Constantine and Episcopal Banishment: Continuity and Change in the Settlement of Christian Disputes Eric Fournier
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RICE, CARL ROSS. Diocletian's “Great
ABSTRACT RICE, CARL ROSS. Diocletian’s “Great Persecutions”: Minority Religions and the Roman Tetrarchy. (Under the direction of Prof. S. Thomas Parker) In the year 303, the Roman Emperor Diocletian and the other members of the Tetrarchy launched a series of persecutions against Christians that is remembered as the most severe, widespread, and systematic persecution in the Church’s history. Around that time, the Tetrarchy also issued a rescript to the Pronconsul of Africa ordering similar persecutory actions against a religious group known as the Manichaeans. At first glance, the Tetrarchy’s actions appear to be the result of tensions between traditional classical paganism and religious groups that were not part of that system. However, when the status of Jewish populations in the Empire is examined, it becomes apparent that the Tetrarchy only persecuted Christians and Manichaeans. This thesis explores the relationship between the Tetrarchy and each of these three minority groups as it attempts to understand the Tetrarchy’s policies towards minority religions. In doing so, this thesis will discuss the relationship between the Roman state and minority religious groups in the era just before the Empire’s formal conversion to Christianity. It is only around certain moments in the various religions’ relationships with the state that the Tetrarchs order violence. Consequently, I argue that violence towards minority religions was a means by which the Roman state policed boundaries around its conceptions of Roman identity. © Copyright 2016 Carl Ross Rice All Rights Reserved Diocletian’s “Great Persecutions”: Minority Religions and the Roman Tetrarchy by Carl Ross Rice A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts History Raleigh, North Carolina 2016 APPROVED BY: ______________________________ _______________________________ S. -
Lecture 27 Sasanian Empire
4/12/2012 Lecture 27 Sasanian Empire HIST 213 Spring 2012 Sasanian Empire (224-651 CE) Successors of the Achaemenids 224 CE Ardashir I • a descendant of Sasan – gave his name to the new Sasanian dynasty, • defeated the Parthians • The Sasanians saw themselves as the successors of the Achaemenid Persians. 1 4/12/2012 Shapur I (r. 241–72 CE) • One of the most energetic and able Sasanian rulers • the central government was strengthened • the coinage was reformed • Zoroastrianism was made the state religion • The expansion of Sasanian power in the west brought conflict with Rome Shapur I the Conqueror • conquers Bactria and Kushan in east • led several campaigns against Rome in west Penetrating deep into Eastern-Roman territory • conquered Antiochia (253 or 256) Defeated the Roman emperors: • Gordian III (238–244) • Philip the Arab (244–249) • Valerian (253–260) – 259 Valerian taken into captivity after the Battle of Edessa – disgrace for the Romans • Shapur I celebrated his victory by carving the impressive rock reliefs in Naqsh-e Rostam. Rome defeated in battle Relief of Shapur I at Naqsh-e Rostam, showing the two defeated Roman Emperors, Valerian and Philip the Arab 2 4/12/2012 Terry Jones, Barbarians (BBC 2006) clip 1=9:00 to end clip 2 start - … • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_WqUbp RChU&feature=related • http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&featu re=endscreen&v=QxS6V3lc6vM Shapur I Religiously Tolerant Intensive development plans • founded many cities, some settled in part by Roman emigrants. – included Christians who could exercise their faith freely under Sasanian rule • Shapur I particularly favored Manichaeism – He protected Mani and sent many Manichaean missionaries abroad • Shapur I befriends Babylonian rabbi Shmuel – This friendship was advantageous for the Jewish community and gave them a respite from the oppressive laws enacted against them. -
Exiling Bishops: the Policy of Constantius II
University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository Classical Studies Faculty Publications Classical Studies 2014 Exiling Bishops: The olicP y of Constantius II Walter Stevenson University of Richmond, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.richmond.edu/classicalstudies-faculty- publications Part of the History of Christianity Commons Recommended Citation Stevenson, Walt. "Exiling Bishops: The oP licy of Canstantius II." Dumbarton Oaks Papers 68 (2014): 7-27. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Classical Studies at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Classical Studies Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Exiling Bishops: The Policy of Constantius II Walt Stevenson onstantius II was forced by circumstances to all instances in which Constantius II exiled bishops Cmake innovations in the policy that his father and focus on a sympathetic reading of his strategy.2 Constantine had followed in exiling bishops. While Though the sources for this period are muddled and ancient tradition has made the father into a sagacious require extensive sorting, a panoramic view of exile saint and the son into a fanatical demon, recent schol- incidents reveals a pattern in which Constantius moved arship has tended to stress continuity between the two past his father’s precedents to mold a new, intelligent regimes.1 This article will attempt to gather -
