripturaprohibet cave, .: cavendaest verborum obscenitas, .: caveafabulis ineptissimis. Isid. orig. ..–;Suet. de poetis pr. . Isid. orig. ..: in coelum eos sustulerunt. Isid. orig. ... Isid. orig. .: tragoedi … facinorasceleratorum regum. : comoedi … stupravirginum et amores meretricum. Isid. sent. ..: ideo prohibetur Christianus figmenta legere poetarum, quia per oblecta- menta inanium fabularum mentem excitant ad incentivalibidinum. Non enim solumthuraofferen- do daemonibus immolatur,sed etiam eorum dicta libentius capiendo. Similar on the theatre: Isid. orig. .. Isid. orig. ..: quidam autem poetae theologidicti sunt, quoniam de diis carmina facie- bant. Isid. orig. ..; ..– with Schmid (), ,who givesfurther literature, such as works by Fontaine. 7.3Isidore of Seville 285
Isidore’snarrative trajectory thus corresponds to the Christian poetsofLate An- tiquity having concentrated on panegyrics (celebrating the deeds of rulers) and poems of saints. YetIsidore alsoexcludes the pagan author and fellow Spaniard Lucan explicitlyfrom his verdict.¹¹² He was perhaps inspired by the classical au- thor Quintilian, who wrotethat Lucan should be imitated by orators rather than by poets.¹¹³ Isidore’sadvice seems to have been taken seriously because from the only two manuscriptscontaining classical Latin texts that survive from the period be- tween 550 to 750, one has Lucan’spoem on the civil war alongside atext au- thored by Isidore.¹¹⁴ It is possiblethat Lucan’sSpanish background and his dis- sidence from the emperor Nero, whom Christians hated, could have caused Isidore’sapology for this pagan author. Alongsidepoets, Isidore catalogues “Sibyls” and “magicians.” He defines vates (just equated with poets) as every prophesyingmale and “Sybil” as every prophesyingfemale.¹¹⁵ Magicians are compared to the atomistic philoso- pher Democritus and to the ageofHippocrates’ medicine.¹¹⁶ He calls Circea witch (maga)and derives his attribution of magical qualities particularlyto women from Vergil.¹¹⁷ As we have seen, it had frequentlybeen ruled by imperial and ecclesiastical legislation that booksonmagical and divinatory subjects were to be destroyed. Isidore concludes his section on magicians: “All this must there- fore be avoided by aChristian, must be utterlyrejected and damned with every execration.”¹¹⁸ As we have seen, afurther lawfrom 409 ordered the books of mathematici, too, to be burnt.Discussing the term mathematici Isidore catalogues these as “in- terpreters of the stars”,which wereknown as magi first,such as those who had predicted the birth of Christ.Later they were called mathematici in the common
Isid. orig. ..: officium autem poetae in eo est, ut quae vere gestae suntinalias species obliquis figurationibus cum decorealiquo conversa transducat. unde et Lucanus ideo in numero poetarum non ponitur,quia videtur historiam composuisse, non poema. Isidorequotes Lucan in .., ,for example. Quint. inst. .: Lucanus […] magis oratoribus quam poetis imitandus. CLA . Isid. orig. ..: sicut enim omnis vir prophetans,vel vates dicitur,vel propheta ita omnis fe- mina prophetans Sibylla vocatur. Isid. orig. ... Isid. orig. .., . Isid. orig. ..: unde cuncta vitanda suntaChristiano,etomni penitus execratione repu- dianda atque damnanda. In ,heexplicitlyrefers to books on the Etruscanreligion: quos libros Romani ex Etrusca lingua in propriam mutaverunt. 286 7The Post-Roman Successor States population.¹¹⁹ As we have seen, this corresponds to the ambiguous meaning of this terminAmmianus Marcellinus and others. Both authors agree that the un- educated considered these mathematici to be astrologers. Accordingtobook three of the Etymologies,the writings on astrology (mathesis)are “without doubt,contrary to our faith and should be so ignored by Christians as not to seem to have been written down.”¹²⁰ He thus wishedtomake books like these to appear as if they had never existed at all. Forthe more educated, on the other hand,Isidore, following Plato, lists arithmetic, geometry,music and as- tronomyamong the disciplinae mathematicae at the beginning of this book.¹²¹ Isidore occasionallysuggested banning dangerous books, and as we have just seen the category of heresy applied to manyancient philosophers. In his Sententiae,Isidore thus pleads for carefullyconsideringifany reading contains the words of heretics “under the name of catholicscholars.”¹²² In the following section, “on the books of the pagans” (de libris gentilium), he first prohibits Christians from reading “the fictions of the poets”,aswehaveseen. He then lists the “mundane doctrines”, “vain fictions” and “the mysteries of the sky”, noting that “such books need to be avoided.”¹²³ Again, he encompasses a broad rangeoftexts under his verdict in the following:¹²⁴
Every secular doctrine echoes the wavesofwords and, raisingitself through the tumour of eloquence, has been annihilated by the simple and humble Christian doctrine, as it is writ- ten: ‘has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?’ [1Cor.1:20]
Isid. orig. ..–: hi suntqui vulgoMathematici vocantur. .. links astrologytoStoic philosophy. See Henderson (), . Isid. orig. ..: horum igitur signorum observationes,vel geneses, velceterasuperstitiosa, quae se ad cognitionem siderum coniungunt, id est ad notitiam fatorum,etfidei nostrae sine du- bitatione contraria sunt, sic ignorari debent aChristianis, ut nec scripta esse videantur. The follow- ing paragraph refers to this subjectasmathesis,not mathematica. Isid. orig. ..–; .., , –. Isid. sent. ..: sub nomine catholicorum doctorum with : caute meditanda cautoque sensu probanda suntquae leguntur,ut, juxta apostolica monita [Thess. :],etteneamus quae recta sunt, et refutemus quae contraria veritati existunt (). ..: doctores errorum. Cf. .–:The ragingand the superb scholars. Isid. sent. ..: sed quid prodest in mundanis doctrinis proficere, et inanescere in divinis; caduca sequi figmenta, et coelestia fastidiremysteria?cavendisunt igitur tales libri, et propter amorem sanctarum Scripturarum vitandi. Cf. ..–,which links to the devil the philosophi gentium and their opinions in dimensione temporum,cursuque siderum, ac discussione elemento- rum. Isid. sent. ..: omnis saecularis doctrina spumantibus verbis resonans,acseper eloquen- tiae tumorem adtollens,per doctrinam simplicem et humilem Christianam evacuata est, sicut scriptum est: nonne stultam fecit Deus sapientiam huius mundi? 7.3Isidore of Seville 287
Isidore further explicates the texts to be avoided as containing “pagan elo- quence” and “mundane knowledge.”¹²⁵ Exceptions,however,applytothe art of grammar (grammaticae ars). While on the one hand grammatical texts are not to be preferred to “simpler” (Christian) texts, on the other:¹²⁶
Grammarians arebetterthan heretics. Forthe heretics instil the potion of lethal juiceinto men by persuasion; the doctrine of the grammarians,however,can even contribute to life as long as it is used for abetterpurpose.
This verdict,too, corresponds to the fact that arelatively large number of gram- matical textshavebeencopied between 550 and 750. Fontaine thoughtthatIsi- dore’sjustification of grammarincluded pagan literature as studied in schools because the art of grammar included the introduction to literarygenres.¹²⁷ On the other hand, we have seen thatAugustine suggested that readingand hearing eloquent Christians could and should largely replacethe traditional studyof rhetoric.¹²⁸ Much of the knowledge of the classics at that time was basedon handbookscontaining short quotations (florilegia)rather thanonthe original writings. Within the context of monastic text transmission, Isidore’s Regula monacho- rum provide insight into how texts were treated in monastic life. In monasteries, the “sanctuary watchdog” (custos sacrarii)was in charge of keepingbooks (co- dices). Monks had to ask for loans, which needed to be returned on the same day.¹²⁹ Their readingwas limited to conformist Christian books:¹³⁰
The monk shall bewareofreading the books of the pagans and the writings of the heretics. Foritisbetter not to know their pernicious dogmas than to fall intosome snareoferror through the experience.
Isid. sent. ..: gentilis eloquentia, : mundana scientia. Isid. sent. ..: meliores esse grammaticos quam hereticos;heretici enim haustum letiferi sucus hominibus persuadendopropinant; grammaticorum autem doctrina potest etiam proficere ad vitam, dum fuerit in meliores usus adsumpta. Fontaine (), –,at. Aug. doctr.christ. ..; ... Isid. reg.monach. .;Isid. orig. .. mentions librarii et calculatores. Isid. reg. monach. .: gentilium autem libros vel haereticorum volumina monachus legere caveat. melius enim est eorum perniciosa dogmata ignorarequam per experientiam in aliquo la- queo erroris incurrere. 288 7The Post-RomanSuccessor States
Because monks wereincharge of copyingtheirmonasteries’ books, this suggests that pagan texts wereless likelytobecopied. They wereseen as having acon- tagious and ensnaringdemonical influence. Contemporary legislation alsoin- cluded similar censorship laws. The far reaching Visigothic Code of 642/3ruled that Jews should not have (unspecified) anti-Christian books:¹³¹
If anyJew reads these books,orstudies doctrines,which contain anyevil thoughtagainst the Christian faith, or keeps or conceals such books in his house, he shall have his head shavedand receive ahundred lashes in public.
The lawalso states thatsecond time book offenderswerethreatened with exile and property confiscation. Parents and teachers who instruct children in the doc- trines contained in such books weretoreceive the same punishments, punish- ments that included the children if they wereabove10years of age. It is worth noting thatmore thantwo centuries earlier Augustine had characterised the “enemies of the Church”,that is philosophers arguing contrary to the Bible and non-conformist Christians, roughlyinthe same words as the law (male sentiendo), suggesting the increasingconfluence of secular lawand Chris- tian polemical discourse.¹³² In conclusion, Isidore, who probablyhad at least knowledge of the Codex Theodosianus,¹³³ appears to deliberately adopt this legal terminologyinhis po- lemical passages against pagan literature, such as against certain poetical au- thors and philosophical schools, in order to make his point.This fleshes out the sterile wording of the Codex Theodosianus and other laws within what is es- sentiallyahandbook of knowledge.Indoing so, Isidore often borrowed from Christian authors of the fourth and earlier centuries indicating,perhaps,that book-burning laws could be interpreted similarly by clerics in previous centuries. Yetthe bookswhich Isidore condemns the most can hardlybethought of as still circulating in the earlyseventh century.Nevertheless, the circulation and impor- tance of Isidore’sworks must have had an impact on readinginterests in his age and in the centuries to come. It is thereforeimportant that he considered mate- rialist philosophies dangerous ideas. Ishallargue in the next section that there are indeedreasons to think that his attitudes towardsthe classical heritageare somewhat representativefor monastic communities in charge of book produc-
Leg.Wisig. .. (MGH LL nat. Germ. :): et ideo,siquis Iudeorum libros illos legerit veldoctrinasadtenderit sive habitos in domo sua celaverit, in quibus male contrafidem Christi sentitur,etpublice decalvabitus et centenorum flagellorum verberatione plectetur. Aug. civ. .,see p. above. Isidorerefers to the Codex Theodosianus as current lawinorig. ... 7.4Membra Disiecta 289 tion at that time in western Europe. This is alsoindicated by the ecclesiastical legislation that Ihavediscussed in the previous section.
7.4Membra Disiecta
The eyeofthe needle through which ancient Latin literature had to pass in order to survive wasparticularlysmall for the transmission of classicalLatin textsfrom 550 to 750: “The copyingofclassicaltexts tapered off to such an extent during the Dark Ages that the continuity of pagan culturecame close to being severed.”¹³⁴ This wasaworld entirelydifferent from the fourth and fifth centuries before the Roman Empire collapsed. Rome and major parts of Italyfell succes- sively to the Ostrogoths, the Byzantines and the Lombards. With the fall of the Western Empire, trading stopped, and papyrus was hardlyavailable. While papy- rus continued to be used for documents, it had ceased to be the carrier of liter- ature alreadybefore thattime.Inthis section Ishallargue thatthere was very little interest in most pagan texts during this time period and that the attitudes towards pagan texts that Ihavediscussed in the previous chapters influenced the decisions about which pagan texts to preserve. Based on the extant remainders of manuscripts listed in the Codices Latini Antiquiores (includingfragments and palimpsests), Pöhlmann identified 26 “pro- fane texts” from this time period, 24 of which are “secular texts”¹³⁵ (here primar- ilyagriculture and architecture). In Pöhlmann’staxonomy, while “classical” re- fers to fine arts literature (normallyfrom before the fourth century), “secular” means non-theological textssuch as technical texts or Christian history.The onlytwo manuscripts with “classical” textsextant from this time period are Lu- can’s Civil War and Rufius Festus’ Breviarium.¹³⁶ While the former is apoem on Caesarand Pompey,the latter work is ashortaccount of Roman history written in the late fourth century. Rufius Festus is probablyidentical with the instigator of the magic trials that took place in Antioch and in the East in the 370s. Thelost late antique archetype of aninth-century manuscript of Rufius Festus had asub- scription saying that the book might be read with the blessing of Christ.Alan Ca- meron rightfullynotes that the subscription intends to outweigh the pagan char- acter of the work;¹³⁷ however,the Breviarium is certainlyanon-theological but
Reynolds and Marshall(), xvii. Pöhlmann (), . CLA , . Alan Cameron (), ;and in areview by M.D.Reeve, Gnomon (), –,at . 290 7The Post-RomanSuccessor States hardlya“classical” work. Similar thingscan be said about the copy of Lucan’s poem as it was copied alongsideawork by Isidore of Seville. Because Isidore en- dorsed Lucan, as we have seen, this can be interpreted as ajustification to copy this pagan text. Libraries werefor centuries dominated by Christian texts. ForGreek litera- ture “so manycopies of the leading fathers exist that their number is more an embarrassment than asourceofpleasure to the modern scholar who has to edit the text.”¹³⁸ Asimilar picture emergesifone sifts through the catalogue of the oldest Latin manuscripts(Codices Latini Antiquiores). So far as we know, in the West (or rather in Italy) bookswerecopied from 550 to 750onlyinmonas- tic and church libraries. At least by this time, decisions about which books to receive or not to receive werethereforemade by Christian institutions. It was onlyinthe CarolingianRenaissance of the late-eighth and ninth cen- turies thatmonastic libraries of the West first began expanding significantly. Re- garding the classics,the archetypes of medieval text transmission (that is the manuscripts that latercopies were based on) mostly belong to this time period; afew of which from this time period are extant today. It was onlylater,particu- larlyinthe twelfth century,that the scripts used in Latin manuscriptsdid change significantly, making them much more difficult to read.¹³⁹ It is likelythat these ninth-century books wereseemingly based on editions from about the fifth cen- tury.Unlikewith manyChristian books, however,nothing certain is known as to their origin,¹⁴⁰ leadingLapidge to conclude that they wereaccidental finds.¹⁴¹ We have seen that the onlysurviving manuscript of Livy’sfifth decade is first attest- ed in Utrecht and maythereforehavebeenconfiscated from the pagans in Frisia. Acomparatively large number of palimpsests are attested for this time peri- od. Apalimpsest is abook whose original script was deleted and the material reused for adifferent text.Lowepublishedalist of palimpsestscontaining lower writing (the original text)from before the ninth century.¹⁴² The list includes pagan, non-conformist Christian and orthodoxtextsthat werefound to be out- dated, damaged, difficulttoread, or of lesser importance.Yet,sofar this list
Wilson (), .For the West,see Lapidge (), – and appendices. Bischoff (), –. It is hardly known where CLA-manuscripts with classical texts werestored beforeRenais- sanceHumanism. The earliest recorded manuscripts are CLA :Vergil, Codex Palatinus, “prob- ably to be identified with aMS. in the oldest Lorsch catalogue”; Livy: “probablybelongedto the library of Corbie. Acopyofitwas made at Tours saec. VIII–IX”; Livy:inUtrechtinthe lateeighth century (see above). Lapidge (), . Lowe (). 7.4Membra Disiecta 291 has not been read alongside the totalofpagan texts attested for this period, and this reading will indicate that thereissome reason to suggest that the pagan character of atext increased its chances of being deletedand reused. It is thus pertinent to note that the Codices Latini Antiquiores – cataloguing Latin manuscriptswith literarycontent from before the ninth century – contain 1,884 entries or books, which make up more than 2,000 titles.¹⁴³ Of course,we cannot sayhow manybooks wereactuallyproduced from the fifth to eighth cen- turies, but are not traceable anymore;yet,given the small size of known libraries after the fall of the Roman Empire, it is likelythat this figure does account for a statisticallysignificant portion of books thatwereproduced duringthese centu- ries. Estimations are thatfirst medieval monastic libraries – the heirs of text transmission – consisted of about 20 codex booksand grew to some 500 vol- umes in the culturalpeak of the twelfth century.¹⁴⁴ Isidore of Sevilledescribes his seventh-century library,the largest libraryknown from Europe of this time, as consistingofsome fourteen to sixteen shelveswith amaximum of between 10 or 30 books each.¹⁴⁵ Estimations of how manytitles Isidore quoted vary from 154 to amaximum of 475.¹⁴⁶ At anyrate, as Lehmann has shown from a comparison of quotations, Isidore basedhis work on the sixth-century works of Cassiodorusand probablynever read manyofthe titles he quoted.¹⁴⁷ On the otherhand,itispossible that pagan texts,copied from the fifth to eighth cen- turies, are underrepresented within the group of books traceable today, if copies of pagan texts receivedless care thancopies of Christian texts. Of these 1,884 entries, Ihaveidentified67entries (less than 4per cent) as containing classical title(s), transmitted in libraries. Afurther 44 pieces,mostly papyri, alsocontain classicaltitles, but these are archaeological finds from Egypt that werestored in libraries at the time of publication.¹⁴⁸ One such papyrus, CLA 833, was burnt but not entirelydestroyed by fire,possiblybyaChristian acting on religious grounds.Another interesting item among this group is afifth-centu- ry scrap of parchment,containing fragments of the lost 11th book of Livy.Itwas
volumes, edited by E.A. Lowe, and later additions: Bischoff and Brown (): CLA –,(): CLA –. Ward (), ;and see Lapidge(), ,too. Ward (), ;Lapidge(), with note :reconstruction of the contentbased on Beeson. Therewas no section for classical authors.Isidorefound his quotations from classical authors in florilegia et grammatica. McCrank (), ,Lapidge(), with note :perhaps as manyas. Lehmann (), . CLA , (reused as binding), , –, – (= sub ), , , –, , , , , , , , , –, – (palimpsest), –, , –, , , , , , , , , , , . 292 7The Post-RomanSuccessor States found in 1986,when archaeologists excavated the ruins of the Coptic medieval monastery of Naqlun in the Fayyum. The parchment was found along with ce- ramic fragments and old papyri (Greek and Coptic, mostly saec. VI–VII, fewer saec. VIII–IX).¹⁴⁹ It is possible that the texts werethus thrown out by the monks in the ninth century or later. The bulk of Codices Latini Antiquiores are made up predominantlyofChris- tian titles, although there are afew secular ones as well. Among these are legal, medicinal,agricultural and grammatical texts(includingcommentaries on Vergil and Cicero). From the 67 classical entries mentioned above, 52 wereproduced before the eighth century,aswehaveseen mostlyfrom c. 350to550.43of these 52 earlymanuscripts (83per cent) were practicallydestroyed at one point during the Middle Ages. 38 pieces weredeleted and overwritten and five werereused for wrappingorbinding purposes.¹⁵⁰ Among the “earlypalimpsest” group, all but twoweredeletedbetween the sixth and eighth centuries,inthe monasteries of Bobbio and Luxeuil or in places unknown.¹⁵¹ The onlyexceptions are afifth-century Vergil manuscript that was partlyusedasapalimpsest in the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries (CLA 977) and the seventh-century Lucan manuscript used as palimpsest in the eleventh century (33), with Christian mis- cellaneous texts and Augustine’s De Trinitate respectively as the upper writing. All the earlypalimpsests, too, have Christian texts (leading Christian authors, council acts,and biblical books) as the upper script. Certain classicalauthors, however,weremore likelytoescape deletion. Among the “earlynon-palimpsest” group, five manuscripts have Vergil, two have Livy and the other twohaveTerenceand Plinyrespectively.¹⁵² The most un- fortunate decisions certainlyweremade when texts not otherwise preserved (ex- cept in fragments) werereused as palimpsests. The letters and apanegyrical speech of Fronto(27,72), the orations of Symmachus (29), Cicero’s opus maius on the republic (35), the 91st book of Livy (75), Sallust’s opus maius Historiae (112,809), the Annals of Granius Licinianus (167), Gargilius Martialis on agricul- ture (404) all are lost except for these earlypalimpsests. Frontoand Symmachus weresuspicioustoChristians as much as Cicero’sphilosophical work on the re- public. The historical works by Livy,Sallust and Licinianus have in common that they treat the late Roman Republican history,which was of little relevance to a
CLA ;Bravo and Griffin (), . CLA , , , , . CLA , (= sub ); ; ; –; (partlypalimpsest,partlybinding); ; ; –; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; –; ; (same); ; ; . CLA was partlyrewritten beforethe th century. Vergil: CLA , (= sub ), , , ;Livy: , ;Terence: ;Pliny: . 7.4Membra Disiecta 293 time period thatassigned its beginningstothe birth of Christ.Classical books produced at alater point,onthe other hand, werefar less likelytoberecycled: not asingle one of the 15 manuscriptsextant from the eighth century was deleted,¹⁵³ although one manuscript was reused as binding(1129), another as fly-leaves(1327). By contrast,none of the three oldest extant manuscripts of Lu- cretius’ De rerum natura carriesthe title at the beginning.Inone, Lucretius’ name has been erased, and adifferent title has been substituted, apparently to protect the manuscript from deletion or destruction.¹⁵⁴ Thisprobablyexplains whyLucretius’ poem is extant todayasthe onlydirect testimonial of Epicurean philosophy. Moreover,certain clusters of membradisiecta suggest adeliberate attempt to clear perhaps even awhole library of books with classical content.Nine classical books, including the lost 91st book of Livy’shistory,weredeleted and reused for a single Old Testament copy (CLA 69)ataround AD 700inaplace unknown.¹⁵⁵ The preference was obviouslynot in favour of more endangered texts.Ifthe ratio of classical-pagan versus Christian or technical writingswas c. 4per cent (the ratio of manuscripts extant today), then the probability that CLA 69 was the product of afortuitous selection is 0.04 by the power of 9. Thisfigure maybeblurred by the fact that pagan textsare perhaps underrepresented and mayhavebeen written in older,less readable script; however,this figure is so low that it can hardly be explainedwithoutassuming thatpagan texts weredeliberatelyselected. Four more books, of classicalorsimilar content,wereoverwritten with the Acts of the CouncilofChalcedon of 451inseventh-century Bobbio.¹⁵⁶ Another cluster of four classical texts,deleted in favour of Gregory the Great’s Morals on the Book of Job,remarkablyincluded Euclid’s Geometry as well as an unidentified philosophical treatise. The pagan text was deleted in earlyeighth-century Luxeuil.¹⁵⁷ Overall, the find has been interpreted variouslyasa“systematic at- tempt on the part of the Christians to destroy all vestiges of pagan literature” in earlyscholarship (not anymorebelieved); or “one might perhaps saythat
CLA , , , b, , (the Codex Theodosianus overwritten with Iulius Valerius) , , , , (= sub ), , . Butterfield (), , note ,plateV;Sorabij (), . CLA :Senceca, :Lucan, :Hyginus, :Fronto, :illegible rhetorical fragment, : AulusGellius, :Livy, –:Cicero. CLA :Fronto; :Scholia Bobiensia in Ciceronem; :Symmachus,Pliny; :Juvenal, Persius. CLA –.Another cluster is –:Cicero used as apalimpsest in Bobbio in the sev- enth century. 294 7The Post-RomanSuccessor States at that time the classics had become culturallyobsolescent.”¹⁵⁸ Economic pres- sures almostcertainlyplayedapart: books became expensive as papyrus was hardlyavailable and books weremuch more lavish thaninancient times. On the otherhand,acopy of the Romanhistorian Livy in these centuries was used as awrappingfor relics.¹⁵⁹ It is therefore likelythat this text was discarded because of religious reasons.The messageconveyedinthis case is that Christi- anity had overcome the errors of the pagan past.Atany rate, it is clear that less care was giventorare classicalthan to standard Christian texts if these classical books weredamaged so much that theironlyuse was to delete and recycle them. While there was the greatest interest in Christian standard texts,there was com- parativelylittle interestinkey classicalauthors, such as Vergil and the early books by Livy,and no traceable interest in late Republicanhistory and pagan philosophy. Lucretius’ poem on Epicurean philosophy(recorded in catalogues since the ninth century) probablysurvivedonlybecause its contents were known to very few individuals.
7.5Conclusion
In sum, Ihavegiven here some examples to suggest that the polemical discourse of late antique authorsprobablyinfluenced ecclesiastical book bans, exhorta- tions against pagan literature by authorssuch as Isidore of Seville, texts on mis- sionary activities and the selection of books in monasteries.Books with pagan content wereoften overwritten with Christian authorsorlegislation thatcriti- cised them even as they deleted them. While the creation of palimpsests can partlybeexplainedbecause the original manuscripts became difficult to read, there is anumberofmembradisiecta consistingexclusively of classical originals. The Codices Latini Antiquiores indicate thatnot onlythe interest in the classics declined dramatically, but alsothatclassicaltitles weredeliberately preferred over Christian titles to be overwrittenwith new copies of Christian texts,perhaps because of the poor state of these classical books. Among this subgroup of clas- sical authorsthere still was aclear preference for authors such as Vergil as op- posed to philosophicaltexts. Thisfind corresponds to the ecclesiastical legisla- tion of that time period. Contemporary legislation required bishops to be
Lowe (), .For earlyscholarship in favour of the destruction theory,Mollweide (), –. CLA : “Usedlater (saec. VII–VIII) in St.John Lateran to preserverelics which came from the Holy Land”. 7.5Conclusion 295 educated in the Bible only, but outright bans werelimited to heretical works and writingsinopposition to Christianity. There is evidence for sporadic book-burning until well into the earlymedie- val period both in the context of missionary activities and with regard to acciden- tal finds. The legal basis for this is unclear,but it must be noted that the legis- lation that Ihavediscussed in Chapter 2was generallystill in effect.Even Christian authorsofthe earlymedieval West continued to polemicize against an- cient philosophyallegedlypractised in some remoteareas.However,itisunlike- ly that they werereferringtoactual philosophers or ancient texts.Itismorelike- ly that they usedthe earlypolemics against ancient philosophersasalabel with which to denounce certain heretical or unbaptised groups,which mayhave transmitted some ancient philosophical traditions (as we have seen in some pas- sages of the Hisperica famina). In this context,Ihavealso proposed an alterna- tive theory to the earlytext transmission of Lucretius,arguing thatthis text cir- culated amongst agroup of insular pagan scholars before it arrivedatthe continent.Wehaveseen that there was astrongtendencytoregard as authori- tative the apologetic-polemical texts and attitudes thatIhave discussed in pre- vious chapters. Conclusion
This book has sought to suggest two strands of arguments. One argument has been that the categories of forbidden or destroyed books werenot always clear-cut but that there was some overlap of magical, astrological and heretical books with philosophical books, although the sources are rarelyspecific enough to allow firm conclusions. The other argument has been that,within the polem- ical discourse of Christian authors, philosophical opinionscontrarytothe Chris- tian world view are often described as disturbing the unity of the Church, thus leading to heresy and causing the sin of pride, and there is also atendencyto align these opinionstomagic and astrology,although this is basedonalong- standing tradition. Doctrinalconcerns included questions on whether or not atoms existed as independent entities, uncreatedmatter,indivisible, moving automaticallyand by cohesion in varied order composingthe objectsofthe material world, without divineprovidence.Other concerns werepredictions on the movement of the stars, the singularity,duration, size and shape of the universe and whether it was amiracle of creation or something that can be explained by inherent me- chanicalforces thatexist perpetuallywithout divine interference; whether human beingswereinformed about the material worldthrough the various senses or through the ideas of the soul; whether or not human beingsare just another species of animals. The philosophicalviewthatGod does not interfere with the functioningofthe world as his creation, for example, re-emergedinEu- rope as Deism, but not before the seventeenth century. This book has argued that the common denominator between bookson magic, astrology,divination and philosophies opposedtothe Bible was their de- monic origin. Pagans used magic (for example, lovespells) in order to summon demons. They practised divination because they were informed of futureevents by consulting demons and believed in astrology under the assumption that de- mons controlled the stars and thattheir movementsweretherefore indicative of future events. These demons also inspired pagan philosophers with opinions contrary to the Christian world view,according to Christian authors. Epicurean hedonism, for example, was demonical because it facilitated sexual indulgence, although it is more correct to saythat it explainedthe desire to reproduceasthe driving forceofevolution. Plato, by contrast, had borrowed most of his views from the Judaeo-Christian tradition, and other philosophers had followed him in manyrespects,orsoChristian authors of Late Antiquity claimed.This open- ness was important for the success of ChristianityasPlatonism became the most popularphilosophical view in Late Antiquity.Itisalso clear that Christian Conclusion 297 authorsbelieved in oracles if they weredivinelyinspired. In fact,they argued that Christianity was true because its predictions werefulfilled. In asimilar vein, Christian authors and clerics viewed the universe, the movements of the stars, planets or the moonasGod’screation and thereforeassomething good and worthytodescribe. On the other hand,the view that the universe was in per- petual motion because of inherent forces rather than divine interference was re- garded as heretical in Late Antiquity,aswehaveseen, for example, in section 2.8 and 4.6. Epicurean natural philosophywent astep further than seventeenth-cen- tury Deism, as it excluded the divine as the first mover.This view fundamentally contradicted the biblical creation account,accordingtowhich the world came into existencethrough God rather than through the first clash of atoms.Italso posed obvious difficulties to the belief in the end of the world and the Second Coming of Christ.Ihave argued that Christian authors identified this view as the biblical philosophy “after the elements of the world, and not after Christ” (Col. 2:8). Epicurean philosophyshould, however,not be equatedwith atheism as it does not preclude the existenceofthe divine. It must be noted thatbook-burning and censorship in ancient societies were in manywaysdifferent from amodern notion of these acts wherethey are often associated with atotalitarian state.Taken by itself, the text of the Bible, in par- ticular,did not includeclear recommendations to dismiss anyphilosophies or heresies and certainlynoencouragementstoburn booksofany kind. However, the threat to the unity of the Church, caused primarilybyheretical writings, was in fact often areal one. Not onlywereheretical writingsperceivedtothreaten the religious peace, but often did disputes on the right understanding of Christianity cause religious riots. It can be presumed that this was the prime motivation of the Roman state to agree on banning specific books. In this respect there have been precedents in the earlyimperial period wherebook-burning served the pur- pose of conflict-management.Similarly,the magic trials in Antioch show that dissident writingscould threatenthe imperial family in aparticularcrisis, and this gave sufficient cause for Romanauthorities to act.Late Antiquity is generally characterised by agreater degree of state control. The public character of book- burning in the ageofJustinian indicatesthat the authorities were interested in stoppingthe circulation of the material in question and to instil fear in the pop- ulation. Book-burning wasalso associated with apowerful symbolism of avert- ing the demonicalpowers thathad always been linked with magicalbooks. In some cases, people burnt the booksoftheir past in order to demonstrate the completeness of their conversion as if they had burnt their alter ego. While books wereoftenburnt in apublic context in order to renderthe ritual of book-burning efficient,inotherinstances book-burning was purelyaprivate act.Ihave thereforedistinguished between state-censorship, explaining the dif- 298 Conclusion ferences between ancient and modern societies in this regard, spontaneous, rit- ualised book-burning,burning of books in someone’sown possession and inten- tional or unintentional destruction of books as aconsequenceofriots. Ihave also stressed that the Christian authorsorclerics who advocatedorencouraged censorship of books, while vying with each other for authority,wereconvinced that they wereacting in the best interest of human beingsand persuadedthat what they did or wrotewas to the benefit of human souls. In the polemical discourse of Christian authorsofLateAntiquity, martyrdom and sainthood could serveasreward strategies with which to encouragethe dis- posal of books contrarytothe Christian world view.Compassion and charity wereadditional strategies of reinforcement to bar people from reading books that could leadtodamnation.Usingmedicalmetaphors,Christian polemics put these readings oftenonapar with mental and physical diseases and recom- mended book-burning as amedicine.Conjuringupsexuallyloaded images, Christian authorsoften compared forbidden pagan teachingtosnakes that eject poisonous juice. Book-burning could prevent readers from burningin hell. Therefore, it was seen as compassionateand charitable to prevent neigh- bours from damnation by denouncing them. We have seen that inquiriesinto readinginterests and also the lifelong spiritual monitoringofbook offenders weresometimes advertised as acts of showing pity. Ihavealso identifiedanumber of polemical themesthatChristian authors employed to express their relationships with books and ideas and to cast doubt on abook’sworthiness.Inthis context,laughter could be especiallydev- astating.This is because some philosophical views wereseen as ridiculous as they were inspired by demons and these demons also facilitated sexual urges which in turn caused shameful feelings particularlyinindividuals that attempt to abstain from indulging in these urges. Thisexplains the magical properties that some books reportedlyhad in Late Antiquity.Following the example of An- tony, monks and clerics often foughtagainst demons that appeared to them in the shape of sexual urgesand poisonous animals, such as spiders and snakes. Christian authors thereforeargued that heretical-philosophical views werelike spider-webs snaring the unwary.Itcan be argued that persistent sexual urges, if consistentlyunfulfilled, can be detrimental to the mental well-being. To my mind, the demonic contents of some books werethereforeviewed as triggering mental diseases, especiallysince the demons werekeen to prevent people from receiving salvation. While these demons werecontagious,accordingtoAu- gustine, fire had the property to destroy these demons and purify the spacethat was contaminated by demons. Burning of books, especiallyofmagic books, is often linked to the burning of bodies because it could prevent bodies from burn- ing in purgatory,but it must be noted that the messageofthe gospel itself was Conclusion 299 normallyseen as asufficient cure. Book-burning was therefore regarded as ben- eficial to the greater community. Moreover,medicalmetaphors have clearly entered imperial legislation. Giventhe amount of reports on miracle-healingand exorcisms performedonpa- gans,these metaphors had areal-life application. In this context it is worth not- ing that Christian authors describe philosophyasanill bodythat is dying natu- rally. Isuggest that the body-metaphor includes apolemicalattack against materialist philosophies because these supported the preference of the bodyto the soul. Usingthese strategies, educated Christian authors from the upperstrata ap- pealed to Christians such as monks, ascetics,holymen, certain medicalpracti- tioners and exorcists (whichoften wereless educated). Their attitudes have prob- ablynot appealed as much to the majority of the population. The polemical discourse of Christian authors therefore opens awindow into the ascetic-monas- tic milieu and maywell be seen as somewhat representative for these circles. Monks, ascetics and holymen could burn books as part of aspectacle in order to destroy the demons by which they felt persecuted. Although evidence for this is somewhat regionallylimited, in the hagiographical imagination, they searched houses to find forbidden books. Monastic institutions alsocame to be in charge of text transmission and the preservation of books. With regard to imperial censorship legislation, Ihavestressed the many practical difficulties that prevented anysystematic enforcement of these laws. There is particularlylittle evidence for state authorities enforcingcensorship or book-burning laws outwith of afew spectacular incidents. On the other hand, there is probablymore evidence of clericalenforcement or incidents of book-burning by what Ihavecalled zealous Christians, who were sometimes supported by state authorities, particularlybythe defensores,aswehaveseen in Chapter 3. As with other religious laws, imperial legislation gave alegal frame- work with which to acknowledge the tendencies of thattime rather thanadirec- tive that was seriously thoughttobeput into effect throughout the empire. Given the practical difficulties of locating copies of abanned book,denunciation, com- poundedbypersonal motives, was the most feasible waytoidentify prohibited books. The question of whether or not book-burning affected the transmission of pagan textsremains difficult to answer.Itislikelythat books that wereprimarily targeted (magic books, astrological books, pagan ritual books, specific philo- sophical attacksagainst Christianity) wereeffectively barredfrom circulation as adirect or indirect consequence of book searches;however,magic and astrol- ogywerenot completelysuppressed but continued to playsome role among Christians in the centuries to follow.Somephilosophical attacks against Christi- 300 Conclusion anity survive in refutations. It is not unlikelythat some philosophical texts that weredisagreeing with the Christian world view – or Christian texts thatpre- served deviant philosophicaltraditions – wereoccasionallydestroyed. This is best evidenced under the emperors Valens and Justinian, which some sources in- dicate had asignificant impact on the circulation of these texts if taken at face value, but their rhetorical tendencies and lack of details as to actual titles do not allow firm conclusions. At anyrate, over time incidents like these easilyaccount- ed for areduced interest in preservingtexts that came undersustainedsuspi- cion. Copying and circulation of non-Christian texts slowed down dramaticallyat the end of Antiquity,especiallyinthe successor states, but the main contributing factors can be identified as economic decline and loss of interest,largely dueto the fact that earthlysuccess and social status no longer dependedonfamiliarity with non-Christian texts, as we have seen in Chapter 5. On the other hand, other factors such as fearsome examples madewhen books wereburned, censorship, control of book-production and imperial and clerical efforts to stamp out forbid- den texts,may well have contributed to the overall loss of interest in preserving non-Christian texts.Polemical attacks against rival philosophical or religious groups have been around since Antiquity,but it is not known that this caused the elimination of anyliterarygenre or tradition. On the other hand, the diversity of different religious or philosophicalgroups in Antiquity ensured the survival of different religious or philosophical traditions. With Christianitybecomingthe state religion, this maywell have changed, especiallysince thereare examples known of groups keen to preserveonlytheir ownrelated texts and suppressing others (such as different Christian groups or Plato and Democritus). Concerningphilosophical views contrary to the Christian world view,itis not clear how manyofthese views continued to circulate in writing.There is some evidence for Epicurean textscirculating in the fourth centuries and texts belongingtoother philosophicalschools (but not to Platonism or Aristotelian- ism) beyond that.Atfirst glance, it is not impossible to think thatthe polemical passages of Christian authorsofLate Antiquity concerning these philosophies weresimplybasedonsimilar passages from earlier Christian authors who flour- ished while these philosophies werestillaliving tradition. However,asIhave shown, for example, in Chapter 4, these philosophicalviews, as well as their re- ception by dissident Christian authors, were still felt to be athreat to the unity of the Church in the late fourth and earlyfifth centuries. Besides the possibility that there werebooks preservingthese philosophical opinions(for example, hand- books or scholarlynotebooks), it can also be assumed that these ideas continued to circulate as part of an oral tradition. This is not to saythat Epicureanism or other philosophical schools except for Neoplatonism werevery present or robust Conclusion 301 in the late fourth or earlyfifth century,but they were not forgotten either.Itis thereforepertinent that Epicurean traditions are attestedfor the late fifth century and beyond, not onlyaspolemical labels,but as actuallylinked to the view that the universe consisted of mechanical movements, as Ihaveargued in chapters 2– 4. Christian polemical discourse suggests that certain philosophical traditions wereseen as the mother of all heresy in the world. Iamaware of the argument that Christian authors mayhaveused the charge of Epicureanism to discredit he- retical opinionssuch as those put forward by the Manichaeans, but primary sources show thatthe Manichaeans did indeed share these beliefs.Itherefore suggest that their affinitytomaterialist philosophywas apolemicalstrategy with which to justify the burningofheretical and astrological books. If awide definition of censorship is accepted, which involves the active re- fusal to copy certain texts because current (religious)authorities effectively pro- hibited this, then the polemicaldiscourse of Christian authors, along with impe- rial and ecclesiastical bans on literaturedescribed with similar terminology, can practicallybeunderstood as censorship. Thecombination of these twofactors, polemicaldiscourse (whichinitself mayaswell be taken as literary criticism) and bans of literature and perhaps even the fact that the terminologyused in contexts of book-burning wassimilar to that found in polemics and legislation, was more detrimental to the transmission of affectedtextsthan each factor on its own. This maysufficientlyexplain whytheological, philosophical or scientific approachesthat positivelyengaged with old materialist traditions (other than with the explicit aim of refuting these)remained absent particularlyfrom the Western literarytradition for centuries to come. The re-emergence of these theo- ries which were initiated by the Islamic transmission of texts, the rediscovery of ancient textsand the invention of the printing press gave rise to spectacular re- ligious trials and book bans in the late medievaland modernperiods. 302 Conclusion
Figure 3. ‘Oven of scorn’ (Salzburger Spottofen), eighteenth century,MuseumCarolino-Augus- teum, Salzburg. The book-shelf displays non-conformist worksfromantiquity to the early mo- dern age. The banner reads ‘library dedicated to Vulcan’ (bibliothecaVulcano consecrata). ©SalzburgMuseum Bibliography
Primaryliterature