Eusebius and His Ecclesiastical History
1 Eusebius and His Ecclesiastical History Eusebius’s Ecclesiastical History (HE) is the most important of his many books. It created a new literary genre that would have a long and influential history. In an often-quoted statement, F. C. Baur called Eusebius the father of ecclesiastical his- tory, just as Herodotus was the father of historical writing in general.1 The Ecclesi- astical History is our single most important source for recovering the history of the first three centuries of Christianity. And it is the centerpiece of a corpus of writings in which Eusebius created a distinctive vision of the place of the Christian church in world history and God’s providential plan. A book of such significance has attracted an enormous body of commentary and analysis driven by two rather different motives. One was the value of the HE as a documentary treasure trove of partially or completely lost works. For a long time, that was the primary driver of scholarly interest. The past two generations have seen the emergence of a second trend that focuses on Eusebius as a figure in his own right, a writer of exceptional range, creativity, and productivity, and an actor on the ecclesiastical and political stage.2 How, for example, did current events shape the way Eusebius thought and wrote about the church’s past? And what can his con- struction of the past tell us in turn about Christian consciousness and ambition during a time of enormous transition? Seen from that angle, the HE becomes not a source for history but itself an artifact of history, a hermeneutical redirection that will be applied to other works of Christian historiography in this book.3 1. -
Constantine's Constantinople
Ezra’s Archives | 55 Constantine’s Constantinople: A Christian Emperor, A Pagan City Mary Balzer On 11 May, 330 C.E., Emperor Constantine stood at the head of the ceremonial festivities that officially consecrated his new capital in the East.1 Constantinople, as the new city was called, heralded a new era of Constantine’s reign with him ruling as the sole emperor. His last co- emperor, Licinius, was defeated at the battle of Chrysopolis in 324.2 Following this, Constantine selected a site for his new capital and began building what he would later call the “New Rome.”3 Constantine had begun his rule as one of four co-emperors, but by 324 he was the one and only ruler. Although the historians of the time agree on the date of the ceremonies, each author gives a unique description of Constantine’s vision for his new capital. The Christian sources Eusebius, the Easter Chronicle, and Zonaras highlight Constantine’s Christian building program in his new capital. But the archaeological record does not corroborate their emphatically Christian accounts. Zosimus, one of the last pagan historians, has historically been overlooked because of his anti-Christian stance. Concerning Constantinople as his account does not describe any 1 Timothy Barnes, Eusebius and Constantine (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1981), 222. 2 Averil Cameron and Stuart G. Hall, “Introduction” in Eusebius: Life of Constantine, translated by Averil Cameron and Stuart G. Hall (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1999) 41. 3 Sozomen, History of the Church: From A.D. 324 to A.D. 440, trans. Edward Walford (London: Henry G. -
4 the Council of Sardica Constantius in the East
H.M.Gwatkin [1908] The Arian Controversy Listening Guide - 4 The Council of Sardica 337 [May 22] The death of Constantine - His sons shared the Empire: In the East, Constantius, and in the West Constantine II took Gaul and Britain; the youngest son Constans, Italy and Illyricum. Their cousins Dalmatius and Hannibalianus governed Thrace and Pontus. Constantine’s death was followed by a simple funeral. His Empire was divided up among his sons and two of their cousins. One of the first acts of Constantius was to recall Athanasius from Exile in 337. Marcellus similarly was recalled at this time. Constantius in the East Able man who sustained peace in the east. He was fearful and jealous o men better than himself and so he trusted unworthy favourites. He became treacherous and cold blooded. He enjoyed the ecclestiastical game and was won over to the Eusebian side. He began with a dislike of the Nicene council and, while he was conservative in language for a time, ended up in the Homoean [the Arian party led by Acacius of Caesarea] with its compromise of homoiousian in 359. Arians we’re encouraged to hold assemblies of their own, and they did at Antioch in the winter of 388. There they charged Athanasius, not with heresy, but sedition and intrigue. The apostate prefect Philagrius expelled Athanasius from Alexandria and Gregory of Cappadocia was forcibly installed in his place. 339 [Lent 346 - October] The Second Exile of Athanasius Athanasius fled to Rome, which put him under Constans’ rule [Italy and Illyricum]. Many eastern clerics from the east came there. -