Acta Archelai,edited by Mark J. Vermes. Turnhout: Brepols, 2001 Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum,edited by EduardSchwartz. 4vol.Berlin: Walterde Gruyter,1914–40 Acta Philippi,edited by Alfred M. Bonnet. Repr.Hildesheim: Olms, 1959 Acta Sanctorum,edited by Johann Bolland, Gottfried Henschen, Daniel Papebroek and Jean B. Carnandet. 68 vol. Brussels: Societé des Bollandistes, 1863–1940 Aelianus, Claudius, Fragmenta,edited by Rudolph Hercher.Vol. 2. Repr.Graz: Akad. Verl.-Anst.,1971; edited by DouglasDomingo-Forasté.Stuttgart: Teubner,1994 Ambrosius, De officiis,edited by MauriceTestard. CCSL 15. Turnhout: Brepols, 2000 AmmianusMarcellinus, Res gestae,edited by WolfgangSeyfarth, Liselotte Jacob-Karau and Ilse Ulmann. 2. vol. Leipzig: Teubner,1978 Anthologia Graeca,edited by Hermann Beckby. Vol. 3. 2nd ed. Munich: Heimeran, 1965 Aristaenetus, Epistulae,edited by OttoMazal.Stuttgart: Teubner,1971 Arnobius, Adversus Nationes,edited by ConcettoMarchesi. 2nd ed. Turin: Paravia,1953 Athanasius, Contragentes,edited by Robert W. Thomson.Oxford:Clarendon, 1971 Athanasius, De incarnatione verbis,edited by Charles Kannengiesser.SC199. Paris:Édition du Cerf, 1973 Athanasius, Vita Antonii,edited by Gerard J.M. Bartelink. SC 400.Paris:Édition du Cerf,2004 Augustinus, Breviculus collationis cum Donatistis,edited by Michael Petschenig. CCSL 53. Vienna:Tempsky,1910 Augustinus, Confessiones,edited by Luc Verheijen. CCSL 27.Turnhout: Brepols, 1981 Augustinus, ContraCresconium,edited by Michael Petschenig. CCSL 52. Vienna:Tempsky, 1909 Augustinus, De catechizandis rudibus, De excidio urbis, De haeresibus,edited by Michal P.J. vanden Hout. CCSL 46. Turnhout: Brepols, 1969 Augustinus, De civitate Dei,edited by Bernhard Dombart and Alfons Kalb.2vol. CCSL 47–48. Turnhout: Brepols, 1955 Augustinus, De doctrina Christiana, de verareligione,edited by Joseph Martin. CCSL 32. Turnhout: Brepols, 1962 Augustinus, De genesi ad litteram,edited by Joseph Zycha. CSEL 28.1. Vienna:Tempsky,1894 Augustinus, De naturaboni, De utilitate credendi, contraFelicem,edited by Joseph Zycha. CSEL 25. Vienna:Tempsky,1891–1892 Augustinus, De ordine,edited by William M. Green. CCSL 29. Turnhout: Brepols, 1970 Augustinus, Enarrationes in Psalmos,edited by Eligius Dekkers and JeanFraipont. Vol. 2. CCSL 39. Turnhout: Brepols, 1956 Augustinus, Epistulae,edited by Alois Goldbacher.Vol. 1–3. CSEL 34.1; 34.2; 44. Vienna: Tempsky,1895–1904 Augustinus, In Iohannisevangelium tractatus,edited by Radbod Willems.CCSL36. Turnhout: Brepols, 1954 Augustinus, Retractationes,edited by Almut Mutzenbecher.CCSL57. Turnhout: Brepols, 1984 Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae,edited by Carl Hosius. Leipzig: Teubner,1903 Basilius, Epistulae,edited by Yves Courtonne. 3vol.Paris: Belles Lettres, 1957–66 304 Bibliography
Beda Venerabilis, Expositio actuum apostolorum,edited by Michael L.W.Laistner.CCSL121. Turnhout: Brepols, 1983 Caesarius Arelatensis, Sermones,edited by Marie-José Délage. SC 175. Paris: Édition du Cerf, 1971 Callinicus, Vita sancti Hypatii,edited by Gerard J.M. Bartelink.SC177.Paris: Édition du Cerf, 1971 Cassiodorus, Institutiones,edited by Roger A.B. Mynors.Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press, 1961 Cassius Dio, Historiae Romanae,edited by Ursul P. Boissevain. 3vol.Berlin: Weidmann, 1895–1901 Cedrenus, Compendium historiarum,edited by Immanuel Bekker.2vol.Bonn: Weber, 1838–1839 Censorinus, De die natali,edited by Nikolaus Sallmann. Leipzig: Teubner,1983 Cicero, Academica,edited by Otto Plasberg. Leipzig: Teubner,1922 Cicero, De finibus bonorum et malorum,edited by Theodor Schiche. Leipzig: Teubner,1915 Cicero, EpistulaeadAtticum,edited by David R. Shackleton Bailey.Stuttgart:Teubner,1987 Cicero, Tusculanae disputationes,edited by Max Pohlenz.Leipzig: Teubner,1918 Clemens Alexandrinus, Protrepticus,edited by Claude Mondésert. SC 2. 3rded. Paris: Édition du Cerf, 1976 Clemens Alexandrinus, Stromata,edited by Ludwig Früchtel. Vol. 1. 3rded. GCS 52. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag. 1960 Codex Theodosianus,edited by Theodor Mommsen.Vol. 1.1/2, Theodosianilibri XVIcum constitutionibus Sirmondianis;Vol. 2, Leges novellae ad Theodosianum pertinentes. Berlin: Weidmann, 1905 Comicorum GraecorumFragmenta,edited by August Meineke. Berlin: Reimer,1839 Concilia Africae,edited by Charles Munier.CCSL149. Turnhout: Brepols, 1974 Constitutiones Apostolorum,edited by Marcel Metzger.Vol. 1. SC 320.Paris:Édition du Cerf, 1985 Conversio Iustinae et Cypriani. In Cyprian von Antiochien und die deutsche Faustsage,edited by Theodor Zahn. Erlangen: Deichert, 1882 Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum,edited by Christian Huelsen. Vol. 6.4.1. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter,1894 Corpus iuris canonici,edited by Emil Friedberg.Vol. 1. Leipzig: Tauchnitz, 1879 Corpus iuris civilis. Vol. 2, CodexJustinianus,edited by Paul Krüger,Theodor Mommsen, Rudolf Schölland Wilhelm Kroll. 11th ed. Berlin: Weidmann, 1954 Cyrillus Alexandrinus, ContraJulianum,Vol. 1, livres1et 2,edited by Paul Burguièreand PierreÉvieux. SC 322. Paris: Édition du Cerf,1985; Teil 1, Buch 1–5,edited by Christoph Riedweg. GCS NF 20. Berlin: WalterdeGruyter, 2016 Damascius, Vita Isidori,edited by Rudolf Asmus. Leipzig: Meiner,1911 Damascius, VitaeIsidori reliquiae,edited by Clemens Zintzen. Hildesheim: Olms, 1967 Dialogus de recta in Deum fide,edited by Willem H. van de Sande Bakhuyzen. GCS 4. Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1901 Didache XII Apostolorum,edited by Jean-Paul Audet. Paris: Lecoffre, 1958 Diogenes Laertius, Vitae Philosophorum,edited by Miroslav Marcovich. Vol. 1. Stuttgart: Teubner,1999 Dionysius of Tel-Mahre, SecularHistory. In The Seventh Centuryinthe West-Syrian Chronicles,edited by Andrew Palmer.Liverpool: Liverpool UniversityPress, 1993 Primary literature 305
Ephraem Aenius, Historia chronica,edited by Odysseus Lampsides. Athens: Academiae Atheniensis, 1990 Epiphanius, De mensuris et ponderibus,edited by Elias D. Moutsoulas. In: Theologia 44 (1973): 157–209 Epiphanius, Panarion,edited by Karl Holl. Vol. 1. GCS 25. Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1915 Eucherius, De contemptu mundi,edited by Salvatore Pricoco. Florence: Nardini, 1990 Eunapius, Olympiodorus, Fragmenta. In The Fragmentary Classicising Historians of the later Roman Empire: Eunapius, Olympiodorus, Priscus and Malchus,edited by Roger C. Blockley.2vol. Liverpool: Cairns, 1981–83 Eunapius, Vita sophistarum. In The Lives of the Sophists,edited by Wilmer C.F.Wright. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UniversityPress, 1961 Eusebius, De martyribus Palaestinae,edited by GustaveBardy.Vol. 3. SC 55. Paris: Édition du Cerf, 1958 Eusebius, Historia ecclesiastica,edited by GustaveBardy.3vol. SC 31, 41, 55. Paris: Édition du Cerf, 1952–58 Eusebius, Praeparatio evangelica,edited by Edouarddes Places, liber 2–3. SC 228. Paris: Édition du Cerf, 1976; liber 8–10.SC369, 1991; liber 12–13. SC 307,1983; liber 14–15. SC 338, 1987 Eusebius, Vita Constantini,edited by Friedhelm Winkelmann. GCS 9. 2nd ed. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter,1991 Fontes iuris Romani antejustiniani,edited by Johannes Baviera and Giovanni Ferrini. Vol. 2. 2nd ed. Florence: Barbèra,1940 Gelasius, Historia Ecclesiastica,edited by Margret Heinemann and GerhardLoeschcke. GCS 28. Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1918 Georgius Syncellus, Chronographia,edited by Alden A. Mosshammer.Leipzig: Teubner,1984 Gestaabbatum monasterii Sancti Albani aThoma Walsingham,edited by HenryT.Riley. Vol. 1. London: Longmans, 1867 Gregorius Magnus, Registrum epistularum,edited by Dag L. Norberg. CCSL 140A. Turnhout: Brepols, 1982 Gregorius Nazianzenus, ContraJulianum,edited by JeanBernardi. SC 309. Paris: Édition du Cerf,1983 Hieronymus, Chronicon,edited by Rudolf Helm. GCS 47,Eusebius 7. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1956 Hieronymus, Commentarii in Danielem,edited by Franciscus Glorie. CCSL 75A.Turnhout: Brepols, 1964 Hieronymus, Commentarii in Isaiam,edited by Marcus Adriaen. CCSL 73. Turnhout: Brepols, 1963 Hieronymus, ContraRufinum,edited by PierreLardet. CSEL 79. Turnhout: Brepols, 1982 Hieronymus, Epistulae. Vol. 1–3, edited by Isidor Hilberg. CSEL 54–56. Vienna:Tempsky, 1910–18 Hieronymus, Vita Hilarionis,edited by Edgardo M. Morales and PierreLeclerc. SC 508. Paris: Édition du Cerf, 2007 Hieronymus, Gennadius, De viris inlustribus,edited by Ernest C. Richardson and Otto von Gebhardt. Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1896 Hippolytus, Refutatio omnium haeresium,edited by Miroslav Marcovich. Berlin: Walterde Gruyter,1986 306 Bibliography
Hisperica Famina,edited by Michael W. Herren. Vol. 1. Toronto:Pontifical Inst. of Mediaeval Studies, 1974 Hisperica Famina,edited by Francis J.H. Jenkinson. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversityPress, 1908 Historia Augusta,edited by Ernst Hohl. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Leipzig: Teubner,1965 Historia ecclesiae Alexandrinae,edited by Tito Orlandi. 2vol.Milan: Cisalpino, 1967/70 Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae. NovaSeries,edited by GiovanniB.deRossi and Angelo Silvagni. Vol. 7. Rome:Pont. Inst. Archaeol. Christianae, 1980 Irenaeus, Adversus haereses, liber 1,edited by Adelin Rousseau and LouisDoutreleau. Vol. 2. SC 264. Paris: Édition du Cerf,1979 Isidorus, De ecclesiasticis officiis,edited by Christopher M. Lawson. CCSL 113. Turnhout: Brepols, 1989 Isidorus, De naturarerum,edited by Gustav Becker. Berlin: Weidmann, 1857 Isidorus, Etymologiae sive Origines,edited by Wallace M. Lindsay. Oxford: Clarendon, 1911 Isidorus, Regula Monachorum,edited by Julio Campos Ruiz. Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 1971 Isidorus, Sententiae,edited by PierreCazier.CCSL111. Turnhout: Brepols, 1998 Isidorus, Synonyma,edited by Jacques Elfassi. CCSL 111B. Turnhout: Brepols, 2009 Itala,edited by Adolf Jülicher.Vol. 1, Matthäus-Evangelium,2nd ed. Berlin:Walter de Gruyter, 1972; vol. 2, Johannes-Evangelium. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter,1963 Johannes Antiochenus, Fragmenta,edited by Sergei Mariev.Berlin: WalterdeGruyter,2008 Johannes Chrysostomus, AdversusJudaeos,translated by Paul W. Harkins. Washington,DC: Catholic University of AmericaPress, 1979 Johannes Chrysostomus, De Babyla contraJulianum et gentiles,edited by Margaret A. Schatkin. SC 362. Paris: Édition du Cerf, 1990 Johannes Chrysostomus, De inani gloria et de educandis liberis,edited by Anne-Marie Malingrey.SC188. Paris: Édition du Cerf, 1972 Johannes Chrysostomus, De laudibus Pauli,edited by AugustePiedagnel.SC300.Paris: Édition du Cerf, 1982 Johannes Damascenus, Vita Barlaam et Ioasaph,edited by George R. Woodwardand Harold Mattingly.London: Heinemann, 1914 Johannes Ephesinus, Historia beatorum orientalium,edited by Ernest W. Brooks.PO18.4, 19.2. Paris: Firmin-Didot, 1924, 1925 Johannes Ephesinus, Historiae ecclesiasticae pars secunda,edited by François Nau. ROC 2 (1897): 455 – 93 Johannes Ephesinus, Historiae ecclesiasticae pars tertia,edited by Ernest W. Brooks.CSCO 106. Leuven:Peeters, 1936 Johannes Malalas, Chronographia,edited by Hans Thurn.Berlin: Walter de Gruyter,2000 Johannes Nikiu, Chronicon,translated by RobertH.Charles. London: Williams &Norgate, 1916 Johannes Sarisberiensis, Policraticus,libri 1–4, edited by Katherine S.B. Keats-Rohan. Turnhout: Brepols, 1993; libri 5–8, edited by Clement C.J. Webb.London: Frowde, 1909 Josephus, Flavius, Antiquitates Judaicae,edited by Benedikt Niese. Vol. 3. Berlin: Weidmann 1892 Julianus, ContraGalilaeos,edited by Emanuela Masaracchia. Rome:Edizioni dell’Ataneo, 1990 Julianus, Opera,edited by Joseph Bidez. 4vol. Paris: Belles Lettres, 1924–64 Primary literature 307
Julius Caesar, Bellum Gallicum,edited by WolfgangHering. Leipzig: Teubner,1992 Justinus Martyr, Apologia;Tatianus, Oratio ad Graecos. In Die ältesten Apologeten,edited by Edgar J. Goodspeed. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck &Ruprecht,1914 Kephalaia,edited by Alexander Böhlig and Hans-Jakob Polotsky.Stuttgart: Kohlhammer,1940 Lactantius, De mortibus persecutorum,edited by John L. Creed. Oxford: Clarendon, 1984 Lactantius, De opificio Dei,edited by Samuel Brandt. CCSL 27.1. Vienna:Tempsky,1893 Lactantius, Divinae institutiones,edited by EberhardHeck and Antonie Wlosok. Vol. 2and 3. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter,2007,2009 Lactantius, Epitome divinarum institutionum,edited by EberhardHeck and Antonie Wlosok. Stuttgart: Teubner,1994 Leges XII tabularum,InRoman Statutes,edited by Michael H. Crawford. London: Instituteof Classical Studies, 1996 Libanius, Opera,edited by Richard Foerster.Vol. 1–4. Leipzig: Teubner,1903–1908 Livius, Ab urbe condita, libri I–VI,edited by Wilhelm Weißenborn and Moritz Müller; libri XXXVI–XL,edited by John Briscoe. Leipzig/Stuttgart: Teubner,1910/1991 Lucianus, Opera,edited by Matthew D. MacLeod. 4vol.Oxford: Clarendon, 1972–87 Lucifer, Opuscula,edited by Wilhelmvon Hartel. CCSL 14. New York: Johnson, 1970 Lucretius, De rerumnatura,edited by Josef Martin. Leipzig: Teubner,1969 Macrobius, Saturnalia,edited by James A. Willis. Stuttgart: Teubner,1970 Marcus Diaconus, Vita Porphyri,edited by Henri Grégoireand Marc-Antoine Kugener.Paris: Belles Lettres,1930 Martialis, Epigrammata,edited by David R. Shackleton Bailey.Stuttgart: Teubner,1990 Martyrium Victoris,InCoptic Martyrdoms in the Dialect of Upper Egypt,edited by Ernest A.W. Budge, 1–45,253–98. London: BritishMuseum, 1914 Michael Syrus, edited by Jean-Baptiste Chabot. Vol. 2. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1901 Minucius Felix, Octavius,edited by BernhardKytzler.Leipzig: Teubner,1982 Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores antiquissimi. Berlin: Weidmann. Vol. 6.2 (1883), vol. 8(1887), vol. 9(1892), vol. 15 (1919); Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum. Hannover: Hahn. Vol. 1,1. 2nd ed. (1951), vol. 2(1888), vol. 3(1896); Gesta pontificum Romanorum. Vol. 1. Berlin, 1898; Scriptores rerum Germanicarum. Hannover.Vol. 55 (1884), vol. 57 (1905); Leges nationum Germanicarum. Vol. 1. Hannover,1902; Epistolae. Berlin. Vol. 1 (1891), vol. 6(1925); Epistolae selectae. Vol. 1. Berlin, 1916; Fontes iuris Germanici. Vol. 16. Hannover,2012 Muirchú, Tírechán, Vita Patricii. In The Patrician Textsinthe Book of Armagh,edited by Ludwig Bieler.Dublin: Institute for AdvancedStudies, 1979 Novum Testamentum Graece,edited by Eberhardand Erwin Nestle and Barbara and Kurt Aland. 28th ed. Stuttgart:Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012 Optatus, De schismate Donatistorum,edited by Mireille Labrousse. Vol. 2. SC 413. Paris: Édition du Cerf, 1996; appendix, edited by Karl Ziswa. CSEL 26. Vienna:Tempsky,1893; translated by Mark Edwards. Liverpool: Liverpool UniversityPress, 1997 Oribasius, Collectionum medicarum reliquiae,edited by Hans Raeder.4vol. Leipzig: Teubner, 1928–33 Origenes (Rufinus), De principiis,edited by Paul Koetschau. GCS 22. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter,1913 Origenes (Rufinus), In Numeros homiliae,edited by Wilhelm A. Baehrens. GCS 30. Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1921 Origenes, ContraCelsum,edited by MarcelBorret.Vol. 3. SC 147.Paris: Édition du Cerf,1969 308 Bibliography
Origenes, Homiliae in Leviticum,edited by WilhelmA.Baehrens. GCS 29. Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1920 Orosius, Historiae adversuspaganos,edited by Karl Zangemeister. Leipzig: Teubner,1889 Oxyrhynchus Papyri. Vol. 22, edited by EdgarLobel and Colin H. Roberts. London: Egypt Exploration Society,1954 Papyri Graecae magicae,edited by Karl Preisendanz. Vol. 2. Leipzig: Teubner,1931 Papyrus magica musei Lugdunensis Batavi,edited by Albrecht Dieterich. JCPh.S 16 (1888): 747 – 829 Passio Dativi, Saturnini presb. et aliorum,edited by Pio Franchi de’ Cavalieri. Note agiografiche 8=Studi eTesti 65 (1935): 1–71 Passio Dioscori,edited by Henri Quentin. AnBoll 24 (1905): 321–42 Passio Facundi et Primitivi,InPasionario hispánico: siglos VII–XI,edited by Àngel Fábrega Grau. Vol. 2. Barcelona:Inst. P. Enrique Flórez, 1955 Passio Felicis episcopi, Acta Eupli, Passio Agapae. In The Actsofthe Christian martyrs, edited by Herbert Musurillo.Oxford: Clarendon, 1972 Passio GordiiCaesariensis,edited by Michel vanEsbroeck. AnBoll 94 (1976): 357–86 Passio Paphnutii et sociorum,edited by HippolyteDelehaye. AnBoll 40 (1922): 299–364 Passio Philippi,edited by Pio Franchi de’ Cavalieri. Note agiografiche 9=Studi eTesti 175 (1953): 53–165 Patricius, Confessio,InLibri Epistolarum Sancti Patricii Episcopi,edited by Ludwig Bieler. Dublin: StationaryOffice, 1952 Patrologia Graeca,edited by Jacques P. Migne. 161 vol. Paris:Garnier,1857–1866 Patrologia Latina, edited by Jacques P. Migne. 221 vol. Paris:Garnier,1844–1855 Paulinus Nolanus, Carmina,edited by Wilhelm vonHartel. CSEL 30. Repr.Vienna:Tempsky, 1972 Paulinus Nolanus, Epistulae,edited by Wilhelm vonHartel. CSEL 29. 2nd ed. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1999 Paulus, Sententiae,edited by Salvatore Riccobono. Fontes iuris Romani antejustiniani. Vol. 2. Florence: Barbèra, 1968 Philostorgius, Historia ecclesiastica,edited by Joseph Bidez and Friedhelm Winkelmann. GCS 21. 3rded. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1981 Philostratus, Opera,edited by Carl L. Kayser.Vol. 1. Leipzig: Teubner,1870 Plato, Opera,edited by John Burnet. Vol. 4. Oxford: Clarendon, 1902 Plinius maior, Naturalis historia,edited by LudwigIan and Karl Mayhoff.Leipzig: Teubner, 1892–1909 Plutarchus, Moralia,edited by Max Pohlenz. Vol. 3. Leipzig: Teubner,1929 Poggio, Epistulae,edited by Thomas de Tonelli. Repr.Turin: Bottega d’Erasmo, 1964 Porphyrius, Vita Plotini,InPlotini opera,edited by Paul Henryand Hans-Rudolf Schwyzer. Vol. 1. Leiden: Brill, 1951 Procopius, Historia arcana,edited by JacobHaury and Gerhard Wirth. Leipzig: Teubner,1963 Prudentius, Carmina,edited by Johan Bergman. CSEL 61. Vienna:Tempsky,1926 Pseudo-Abdias. In Codex apocryphus NoviTestamenti,edited by Johann A. Fabricius. Vol. 2. 2nd ed. Hamburg: Schiller &Kisner,1719 Pseudo-Clemens, Recognitiones,edited by BernhardRehm, Franz Paschke and Georg Strecker. GCS 51.3rd ed. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1992 Pseudo-Dionysianum, Chronicon,edited by Jean-Baptiste Chabot. Vol. 2. CSCO 104. Leuven: Durbecq, 1952 Primaryliterature 309
Quintilianus, Institutio oratoria,edited by Ludweig Radermacher and Vinzenz Buchheit. Leipzig: Teubner,1971 Rufinus, Apologia adversus Hieronymum,edited by Manlio Simonetti. CCSL 20. Turnhout: Brepols, 1961 Rufinus, Eusebii Caesariensis Historia ecclesiastica: Rufini continuatio,edited by Theodor Mommsen. GCS 9.2. Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1908 Rules of Rabbūlā. In Syriac and Arabic DocumentsRegarding Legislation Relative to Syrian Asceticism,edited by Arthur Vööbus. Stockholm: ETSE,1960 Rutilius Namatianus, De reditu suo,edited by Ernst Doblhofer.Heidelberg: Winter,1972 Sacrorum conciliorum novaetamplissima collectio,edited by Giovianni D. Mansi. Vol. 2and 10.Florence: Zatta,1759, 1764 Salvianus, De gubernatione Dei,edited by Georges Lagarrigue. SC 220. Paris: Édition du Cerf, 1975 Seneca, Naturales quaestiones,edited by HarryM.Hine. Stuttgart: Teubner,1996 Seneca, De tranquillitate animi,edited by Emil Hermes. Leipzig: Teubner,1923 Severus, Laudatio S. Leontii,edited by Gerard Garitte. Le Muséon 79 (1966): 335–86 Sextus Empiricus, Opera,edited by Hermann Mutschmann. 2vol. Leipzig: Teubner,1912/14 Shenoute, Vita et operaomnia,edited by Johannes Leipoldt. Vol. 3. CSCO 42. Paris: ETypographeo Reipublicae, 1908; translated intoLatin by Hermann Wiesmann. CSCO 96, 1953 Socrates, Historia ecclesiastica,edited by Günther C. Hansen. GCS NF 1. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1995 Sozomenus, Historia ecclesiastica,edited by Joseph Bidez and Günther C. Hansen. GCS 50. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1960 Statuta ecclesiae antiqua,InConcilia Galliae,edited by Charles Munier.CCSL148. Turnhout: Brepols, 1963 Suetonius, De vita Caesarum,edited by Maximilian Ihm. Stuttgart:Teubner,1973 Suidas, Lexicon,edited by Ada Adler.4vol. Leipzig: Teubner,1928–35 Symmachus, Epistulae. In Q. Aurelii Symmachi quae supersunt,edited by OttoSeeck. Berlin: Weidmann, 1883 Synesius, Epistulae,edited by Antonio Garzya. Vol. 3. Paris: Belles Lettres, 2000 Synesius, Opuscula,edited by NicolaTerzaghi. Rome: Typis Regiae Officinae Polygraphicae, 1944 Tacitus, Annales,edited by Heinz Heubner.Stuttgart: Teubner,1994 Terentianus Maurus, De litteris, syllabis et metris,edited by Karl Lachmann. Berlin: Reimer, 1836 Tertullianus, Opera,vol.1,edited by Eligius Dekkers. CCSL 1; vol. 2, edited by AloisGerlo. CCSL 2. Turnhout: Brepols, 1954 Themistius, Orationes,edited by Glanville Downey and Heinrich Schenkl.Vol. 1. Leipzig: Teubner,1965 Theodoretus, Graecarum affectionum curatio,edited by PierreCanivet.SC57. 2vol.Paris: Édition du Cerf, 1958 Theodoretus, Historia ecclesiastica,edited by Léon Parmentier and FelixScheidweiler.GCS 44. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1954 Theophanes, Chronographia,edited by Carl de Boor.Repr.Hildesheim: Olms, 1963 Vettius Valens, Anthologiae,edited by Wilhelm Kroll. Berlin: Weidmann, 1908 310 Bibliography
Victor Vitensis, Historia persecutionis Africanae provinciae,edited by Michael Peteschenig. CSEL 7. Vienna:Gerold, 1881 Vita Fulgentii,translated by Robert B. Eno. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1997 Vita Nicolai Sionitae,edited by Hartmut Blum.Bonn: Habelt, 1997 Vita Symeonis Stylitae Iunioris,edited by Paul van den Ven. Brussels: Societé des Bollandistes,1962 Vita Theodori,edited by André-Jean Festugière. Brussels: Societé des Bollandistes,1970 Zacharias, Ammonius sive de mundi opificio disputatio,edited by Maria Minniti Colonna. Naples: La buonastampa, 1973 Zacharias, Vita Severi,edited by Marc-Antoine Kugener.PO2.Vol. 1. Paris:Firmin-Didot, 1907 Zonaras, Epitome historiarum,edited by Theodor Büttner-Wobst. Vol. 3. Bonn: Weber,1897 Zosimus, Historia Nova,edited by François Paschoud. 3vol.Paris: Belles Lettres, 1971–89
Secondaryliterature
Albert, Gerhard. 1984. Goten in Konstantinopel. Paderborn: Schöningh Allberry,Charles R.C., ed. 1938. AManichaean Psalm-Book. Part II. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer Amand, David. 1945. Fatalisme et Liberté dans L’Antiquité Grecque. Leuven: Bibliothèque de l’Université Antoniades, Sophie. 1936. “Sur unemosaïque de Ravenne.” Mnemosyne 3:219–31 Assmann, Aleida and Jan. 1987. “Kanon undZensur.” In Kanonund Zensur.Archäologie der literarischen Kommunikation 2, edited by Aleida and Jan Assmann, 7–27.Munich: Fink Athanassiadi, Polymnia, and Michael Frede, eds. 1999. Pagan MonotheisminLateAntiquity, Oxford: Clarendon Barb, Alphons A. 1971. “Mystery, myth, and magic.” In The Legacy of Egypt,edited by James R. Harris,138–69. Oxford: Clarendon Bardon, Henry. 1952/56. La littérature latine inconnue.2vol. Paris: Klincksieck Barnes, Robert. 2004. “Cloistered bookworms in the chicken-coop of the Muses: the ancient libraryofAlexandria.” In The LibraryofAlexandria,edited by Roy MacLeod, 61–77. London: Tauris Barnes, Timothy D. 1976. “The historical setting of Prudentius’ ContraSymmachum.” AJP 97:373–86 Barnes, Timothy D. 1976b. “Three imperial edicts.” ZPE 21:275–81 Barnes, Timothy D. 2010. Early Christian Hagiographyand Roman History. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr Bauer,Walter 1958. Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament.5th ed. Berlin: Töpelmann Beeson, Charles H. 1945. “The Collectaneum of Hadoard.” Classical Philology 40:201–22 Bieler,Ludwig. 1949. “Insular palaeography: present stateand problems.” Scriptorium 3:267–94 Birt, Theodor.1913. Kritik und Hermeneutik nebstAbriß des antikenBuchwesens. Munich: Beck Bischoff,Bernhard. 1990. Latin Palaeography: Antiquity and the MiddleAges. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversityPress Secondaryliterature 311
Bischoff,Bernhard, and VirginaBrown. 1985. “Addenda to Codices Latini Antiquiores.” Mediaeval Studies 47:317–66 Bischoff,Bernhard, Virginia Brown, and James J. John. 1992. “Addenda to Codices Latini Antiquiores.” Mediaeval Studies 54:286–307 Blanck, Horst. 1992. Das Buch in der Antike. Munich: Beck Bloch, Herbert. 1963. “The pagan revival in the west at the end of the fourthcentury.” In The Conflict between Paganismand Christianity in the Fourth Century,edited by Arnaldo Momigliano,193–218. Oxford: Clarendon Bochet, Isabelle. 2005. “Maladie de l’âme et thérapeutique scripturaire selon Augustin.” In LesPères de l’Église faceàla sciencemédicale de leur temps,edited by Véronique Boudon-Millotand Bernard Pouderon, 379–99. Paris: Beauchesne Botti, Giuseppe. 1897. Fouilles àlaColonne Théodosienne. Alexandria: Carrière Bovini, Giuseppe.1957. Ravenna Mosaics. London: Rainbird Bowersock, Glen W. 1990. HellenisminLateAntiquity. Ann Arbor: UniversityofMichigan Press Bracht Branham, Robert, and Marie-Odile Goulet-Cazé, eds. 1996. The Cynics: The Cynic MovementinAntiquity and ItsLegacy. Berkeley: University of California Press Bradley,DennisR.1983. “The Rhetorici in the Confessio of Patrick.” JThS 34:536–54 Brakman, Cornelius. 1920. “Quae ratio intercedat interLucretiumetPrudentium.” Mnemosyne 48:434–48 Brändle, Rudolf.1997. “Johannes Chrysostomos.” RAC 18:426–503 Brashear,William M. 1992. “Magical papyri: magic in bookform.” In Das Buch als magisches und als Repräsentationsobjekt,edited by Peter F. Ganz, 25–57.Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Braun, René. 1990. Tertullien: ContreMarcion. Vol. 1. SC 365. Paris: Édition du Cerf Bravo,Benedetto, and Miriam Griffin. 1988. “Un frammentodel libro XI di Tito Livio?” Athenaeum 66:447–521 Bregman, Jay.1982. Synesius of Cyrene: Philosopher-Bishop. Berkeley: UniversityofCalifornia Press Brown, Peter.1967. Augustine of Hippo: ABiography. London: Faber &Faber Brown, Peter.1971. “The rise and function of the holy maninLate Antiquity.” JRS 61:80–101 Brown, Peter.1971b. The World of Late Antiquity. London: Thames &Hudson Brown, Peter.1992. Power and Persuasion in Late Antiquity: Towards aChristian Empire. Madison: University of WisconsinPress Brown, Peter.1995. Authority and the Sacred. Cambridge: CambrigdeUniversityPress Brown, Peter.2003. The Rise of Western Christendom,2nd ed. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Brown, Virginia.1968. “The ‘insular intermediary’ in the tradition of Lucretius.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 72:301–8 Brox, Norbert.1981. “Evangelium und Kulturinder Spätantike.” In Kultur als christlicher Auftrag heute,edited by Ansgar Paus,247–304.Kevelaer: Butzon &Bercker Brunt, Peter A. 1975. “Stoicismand the principate.” Papers of the BritishSchool at Rome 43:7–35 Burnam,John M., ed. 1905. Glossemata de Prudentio: Edited from the Paris and Vatican Manuscripts. Cincinnati: University Press Burrus, Virginia.1995. The Making of aHeretic: Gender,Authority and the Priscillianist Controversy. Berkeley: University of California Press Butterfield, David. 2013. The Early Textual History of Lucretius’ De rerum natura. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversityPress 312 Bibliography
Cabrol, Fernand, and Henri Leclerq. 1924. Dictionnaired’Archéologie Chrétienne et de Liturgie 6. Paris:LetouzeyetAne´ Callu,Jean-Pierre. 1981. “Dateetgenèsedupremier livre de PrudencecontreSymmaque.” REL 59:235–59 Cameron, Alan. 1965. “Palladas and Christian polemic.” JRS 55:17–30 Cameron, Alan. 1965b. “Wandering poets: aliterary movement in Byzantine Egypt.” Hist. 14:470–509 Cameron, Alan. 1969. “The lastdaysofthe Academy at Athens.” PCPS n.s. 15:7–29 Cameron, Alan. 1969b. “Theodosius the Great and the regency of Stilico.” HSCP 73:247–80 Cameron, Alan. 1977. “Paganism and literature in latefourth centuryRome.” In Christianisme et formes littéraires de l’antiquité tardive en Occident,edited by Manfred Fuhrmann, 1–30. Geneva: Fondation Hardt Cameron, Alan. 1984. “The Latin revival of the fourth century.” In Renaissances beforethe Renaissance,edited by Warrren T. Treadgold, 42–58. Stanford: StanfordUniversity Press Cameron, Alan. 1993. Barbarians and Politics at the Court of Arcadius. Berkeley: University of California Press Cameron, Alan. 1993b. The Greek Anthology: from Meleager to Planudes. Oxford: Clarendon Cameron, Alan. 2007. “Poets and pagans in Byzantine Egypt.” In Egypt in the Byzantine World,edited by Roger S. Bagnall, 21–46. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversityPress Cameron, Alan. 2011. The Last Pagans of Rome. Oxford:Oxford UniversityPress Cameron, Averil. 1985. Procopius and the Sixth Century. Berkeley: UniversityofCalifornia Press Cameron, Averil. 1991. Christianity and the Rhetoric of Empire. Berkeley: Universityof California Press Cameron, Averil. 1993. The Later Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press Cameron, Averil. 1994. “Texts as weapons: polemic in the Byzantine dark ages.” In Literacy and Power in the AncientWorld,edited by Alan K. Bowman and Greg Woolf, 198–215. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press Cameron, Averil. 2007. “Enforcing orthodoxy in Byzantium.” In Discipline and Diversity,edited by Kate Cooper and Jeremy Gregory, 1 – 24. Woodbridge: Boydell Cameron, Averil, and Stuart Hall,eds. 1999. Eusebius: Life of Constantine. Oxford: Clarendon Canfora,Luciano. 1989. The Vanished Library,translated from Italian by MartinRyle. Berkeley: University of California Press Carriker,Andrew. 2003. The LibraryofEusebius of Caesarea. Leiden: Brill Caseau, Beatrice. 2004. “The fate of rural temples in lateantiquity and the Christianisation of the countryside.” In Recent Research on the Late Antique Countryside,edited by William Bowden, LukeLavan and Carlos Machedo, 105–44. Leiden: Brill Caseau, Beatrice. 2007. “Firmicus Maternus, un astrologue converti au christianisme, ou la rhétorique du reject sans appel.”,inLa religion que j’ai quittée,edited by Daniel Tollet, 39–63. Paris:Pressesdel’UniversitéParis-Sorbonne Cavallo,Gugliemo. 1975. “Libroepubblicoallafine del mondo antico.” In Libri, editori e pubbliconel mondo antico,edited by Gugliemo Cavallo,83–132. Bari: Laterza Cavallo,Gugliemo. 1978. “La circolazione libraria nell’età di Giustiniano.” In L’imperatore Giustiniano,edited by Gian G. Archi, 201–36. Milan: Giuffrè Charles-Edwards, Thomas M. 2000. Early Christian Ireland. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press Secondaryliterature 313
Chin, Catherine M. 2005. “The grammarian’sspoils: De DoctrinaChristiana and the contexts of literary education.” In Augustine and the Disciplines,edited by KarlaPollmann and Mark Vessey,167–83. Oxford: OxfordUniversityPress Coleman-Norton, Paul R. 1930. “St. Chrysostom and the Greek philosophers.” CPh 25:305–17 Conybeare,Catherine. 2006. The Irrational Augustine. Oxford: OxfordUniversityPress Courcelle, Pierre. 1948. “Le gril de Saint Laurentaumausolée de GallaPlacidia.” CAr 3:29–39 Cramer,Frederick H. 1945. “Bookburning and censorship in ancient Rome. Achapter from the history of freedom of speech.” JHI 6:157–96 Cribiore, Raffaella. 2007. “Higher education in early Byzantine Egypt.” In Egypt in the Byzantine World,edited by Roger S. Bagnall, 47–66. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press Curran, John. 1998. “From Jovian to Theodosius.” In CAH. Vol. 13, The Later Empire AD 337–425,edited by Averil Cameron and Peter Garnsey,78–110.Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress De Faveri, Lorena. 2003. “Überlieferung.” DNP 15/3:710–13 De Jonge, Pieter.1935. Sprachlicher und Historischer Kommentar zu Ammianus Marcellinus XIV 1–7. Groningen: Wolters De Witt, Norman W. 1954. St. Paul and Epicurus. Minneapolis:University of MinnesotaPress Deichmann, Friedrich W. 1976. Ravenna: Hauptstadt des spätantikenAbendlandes. Vol. 1. Wiesbaden: Steiner Deissmann, Adolf.1895. Bibelstudien. Marburg: Elwert Delambre, JeanB.J. 1819. Histoiredel’Astronomie du Moyen Âge. Paris: Courcier DeMaris, Richard E. 1994. The Colossian Controversy. Sheffield: JSOTPress den Boeft, Jan, Jan W. Drijvers,Daniel den Hengst, and Hans C. Teitler.1995. Philological and Historical CommentaryonAmmianus Marcellinus XXII. Groningen: Forsten den Boeft, Jan, Jan W. Drijvers,Daniel den Hengst, and Hans C. Teitler.1998. Philological and Historical CommentaryonAmmianus Marcellinus XXIII,Groningen: Forsten DePalma Digeser,Elizabeth. 1998. “Lactantius, Porphyry, and the debate over religious toleration.” JRS 88:129–46. Desanti, Lucetta.1995. “Astrologi: eretici opagani? Un problema esegetico.” Atti Dell’Accademia Romanistica Costantiniana 10:687–96 DeSantis, Carla. 2000. “Prudentius’ St. Vincent: astudy of Peristephanon 5.” Studies in Latin Literatureand Roman History 10:443–63 Dickie, Matthew W. 2001. Magic and Magiciansinthe Greco-Roman World. London: Routledge Diehl, Charles. 1886. Ravenne. Paris: Rouam Diesner,Hans-Joachim. 1973. Isidor von Sevilla und seineZeit. Stuttgart: Calwer Diesner,Hans-Joachim. 1977. Isidor von Sevilla und das westgotische Spanien. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag Doer,Bruno. 1956. “Neros Menschenfackeln.” Das Altertum 2:15–28 Döpp, Siegmar.1980. “Prudentius’ Gedicht gegen Symmachus: Anlaßund Struktur.” JbAC 23:65–81 Döpp, Siegmar.1986. “Prudentius’ ContraSymmachum eine Einheit?” VigChr 40:66–82 Downing,Francis G. 1992. Cynics and Christian Origins. Edinburgh: T&T Clark Drake,Harold A.,ed. 2006. Violence in Late Antiquity. Farnham: Ashgate 314 Bibliography
Dudley,Donald R. 1937. AHistory of Cynicism:From Diogenes to the 6th CenturyAD. London: Methuen Dütschke,Hans. 1909. RavennatischeStudien. Leipzig: Engelmann Dykes, Anthony.2011. Reading Sininthe World. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press Dzielska,Maria. 1995. Hypatia of Alexandria. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press El-Abbadi, Mostafa. 1992. The Life and Fate of the AncientLibraryofAlexandria,2nd ed. Paris: UNESCO El-Abbadi, Mostafa, ed. 2008. What Happened to the AncientLibraryofAlexandria? Leiden: Brill Emmel, Stephen, ed. 2004. Shenoute’sLiteraryCorpus. Vol. 2. Leuven: Peeters Erbse, Hartmut. 1961. “Überlieferungsgeschichteder griechischen klassischen und hellenistischen Literatur.” In Geschichte der Textüberlieferung der antikenund mittelalterlichen Literatur. Vol. 1, edited by Herbert Hunger,209–307.Zurich: Atlantis Fedeli, Paolo. 1989. “Bibliotheche privateepubbliche aRomaenel mondo romano.” In Le bibliotechenel mondo anticoemedievale,edited by Guglielmo Cavallo,31–64. Bari: Laterza Fehrle, Rudolf.1986. Das Bibliothekswesen im alten Rom. Wiesbaden: Reichert Festugière, André-Jean. 1959. Antioche Païenne et Chrétienne: Libanius, Chrysostome et les moines de Syrie. Paris: de Boccard Fitzgerald, Allan D.,eds. 1999. Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Flint, Valerie. 1999. “The demonisation of magic and sorceryinLate Antiquity: Christian redefinitions of paganreligions.” In Witchcraft and Magic in Europe: AncientGreece and Rome,edited by Bengt Ankerloo and Stuart Clark, 277–348. London: Athlone Fögen, Marie Th. 1993. Die Enteignung der Wahrsager: Studienzum kaiserlichen Wissensmonopol in der Spätantike. Frankfurt a.M.: Suhrkamp Fontaine, Jacques. 1959. IsidoredeSeville et la cultureclassique dans l’Espagne Wisigothique. Paris: Études Augustiniennes Forbes, ClarenceA.1936. “Booksfor the burning.” TAPA 67:114–25 Frakes,RobertM.2001. ContraPotentium Iniurias. The Defensor Civitatis and Late Roman Justice. Munich: Beck Freeman, Charles. 2008. AD 381: Heretics, Pagans and the Christian State. London: Pimlico Fuhrer,Therese. 1997. “Die Platoniker unddie civitas dei.” In Augustinus: De civitate Dei, edited by Christoph Horn, 87–108. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag Fuhrmann, Manfred. 2005. Geschichte der römischen Literatur. Reprint. Stuttgart: Reclam Gaddis, Michael. 2005. ThereIsnoCrime for Those Who Have Christ: Religious Violencein the Christian Roman Empire. Berkeley: UniversityofCalifornia Press Gardner,Iain, and Lieu, Samuel N.C. 2004. Manichaean Textsfromthe Roman Empire. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press Garzya, Antonio, and DenisRoques, eds. 2000. Synésios de Cyrène: Correspondance. Vol. 3. Paris: Belles Lettres Gemeinhardt, Peter.2007. Das lateinische Christentum und die antikepagane Bildung. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr Gerstinger,Hans. 1948. Bestand und Überlieferung der Literaturwerke des griechisch-römischen Altertums. Graz: Kienreich Secondaryliterature 315
Gnilka, Christian. 1979. “Interpretationfrühchristlicher Natur.” In Impulse für die lateinische Lektüre, edited by Heinrich Krefeld, 138–80.Frankfurt:Hirschgraben (reprintedin Prudentiana. Vol. 2, edited by Christian Gnilka.Munich: Saur. 2001:32–90) Gnilka, Christian. 1991. “Prudentiusüber die Statueder Victoria im Senat.” FMSt 25:1–44 Gnilka, Christian. 1993. Chresis: die Methode der Kirchenväter im Umgang mit der antiken Kultur. Vol. 2. Basel: Schwabe Grafton, Anthony,and Megan H. Williams. 2006. Christianity and the Transformation of the Book: Origen, Eusebius, and the LibraryofCaesarea. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press Haas, Christopher.1997. Alexandria in Late Antiquity. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press Hagendahl, Harald. 1967. Augustine and the Latin Classics. Vol. 2. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell Hagendahl, Harald. 1983. VonTertullian zu Cassiodor:Die profane literarische Tradition in dem lateinischen christlichen Schrifttum. Göteborg: ActaUniversitatisGothoburgensis Hahn, Johannes. 2004. Gewalt und religiöser Konflikt: Studien zu den Auseinandersetzungen zwischen Christen, Heidenund Juden im Osten des RömischenReiches (von Konstantin bis Theodosius II.). Berlin: Akademie-Verlag Hahn, Johannes. 2006. “‘Vetustus error extinctus est’:Wann wurde das Sarapeion von Alexandreia zerstört?” Hist. 55:368–83 Hahn, Johannes. 2007. “Philosophen zwischen Kaiserzeit undSpätantike: Das3.Jahrhundert n.Chr.” In Crises and the Roman Empire,edited by Olivier Hekster,GerdadeKleijn and Danielle Slootjes, 397–412. Leiden: Brill Hahn, Johannes. 2008. “The conversionofthe cult statues etc.” In From Temple to Church: Destruction and Renewal of Local Cultic TopographyinLateAntiquity,edited by Johannes Hahn, Stephen Emmel and Ulrich Gotter, 335–66. Leiden: Brill Hahn, Johannes, ed. 2011. SpätantikerStaatund religiöser Konflikt. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter Haldon, John F. 1997. Byzantium in the SeventhCentury: The Transformation of aCulture.2nd ed. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press Hall,Linda J. 2004. Roman Berytus: Beirut in Late Antiquity. London: Routledge Harries, Jill. 1984. “Prudentius and Theodosius.” Latomus 43:69–84 Hartney,Aideen M. 2004. John Chrysostom and the Transformation of the City. London: Duckworth Heather,Peter J. 2005. The Fall of the Roman Empire. London: MacMillan Hedrick, CharlesW.2000. History and Silence:Purge and Rehabilitation of Memory in Late Antiquity. Austin: UniversityofTexasPress Heichelheim, Fritz M., and GeorgSchwarzenberger.1947. “An Edict of Constantine the Great.” SO 25:1–19 Henderson, John. 2007. The Medieval World of IsidoreofSeville: TruthfromWords. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press Hermanowicz, Erika T. 2008. Possidius of Calama: AStudy of the North African Episcopate in the Age of Augustine. Oxford: Oxford University Press Herren, Michael W. 1996. “Classical and secular learning among the Irishbefore the Carolingian Renaissance.” In Latin Letters in Early Christian Ireland,edited by Michael W. Herren, 1–39. Farnham: Ashgate Herrin, Judith. 2009. “Book burning as purification.” In Transformations of Late Antiquity. Essays for Peter Brown,edited by Philip Rousseauand Emmanuel Papoutsakis, 205–22. Farnham: Ashgate 316 Bibliography