The Gallic Empire (260-274): Rome Breaks Apart
The Gallic Empire (260-274): Rome Breaks Apart Six Silver Coins Collection An empire fractures Roman chariots All coins in each set are protected in an archival capsule and beautifully displayed in a mahogany-like box. The box set is accompanied with a story card, certificate of authenticity, and a black gift box. By the middle of the third century, the Roman Empire began to show signs of collapse. A parade of emperors took the throne, mostly from the ranks of the military. Years of civil war and open revolt led to an erosion of territory. In the year 260, in a battle on the Eastern front, the emperor Valerian was taken prisoner by the hated Persians. He died in captivity, and his corpse was stuffed and hung on the wall of the palace of the Persian king. Valerian’s capture threw the already-fractured empire into complete disarray. His son and co-emperor, Gallienus, was unable to quell the unrest. Charismatic generals sought to consolidate their own power, but none was as powerful, or as ambitious, as Postumus. Born in an outpost of the Empire, of common stock, Postumus rose swiftly through the ranks, eventually commanding Roman forces “among the Celts”—a territory that included modern-day France, Belgium, Holland, and England. In the aftermath of Valerian’s abduction in 260, his soldiers proclaimed Postumus emperor. Thus was born the so-called Gallic Empire. After nine years of relative peace and prosperity, Postumus was murdered by his own troops, and the Gallic Empire, which had depended on the force of his personality, began to crumble. -
ABSTRACT the Apostolic Tradition in the Ecclesiastical Histories Of
ABSTRACT The Apostolic Tradition in the Ecclesiastical Histories of Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret Scott A. Rushing, Ph.D. Mentor: Daniel H. Williams, Ph.D. This dissertation analyzes the transposition of the apostolic tradition in the fifth-century ecclesiastical histories of Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret. In the early patristic era, the apostolic tradition was defined as the transmission of the apostles’ teachings through the forms of Scripture, the rule of faith, and episcopal succession. Early Christians, e.g., Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen, believed that these channels preserved the original apostolic doctrines, and that the Church had faithfully handed them to successive generations. The Greek historians located the quintessence of the apostolic tradition through these traditional channels. However, the content of the tradition became transposed as a result of three historical movements during the fourth century: (1) Constantine inaugurated an era of Christian emperors, (2) the Council of Nicaea promulgated a creed in 325 A.D., and (3) monasticism emerged as a counter-cultural movement. Due to the confluence of these sweeping historical developments, the historians assumed the Nicene creed, the monastics, and Christian emperors into their taxonomy of the apostolic tradition. For reasons that crystallize long after Nicaea, the historians concluded that pro-Nicene theology epitomized the apostolic message. They accepted the introduction of new vocabulary, e.g. homoousios, as the standard of orthodoxy. In addition, the historians commended the pro- Nicene monastics and emperors as orthodox exemplars responsible for defending the apostolic tradition against the attacks of heretical enemies. The second chapter of this dissertation surveys the development of the apostolic tradition. -
THE EXEGETICAL ROOTS of TRINITARIAN THEOLOGY MICHAEL SLUSSER Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pa
Theological Studies 49 (1988) THE EXEGETICAL ROOTS OF TRINITARIAN THEOLOGY MICHAEL SLUSSER Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pa. N RECENT YEARS systematic theologians have been showing increased I interest in studying the doctrine of the Trinity. An integral part of that study should be an exposition of the origins of the doctrine. The question of origins can be posed in an analytical fashion, as Maurice Wiles has done: .. .we seem forced to choose between three possibilities: either (1) we do after all know about the Trinity through a revelation in the form of propositions concerning the inner mysteries of the Godhead; or (2) there is an inherent threefoldness about every act of God's revelation, which requires us to think in trinitarian terms of the nature of God, even though we cannot speak of the different persons of the Trinity being responsible for specific facets of God's revelation; or (3) our Trinity of revelation is an arbitrary analysis of the activity of God, which though of value in Christian thought and devotion is not of essential significance.1 I think that this analytical approach is in important respects secondary to the genetic one. The first Christians spoke about God in the terms which we now try to analyze; surely the reasons why they used those terms are most relevant to a sound analysis. The main words whose usage needs to be fathomed are the Greek words prosöpon, hypostasis, ousia, andphysis.2 Prosöpon is the earliest of these terms to have attained an accepted conventional usage in early Christian speech about God, and therefore the chief determinant of the shape which the complex of terms was to take. -