Herzog, Reinhart,and Peter L. Schmidt. 1989. Handbuch der lateinischen Literatur der Antike. Vol. 5. Munich: Beck Horsfall, Nicholas. 1993. “Empty Shelves on the Palatine.” GaR 40:58–67 Houston, George W. 1988. “Arevisionarynote on AmmianusMarcellinus 14.6.18: when did the public libraries of ancient Rome close?” The LibraryQuarterly 58:258–64 Hunger,Herbert. 1961. “Antikes und Mittelalterliches Buch- und Schriftwesen.” In Geschichte der Textüberlieferung der antikenund mittelalterlichen Literatur. Vol. 1, edited by Herbert Hunger,27–147.Zurich: Atlantis Hunink,Vincent J.C. 2009. “Hating Homer,fighting Virgil: booksinAugustine’sConfessions.” In Readers and Writers in the AncientNovel,edited by Michael Paschalis, 254–67. Groningen: Barkhuis Jahn, Otto. 1851. “Über die Subscriptionen in den Handschriften römischer Classiker.” BVSAW.PH 3:327–72 Jeffrey,David L. 1996. People of the Book: Christian Identity and LiteraryCulture. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Jeffreys, Elizabeth and Michael, and Roger Scott, eds. 1986. The Chronicle of John Malalas: A Translation. Melbourne: Australian Association forByzantine Studies Johnson, AaronP.2006. Ethnicity and ArgumentinEusebius’ Praeparatio Evangelica. Oxford: Oxford University Press Jones, Arnold H.M, John R. Martindale and John Morris. 1971–1992. PLRE.3vol.Cambridge: CambridgeUniversityPress Jouassard, Georges.1957. “Cyrillv.Alexandrien.” RAC 3:499–516 Kaegi, Walter E. 1992. Byzantium and the Early Islamic Conquests. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress Kahlos, Maijastina. 2007. Debate and Dialogue: Christian and PaganCultures c. 360–430. Farnham: Ashgate Kaster,Robert A. 1997. “Geschichte der Philologie in Rom.” In Einleitung in die lateinische Philologie,edited by Fritz Graf, 3–16. Stuttgart: Teubner Keenan, James G. 1977. “Apapyrus letterabout Epicurean philosophy books.” The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal 5:91–4 Kelly, John N.D.1995. Golden Mouth: The StoryofJohn Chrysostom. London: Duckworth Kennedy,Hugh. 2007. The Great Arab Conquests. Philadelphia:DaCapo Kenney,James F.,ed. 1929. The Sources for the EarlyHistory of Ireland. New York: Columbia UniversityPress Kenyon, Frederic G. 1951. Books and Readers in AncientGreece and Rome.2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon King, Paul D. 1972. Lawand Society in the Visigothic Kingdom. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress Klein, Richard. 1981. “Kaiser Julians Rhetoren- undUnterrichtsgesetz.” RQ 76:73–94 (= Richard Klein, Roma versa per aevum. Hildesheim: Olms, 1999:128–55) Klein, Richard. 1997. “Die Bedeutungvon Basilius’ Schrift ‘Ad Adolescentes’ für die Erhaltung der heidnisch-griechischen Literatur.” RQ 92:162–76 (= RichardKlein. Roma versa per aevum. Hildesheim: Olms, 1999:617–37) Klein, Richard. 2001. “Zumpädagogischen Stellenwert der heidnischen Literatur bei den Kirchenväterndes 4. Jahrhunderts.” StPatr 34:97–110 Klingshirn, William E., and Linda Safran, eds. 2007. The Early Christian Book. Washington, DC: Catholic University of AmericaPress Secondaryliterature 317
Klopsch, Paul. 2003. “Überlieferung.” DNP 15/3:719–26 Koopmans, JacobH.1949. Augustinusʼ Briefwisseling met Dioscorus. Amsterdam: Jasonpers Krämer,Torsten. 2007. Augustinus zwischen Wahrheitund Lüge. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Krestan, Ludmilla, and AlfredHermann. 1957. “Cyprianus II (Magier).” RAC 3:467–77 Krüger,Julian. 1990. Oxyrhynchos in der Kaiserzeit. Studien zur Topographie und Literaturrezeption. Frankfurt a.M.: Lang Krumbacher,Karl.1897. Geschichte der byzantinischen Litteratur von Justinian bis zum Ende des oströmischen Reiches (527–1453). 2nd ed. Munich: Beck Kurth, Rüdiger. 2010. “Die Nagelungdes Codex Ragyndrudis.Neue Aspektezum Toddes Bonifatius.” In AMRhKG 62:9–14 Lacombrade, Christian. 1994. “Hypatia.” RAC 16:956–67 Laistner,Max L.W.1951. Christianity and PaganCultureinthe Later Roman Empire. Ithaca: CornellUniversityPress Lapidge, Michael. 2006. The Anglo-Saxon Library. Oxford: Oxford University Press Laßwitz, Kurd. 1890. Geschichte der Atomistik. Vol. 1. Hamburg: Voss Lavarenne, Maurice, ed. 1945–55. Prudence.4vol.Paris:Belles Lettres Lehmann, Paul.1959. “Cassiodorstudien.” In Erforschung des Mittelalters: Ausgewählte Abhandlungen und Aufsätze. Vol. 2, edited by Paul Lehmann, 38–108. Stuttgart: Hiersemann Leipoldt, Johannes. 1903. Schenute von Atripe und die Entstehung des national ägyptischen Christentums. Leipzig: Hinrichs Lenski, Noel. 2002. FailureofEmpire. Valens and the Roman State in the Fourth CenturyA.D. Berkeley: University of California Press Lenski, Noel. 2006. “Servi publiciinLate Antiquity.” In Die Stadtinder Spätantike: Niedergang oder Wandel?,edited by Jens-Uwe Krause and Christian Witschel, 335–57. Stuttgart: Steiner Lenski, Noel, ed. 2006b. The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversityPress Lenski, Noel. 2007. “The chronology of Valens’ dealings withPersiaand Armenia, 364–378 CE.” In Ammianus after Julian,edited by Jan den Boeft. Leiden: Brill Leppin, Hartmut. 2003. Theodosius der Große. Darmstadt: WBG Lewis, Naphtali. 1989. Papyrus in Classical Antiquity: ASupplement. Brussels: Fondation Égyptologique Reine Élisabeth Leyerle, Blake.2001. Theatrical Shows and Ascetic Lives: John Chrysostom’sAttack on Spiritual Marriage. Berkeley: UniversityofCalifornia Press Liebeschuetz, John H.W.G. 2001. Decline and Fall of the RomanCity. Oxford: Oxford University Press Liebs, Detlef.1995. “Die pseudopaulinischen Sentenzen.Versuch einer neuen Palingenesie.” ZRG 112:151–71 Lietzmann, Hans. 1916. “Ioannes Chrysostomos.” RE 9:1811–28 Lieu, Samuel N.C. 1992. Manichaeism in the Later RomanEmpire and MedievalChina.2nd revised edition. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr Lotz, Almuth. 2005. Der Magiekonflikt in der Spätantike. Bonn: Habelt Lowden, John. 1997. Early Christian and Byzantine Art. London: Phaidon Lowe, EliasA.1972. “Codices rescripti: alistofthe oldest Latin palimpsests with stray observations on their origin.” In Palaeographical Papers: 1907–1965. Vol. 2, edited by 318 Bibliography
Elias A. Lowe, 480–519. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press(=Studi eTesti 235, 1964:67–113) Luijendijk, AnneMarie. 2010. “Sacred Scriptures as trash: biblicalpapyri from Oxyrhynchus.” VigChr 64:217–54 Maas, Michael. 1992. John Lydus and the Roman Past: Antiquarianismand Politics in the Age of Justinian. London: Routledge Maaz, Wolfgang. 1988. “Metempsychotica mediaevalia.” In Psyche – Seele – Anima,edited by Jens Holzhausen, 385–416. Stuttgart:Teubner MacCormack, Sabine. 1998. The Shadows of Poetry: Vergil in the Mind of Augustine. Berkeley: University of California Press MacFarlane, Katherine N. 1980. “IsidoreofSeville on the pagangods(OriginesVIII.11).” TAPA n.s. 70:1–40 Mackie, Gillian. 1990. “New light on the so-called St Lawrencepanel at the mausoleumof GallaPlacidia in Ravenna.” Gesta 29:54–60 Mackie, Gillian. 2002. EarlyChristian Chapels in the West: Decoration, Function, and Patronage. Toronto: UniversityofToronto Press MacMullen, Ramsay.1984. Christianizing the RomanEmpire. New Haven: Yale University Press Magoulias,HarryJ.1964. “The lives of the saints as sources of data forthe historyof Byzantine medicine in the sixth and seventh centuries.” ByZ 57:127–50 Magoulias,HarryJ.1967. “The Lives of Byzantine saints as sources of datafor the history of magic in the sixth and seventh centuriesAD: sorcery,relics and icons.” Byz. 37:228–69 Mai, Angelo,ed. 1815. Q. Aurelii Symmachi octo orationum ineditarum partes. Milan: Regiis typis Maier,Barbara.1985. Philosophie und römisches Kaisertum: Studienzuihren wechselseitigen Beziehungeninder Zeit von Caesar bis MarcAurel. Vienna VWGÖ Maier,Jean-Louis,ed. 1987. Le dossier du donatisme. Vol. 1. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag Malamud, Martha A. 1989. APoetics of Transformation: Prudentius and Classical Mythology. Ithaca: CornellUniversity Press Malcolm Errington, Robert.1997. “Christian accounts of the religious legislation of Theodosius I.” Klio 79:398–443 Malingrey,Anne-Marie. 1961. “Philosophia”:étude d’un groupedemotsdans la littérature grecque,des Présocratiques au IVesiècle après J.-C. Paris: Klincksieck Malley,William J. 1978. Hellenismand Christianity: The Conflict between Hellenic and Christian Wisdom in the ContraGalilaeos of Julian the Apostate and the ContraJulianum of St. Cyril of Alexandria. Rome:UniversitàGregoriana Mango, Cyril. 2002. “The RevivalofLearning.” In The OxfordHistory of Byzantium,edited by Cyril Mango, 214–29. Oxford: Clarendon Markschies, Christoph. 2002. “Lehrer, Schüler,Schule: ZurBedeutung einer Institution für das antikeChristentum.” In Religiöse Vereineinder römischen Antike,edited by Ulrike Egelhaaf-Gaiser and Alfred Schäfer, 97–120.Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr Martin, Jean, ed. 1988. Libanios: Discours. Vol. 2. Paris: BellesLettres Mastrangelo, Marc. 2008. The Roman Self in Late Antiquity: Prudentius and the Poetics of the Soul. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UniversityPress Maxwell, JaclynL.2006. Christianization and Communication in Late Antiquity.John Chrysostom and his Congregation in Antioch. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversityPress Secondaryliterature 319
Mayer, Wendy.2005. The HomiliesofStJohn Chrysostom – Provenance. Rome:Pontificio IstitutoOrientale Mayer, Wendy,and Pauline Allen, eds. 2000. John Chrysostom. London: Routledge Mayor, John E.B. 2007. Thirteen Satires of Juvenal. Vol. 2, newly introducedbyJohn Henderson, originally published in 1881. Exeter:BristolPhoenixPress Mazza, Roberta. 2007. “P. Oxy. XI, 1384: medicina, rituali di guarigione ecristianesimi nell’ Egitto tardoantico.” ASEs 24/2:437–62 McCrank, Larence J. 1994. “Medieval Libraries.” In Encyclopedia of LibraryHistory,edited by Donald G. Davis and WayneA.Wiegand. New York: Garland McKenzie, Judith S. 2007. “The placeinlateantique Alexandria ‘wherealchemists and scholarssit (…)was likestairs’.” In Alexandria: Auditoria of Kom-el-Dikka and Late Antique education,edited by Tomasz Derda, Tomasz Markiewiczand Ewa Wipszycka, 53–83. Warsaw:Fundacja im. Rafala Taubenschlaga Meeks, WayneA., and RobertL.Wilken, eds. 1978. Jews and Christians in Antioch in the First Four Centuries of the Common Era. Missoula, MT: Society of Biblical Literature Meier,Mischa.2003. Das andereZeitalter Justinians. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck &Ruprecht Merrills, Andrew H. 2005. History and GeographyinLateAntiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress Mojsov,Bojana.2010. Alexandria Lost: Fromthe AdventofChristianity to the Arab Conquest. London: Duckworth Moss, Candida R. 2010. The Other Christs:Imitating Jesus in AncientChristian Ideologiesof Martyrdom. Oxford: OxfordUniversityPress Müller,Lucian. 1866. “Sammelsurien.” NJPP 93:385–400 Mullett, Margaret. 1990. “Writing in early mediaeval Byzantium.” In The Uses of Literacy in Early Mediaeval Europe,edited by Rosamond McKitterick, 156–85. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversityPress(=Margaret Mullett. ed. Letters, Literacy and Literaturein Byzantium. Farnham: Ashgate, 2007) Mynors,Roger A.B. 1937. CassiodoriSenatoris Institutiones. Oxford:Clarendon Naddaff,RamonaA.2002. Exiling the Poets: The Production of Censorship in Plato’s Republic. Chicago: University of ChicagoPress Neumann, Karl J. 1880. Iuliani imperatoris librorum contraChristianos quae supersunt. Leipzig: Teubner Newton, RobertR.1977. The Crime of Claudius Ptolemy. Baltimore:Johns Hopkins University Press Noethlichs, Karl L. 1986. “Heidenverfolgung.” RAC 13:1149–90 Norden, Eduard.1910. “Die römische Literatur.” In Einleitung in die Altertumswissenschaft. Vol. 1, edited by Alfred Gercke and Eduard Norden, 451–588. Leipzig: Teubner Nordström, Carl-Otto. 1953. Ravennastudien. Stockholm: Almqvist &Wiksell Norman, AlbertF., ed. 2000. Antioch as aCentreofHellenic CultureasObserved by Libanius. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press O’Brien, Michael A.,ed. 1962. Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae. Vol. 1. Dublin: Inst. for advanced Studies O’Donnell, James J. 1975. Cassiodorus: Statesmanand Historian. Ann Arbor: microfilm48106 O’Donnell, James J. 1992. Augustine: Confessions. Vol. 2, Commentaryonbooks1–7. Oxford: Clarendon O’Donnell, James J. 2005. Augustine: ANew Biography. New York: Ecco 320 Bibliography
O’Leary,Aideen. 1996. “An Irishapocryphalapostle: Muirchú’sportrayalofSaint Patrick.” HTR 89:287–301 Ogilvie, RobertM.1978. The LibraryofLactantius. Oxford: Clarendon Opitz, Hans-Georg, ed. 1934. Athanasius: Werke. Vol. 3,1. Berlin: WalterdeGruyter Pagels, Elaine H. 1982. The Gnostic Gospels. Harmondsworth: Penguin Palmer,Anne-Marie. 1989. Prudentius on the Martyrs. Oxford: Clarendon Papadogiannakis, Yannis. 2012. Christianity and Hellenisminthe Fifth-CenturyGreek East. Washington,DC: Harvard University Press Parsons,Edward A. 1951. The Alexandrian Library. London: Cleaver-Hume Passanante, Gerard P. 2011. The Lucretian Renaissance: Philology and the Afterlife of Tradition. Chicago: UniversityofChicago Press Pearson, Birger A. 1973. The Pneumatikos-Psychikos Terminologyin1Corinthians. Missoula, MT: SocietyofBiblicalLiterature Peeters, Paul. 1941. “La vie géorgienne de saint PorphyredeGaza.” AnBoll 59:65–216 Pellizer,Ezio.2000. “Formes du rireenGrèce Antique.” In Le riredes Grecs,edited by Marie-Laurence Desclos, 45–55. Grenoble: Millon Pervo, RichardI.2009. Acts: ACommentary. Philadelphia:Fortress Peters,Edward. 1985. Torture. Oxford: Blackwell Petit, Paul. 1955. Libanius et la vie municipale àAntioche. Paris: Geuthner Pharr,Clyde. 1932. “The interdiction of magic in Romanlaw.” TAPA 63:269–95 Pöhlmann, Egert. 1994. Einführung in die Überlieferungsgeschichte und in die Textkritik der antikenLiteratur. Vol. 1. Darmstadt: WBG Pollmann, Karla. 1996. Doctrina Christiana. Fribourg:Universitätsverlag Prinz, Friedrich. 1980. Askese und Kultur: Vor- und frühbenediktinischesMönchtum an der Wiege Europas. Munich: Beck Prinz, Friedrich. 2000. VonKonstantin zu Karl dem Großen. Düsseldorf: Artemis&Winkler Prinz, Friedrich. 2004. “Vonden geistigen Anfängen Europas: Der Kulturtransfer zwischen christlicher Spätantike und Frühmittelalter.” In Akkulturation,edited by Dieter Hägermann,WolfgangHaubrichs and JörgJarnut, 1–17.Berlin: WalterdeGruyter Prostmeier, Ferdinand R. 2005. “Christliche Paideia. Die Perspektive Theodorets von Kyrrhos.” RQ 100:1–29 Queller,Donald E., and Thomas F. Madden. 1997. The Fourth Crusade,2nd ed. Philadelphia: UniversityofPennsylvania Press Radermacher,Ludwig, ed. 1927. Griechische Quellen zur Faustsage: Der Zauberer Cyprianus, Die Erzählung des Helladius, Theophilus. Vienna:Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky Rapp, Claudia. 2001. “Mark the Deacon,LifeofSt. Porphyry of Gaza.” In Medieval Hagiography: An Anthology,edited by Thomas Head,53–75. London: Routledge Regazzoni, Pia. 1928. “Il ContraGalileos dell’imperatore Giuliano eilcontraJulianumdiSan CirilloAlessandrino.” Did. 6:1–114 Reitzenstein,Richard. 1917. “Cyprian der Magier.” Nachrichten von der Kgl. Ges. d. Wiss. zu Göttingen 1:38–79 Reynolds, LeightonD., ed. 1977. L. AnnaeiSenecae Dialogi. Oxford: Clarendon Reynolds, LeightonD., and Peter K. Marshall. 1983. Textsand Transmission: ASurvey of the Latin Classics. Oxford: Oxford University Press Reynolds, Leigthon D.,and Nigel G. Wilson. 1991. Scribes and scholars: AGuide to the Transmission of Greek and Latin Literature.3rd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Secondaryliterature 321
Richard, Marcel. 1980. “La recherche des texteshier et demain.” In Griechische Kodikologie und Textüberlieferung,edited by Dieter Harlfinger,3–13. Darmstadt: WBG Riedinger,Utto. 1956. Die Heilige Schrift im Kampfder griechischen Kirche gegen die Astrologie: von Origenes bis Johannesvon Damaskos. Studien zur Dogmengeschichte und zur Geschichte der Astrologie. Innsbruck: Wagner Rike,Roy L. 1987. Apex Omnium. Religion in the Res Gestae of Ammianus. Berkeley: UniversityofCalifornia Press Rist, John M. 1965. “Hypatia.” Phoe. 19:214–25 Roberts, Colin H. 1963. Buried Books in Antiquity. London: Libr.Assoc. Roberts, Colin H., and TheodoreC.Skeat. 1983. The Birth of the Codex. Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress Roberts, Lucy G. 1918. “The Gallic fireand Romanarchives.” In MAAR 2:55–65 Roberts, Michael J. 1993. Poetry and the Cult of the Martyrs: The “Liber Peristephanon” of Prudentius. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press Robinson, Olivia F. 2007. Penal Practiceand Penal Policy in AncientRome. London: Routledge Rohmann, Dirk. 2003. “Das langsame Sterben der Veterum CulturaDeorum: Pagane Kulte bei Prudentius.” Hermes 131:235–53 Rohmann, Dirk. 2013. “Book burning as conflict management in the Roman Empire(213 BCE – 200 CE).” AncSoc 43:115–49 Roth, C.E. 1978. “Some observations on the historical background of the ‘HispericaFamina’.” Ériu 29:112–22 Rougé, Jean, and Roland Delmaire,ed. 2009. Leslois religieuses des empereurs Romainsde Constantin àThéodose II (312–438). Code ThéodosienI–XV,Code Justinien, Constitutions Sirmondiennes. SC 531. Paris: Édition du Cerf Rüdiger,Horst. 1961. “Die Wiederentdeckungder antiken LiteraturimZeitalter der Renaissance.” In Geschichte der Textüberlieferung der antiken und mittelalterlichen Literatur. Vol. 1, edited by Herbert Hunger,513–76. Zurich:Atlantis Russell,Jeffrey B. 1964. “Saint Bonifaceand the Eccentrics.” CH 33:235–47 Rzach, Alois.1923. “Sibyllinische Orakel.” RE II A2:2105–17 Salzman, Michele R. 2002. The Making of aChristian Aristocracy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UniversityPress Sandwell, Isabella.2007. Religious Identity in Late Antiquity: Greeks, Jews and Christians in Antioch. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversityPress Sarefield, Daniel C. 2004. Burning knowledge:Studies of Bookburning in AncientRome. PhD diss. Ohio State University2004 Sarefield, Daniel C. 2006. “Bookburning in the Christian RomanEmpire: transforming a paganriteofpurification.” In ViolenceinLateAntiquity, edited by Harold A. Drake, 287–96. Farnham: Ashgate Sarefield, Daniel C. 2007. “The symbolics of bookburning: the establishment of aChristian ritual of persecution.” In The Early Christian Book,edited by William E. Klingshirn and Linda Safran, 159–73. Washington, DC: Catholic University of AmericaPress Sauer,Eberhard. 2003. The ArchaeologyofReligious Hatred in the Roman and Early Medieval World. Stroud: Tempus Schäferdiek, Knut. 1996. Schwellenzeit. Beiträge zur Geschichte des Christentums in Spätantike und Frühmittelalter. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter Schatkin, Margaret A.,ed. 1967. Critical Edition of,and Introduction to St. John Chrysostom’s “De Sancto Babyla, ContraIulianum et Gentiles”. Ann Arbor: microfilm 322 Bibliography
Schatkin, Margaret A.,and Paul W. Harkins, eds. 1985. SaintJohn Chrysostom Apologist. Washington,DC: The Catholic UniversityofAmericaPress Schindel,Ulrich. 2003. “Der Beruf des Grammaticus in der Spätantike.” In Leitbild Wissenschaft?,edited by Jürgen Dummer and Meinolf Vielberg, 173–89. Stuttgart: Steiner Schipke, Renate. 2013. Das Buch in der Spätantike,Wiesbaden: Reichert Schissel, Otmor.1930. “Marinos.” RE 14:1759–67 Schlange-Schöningen, Heinrich.1995. Kaisertum und Bildungswesen im spätantiken Konstantinopel. Stuttgart: Steiner Schmid, Wolfgang.1962. “Epikur.” RAC 5:681–819 Schouler,Bernard. 1984. La tradition hellénique chez Libanios. Vol. 2. Paris: Belles Lettres Schweizer,Eduard,Anastasios Kallis, Pieter G. vander Nat, and C. Detlef G. Müller.1976. “Geister(Dämonen):C.Christlich.” RAC 9:688–798 Shanzer, DanutaR.1985. “Merely aCynic gesture?” Rivista di filologia classica 113:61–6 Shanzer, DanutaR.1989. “Allegoryand reality: Spes, Victoria and the date of Prudentius’ Psychomachia.” Illinois Classical Studies 14:347–63 Shauf,Scott.2005. TheologyasHistory,History as Theology: PaulinEphesus in Acts19. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter Simonetti, Manlio. 1956. “Unaredazionepoco conosciuta della passione di S. Vincenzo.” RivAC 32:219–41 Siniossoglou, Niketas. 2008. Plato and Theodoret: The Christian Appropriation of Platonic Philosophyand the Hellenic Intellectual Resistance. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press Smith, Martin F.,ed. 1993. Diogenes of Oenoanda: The Epicurean Inscription. Naples: Bibliopolis Sorabij, Richard. 1983. Time, Creation and the Continuum. London: Duckworth Speyer,Wolfgang.1970. “Büchervernichtung.” JbAC 13:123–51 (= RAC Suppl. 10, 2003:171–233) Speyer,Wolfgang.1981. Büchervernichtung und Zensur des Geistes bei Heiden, Juden und Christen. Stuttgart: Hiersemann Speyer,Wolfgang.1992. “Das Buch als magisch-religiöser Kraftträger im griechischen und römischen Altertum.” In Das Buch als magischesund als Repräsentationsobjekt,edited by Peter Ganz, 59–86. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Steidle,Wolf.1971. “Die dichterische Konzeption des Prudentius und das Gedicht Contra Symmachum.” VigChr 25:241–81 Stein, Ernest. 1968. Histoiredubas-empire. Vol. 2. Amsterdam: Hakkert Stock, Brian. 1996. Augustine the Reader. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press Stroumsa,Guy G. 2009. The End of Sacrifice. Chicago: UniversityofChicago Press Strzygowski, Josef.1915. “Ravenna als Vorort aramäischer Kunst.” OrChr n.s. 5:83–110 Tiersch, Claudia. 2002. Johannes Chrysostomus in Konstantinopel. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr Tilley,Maureen A.,ed. 1996. DonatistMartyr Stories. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press Tjäder,Jan-Olof,ed. 1954–82. Die nichtliterarischen lateinischen Papyri Italiens aus der Zeit 445–700. 3vol.Lund: Gleerup Tränkle, Hermann, 1999. “Der Brunnen im Atriumder Petersbasilikaund der Zeitpunkt von Prudentius’ Romaufenthalt.” ZAC 3:97–112 Tränkle, Hermann, ed. 2008. ContraSymmachum =Gegen Symmachus. Turnhout: Brepols Secondaryliterature 323
Treu, Kurt.1958. Synesios von Kyrene. Ein Kommentar zu seinem “Dion.” Berlin: Akademie-Verlag Trombley,Frank R. 1985. “Paganism in the Greek world at the end of antiquity: the case of rural Anatolia and Greece.” HTR 78:327–52 Trombley,Frank R. 1995. Hellenic Religion and Christianization c. 370–529. 2vol.2nd edition. Leiden: Brill VanDam, Raymond. 1986. “‘Sheep in wolvesclothing’:the letters of Consentius to Augustine.” JEH 37:515–35 VandePaverd, Frans.1991. St. John Chrysostom, the Homilies on the Statues: An Introduction. Rome: Pontificium Institutum Studiorum Orientalium Vanden Broek, Roelof.1972. The Myth of the Phoenix according to Classical and Early Christian Traditions. Leiden: Brill VanOort, Johannes. 1991. Jerusalem and Babylon: AStudyinto Augustine’sCityofGod and the Sourcesofhis Doctrine of the TwoCities. Leiden: Brill Vinzent, Markus. 2000. “HalbeHeiden – doppelteChristen: die FestbriefeKyrillsvon Alexandrien und die Datierung seines Werkes ContraIulianum.”,InChristen und Nichtchristen in der Spätantike,Neuzeit und Gegenwart,edited by Angelika Dörfler-Dierken, 41–60.Mandelbachtal: Ed.Cicero Voicu, Sever J. 1997. “Johannes ChrysostomusII(Pseudo-Chrysostomica).” RAC 18:503–15 Volk,Robert, ed. 2009. Die Schriften des Johannesvon Damaskos VI/1: Historia animae utilis de Barlaam et Ioasaph (spuria). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter VonAlbrecht, Michael. 1994. Geschichte der römischen Literatur.2vol. 2nd ed. Munich: Saur Vössing, Konrad. 1994. “Die öffentlichen Bibliotheken in Africa.” In L’Africa romana 10.1, edited by Attilio Mastino and Paola Ruggeri, 169–83. Sassari: Carocci Vössing, Konrad. 1997. “Bibliothek.” DNP 2:640–47 Vössing, Konrad. 2008. “Alexandria und die Suche nachden antiken Universitäten.” In Aspetti della scuola nel mondo Romano.Atti del convegno,edited by FrancoBellandi and Rolando Ferri, 221–51.Amsterdam: Hakkert Wallraff, Martin. 2011. “Die antipaganen Maßnahmen Konstantins in der Darstellung des Euseb vonKaisareia.” In SpätantikerStaatund religiöser Konflikt, edited by Johannes Hahn, 7–18. Berlin: WalterdeGruyter Walsh, Peter G. 1988. “The rights and wrongs of curiosity (Plutarch to Augustine).” GaR 35: 73–85 Ward, John O. 2000. “Alexandria and its medieval legacy: the book, the monk and the rose.” In The LibraryofAlexandria,edited by Roy MacLeod, 163–79. London: Tauris Ward-Perkins, Bryan. 2005. The Fall of Rome and the EndofCivilisation. Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress Ward-Perkins, Bryan. 2011. “The end of the temples: an archaeological problem.” In SpätantikerStaat und religiöser Konflikt,edited by Johannes Hahn, 187–99. Berlin: WalterdeGruyter Watts, Edward J. 2004. “Justinian, Malalas, and the end of Athenian philosophical teaching in AD 529.” JRS 94:168–82 Watts, Edward J. 2005. “Winning the IntracommunalDialogues: Zacharias Scholasticus’ Life of Severus.” JECS 13:437–64 Watts, Edward J. 2006. City and School in Late Antique Athens and Alexandria. Berkeley: UniversityofCalifornia Press 324 Bibliography
Weiss, Alexander.2004. Sklaveder Stadt. Untersuchungen zur öffentlichen Sklaverei in den Städten des RömischenReiches. Stuttgart: Steiner Wendel, Carl. 1942. “Die erste kaiserliche Bibliothek in Konstantinopel.” ZfB 59:193–209 (= Carl Wendel, Kleine Schriften zum antikenBuch und Bibliothekswesen,46–63. Cologne: Greven, 1974) Wendel, Carl. 1954. “Bibliothek.” RAC 2:231–46 Werner,Thomas.2007. Den Irrtum liquidieren: Bücherverbrennungen im Mittelalter. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck &Ruprecht White, Carolinne. 1992. Christian Friendship in the Fourth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress Wiebe, Franz J. 1995. Kaiser Valens und die heidnische Opposition. Bonn: Habelt Wiesmann, Hermann, ed. 1953. Sinuthii Archimandritaevita et operaomnia. Vol. 3. Leuven: Secre´tariat du CorpusSCO Wilken, RobertL.1983. John Chrysostom and the Jews: Rhetoric and Reality in the late 4th Century. Berkeley: University of California Press Wilkinson, KevinW.2009. “Palladas and the ageofConstantine.” JRS 99:36–60 Wilkinson, KevinW.2012. New Epigrams of Palladas: AFragmentary Papyrus Codex (P.CtYBR inv. 4000). Durham,NC: American Society of Papyrologists Williams, Megan H. 2006. The Monkand the Book: Jerome and the Making of Christian Scholarship. Chicago: UniversityofChicagoPress Wilson, Nigel G. 1980. “The libraries of the Byzantine world.” In Griechische Kodikologie und Textüberlieferung,edited by Dieter Harlfinger,276–309. Darmstadt: WBG (= Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 8, 1967:53–80) Winter,Erich. 1991. “Hieroglyphen.” RAC 15:83–103 Wipszycka, Ewa. 1970. “Les confréries dans la vie religieuse de l’Egypte chrétienne.” In Proceedings of the Twelfth International CongressofPapyrology,edited by Deborah H. Samuel, 511–25. Toronto: Hakkert Witschel, Christian. 1999. Krise, Rezession, Stagnation? Der Westen des römischen Reiches im 3. Jahrhundert n.Chr. Frankfurt a.M.: Clauss Young, Dwight W. 1981. “Amonastic invectiveagainst Egyptian hieroglyphs.” In Studies Presented to Hans Jakob Polotsky,edited by Dwight W. Young,348–60.BeaconHill: Pirtle &Polson Ziebarth, Erich, ed. 1913. Aus der antikenSchule. Bonn: Marcus und Weber Zuccotti, Ferdinando. 1992. “Furor Haereticorum”: Studi sulTrattamento Giuridicodella Follia esulla Persecuzionedella Eterodossia Religiosa nella Legislazione del TardoImpero Romano. Milan: Giuffrè Index of persons
Adrastus of Cyzicus82 186, 191, 223–8, 237,254, 256, 258, Aelius Donatus 280 273, 275, 287–8, 292, 298 Agape 29 Augustus 26, 32, 94, 242 Alaric 75, 204,282 Aulus Gellius 78–9, 244, 293 Alban 277 Aurelian248, 250 Aldhelm of Malmesbury267,271–2 Ausonius 218 Amantius 104–107 Ambrose of Milan 69 Basil of Caesarea 57,115, 125, 209, 220 AmmianusMarcellinus 16, 43, 54–5, Basilides 117 65–8, 70, 79, 110,143, 199, 212–14, Basiliscus 259 217,236–7, 240,242, 244, 249–50, Bassianus 66 286 Bede 112 Anaxagoras 2, 67,120,156, 166–8, 173 Benedict of Nursia 98 Anaximander 120,176, 194–5 Boethius 216 Anaximenes 39, 120,166–8, 176, 181 Boniface273–6 Ansgar 277 Bruno, Giordano 156 Anthemius 99 Buddha 141 Antiochus of Athens 167 Antisthenes 59, 176 Caesarius of Arles 263 Antistius Labeo 180 Callimachus 10 Antony 43, 298 Callinicus 133 Aphthonius of Antioch 246 Cassiodorus 216–17,257,291 Apollinaris100 Cassius Dio 77–8, 244 Apollonius of Rhodes 10 Catiline 73 Apollonius of Tyana 32, 145 Celsus 7, 44 Apuleius 86 Charlemagne 269, 271, 280 Arcadius71, 76, 241 Chione 29 Arcesilaus 120,169 Chrysaorius of Tralles 128, 130 Archilochus 56 Cicero5,30, 73, 82, 85–6, 112, 152, 165– Aristippus of Cyrene 176 170,173, 220–21, 225–27,230,235, Aristotle 9, 95, 118, 120–21, 154, 189, 193, 253, 292–3 195, 203, 251, 276, 300 Claudius Gothicus 249 Arnobius of Sicca 30, 36, 143, 155, 162–3 Claudius Ptolemy 255 Artemon 9 Clement of Alexandria 59 Asclepiades 245 Cluvius Rufus 10 AsclepiodotusofHeliopolis-Baalbek 128, Consentius 76, 225 131 Constans 54, 241 Asclepius 32 Constantine 13, 16, 19, 24, 26, 30–34, 36– Asterius 34 40,42, 53–5, 59, 61, 63, 70, 76, 109, Athanasius(brother of Paralius) 131 193, 230, 241, 247–8, 250, 283 AthanasiusofAlexandria 56, 72, 161–2 Constantine of Beirut (lawyer) 126, 128 Augustine of Hippo 16–18, 20–21, 72, Constantius II 54–6, 210,233 76–7, 80–82, 84, 86, 88–91, 110, Constantius III 92 121–3, 141–2, 150,156–8, 163–84, Cynegius 70–71 326 Index of persons
Cyprian of Antioch 51,89, 138–41 Eusebius of Caesarea 9, 11, 24, 29–33, 36, Cyprian of Carthage140 38–40,53, 61,154,176,216,249, Cyril of Alexandria 18, 21, 46–7, 59–60, 282–3 82–4, 87–8, 121, 135–6, 146, 193–5, Eutyches 100 221–3, 233–4, 250–51 Cyrus of Panopolis94 Firmicus Maternus 143 Flavius Josephus 12 Damascius 96, 204 Fronto 7, 230, 292–3 Damasus of Rome 280 Fulgentius of Ruspe 235 Datianus 50 Fundanus 90 Decius 138 Democritus 39, 44–5, 79, 166, 193, 285, Galen 9 300 Galerius 27–8, 30, 37 Demosthenes 8 Galileo Galilei 156 Desiderius of Vienna 279 GallaPlacidia 48 DiagorasofMelos 201 Gargilius Martialis 292 Diocletian16, 26–9, 31, 33, 53, 60,116, George of Cappadocia 56–7 140,165, 192, 282 George of Thessalonike 127–8 Diogenes Laertius 152 Georgios Kedrenos 95 Diogenes of Sinope 193 Georgios Synkellos 78, 126 Dion of Naples 82 GesiusofPaphos 135 Dionysius of Sicily 67 Gibbon, Edward 5, 251 Dioscorus 86, 88, 142, 163–9, 173–4, 176, Granius Licinianus 292 179, 181 Gratian 185 Domitian 25, 77–8, 244 GregoryIII 273 Dukas 260 GregoryofNazianzus 24, 57–9, 131–2, Dungal 269, 271 140,198 GregoryofTours278–9 Ealdredus 277 Gregorythe Great 12, 243, 279, 293 Eco, Umberto 266 Einstein, Albert156 Hadrian 239–41 Empedocles 34, 40, 60, 160, 193–5, 254 Heahfrith 272 Epicurus 20,39, 41, 56, 90, 151–4, 156, Heliodorus 143 162, 173–4, 177,181–2, 184, 193, 216 Heraclitus 39 Epiphanius of Salamis27, 34, 89, 116, Herculian 254–5 248–50 Hermogenes 140–41, 265 Eucherius of Lyon 233 Hesiod 222 Euclid 95, 293 Hilarion 250 Eudocia 139 Hippocrates 285 Eugenius 75, 230 Hippolytus of Rome 25 Eunapius 240,244 Hipponax 56 Eunomius of Cyzicus 76 Hody,Humphrey 260 Euripides 59 Homer 55, 59, 67,222, 226, 234–5, 252, Eusebius (consul) 66 282 Eusebius (presbyter) 139 Honorius 48, 70–71, 75–6, 230, 241 Horace92, 184, 221 Horapollon 131, 245 Index of persons 327
Hypatia of Alexandria 216, 238, 249–55, Justin Martyr 160 260 Justina139–40 Hypatius (abbot) 133 Justinian 17,21, 48, 64, 96–102, 107–8, Hypatius (consul) 66 110,134, 146, 149–50, 154, 156, 231, 256, 297,300 Iamblichus 172 Juvenal 214, 218, 293 Illus94 Juvencus 228 Innocent of Rome 258 Ioasaph 141 Kant, Immanuel 156 Irenaeus of Lyons160, 216 Irene29–30 Lactantius 10,19, 24, 35–38, 40,53, 61, Isaiah 146 67,88, 90,155, 162–3, 170 IsidoreofAlexandria 95–6, 251 Lawrence48–50 IsidoreofSeville 155, 234, 262, 270, Leo 99 281–8, 290–91, 294 Leo III 259 Isocasius 94 Leo the Great 116 Iulius Festus Hymetius 67 Leontius 127–129 Iulius Paulus Libanius 8, 156, 199–200,209–13, 236–7, 246 James the apostle 140,265 Licinius 39, 70 Jerome 36, 78–9, 153, 155, 167,198–9, Livy 10,215, 243, 275, 290–94 216–21, 229, 237,246, 249–50, 279– Locru264 80,282–3 Loegaire265 Jesus 33, 72–3, 100,112, 115, 118, 136, Longinus 9 145, 157–9, 161, 170,172, 185, 197,202, Lucan285, 289–90, 292–3 216, 220–21, 268 Lucetmail 265 John (author of the Gospel) 202 Lucian 14, 90 John (grammarian) 266 Lucianus 138 John Chrysostom 15, 18–20,24, 40–48, Lucifer of Cagliari 233 68, 80,87–8, 116–18, 120–21, 134, Lucretius 20, 141, 155–6, 174, 180,182, 142, 144–5, 171, 174, 179, 186–93, 184–5, 189, 269–71, 275, 284, 293–5 198–209, 211–12, 222, 235–6, 242, 248 Macrobius 154, 214–15 John Foulon 125–7, 129, 147 Mai, Angelo 229, 267 John Malalas94–5, 98, 107–8 Malchus 258 John of Antioch 239–40 Manethon 126 John of Damascus259 Marcellus of Ancyra 34 John of Ephesus 108 Marcian100 John of Nikiou 250–51 Marcianus 138, 153 John of Salisbury 243 Marcion2,20, 34, 117–18, 185, 283 John the Lydian 156 Marcus Aurelius 152 Jovian 59, 64, 238–240,260 Marinus of Neapolis95–6 Julian 7, 9, 21, 24, 42, 54–60, 64–5, 79, Marius Maximus 214 82–3, 117,154, 194–5, 204,233–4, Marius Victorinus 154 238–243, 250, 258 Martial 3, 10 Julian of Toledo 234 Martianus Capella 21, 278–9 Julius Caesar 243–4, 246, 265, 289 Martyrius127 328 Index of persons
Marx, Karl 156 Paulinus of Nola 182, 229 Maurianus 95 Peisistratus 282 Maxentius 31 Pelagius 94–5, 259 Maximian 26, 29 Peter the apostle 220,233 Maximus 230 Philipp 51 – 2 Maximus of Madaura 254 Philo 30 Maximus (philosopher) 65 PhilodemusofGadara152 Maximus (urban prefect) 32 Philolaus 120 Melissus of Samos 120 Philoponus, John 255 Menander 59, 235 Philostorgius 240 Metrodorus of Lampsacus 193 Photius 96, 101 Michael the Syrian 108 Plato3,5,20–21, 39, 45–7, 80, 83–4, 88, Minucius Felix113 94–5, 118, 120–21, 150–51, 159, 161, Modestus 64–5 172, 180,193–5, 200–204,218, 226, Montanus 33 237,251,286, 296, 300 Moses 21, 87–8, 184, 193–195, 264 Plautus 220 Muirchú 264–5 Pliny the Elder 8, 10,24 Pliny the Younger 11–12, 50, 292–3 Nero117,257,285 Plotinus 60, 154, 172, 251 Nestorius 101, 115–17 Plutarch 39, 86, 193 Newton, Isaac 156 PoggioBracciolini 156 NicholasI 276 Polemon of Athens 169 NicholasV 260 Polycarp 126–7 NicholasofAutrecourt 156 Pompey 289 NicholasofMyra136 Porphyry 7, 9, 18–19, 34–5, 37–40, 42– NicholasofSion 136–7 45, 53, 59–61, 76, 101, 143, 154, 172, Nicomachus Flavianus 154, 184, 212–15 193 Nietzsche, Friedrich 5, 156 Porphyry (financeofficer) 56 Nithard 274 Praetextatus 154, 184 Proba(aristocrat) 256 Olympius 246–7 Proba(poet) 228 Optatus of Milevis 29 Proclus 94–5, 132 Oribasius9 Procopius 98 Origen 1–2, 60, 143, 217–20 Protagoras113, 120,156 Orosius 239, 244, 246, 256–8 Prudentius 16, 18, 20, 48–52, 73–6, 84, Ostanes 126 89–91, 121–3, 133, 136, 140,155, 174, Ovid 90,184 178, 182, 184–6, 191, 214, 222, 228– 230, 239, 257–8 Palladas247–8 Pseudo-Abdias264–5 Pamphilus 219, 282 Pseudo-Clement 233 Pamprepius 94 Ptolemy 243–4 Paralius of Aphrodisias131–2, 142 Pyrrho 56, 154 Parmenides of Elea120 Pythagoras 6, 39–40,46, 80,88, 120,144, Patrick 264–7, 272–3 156, 169, 176, 193–5, 201–2, 204,221, Paul of Tarsus 42, 52, 87–8, 112, 119, 121, 267 139, 144–5, 153, 157,187–8, 194, 203, 207–8 Quintilian 8, 44, 235, 285 Index of persons 329
Rabbula 115 Theodosius II 70–71, 77,94, 101, 115 Reccared274 Theon 216, 249–50, 255 Romanus 51–2, 74,91, 122, 178, 228 Theophanes 105 Rousseau, Jean-Jacques 156 Theophilus (eunuch) 240 Rufinus of Aquileia 12, 216–21, 245 Theophilus of Alexandria 244–5, 251 Rufius Festus 69, 289 Theophrastus 9 Rutilius Namatianus91–3 Theudas141 Tírechán 264 Sallust 292 Trajan 239–41 Sallustius (Cynic) 204 Salvian 209 Valens 16, 63–70,109, 117,143, 210,248, Scipio 225 300 Sedulius 228 Valentinian I64–5, 67 Seleucus of Seleucia 193 Valentinian II 70, 185 Seneca112, 153, 243–4 Valentinian III 77,101 Servius154, 281 Valentinus 34, 118, 283 Severus of Antioch 100, 124–5 Vanini, Lucilio 156 Sextus Empiricus 79–80 Varro 82, 175–6, 226, 228, 237,281 ShenouteofEgypt 17,135–6, 147,149 Vergil 21, 154, 173, 184, 221, 226, 235, 270, Sidonius Apollinaris143, 266 285, 290,292, 294 Simeon 102–105 Vespasian25 Simon Magus 160, 265 Vettius Agorius Basilius 74 Socrates 201 Victor of Antioch 53 Socrates Scholasticus 34, 221 Vigilantius 219 Solon 47,195 Vincent48–50, 52 Sossianus Hierocles 7, 38 Virgilius of Salzburg275–6 Sozomenus 68, 115, 246 Voltaire156 Speusippus 120 Stephanus107 Whitehead,Alfred North 151 Stilicho 76, 93 Wihtfrith 271 Suetonius 257,284 Willibald 273–4 Symmachus10, 185–6, 212–16, 229–30, 292–3 Xenocrates 169, 252 SynesiusofCyrene 249–50, 252–5, 260 Xenophanes of Colophon 120,176, 193
Tacitus10, 257 ZachariasofRome 275–6 Tatian 160, 233 ZachariasScholasticus 124–7, 131, 136, Terence 235, 292 147,249 Terentianus Maurus 8 Zamolxis40 Tertullian 34, 112, 153, 160 Zeno 94–5, 125, 153, 259 Thales 39, 181, 193, 195 Zeno of Citium201 Theoderic99 Zenobia 248 Theodora48 Zonaras95, 240,258–9 Theodoret of Cyrrhus 18, 84, 89, 119–20 Zoroaster 40,126 Theodosius I48, 62, 69–70, 75, 99, 210– Zosimus 65, 68–9, 98 11, 230,244–5, 247,249, 260 Subjectindex
Aaron’sstaff 184, 264, 268 190,196–7, 238, 243, 267,286, 296, Abbey of St Albans 276 299, 301 Academy 32, 95–6, 98, 150,160, 169, 173, Astronomy,astronomers79, 82–4, 98, 203, 283 139, 148, 216, 253–5, 271, 286 Acoustics22, 170,178 Atheism, atheists 103, 105, 129, 189, 297 Adam and Eve84, 276 Atomism22, 34, 44, 60,153, 156, 158, 162, Adultery81, 129, 208 173–5, 181, 185, 191, 193, 196, 283, 285 Afterlife22, 31, 89, 163, 173–4, 182, 186, Atoms22, 152, 155–6, 160, 162–3, 170, 196, 226 173–4, 181, 185, 187–8, 190–91, Alchemy 26, 28, 126 193–4, 197,296–7 Allegory90, 123, 182–3, 191, 199, 245, 279 Attic orators 8, 120 AltarofVictory 213, 230 Automatism 17,22, 34, 104–6, 162, 174, Amulets 24 191–2, 194, 296 Anathema33, 116, 255, 283 Angels 185, 195, 275, 283 Babblers, garrulity,loquacity 39, 92, 157, Anti-matter 195 167,171, 177,187,195, 224–5, 271 Apollo145, 242–3, 248 Babylon, Babylonians 15, 20, 82, 142, 174, Apologetic-polemical 13, 34, 36, 89, 114, 176, 178–9, 227,257–8, 265 119, 239, 246, 256, 261, 295 Beginning of the world, first beginnings 84, Apologists 25, 30, 34–5, 38, 56, 61, 113, 167–8, 173, 177,181, 192, 205 118, 123, 153, 157,160, 162–3, 174, 196, Bes at Abydos 55 285 Bible1–3, 6, 11, 18–22, 27,37, 47,59–61, Apostasy55, 239 73, 79, 83, 85, 87–8, 113, 121, 157–8, Apostles, apostolic 18, 50, 52, 58, 72, 80– 160–62, 174–6, 178, 181–2, 186–8, 82, 87,97, 112–15, 119, 138, 140,144, 191, 193, 195–6, 200, 220, 222–4, 146, 153, 158, 194, 200, 202–3, 207–8, 227–9, 233–4, 237,248, 258, 262, 221, 233, 277,283 264, 271, 273–4, 276, 278–9, 283, Arabs 12 288, 292, 295–7 Archives 12, 55, 128, 203, 238, 256–8 Bishop 27–31, 33–6, 39–40,56, 69–71, Areopagus 187,203 76, 90,94, 115, 119, 124, 127–9, 134, Arianism, Arians 32–3, 35, 56, 64, 76, 118, 136, 138–9, 142–3, 160, 163, 165–7, 166, 256, 274 204,209, 220, 223, 233, 235, 244, 250, Arithmetic 79–80,82, 254, 286 252, 262, 265–6, 271, 275–6, 278–9, Arrogance 60, 126, 129, 170,218 281, 294 Asceticism,ascetics 13, 15, 17,39–40,63, Blasphemy 39, 58, 88, 102, 117,189, 256, 73, 85, 111, 116, 123, 132, 141, 143–4, 276 197,204,208, 222, 236, 238, 247,263, Body 31, 43, 45, 51 – 2, 70, 88, 90–91, 163, 299 169–70, 177,187,190–91, 202, 235, Astrolabes 255 299 Astrology, astrologers4,13, 15–18, 23–7, Book of Harmagh 264 54, 58, 60,63–5, 72–5, 77–81, 84–5, Book publishers152 91, 96, 102, 104–7, 109–11, 117,126, BooksburntinEphesus 72, 81–2, 87,112– 128, 130,139, 143, 148–50, 154, 184, 13, 133, 139, 145 Subject index 331