Document 1 Disease Takes Its Toll on the Roman Empire
Grade 6 The Eastern Hemisphere Unit 5 The Mediterranean World Lesson 1 You Decide What Factors Led to the “Fall” of the Roman Empire DOCUMENT 1 DISEASE TAKES ITS TOLL ON THE ROMAN EMPIRE Although many disastrous epidemics probably occurred throughout [early history], few sources detailing … early plagues have survived. Unfortunately, few accounts exist; and because of this, we don’t know exactly how or where these epidemics originated…. One such disease, known as the Antonine plague, occurred during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (161-180 CE). It was brought back by soldiers returning from Seleucia (an ancient Greek city on the Mediterranean coast of Pamphylia, in Anatolia, Turkey) and before it abated (was brought under control), it had affected Asia Minor, Egypt, Greece, and Italy. The plague destroyed as much as one-third of the population in some areas, and decimated (destroyed) the Roman army. In 180 CE, Marcus Aurelius caught some type of infection and died in his army camp. There has been some speculation (guessing) that this infection was the plague. Another plague occurred during the reigns of Decius (249-251 CE) and Gallus (251-253 CE). This pestilence (epidemic) broke out in Egypt in 251 CE, and from there, infected the entire empire. Its mortality rate severely depleted the ranks of the army, and caused massive labor shortages. The plague was still raging in 270 CE, when it caused the death of the emperor Claudius Gothicus (268-270 CE). Adapted from http://www.loyno.edu/~history/journal/1996-7/Smith.html 1. What impact did the outbreak of plagues have on the Roman population? 2. -
Bibliotheca Sacra
618 Atha11usius and his Times. [Oct. ARTICLE VI. ATHANASIUS THE COPT, AND HIS TIMES.1 BY NORVELLE WALLACE SHARPE, M.D., F.A.C.S., ST. LOUIS, MO. I. THE Athanasian epoch occurred in the htter portion of the third century and the major portion of the fourth. The predomi nating world power was the Roman Empire, vast in extent, polyglot in its constituents, notably J..acking in the virility and co hesive stability of the preceding centuries, - its art, its science, its literature, its politics, its philosophy, and its religion frankly manifesting the evidence of decadence that but foreshadowed its final doom. Speculative philosophy was the fashion of thought in extra-ecclesiastic circles; speculative religion the vogue prac ticed by the intra-ecclesiastic world. The sound and enduring things are seen to have been masked by casuistic embroid eries; the Spirit of the Law has been smothered by the Let ter: - while Reason of the Forum, Logic of the Schools, and simple Faith of the Sanctuary have been supplanted by Co) liquative Verbiage,.- clamorous progenitor of Confusion. With the exception of the far distant civilizations of China, Japan, and India, the Civilized World may be held, at this period, to be synonymous with the Roman Empire. A single instance will suffice as illustration: Britain was invaded by Julius Cresar B.C. 55; Claudius attempted further conquest nearly a century later; under Julius Agricola A.D. 78-84 1915. ] Athanasius and his Times. 619 Rome attained her maximum of control. In the Athanasian epoch (297-373) the English segment of the Teutoni<; peo ples yet resided on the Continent, crude in civilization, and worshipers of divers gods, of which Tiw, \Voden, Thor, Frea, Saetere, and Eastre spring readily to mind. -
The-Gospel-Of-Mary.Pdf
OXFORD EARLY CHRISTIAN GOSPEL TEXTS General Editors Christopher Tuckett Andrew Gregory This page intentionally left blank The Gospel of Mary CHRISTOPHER TUCKETT 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox26dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With oYces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York ß Christopher Tuckett, 2007 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2007 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available Typeset by SPI Publisher Services Ltd., Pondicherry, India Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by Biddles Ltd., King’s Lynn, Norfolk ISBN 978–0–19–921213–2 13579108642 Series Preface Recent years have seen a signiWcant increase of interest in non- canonical gospel texts as part of the study of early Christianity.