Buddhism28 Converts, conversion 17,31, 37,52–3, 71, Burning alive26, 28, 30, 65, 91, 138, 156, 73, 80–82, 90,95, 108–9, 122–3, 125, 257 129, 131–33, 138–9, 141–5, 154, 163, 165, 167,192–3, 201, 207,212, 220, Canon, canonisation 3–4, 6, 8, 14, 26, 32, 224, 234, 263, 266, 273–4, 283, 297 76, 93, 101, 112, 114–15, 125, 167, Copyists 7, 26, 230 176–7, 215–16, 223–4, 229–30, Corpus 8–9, 87–8, 90–91, 153, 181, 200 234–5, 242, 254, 278–280,282 Cosmogony 190 Capitoline Gods 181 Council of Ancyrain314 54 Carmina25, 70, 225, 242, 284 Council of Carthage in 398 115, 223 Carolingian Minuscle 269 Council of Chalcedon in 451100, 230, 259, Carolingian Renaissance 269–70, 275, 290 293 Cataphrygians, Montanists 33, 76, 118, 166 Council of Constantinoplein553, Second Causation 23, 87,121, 153, 155, 170,180– 116 81, 185, 188–9, 197,271 Council of Ephesus in 431 115, 119 Chaldeans 78, 80,83, 142 Council of Jerusalem in 415 246 Charity 81, 179, 298 Council of Nicaea in 325 33–4 Charms 24, 66, 125 Council of Toledo in 589, Third274 Children 41, 46–7, 60, 99, 142, 159, 165, Council of Toledo in 633, Fourth 279 187–90, 194, 233, 273 Creation 2, 22, 34, 46–7, 59–61, 87–8, Christology 33, 140,158 115, 117–18, 155, 158, 161–2, 170, Cimmerian darkness67 181–2, 185, 187–90, 192, 194–7, 222, Clashofatoms 22, 60, 155, 173, 181, 197, 234, 276, 296–7 222, 297 Creation out of nothing 22, 170,185, 193 Clergy,clerics7,17–19, 21, 35, 37,54, 57, Cult statues (idols) 53, 62, 101–5, 108, 113, 61, 63–4, 72–3, 77,85, 106, 109–10, 122, 128, 131, 133, 135–6, 140–46, 114–15, 117,123, 127–9, 132, 137, 146–7, 157,161, 182, 187,192, 208, 211, 142–4, 147–8, 165, 187,191, 197–8, 218, 223, 228, 239, 241, 249, 253, 259, 209, 221, 231, 236–7, 243, 262–3, 266, 268 277–81, 288, 297–300 Curiosity25, 60, 70–71, 80,85–8, 112, Codex 1–2, 5, 10–12, 29–30, 49–50, 74, 133, 165, 168, 172, 205, 207,228, 127,230, 247,259, 272, 274, 277,282, 283–4 290–91 Cybele 4 CodicesLatini Antiquiores 19, 289–292, Cynicism, Cynics 20, 121, 157,169, 203–4, 294 211, 283 Colophon 6, 216 Communion 115, 194 Damnatio memoriae62, 76 Compassion, Pity 88, 120,160,191, 298 Death of memory35, 38, 53, 85, 115, 119, Confiscation of books23, 30, 56, 76, 109, 163, 167,275 135, 269, 275, 290 Decurions 55, 70, 209 Confusion (of languages)47, 178–9 Defensorescivitatum 17,66, 100, 109, 129, Conspiracy 16, 44, 64–66, 73, 109–10, 131, 146, 299 274 Demonic possession45, 126, 136, 141, 148, Constantinian dynasty 54 155, 187 Contagion, infection 34, 45, 73, 80,90, 98, Demons 1, 22, 25, 40, 43, 53, 58, 60, 105, 111, 128, 136–7, 141, 192, 196, 272, 72–3, 85, 91, 105, 109, 111–13, 115, 118, 288, 298 125–32, 136–41, 145–8, 157,159–63, 332 Subject index
174–6, 179, 186–8, 191–2, 196, 199, 180–82, 184–92, 196, 221, 259, 283, 202, 204,206–8, 220, 225, 227–8, 293–4, 296–7, 300–301 236–7, 241, 245,261–4, 273, 275, 288, Error 19, 38, 46, 51 – 2, 59, 64, 71, 87,97, 296, 298–9 99, 101–2, 104, 120–21, 138, 143, 165, Denunciation 17,29, 35, 43, 66, 70, 107, 171–74,179, 189, 208, 214, 216, 218, 109, 126–7, 129, 132, 147,191, 213, 233, 274, 280,283, 286–7, 294 298–9 Eschatology 20,52, 159, 163, 171, 174, 181, Deportation 26, 71–2, 100 182, 205, 216, 229 Destiny 190–91 Ethics170,196 Determinism 23, 191 Eunomians 76, 166 Devil21–2, 43, 46, 74,80–81, 84, 88, 91, Evil 50, 80, 84, 118, 129, 136–7, 145, 148, 111–12, 118, 129, 133, 136, 138–9, 141, 161–2, 182, 192, 208, 256, 276 145, 148, 178–9, 185, 189, 191, 196, Evil arts 34, 37,140,265 219, 286 Evil thoughts 73, 167,179, 288 Dialectics170 Evolution 22, 155, 192–3, 296 Disease,illness 73, 75–6, 85–91, 97–8, Execution, capital punishment, death penal- 102, 118–19, 125, 132, 137,141, 148, ty 17,23, 25–6, 32, 35, 53–4, 58, 64, 169, 189, 192, 196, 298–9 66–70,76–7, 94, 103–4, 106–8, 129, Divination 15, 18, 23–4, 53–5, 58, 65, 189, 225, 247,284 68–9, 72, 77,82–3, 85, 94, 96, 99, Exile37, 90, 94, 106, 240,288 110,113, 141, 146, 148, 150,153, 159, Exorcism,exorcists112, 179, 234, 245, 299 196, 237,241, 251, 296 Doctrine 1, 10, 17,20, 23, 30,35, 37,76, 81, Fables,myths 39, 58, 93, 114–15, 117, 87,97, 100, 102, 116, 119, 150,152, 156, 120–21, 125, 142–3, 175, 181, 222, 268, 170–72, 179, 185, 187,189, 206, 218, 277–8, 280,283–4 223–4, 265–6, 276, 283, 286–8 False teachers77, 88, 110, 113, 116, 139, Dogs 117,122, 190, 211 183, 189 Donatists28–30, 32, 72, 90, 164 Fate 31, 55, 65, 72, 94, 102, 113, 118, 130, Dragons43, 58, 263–4 191–2 Druids 265, 273 Fire (aspurification) 1–2, 28, 50–52, 121–2, 141–2, 145, 148, 193, 196, Edict of toleration37 207–8, 242–3, 256–7, 268, 298 Education 13, 15, 21, 37,43, 48, 54–8, 60, FirstSirmian creed 115 99, 120,125, 150,167,184, 198, 200, Flat earth 188 210–11, 220–23, 232–5, 237,262, Florilegia 21, 235, 287,291 268–9, 278–81 Foolishness 58, 80,121, 146, 170,205, Elements 22, 47,60, 83, 87,90, 124, 268, 279, 286 157–9, 161, 170,186, 190,222, 297 Fortune, fortune-teller 62, 67,177,192, 265 End of the world 159–60, 177–8, 185, 194, Freedom of will 22 196, 255, 297 Frogs 271 Enemies (of the Church) 1, 14, 34, 37, 53–4, 73–4, 79, 116–17,121, 136, 141, Geometry 9, 26–7, 58, 78–80,82–4, 95, 179, 186, 190, 202, 205, 207,226, 288 254, 272, 286, 293 Epicureanism, Epicureans 16–23, 34–5, Glosses 74,230, 266 56, 60, 68, 79, 94, 104–6, 121, 141, Gnosticism, Gnostic 27–8, 34, 157,160 149–58, 160–64, 167,169–71, 173–7, Subject index 333
Gospels 27,29, 39, 48–50, 72, 86–7, 89, Isis4,124, 131 112, 121–3, 136, 146, 161, 173, 176, 193, Islam 6–7, 106, 276, 301 202, 205, 207,260,275, 298 Goths 93, 98–9, 204,256, 266, 274, 289 Jerusalem 15, 160,174 Grammar 163, 212, 232, 235, 246, 263, Jesus the Good Shepherd50, 268 272, 279–80,287 Jews 6, 30, 42, 46, 52, 72, 77,87, 92, 95, Grammarians 8, 12, 56, 94, 98, 108, 122, 112, 117,157,172, 191, 201–2, 221, 223, 131, 234, 247,254, 266, 287 248, 288 Gravitation 155–6 Joy 22, 136, 162–3, 170,174,185–6, 192 Great Flood 47 Judaeo-Christian tradition 6, 27,46, 87,92, Great Persecution 19, 24, 27–31, 33, 35, 194–5, 237,283, 296 37–8, 40, 43–5, 48, 50–53, 57,59–61, Judgment Day 22, 49, 52, 157,188, 216, 90,162, 192–3, 196, 205–6, 235 228, 257 Gymnasia 8, 150,169, 171, 177,209, 241, Jurists 26, 98, 180 260 Laughter 41, 44–5, 60,117,190–91, 211, Hades 67 240,298 Heaven51–2, 88, 136, 159, 174, 180,188, Law of the TwelveTables 25, 225, 257 191, 205, 280 Libido 22, 185–6 Hedonism 152, 192, 296 Librarians 48, 214, 217,287 Heliocentric system 255 Libraries 8–9, 12, 16, 20, 44, 56, 65–6, Hell22, 28, 50, 53, 73, 141–2, 160, 163, 110,122, 149, 154, 156, 166, 190, 209, 174, 181, 186, 196, 298 212–15, 217–19, 237–8, 241–4, Hellfire 1, 43, 141–2, 148, 222, 227 251–4, 256, 258, 260,267,282, 290– Heterodox104 91, 293, 302 Hiberno-Latin 267 Library of Caesarea 11, 198, 282 Hieroglyphs 17,136, 245 Library of Constantinople 11, 239, 258–60 Historians (classical) 24, 65, 156, 223, 227, Library of Alexandria 5, 238, 241, 243–50, 244, 294 260,282 Holy Men 13, 17,108, 111, 124, 136, 144, Library of Antioch 238–41, 260 147,202, 264, 272, 299 Library of Palatine ApolloinRome 238, Human beings aspecies of animals 46, 241–3 118, 296 Logic 121, 180 Humanism243, 290 Lyceum 32 Humility 170,180,286 Macedonians 118, 166 Iconoclasm131 Madness, insanity,mental disorder 46, 69, Iconoclastic controversy 13, 141, 259 87–9, 91, 97,112, 122, 155, 194, 298 Idealistic philosophy,Idealism 22, 95, 151, Magic 1, 3–4, 6–7, 13–18, 22–6, 34, 37, 170,182, 296 53–4, 58, 66–8, 70, 76, 86, 94, 96, Idolatry 18, 103–4, 108, 161, 243, 251, 277, 99–102, 106, 108, 110–13, 125–35, 284 137–8, 140–44, 146–50, 156, 160–62, Incarnation 22, 158–9, 161, 185, 189, 206 172, 189, 196–7, 203, 212, 214, 217, Innumerable worlds 177 237–8, 245, 250,277–8, 282, 285, Inquisition 32, 70, 86, 104–5, 107,110 296–9 Intelligent design 155, 162 Magic trials (in Antioch)44, 55, 63–8, 79, Invocations 17,24–5, 120,131–2, 142, 277 143, 189, 250, 289, 297 334 Subject index
Magical papyri7,112, 126 Miracle-healing 24, 102, 105, 107,111–13, Magicians 19, 24–6, 40, 53–4, 62–3, 89, 160, 188–9, 263, 299 91, 109, 129–30, 138, 140, 142–6, 148, Miracles 22, 40,52, 90,102, 131, 136–7, 184, 250,264–7, 272, 282, 285 205, 229, 264, 296 Maiestas 69 Miracle-workers 82, 145 Manichaeismand Materialism 20, 164, 173, Missionaries 20, 43, 201, 224, 262–9, 271 185, 189–90,198, 301 Mithras 4, 17,138 Manichaeism, Manichaeans 6, 20,26, 28, Monastery of Bobbio 92, 217,271, 292–3 71, 76, 81, 101–2, 104–5, 116, 118, 122, Monastery of Corbie 290 142, 163, 173 Monastery of Luxeuil 292–3 Mantic 117 Monastery of MonteCassino 98 Manuscripts 4, 12, 30, 41, 52, 74,92, 95, Monastery of Murbach 156, 101, 156, 202–3, 213, 215, 217–18, 244, Monastery of Naqlun292 250, 258, 260, 267,269–70,272, 275, Monastery of Vivarium 217 281, 285, 289–94 Monastic schools 115 Marcionites 33 Monasticism, monks 58, 98, 106, 157,204, Martyrdom and book-burning 27–31, 48– 239, 250, 262, 267,280–82 53, 60, 80,89–91, 138–40,202, 298 Monasticism and book-burning 13, 15, 17, Martyrs19, 74,123, 128, 145, 162, 184, 76, 111, 115–16, 132–3, 135, 141, 144, 204,206, 208, 219, 228, 235, 242, 245, 147,263, 276–7, 298–9 274–5, 277,282 Monasticism and hostilitytowards pagan cul- Material objects 22, 162, 185–6, 192, 296 ture 15, 19, 43, 54, 73–4, 92, 105, Materialism, materialistphilosophy 18, 20, 114–15, 117,124–5, 131, 136, 146, 208, 34, 94, 123, 143–4, 149–52, 154, 210–11, 218, 220–23, 230,238, 245, 157–9, 162–4, 170–71, 173–6, 178, 252, 262–3, 278 181, 184, 186, 193, 195–8, 221, 273, Monasticism and texttransmission 15, 19– 288, 299, 301 21, 74,92, 144, 215–8, 227,230, 262, Mathemata18, 78–9, 82, 84, 110 269–70, 275, 287–8, 290–94, 299 Mathematica 27,286 Monophysitism 100, 124–5 Mathematici 16, 54, 64–5, 71–2, 77–84, Monotheism 6, 27,39, 111 101, 109–10,142–3, 159, 251, 267,282, Morals 152, 165, 174, 179–80, 225 285–6 Movement of the stars22, 25, 83, 86–7, Mathematics 22, 79–80,95, 106, 144, 105, 118, 130,153, 190,192, 219, 255, 215–16, 249, 251, 286 285, 296–7 Mathesis 243, 286 Museion 238, 241, 248–50, 255 Matter 22, 117–18, 136, 173, 185, 188–190, Music 78–9, 82–4, 136, 225, 286 296 Mystery religions 6, 17,152 MausoleumofGalla Placidia 48–50 Mechanical movements 153, 155, 187–8, Naturallaws 22, 104–5, 180,188, 193 197,296, 301 Naturalman 162, 189 Medical metaphors34, 45,71–3, 88–9, Naturalphenomena 155, 162, 185, 267, 98, 102, 169, 285, 298–9 270–71 Medical practitioners17, 299 Naturalphilosophy,natural philosophers Medicine 9, 24, 30,88–9, 99, 102, 169, 18–20, 22, 61, 78–9, 86–7, 105, 151, 285, 292, 298 154, 156, 168–9, 175, 182, 184–7, 193, Membra disiecta262, 289, 293–4 216, 219, 254, 267,270, 283–4, 297 Metaphysics 159 Neoplatonic Academy of Athens 95–6, 98 Subject index 335
Neoplatonism, Neoplatonists 20–21, 34, 110,113–14, 117–19, 121, 129, 131, 135, 56, 60, 79, 93–6, 110, 154, 166, 169, 138, 140, 142–6, 148–9, 151–2, 154– 171, 175, 244, 251–3, 279, 300 62, 164, 166–9, 171–2, 175–81, 185–9, Nicene creed 69, 188 192–6, 200–206, 208, 210–11, 213, Notebooks171, 184, 255, 300 218, 220–21, 223, 235, 237–41, 247, Novatians 33 249, 251–3, 267–8, 270–71, 282–6, Numa’sbooks38, 180,228 288, 295–6 Physicians 89, 98, 109, 267 Olympic calendar 46 Physics(physici, physica, physiologia) 39, Optics22, 170,173, 178 78, 83, 152, 170,175, 186, 222, 267,272 Oracles 6, 72, 94, 145–6, 229, 242, 280, Plague 6, 141, 155 297 Platonism, Platonists 21, 34, 46, 82, 95, Oral culture 17,20, 36, 150,152–3, 164, 151, 158, 169–70, 172, 181, 192, 204, 171, 181, 184, 186, 196–7, 208, 262, 296, 300 300 Poetry,poets 3, 10, 13, 36–7, 39–40, 51, Orators 8, 37,41, 43, 53, 99, 142, 165, 55–6, 58–9, 74,90–94, 112, 114, 202–3, 210,213, 223, 253, 285 132–3, 140–41, 156, 160,164, 175, Original sin 84, 189 180–82, 184, 200,210,214, 218, Origin of the world 22, 34, 39, 114, 158, 222–3, 225–6, 228, 230–31, 247,253, 170,178, 181, 197 259, 266, 271–2, 277,282, 284–6, 288 Orpheus 58 Poison 37,51, 53, 71, 73, 84, 89–90,122, Orthodoxy,orthodox2,7,19–20, 96–7, 214, 230, 267–8, 272, 298 99, 101, 106, 122, 160, 185, 219, 225, Polemics5,14–20, 40,51, 57–8, 60, 67, 236, 251, 259, 267,271–2, 279, 290 71, 73, 81, 85, 88, 92, 102, 110, 118, 121, 123–5, 131, 134–6, 139, 141, 143–4, Pagan revival 75–6, 215 146, 148, 155, 162, 164–5, 169–70, 173, Paideia 21, 221–3, 231–4 175–6, 178, 184–90,195, 200–201, Palimpsest 229, 267,289–94 208, 212, 214, 218, 226–7, 229, 233, Pamphlets (famosi libelli) 7, 32–3, 55, 65, 236, 240,259, 262, 267,288, 295, 70–71, 109–10,124 294–6, 298–301 Papyrus 1–3, 10–12, 16–17,24, 125, 127, Pragmatic Sanction 97–9, 108 132–3, 142, 152, 198, 215–16, 231, 234, Prediction 22–4, 38, 85, 104, 128, 140, 253, 259, 289, 291–2, 294 176, 201, 226, 285, 296–7 Parchment1,10–12, 16, 29–30, 49, 127, Prefigure 184, 258, 264 198, 215, 254, 259, 291–2 Presbyter 40,139, 153, 204,220 Patience, long-suffering123, 179 Pre-Socratic 7, 79, 151, 166, 169, 176, Paulianists 33 194–5 Perierga18, 82, 87,112–13, 133 Pride 40, 86, 90,123, 126, 142, 170,176, Peripatos95, 120,169, 203, 283 178, 180, 184, 210,256, 296 Persecutors,persecution 20, 24, 26–7, 40, Priscillianists 81 43, 56, 59–60, 101–2, 105, 107–8, 110, Proofreading 244, 253 116, 123, 143, 146, 160,179, 192–3, Property confiscation 33, 99, 107,288 196, 210,228, 235, 239, 243, 275, 299 Prophecy,prophets 33, 40,42, 53–5, 58, Philoponoi124–9, 131–2, 147 95, 114, 116, 119, 123, 176, 188, 191, Philosophers2,5,7,9,16–22, 25–6, 30, 194, 196, 208, 242, 265, 268, 285 34, 37–41, 43–7, 51, 53, 55–6, 58–60, Prostitution 32, 103, 131, 271 65–9, 73, 76, 78–86, 89, 92–5, 106, 336 Subject index
Providence22, 47,85, 106, 119, 161–2, Science 7, 9, 18, 22, 46, 69, 78–9, 82–4, 173, 175, 178, 180, 190,192, 194, 197, 87,105–6, 155–6, 162, 178, 187,189, 258–9, 296 193, 250–51,272, 301 Purgatory142, 174, 298 Scorpions 43, 136, 168 Purification 1, 5, 17,29, 137,145,274 Scribes 2, 17,74, 122, 127,147,197,217– Pythagoreans 20, 34, 46, 106, 121, 156–8, 18, 269–70 160, 175, 177,190–91, 201–2, 204,221, Scrolls 1, 6, 10–12, 41, 47,50, 66, 133, 152, 228, 247,254, 283 168, 215, 244, 247,253–4, 259 Second Coming of Christ 22, 159, 174, 182, Ravenna papyri12 196, 229, 267,297 Refusaltocopytexts 3–4, 10, 14, 16, 23, Second Sophistic 9 96, 127,144, 149–50, 199, 217,230, Senate, senators 10,12, 30, 38, 65, 73, 262, 288–9, 300–301 75–6, 95, 108, 154, 165, 178, 184–5, Refutation 2, 7, 14, 16, 18–20, 23, 34, 39, 203, 210,212–16, 228–9, 259 43–5, 59–60,82, 102, 105, 115–16, Senses 22, 170,177–8, 284, 296 121, 162, 168, 173–4, 190–91, 194, 197, Septuagint 248 221, 223–4, 229, 279, 281, 286, 300– Serapeum 16, 52–3, 202, 238, 244–49, 301 260 Religio 65, 155, 180 Serpents, snakes43, 81, 84, 89, 91, 132, Renaissance 91, 156, 243, 290 136, 184, 189, 230, 264, 268, 272, 298 Resurrection 112, 118–19, 157,159, 162, Sexuality 21, 39, 43, 58, 73, 173, 186, 192, 174, 191 196, 222, 225, 263, 296, 298 Rhetoric schools 8, 125, 129, 156, 166, 171, Sheep 50, 116, 268 177,199, 210,212 Sibylline oracles, Sibylline books6,26, Rhetoricians 7–8, 56, 98, 108, 122, 145, 91–3, 242–3, 282, 285 168, 192–3, 199, 202–3, 206, 272 Silver Latin 215 Ridicule, derision 19, 24, 36–9, 41, 43–8, Sin 22, 60, 86, 89, 117,138–9, 173–4, 60, 83, 92, 103, 113, 119–20, 143, 165, 176, 184–5, 188, 211, 228, 257,283, 170,190–91, 204,235, 240,255, 298 296 Ritual 1, 5, 13, 18, 24–5, 69, 105, 108, 110– Slander 25, 32, 54–5, 70, 121 11, 129, 131, 137–8, 147,274,297–8 Snares 43, 52, 88, 159, 287 Ritual books7,17, 134, 299 Sodom 52, 257–8 Roman religion 4, 54, 175, 181, 226–7 Sophistries 60,121, 268 Sophists 40,94, 193, 203, 223, 252 Sack of Rome 164, 174–5, 239, 256–7, 261 Sorcery,sorcerers 40, 58, 129, 133, 144–5, Sacred trees 92, 101, 108, 115, 136–7, 160 267–8 Soul 22, 45 – 6, 53, 73, 84, 88–9, 97,127, Saints 48–9, 102, 104, 124, 136, 138–9, 136, 138, 151, 158–9, 163, 170,173–4, 141–3, 206, 241, 263–4, 280,285, 298 177–8, 182, 184, 189–91, 202, 253, Salvation 88–9, 148, 186–7, 191, 196, 298 276, 296, 298–9 Samaritans 77,95, 97,107 StatueRiot 47,208, 211–12 Sassanians 12 Stoicism, Stoics 16, 18–20, 23, 34, 82, 92, Satan 45,102, 136 120–21, 151–3, 157–8, 161, 167,169– Schism 28, 33, 115, 123, 275 71, 175–7, 181, 184, 186–7, 190–91, Scholasticism156 193, 204,283, 286 Schools 24, 58–9, 83, 165, 173, 176, 223, Students 21, 36–7, 57,64, 79, 97,124–5, 225, 234–5, 245, 249, 271, 280,287 127,133, 136, 139–40,144, 156, 160, Subject index 337
162, 164, 171–2, 177,195, 201, 210,212, Transmigration of souls, metempsychosis 225, 234–5, 246, 252, 254–5 46, 106, 158, 177,190–91 Stupidity 38, 44, 88 Treason 25, 32, 58, 65–7, 69, 93, 95, 110 Subscriptions 12, 50, 74,215–16, 253, 289 Tumour,swelling 86, 90, 286 Substance33, 159–60,168 Superstition 58, 79, 88, 99, 141, 194, 241, Unity of the church31, 33, 35, 90–91, 119, 265, 283, 286 123, 151, 181, 186, 196, 198, 236, SwordofDamocles66 296–7, 300 Syncretism28, 111, 113, 157 Universe 22, 79, 84, 86–8, 104–6, 153, SynodofElvira 32 155, 160, 187,190–92, 194, 196–7, 255, 275, 296–7, 301 Tablets 24, 30, 257 Teacher edict 55–57,240 Vacuum, void 155, 160, 168, 194, 230 Teachers9,36–7, 55–6, 64–5, 87,95, Vainglory89, 120,123, 176 97–9, 108, 122, 127,163, 177,184, 195, Valentinians 33 203, 209–10,212–13, 234, 247,250, Vegetarianism 46 262–3, 266, 273–4, 288 Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum12, 152, Temple destruction 32, 52–4, 70, 101, 108, 216 115, 133–4, 145–6, 192, 202, 210,239– Vine and the branches 20, 50, 121–3 40,243, 245–8, 250,256–7, 260,272 Visigoths 76, 91, 256, 274, 279, 281–2 Theatre36, 113, 181, 225, 257,284 Vulgate 229 Theodosian dynasty 16, 48, 63, 69–70, 76, 91, 97,110 Whitemonastery 135 Theurgy,theurgists 25, 65, 82, 172, 254 Wisdom 20, 37–9, 87–8, 94, 117,119, 161, Third-century crisis9,19, 27,151 170,172, 179, 184–5, 188, 205–7, 218, Time 52, 119, 155, 159, 170,205, 268, 293 264, 266, 286 Tongue 51,121–2, 178, 202, 208 Witch 285 Torture17, 50, 52, 54–5, 65, 69, 73, 91, Wolves116–17 106–7, 109, 162, 251 Worms 43, 117 Tower of Babylon 47,178 Zoroastrianism 28, 126 Index of passages
Biblical Texts Genesis Luke 11:1–9178 10:17–19 136 19:24–9258 John Exodus 1:1–2173 3:21–2223 3:16 42 7:8–13 184, 264 3:31 9 11:2 223 15:1 50 12:35–6223 15:5–6121
Numbers Acts 17:8 264 8:9 113 8:9–24 160 Deuteronomy 8:11 113 21:11–14 218 13:6 113 17:16 187 4Regum 17:16–33 187 22:8 42 17:16–34 170 17:18 157 2Chronicles 17:25 188 34:14 42 18:9–10 145 19:18–19 112 Psalms 22:16 117 Romans 68:2 1 1:18 52 96:5 112 1:25 59 106:35 117 1Corinthians Jeremiah 1:18 42 36:20–26 112 1:19–20 88 1:20 286 Matthew 2:6–7205 4:1–11 73 2:14 205 13:30 122 3:13–20 1 24:35 205 10:14–21 112 15:33 276 Mark 9:43–51 Galatians 16:15–18 112 4:3–5159 Index of passages 339
Colossians 1Peter 2:8 157,273 1:7 1
1Thessalonians 2Peter 5:21 286 3:10–12 159
2Thessalonians Apocalypse 3:11 112 9:20 112 9:21 113 1Timothy 12:1 268 1:3–487 18:23 113 5:13 112 21:8 1, 113 22:15 113 Hebrews 22:18 6 9:4 264 14:18–20 50
Literature
Acta Archelai 22.16.3 244 25–31 190 22.16.15 249 22.16.17–19 244 Acta Luciani et Marciani 23.3.3 242 1138 25.10.3 240 3138 28.1.19–20 67 9138 28.1.26 67 28.4.6 214 Acta Philippi 28.4.14 214 8233 28.4.25 214 29.1.5 64, 143 Aelianus 29.1.25–40 65 fr.39152 29.1.38 65 fr.42a 152 29.1.40–41 65 fr.89152 29.1.42 65 29.1.44 65 Aldhelm 29.2.1–266 epistulae 29.2.3 66 3271 29.2.4 66 5272 29.2.6 79 29.2.6–7143 Ammianus 29.2.23–467 14.6.18 213 29.2.23–569 15.1.4 79 29.2.25–866 19.12 55 19.12.14 66 Anthologia Palatina 22.11.5–11 57 9.171 247 22.13.2 242 10.82 247 340 Index of passages
10.90 247 4.3.4 72 16.70 259 5.7.12 81 6.16.26 164 Aphthonius 9.4 184 p. 23–6246 contraAcademicos 3.19.42 169 Aristaenetus 18.41 167 epistulae contraCresconiumgrammaticumpartis Do- 2.18 112 nati 3.27.30 30 Aristophanes contraFelicem Manichaeum equites 1.10 78 278 43 contraIulianum 4.72 172 Arnobius de catechizandis rudibus adversus nationes 8.12 123, 224 3.7 30 24.44 122 4.36 36 de civitate Dei 2.7 180 Athanasius 2.8 225 contragentes 2.9 225, 226 1.1.3 112 2.11 225 1.15.2 112 2.13 225 1.27 188 2.14 180,226 3.36 188 5.9 82 de incarnatione 5.26 224, 225 2.1 162 6pr. 89 47.8 162 6.1–2226 53.1–2161 6.3 175 vita Antonii 6.4 227 643 6.5 176 22–373 6.5–8225 30 136 7.26 225 31 73 7.34 228 33 73 7.35 228 72 244 8.1 172 72–339 8.5 172, 181 80 244 8.10 158 8.11 172 Augustinus 9.18 141 breviculus collationis cum Donatistis 10.9 25 3.13.25 30 10.16 82 confessiones 16.4 178 1.9.14 164 16.9 276 1.12.19 164 18.23 226 1.13.20–22 164 18.24 176 1.14 225 18.25 176 Index of passages 341
18.27–37 176 118.2.11–12 165 18.38 176 118.2.12 92, 165, 166, 167 18.40 227 118.3.13 168, 169 18.41 176, 177,178, 179 118.3.15 170 18.49–50 158 118.3.16 169 18.51 179, 288 118.3.17 170 19.9 181 118.3.18 170 21.8 78, 82, 227 118.3.19 170 21.10 141 118.3.20 170 22.5 158 118.3.21 170,171 de doctrina christiana 118.4.23 169, 173 2.40.60 172, 223 118.4.24 173 2.40.61 223 118.4.27–9173 2.42.63 223 118.4.28 173 4.2.3 223 118.4.30–31 173 4.3.4 223, 287 118.4.31 173 4.5.8 223, 287 118.5.32 171, 173 de excidio urbis Romae 118.5.33 172 2258 118.5.34 165 de genesi ad litteram 118.14 170 2.17 159 118.17 170 de haeresibus ad Quodvultdeum 119–20 225 70 80 120.1.6 172 de naturaboni adversus Manichaeos 127.10 167 47 81 135.1 157 de ordine 137.4.16 142 1.11.32 172 164.2.4 167,181 2.4.13 120 211.13 166 de utilitate credendi 231.7 166 4.10 173, 174 in Iohannis evangelium tractatus de verareligione 2.14 184 4.7 172 8.5 81 4.8 172 8.6 81 enarrationes in Psalmos 8.8 81 61.23 81, 142 8.10 72 epistulae 8.11 81 16.4 255 retractationes 101 225 pr.3 163 118.1.1 86 1.1.4 163 118.1.2 165 118.1.3 86 Basilius of Caesarea 118.1.4 86 epistulae 118.1.5 86 11 153 118.2.8 165 74.3 209 118.2.9 142, 165, 166, 167,168, 169 regulae brevius tractatae 118.2.10 166, 169 292 115 118.2.11 165 342 Index of passages
Beda 19.1 47,203 super Acta apostolorumexpositio adversus oppugnatores vitae monasticae 19 112 3.10 118 contraJudaeos et Gentiles quod Christus sit Bonifatius 1.8 202 epistulae 5.3 202 9274 11 192 21 273 11.7 191, 192 44 274 12.6 192 59 275 13.9 193 60 275 15.2 206 62 275 contraJudaeos, gentiles et haereticos 80 276 1.6 248 5.2.4 201 Caesar 5.3.1 201 commentarii belli Gallici 5.11.4 201 6.13.11–12 265 de educandis liberis 6.14.3 265 2–3222 3222 Caesarius of Arles 18 222 sermones 28 222 2264 34 222 38–9222 Callinicus de laudibus Pauli vita Hypatii 4.8 145 43.8 133 4.9 145 4.10 207 Cassiodorus 4.13 207 institutiones 4.18 207 2.5 257 4.19 208 de Lazaroconcio Cedrenus 3.2–3118 1:621 95 de pseudoprophetis 1:621–294, 259 5–6117 1:675 107 6116 1:795–6259 7117 de Sancto Spiritu 118 Censorinus de verbis apostoli 18.11 82 1.2–3118 1.5 118 Chrysostomus, Johannes ejusdem in illud, si qua in Christo 203, 205 ad populum Antiochenum de statuis homiliae in Gen. 6.1 211 13.2 118 9.3 188 homiliae in Mt. 9.3–4188 1.1 222 11.2 118 1.2–4118 17.2 211 1.4 203 Index of passages 343
1.5 206 homiliae in 2Thess. 8.4 40 1.2 223 9.4 42 homiliae in 1Tim. 33.4 204 1.2 87 75.4 188 1.3 87,144 81.5 188 homiliae in Heb. homiliae in Jo. 1:1 14.1 188 3118 22.1 190 homiliae in Jo. in Diem Natalem JesuChristi 2.1 201 6206 2.2 45, 46, 144, 201, 202 in illud, Paulus vocatus. et de mutat. nomi- 2.3 48, 88 num 2.3–4205 4.5 47 3.1 222 in inarnationem Domini 17.4 44 4189 63.1 80 in Isaiam 63.3 80 4.2 146 66.3 118, 195 panegyricum in Babylammartyrem et contra homiliae in Acts Julianum et gentes 2.4–5189 11 40 4.3 201, 203 11–12 41 4.4 46 13 45 10.4 48 13–15 45 38.1 187 23–9243 38.2 187,188 102 243 38.4 187,188 117 201 38.5 68, 188, 189 VIII homilia habita postquam presbyter Go- homiliae in Rom. thus concionatus fuerat 2.4 211 1204 homiliae in 1Cor. argumentum145 Cicero 3.3 42 Academica 4.1 46, 88 1.6 152 4.3 203 de finibus bonorum et malorum 4.3–4205 1.7.25 152 4.4 205 de naturadeorum 7.1205, 206 1.24 168 7.4118, 189, 205 de re publica 7.5189 4.12 25, 225 homiliae in Eph. epistulae ad Atticum 542 2.12.2 85 12.3 190 13.21a 253 21.1–2222 Tusculanaedisputationes homiliae in 1Thess. 4.2.3 25 7.1 – 2118, 191 4.3.6 80 7.2191 4.3.7 152 5.18 78 344 Index of passages
Clemens of Alexandria 2.15 194 protrepticus 2.16 194 7.75 59 2.16–17 195 stromata 2.18–19 195 1.9.43.1–45.2 233 2.19–21 195 1.19.93.3 83 2.20 87,88 2.22 88 Clementina 2.24 88 recognitiones 2.25 222 1.25.2 233 2.26–9195 2.29 88 Confessio seu paenitentia 2.46 60 1139 2.49 60 1–3139 3.21 92 5139 3.26 84 5–7139 5.36 79, 82 9138 5.38 83 16 139 5.39 83 18 139 7233, 234 23 139 de adoratione in spiritu et veritate 28 139 1221 5221 Conversio Iustinae et Cypriani homiliae paschales 1140 4.3 136 10 140 6.4 87 8.1 121 Cyrillus of Alexandria in Isaiam commentarius in Joelem prophetam 4.1 83 2.3.39 121 in Joelem contraJulianum 2.3.39 221 1.3 194 in Zachariam 1.4 194 3.9.53 221 1.4–5194 6.14.108 221 1.5–16 46 1.17 47 Damascius 1.17–19 194 epitoma Photiana 1.18 47 141 95 1.18–19 195 vita Isidori 1.19 46 p. 89–90 95 1.20 47 p. 94–596 1.21 47 fr.164 251 1.21–483 1.36–7222 de recta in Deum fide 1.40 194, 195 2.19 34 2.11 194 2.13–14 193 didache XII apostolorum 2.14 194 11.2 113 Index of passages 345
Dio Cassius 39 69 42.38.2 244 vitae Sophistarum 49.43.5 77 472 246 55.27.1 32 480–81 69 56.27.1 32 57.15.8–926, 77 Eusebius of Caesarea 61.33.3b 77 de vita Constantini 64.1.4 77 3.1 31 67.13.2–378 3.53–631 3.55.4 32 Diogenes Laertius 3.56 32 Democritus 40 45 3.64 33, 283 3.66 283 Dionysius of Tel-Mahre 3.66.1 34 Secular History 4.37 250 5127 historia ecclesiastica 4.36 31 Dukas 5.20.2 216 historia Byzantina 5.28.14 9 42 260 6.3.8–9143 7.32.7–12 249 Ephraem Aenius 8.2.1 29 historia chronica 8.2.4 28 1002–14 259 8.2.5 28 8.5 31 Epiphanius preparatio evangelica de mensis et ponderibus 2.7.4–783 9249 3.13.10 39 18 27 3.13.22 39 20 249 12.8.2 84 panarion 13.3.3–683 anacephalaeosis 134 14.18.2 154 1.1.3 34 15.46–53 78 1.1.5–834 1.1.8 162 Firmicus Maternus 7.1.1 143 Euagrius 13.4–5143 historia ecclesiastica 4.11 100 Fredegar chronicum Eucherius 4.8 274 de contemptu mundi 408–9233 Gelasius of Cyzicus historia ecclesiastica Eunapius 2.36.1–235 fragmenta 29.1 240 346 Index of passages
Gellius 24.12 140 1.9.6–778 235.3 199 7.17.3 244 9.4 2 Gregorius of Tours historia Francorum Georgius Syncellus 10.31.18 278 chronographia p. 343D 78 Herodotus 3.26 41 Gestaabbatummonasterii S. Albani p. 24 277 Hieronymus p. 26 276, 277 chronicon p. 27 277 a. Abr.1923 155 p. 28 277 a. Abr.2111 78 a. Abr.2286 249 Gregorius Magnus a. Abr.2343 36 epistulae commentarii in Danielem prophetam 9.229 256 1.8 79 expositionesinlibrum primum regum commentarii in epistulam ad Ephesios 5.53a 280 3.6.4 220, 279 11.34 279 commentarii in epistulam ad Titum 3.10–11 283 Gregorius of Nazianzus contraRufinum orationes 1.30 221 4.3 58 de illustribus viris 4.5 57 12 153 4.31 58 35 216 4.43 58 113 198 4.55 58 epistulae 4.70 58 21.13 279 4.72 58 21.13.8–9218 4.7459 22.30 220 4.100–107 58 50.4218 4.101 57 61.2 219 4.108 58 70 221 4.109 58 80.3 216 4.111 59 80.7 218 4.116–23 58 84.7 218 4.118 58 127.10 167 4.124 58 homiliae XI in Isaiam 5.5 58 7.18.1 162 5.28 59 7.18.3 162 5.31 58 vita Hilarionis 5.31–258 23 250 5.38 58 90 250 5.41 58, 59 Index of passages 347
Hippolytus of Rome Irenaeus of Lyons refutatio omnium haeresium adversus haereses 4.28 25 1.23.2 160 6.11 160 2.14.2–3160 6.29 283 2.14.6 160 7.29 34 4.26.2 160 5.28.4 123 Hisperica famina A8 272 Isidorus of Seville A9 267 de ecclesiasticis officiis A20 270 1.12 282 A21 272 de naturarerum A44 268 31.1 270 A49–71 267 origines sive etymologiae A62–3267 1.3.1 287 A114–15 267 2.24.4 286 A185–9267 2.24.10 286 A271–4267 2.24.14–15 286 A358–80 270 3.1.1–2286 A373 270 3.71.17 286 A378 267 3.71.38 286 A381–425 5.1.7 288 A383 271 5.39.35 282 A426–50 6.1–2282 A476 272 6.3.5 282 A477–82 270 6.6.1 282 A477–96 6.6.2 282 A479 270 6.8 282 A484 267 6.12–13 282 A513–50 268 6.15–16 282 A546 272 8.1.1 283 A561–70 267 8.3.1 283 A571–612 268 8.3.3 283 A573 268 8.3.6 283 A595 268 8.3.7 284 A611–12 269 8.6.2 283 8.6.3–4283 historia Augusta 8.6.7–16 283 Firmus 8.6.15–16 284 3249 8.6.18 283 8.6.22–3283 historia ecclesiae Alexandrinae 8.7.1–2284 77–960 8.7.9 284 8.7.10 285 Horatius 8.8.2 285 epistulae 8.9.2 285 2.1.156–7 8.9.5 285 348 Index of passages
8.9.6 285 Johannes of Damascus 8.9.10 285 liber de haeresibus 8.9.31 285 8259 8.9.32 285 8.11.2 284 Johannes of Ephesus 8.11.11 284 historia ecclesiastica 9.9.24–5286 2:481–2109 13.2 283 2:482 108 18.45284 3.2.44 108 18.51 284 3.36–7108 regula monachorum historiae beatorum Orientalium 8.1 287 40 108 8.3 287 43 108 sententiae 45 124 1.17.1–2286 51 108 3.12.5 286 3.12.7 286 Johannes of Nikiou 3.12.8 286 78.45 245 3.13.1 284 83.38 245 3.13.2 286 84.45251 3.13.6 286 84.87–8250 3.13.7 287 84.100–103 250 3.13.11 287 3.40–41 286 Johannes of Salisbury synonyma policraticus 2.3 284 2.26 243 2.45 284 8.19 243 2.46 284 2.71 283 Josephus antiquitates Judaicae Johannes Malalas 12.11–16 244 chronographia 14.16 94 Julianus 15.16 95 contraGalilaeos 18.42 108 fr.38 18.42–3107 849D–852 A234 18.54 107 epistulae 18.119 107 35 234 18.136 108 60 57 fr.48107 61 234 61c 55, 234 Johannes of Antioch 89 154 fragmenta 106–757 191 28 107 57 206 239 201 234 orationes 3.1 234 Index of passages 349
Justinus Martyr 1.50 212 1apologia 1.62–4212 2113 1.98–100 212 4–5113 1.158–969 44 160 1.243–50 212 53 51 2.26 211 57–8160 2.30–31 211 2.43–52 211 Kephalaia 2.59 211 no. 69, 166.31–169.22 190 2.74211 19.61 212 Lactantius 23.4 211 de mortibus persecutorum 23.20 212 12 28 31.8 210 13 31 31.11 210 22.4 37 31.13 210 de opificio Dei 31.26 210 6.1 155 31.28 210 divinae institutiones 31.48 210 1.22.6–837 34 212 3.17.5 162 62.9–10 210 3.17.16–25 162 62.10 211 3.17.26 162 62.12 211 3.17.30–36 163 3.17.42 163 liber pontificalis 3.24 188 51.1 116 5.1.1 37 53.5 116 5.1.10 37 54.9 116 5.1.11 37 5.1.17 38 Livius 5.1.18 37 1.20.4 25 5.1.21–837 1.45.525 5.2.4 38 6.1.2 257 5.2.5 38 39.16.9 228 5.2.8 38 40.29.11 228 5.2.11 38 5.2.12–17 38 Lucianus 5.3.23 67 Alexander 5.4.2 38 47 90,152 5.4.8 38 divinarum institutionum epitome Lucifer of Cagliari 27 88 moriendum esse pro Dei filio 27.1 90 11 233
Libanius Lucretius orationes 1.62–79 182 1.41–8212 1.70–71 180 350 Index of passages
1.78–9180 Minucius Felix 1.149 189 8113 1.265–482 155 27–8113 1.271–89 270 38 113 1.275 270 1.483–634 155 Muirchu 1.988–1082 155 vita Patricii 1.1052–8275 1.10.4 265 2.184–332 155 1.15.2 265 2.333–568 155 1.17.6 264 5.416–508 155 1.19.3 266 5.772–1457155 1.20.8–9265 5.1161–6.1286 155 6.50–55 271 narratio Helladii 6.137–41 270 p. 146 138 6.524–6270 6.631–2271 narratio Theophili 6.1090 141 p. 176 138 p. 216–17 138 Macrobius saturnalia Nicephorus Callistus 6.9.9 215 historia ecclesiastica 8.18 35 ManichaeanPsalm-Book, Part II 9.3–11.32 190 Nikolaus I responsa ad consulta Bulgarorum Marcus Diaconus c. 103 276 vita Porphyrii Gazensis 69–70 134 Olympiodorus 71 133 fr.5 75
Martialis Optatus of Milevis 3.50 3 3.1 29 10.62.10 268 3.8 29 14.3–710 app.1.17b–19a 29 app.2.25b–26b 29 martyrium Victoris app.2.26b 30 453 app.2.28a 30
Michael Glycas Oribasius annales collectiones medicae 4259 1pr. 2 – 39
Michael Syrus Origenes 9.24 108 contraCelsum 9.31 107 6.12.1–22 84 9.33 108 6.13.10–12 233 Index of passages 351
epistulae passio S. Felicis episcopi 2.2 223 12 30 homiliae in Lev. 7.6217 passio S. Victoris Mauri homiliae in Num. 653 9.1 2 passio Saturnini Orosius 3.5 90 historiae adversumpaganos 12.14–15 53 6.5.32 246 App. 20–23 28 6.15.31 244 7.39.2 258 Patricius 9.229 256 confessio 13 272 Ovidius epistulae tristia 14.4–5273 5.12.61–8168 Paulinus of Nola passio Agapis et sociarum carmina 4.2 29 10.19–22 182 5.1 30 31.405–6229 6.1 30 Petronius passio Alexandri 1.1–3129 14 53 Philostorgius passio Dioscori 53 historia ecclesiastica 8.5 240 passio Facundi et Primitivi 9.15 68 13–14 53 11.5 76 passio Firmi Philostratus 953 vita Apollonii 1.7 32 passio GordiiCaesariensis Cappadoc. 7.378 253 Plato passio Paphnutii et sociorum apologia 16 31 26d 2 17 53 leges 3.689c–d84 passio Philippi respublica 4.4 29 2.377b 3 4.15 29 3.377b–417b 226 5.4 29 3.378d 226 5.4–10 51 3.379d 226 3.383a 226 352 Index of passages
3.398a 226 pr.19–22 122 5.475e 83 pr.24121 pr.25121 Plinius pr.29–30 121 epistulae pr.41121 3.11 78 pr.47–54 122 4.7.2 11 251 55–70 122 Plinius maior 200–214 121 naturalis historia 316 257 pr.178 376–85 229 17.267 25 782 121, 185 28.9 25 952–4185 30.1 25 952–8185 979–80 122 Plutarchus cathemerinon Alexander 3.94 51 2.8 112 contraSymmachum de curiositate 1pr. 51 230 586 1pr. 69–72 122 1pr. 75 230 Poggio 1pr. 78 214 epistulae 1.4 230 9.32 156 1.8 76 1.9 230 Porphyrius 1.22 230 vita Plotini 1.28 230 3.24–36 9 1.501–5228 19 254 1.528 75, 230 vita Pythagorae 1.529–37 73 5.37 79 1.529 74 1.533 74 Procopius 1.538 74 historia arcana 1.648–9229 11.31 107 2.90 185 11.37 107 2.146 186 18.34 107 2.203 186 2.220–26 186 Prosper of Aquitaine 2.227 186 epitoma chronicorum 2.743 76 ad ann. 443 116 2.1010–11 137 hamartigenia Prudentius pr.36185 apotheosis 162–4185 pr.5 186 164 185 pr.5–17 186 236–43 185 pr.16186 244–345185 Index of passages 353
252 185 Pseudo-Johannes of Damascus 253 185 Vita Barlaam et Joasaph 282 185 285 142 298 185 286 141, 142 305 185 294 142 314 185 297 141, 142 492–505 185 298 142 506–620 185 299 142 723–5258 302 141 756–64 257 peristephanon Quintilianus 5.40 50 institutio oratoria 5.181–450 1.4.3 218 5.186–92 50 1.10.1 83 9184 3.8.46 93 10.196–200 141 6.3.7 44 10.216–19 228 10.90 285 10.871–85 91 10.814–15 52 Radbodus Traiectensis(?) 10.868–991 vita Bonifatii 10.845–552 16 275 10.1111–18 229 13.1–4140 Rimbert 13.2 140 vita Anskarii 13.7–8140 16 278 13.10–11 140 18 278 13.21–3140 13. 31 140 Rufinus 13.57–889 apologia adversus Hieronymum praefatio operum 2.7 221 7–12 184 2.34 218 13–21 48 de principiis 37–874 pr.3 216 42 74 Eusebii historia ecclesiastica translata et con- psychomachia tinuata 34–5182 10.2 33 721–290 11.23 245 11.26 245 Pseudo-Abdias 4.2 140 Rutilius Namatianus 4.3 140 1.31–292 4.4 140,141 1.61 92 1.398 92 Pseudo-Dionysianum 1.445–692 chronicon 1.452 92 2:128 107 1.525–692 2.52 93 354 Index of passages
Salvianus Sozomenus de gubernatione Dei historia ecclesiastica 7.68–77 209 1.1 115 1.18 250 Seneca 1.21.4 35 de tranquillitate animi 2.5 31 9.5 244 2.33 34 naturales quaestiones 4.6 115 7.25.5 86 6.35.1–268 7.15.2–6247 Senecamaior 9.6 75 suasoriae 7.10 93 Statius Achilleis Severus 1.11 182 laudatio S. Leontii 4.1–6125 Suetonius Augustus Sextus Empiricus 31.1 242 adversus mathematicos Tiberius 5.1 80 36 26, 77 Nero Shenoute 38 257 13.32.1–3135 Vitellius 26.26–7135 14.4 77 26.150.15–16 135 Domitianus 8.3 32 Sidonius Apollinaris 10.3 78 carmina 20 244 10–11 143 de poetis epistulae pr.2 284 8.2.1 266 Suidas Socrates Scholasticus D1351 78 historia ecclesiastica Th 205 249 1.9.30–31 34 I401 240 1.18 31 M120 259 1.36 34 M209 153 2.30.48 115 P137 94 3.16 221 Y166 251 3.16.30–37 232 Ch 280 28 3.16.54 232 4.19 68 Symmachus 5.16–17 245 epistulae 7.13–15 250 4.18.5–610 7.15.1 251 relationes 3.10 185 Index of passages 355
SynesiusofCyrene 27.1 233 calvitii encomium 27.2 160 6249 30 113 Dion 16 253, 254 Terentianus Maurus epistulae 1286 8 105.98–100 255 130 254 Tertullianus 137.8–9254 adversus Marcionem 137.42–5254 1.25 34 137.61–2254 5.19 34 141.12–18 254 adversus Valentinianos 143.33 254 7.434 143.40–44 254 14.1 34 143.58 255 apologeticum 154 254 18.8 244 154.2–3252 de anima 154.3–8252 20 153 154.13–14 253 de praescriptionehaereticorum 154.16–18 253 6–7283 154.19–21 252 786, 161 154.92–3253 154.101–4253 Themistius 154.113–14 253 orationes 266a 254 4.59d–60c 259 273.17 254 7.99c 241 291d 254 sermo de dono astrolabii Theodoretus 4254 epistulae 133 119 Tacitus 116 119 annales 145 119 2.32 77 Graecarum affectionumcuratio 4.34 26 pr.2 119 12.52 77 pr.3 119 15.41.1 257 1.18 120 15.44.1 257 1.33 84 dialogus 1.36 84 29.3–4129 1.127 89 35.4–5129 2.7 83 historiae 5.60–61 119 2.62 77 5.64–6120 historia ecclesiastica Tatianus 3.11.5 242 oratio ad Graecos 5.22 246 1–14 113 25–7113 356 Index of passages
Theophanes Vitruvius AM 5982–394, 259 1.1.17 78 AM 6022 107 AM 6048107 Willibald AM 6241 105 vita Bonifatii AM 6263 13 5273 7274 Thucydides 8274 7.8.2 41 8.38 41 ZachariasScholasticus Ammonius sive de mundi opificio Tirechan 98 249 vita Patricii vita Severi 42.6 265 p. 15 131 42.7 265 p. 27–30 136 p. 30 136 Tzetzes p. 36 131 comicorum Graecorum fragmenta p. 37 131 I1,p.19and 31 244 p. 37–8125, 131 p. 48–9125 Valerius Maximus p. 52–4125 1.1.12 228 p. 58 126 p. 59–61 126 Victor of Vita p. 62 126, 127 historia persecutionis Africanae provinciae p. 66 127 3.10 13 p. 66–7128 p. 68 128 vita Caesarii p. 69 128, 129 1.9 263 p. 70 129 p. 71 130 vita Fulgentii p. 73 129 1235 p. 74 130 p. 75 130 vita Nicolai Sionitae 15 137 Zonaras 28–30 130 epitome historiarum 13.14 240 vita Symeonis Stylitae Iunioris 14.2.8–11 259 157 102, 106 14.2.29 95, 259 158 103 15.3.13–22 259 160 103 161 104, 107 Zosimus 162 105 4.14.2–15.3 69 164 105, 106 5.38 75 5.41–275 Index of passages 357
Legal Texts
Acta conciliorum oecumenicorum 9.16.6 251 1.1.4:66 101 9.16.8 64 1.3:181 115 9.16.9–10 65 4.1:218 116 9.16.12 71 4.1:242 116 9.34.1–433 9.34.5 55 Admonitio generalis 9.34.7 65 cap. 78 280 9.34.9 70 9.34.10 70 Breviarium Hipponensium canonum 11.8.3 70 1278 13.3.5 55 14.9.2 259 Codex Iustinianus 14.9.3pr.77 1.1.1.1 99 16.1.2 69, 99 1.1.3 100,101 16.5.1–233 1.1.3.1 101 16.5.5 99 1.1.4 100 16.5.6 69 1.1.5.3 100 16.5.9 70 1.4.34.16 100 16.5.28 99 1.5.2 99 16.5.30–32 76 1.5.6 100, 115 16.5.34.1 76 1.5.8.9–10 100 16.5.46 72 1.5.8.12 100 16.5.62 79 1.5.8.13 100 16.5.63 79 1.5.12.2 101 16.5.66 100, 115 1.5.16.3 101 16.10.2 54 1.5.18.4 97 16.10.3 241 1.5.18.10 101 16.10.3–4241 1.11.8 99 16.10.4 62 1.11.10.1 99 16.10.6 54, 241 1.11.10.2 97 16.10.7 70 1.11.10.5 99 16.10.8 241 1.55 100 16.10.10 62 9.18.2 26 16.10.10–11 241 16.10.11 62 Codex Theodosianus 16.10.12 265 1.4.1 26 16.10.12.1 69, 70 1.4.3 26 16.10.12.4 62, 70 1.29.1–870 16.10.13.1 62 1.29.3 70 16.10.15 241 7.16.1 76 16.10.16 241 9.2.5 70 16.10.18 241 9.16.1 70 16.10.18.3 62 9.16.4 54, 85, 265 16.10.19 241 9.16.5–654 16.10.25 241 358 Index of passages
Collectio Hispana Leges XII tabularum can. 16 223 8.1 25, 225 8.6 257 Concilium Ancyranum can. 23 54 Nomokanon 12.3 101 Concilium Eliberitanum c. 52 33 NovellaeIustiniani 42 100 Concilium Toletanum app.7,cap.2299 4can.19279 NovellaeTheodosii Constitutiones apostolorum 3.1 77 1.6.1–2114 3.8 77 1.6.6 114 Paulus Constitutiones Sirmondianae sententiae 679 5.4 32 12 71, 241 5.4.6 25 5.4.15 25 Decretum Gratiani 5.23.17 26 1.86.5 279 5.23.18 26
Digesta Regula Tarnantensis 10.2.4 101 9280 47.9.9 257 Rules of Rabbūlā Fontes iuris Romani anteiustiniani can. 49 115 2.389–91 32 can. 50 115 2.581 28 can. 52 115 can. 53 115 Gaius 1.4 ad legem XII tabularum257 Statuta ecclesiae antiqua pr.279 Leges Visigothorum can. 5223 12.3.11 288
Manuscriptsand Papyri
Codex Bernensis 363 269 10 293 11 292 Codex Vaticanus Graecus 12 292 455 fol. 119v 203 13 292 19 292 CodicesLatini antiquiores 27 292, 293 3293 28 293 Index of passages 359
29 292, 293 516 293 30 292, 293 562 290,292 33 285, 289, 292 575 292 35 292 593 293 57 292, 293 725 292 69 293 809 292 69–77 292 833 291 70 293 974292 71 293 977 292 72 292, 293 1028 292 73 293 1043 291 74 293 1051292 75 293 1054 291 76–7293 1129 293 99 290,292 1201 291 109 293 1214 291 112 292 1327 293 115 292 1377 292 134 291 1455 292 167 292 1470 12, 292 175 291 1472 275, 290,292 210 291 1474293 223–4291 1507 12 226–7291 1519 291 246 291 1522 291 247 291 1560 291 286–91 291 1569–70 291 296 292 1578 293 304 12 1580 293 305 292 1631 289 306 292 1650–51 291 335 292 1652–3291 345–6292 1660 50, 292 363 292 1693 291 367 291 1708–10 291 392 292 1712 291 397b 293 1717 291 404292 1721 291 417 293 1744 293 421 292 1760 293 439 293 1793 293 442 292 1813 291 442–5293 1816 291 443 292 1817 291 445 292 1832 291 497–501 292 1833 291 498–501 293 1839 291 360 Index of passages
1866 291 Papyri Graecae magicae 1867 291, 292 12.404112
Leyden Glossary 266 Papyrus Bouriant 1234 Oxyrynchus papyri 2338 231 Papyrus magica museiLugdunensis Batavi J384 XII 112