A COMPANION TO LATE ANTIQUITY A Companion to Late Antiquity. Edited by Philip Rousseau © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. ISBN: 978-1-405-11980-1 BLACKWELL COMPANIONS TO THE ANCIENT WORLD This series provides sophisticated and authoritative overviews of periods of ancient history, genres of classical literature, and the most important themes in ancient culture. Each volume comprises between twenty-five and forty concise essays written by individual scholars within their area of specialization. The essays are written in a clear, provocative, and lively manner, designed for an international audience of scholars, students, and general readers. ANCIENT HISTORY A Companion to the Classical Tradition Published Edited by Craig W. Kallendorf A Companion to the Roman Army A Companion to Roman Rhetoric Edited by Paul Erdkamp Edited by William Dominik and Jon Hall A Companion to the Roman Republic A Companion to Greek Rhetoric Edited by Nathan Rosenstein and Robert Morstein- Edited by Ian Worthington Marx A Companion to Ancient Epic A Companion to the Roman Empire Edited by John Miles Foley Edited by David S. Potter A Companion to Greek Tragedy A Companion to the Classical Greek World Edited by Justina Gregory Edited by Konrad H. Kinzl A Companion to Latin Literature A Companion to the Ancient Near East Edited by Stephen Harrison Edited by Daniel C. Snell A Companion to Ancient Political Thought A Companion to the Hellenistic World Edited by Ryan K. Balot Edited by Andrew Erskine A Companion to Ovid A Companion to Late Antiquity Edited by Peter Knox Edited by Philip Rousseau In preparation A Companion to Ancient History Edited by Andrew Erskine A Companion to the Ancient Greek Language Edited by Egbert Bakker A Companion to Archaic Greece Edited by Kurt A. Raaflaub and Hans van Wees A Companion to Hellenistic Literature Edited by Martine Cuypers and James J. Clauss A Companion to Julius Caesar Edited by Miriam Griffin A Companion to Horace Edited by N. Gregson Davis In preparation A Companion to Food in the Ancient World A Companion to Byzantium Edited by John Wilkins Edited by Elizabeth James A Companion to the Latin Language A Companion to Ancient Macedonia Edited by James Clackson Edited by Ian Worthington and Joseph Roisman A Companion to Classical Mythology A Companion to the Punic Wars Edited by Ken Dowden and Niall Livingstone Edited by Dexter Hoyos A Companion to Sophocles A Companion to Ancient Egypt Edited by Kirk Ormand Edited by Alan Lloyd A Companion to Aeschylus Edited by Peter Burian LITERATURE AND CULTURE A Companion to Vergil and the Vergilian Tradition Published Edited by Michael Putnam and Joseph Farrell A Companion to Classical Receptions A Companion to Greek Art Edited by Lorna Hardwick and Christopher Stray Edited by Tyler Jo Smith and Dimitris Plantzos A Companion to Greek and Roman Historiog- A Companion to Families in the Greek and Roman raphy World Edited by John Marincola Edited by Beryl Rawson A Companion to Catullus A Companion to Tacitus Edited by Marilyn B. Skinner Edited by Victoria Paga´ n A Companion to Roman Religion A Companion to the Archaeology of the Ancient Edited by Jo¨rg Ru¨pke Near East A Companion to Greek Religion Edited by Daniel Potts Edited by Daniel Ogden A COMPANION TO LATE ANTIQUITY Edited by Philip Rousseau with the assistance of Jutta Raithel A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication This edition first published 2009 c 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd Blackwell Publishing was acquired by John Wiley & Sons in February 2007. Blackwell’s publishing program has been merged with Wiley’s global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business to form Wiley-Blackwell. 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If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A companion to late Antiquity/edited by Philip Rousseau; with the assistance of Jutta Raithel. p. cm. — (Blackwell companions to the ancient world) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4051-1980-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Mediterranean Region—History—To 476. 2. Rome—History—Empire, 30 B.C.–476 A.D. 3. Civilization, Classical. 4. Hellenism. I. Rousseau, Philip. II. Raithel, Jutta. DE86.C63 2009 937’.08—dc22 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Set in 10/12.5pt Galliard By SPi Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India Printed and bound in Singapore by Fabulous Printers Pte Ltd 01 2009 Contents List of Figures ix List of Maps x Notes on Contributors xi Preface and Acknowledgments xviii List of Abbreviations xxiii 1 Approaching Late Antiquity 1 Wendy Mayer PART I The View from the Future 15 2 The Byzantine Late Antiquity 17 Stratis Papaioannou 3 Late Antiquity in the Medieval West 29 Conrad Leyser 4 Cities of the Mind: Renaissance Views of Early Christian Culture and the End of Antiquity 43 Mark Vessey 5 Narrating Decline and Fall 59 Clifford Ando 6 Late Antiquity in Modern Eyes 77 Stefan Rebenich PART II Land and People 93 7 The Shapes and Shaping of the Late Antique World: Global and Local Perspectives 97 Mark Humphries vi Contents 8 Mobility and the Traces of Empire 110 Blake Leyerle 9 Information and Political Power 125 Claire Sotinel 10 Mediterranean Cities 139 S. T. Loseby 11 The Archaeological Record: Problems of Interpretation 156 Olof Brandt 12 Inscribing Identity: The Latin Epigraphic Habit in Late Antiquity 170 Dennis E. Trout 13 Gender and the Fall of Rome 187 Kate Cooper 14 Marriage and Family Relationships in the Late Roman West 201 Judith Evans-Grubbs 15 The Church, the Living, and the Dead 220 E´ ric Rebillard PART III Image and Word 231 16 The Value of a Good Education: Libanius and Public Authority 233 Raffaella Cribiore 17 Textual Communities in Late Antique Christianity 246 Kim Haines-Eitzen 18 Exegesis without End: Forms, Methods, and Functions of Biblical Commentaries 258 Karla Pollmann 19 Tradition, Innovation, and Epistolary Mores 270 Jennifer Ebbeler 20 Visual and Verbal Representation: Image, Text, Person, and Power 285 James A. Francis 21 Christianity and the Transformation of Classical Art 306 Felicity Harley 22 The Discourse of Later Latin 327 Philip Burton Contents vii 23 Language and Culture in Late Antique Egypt 342 Malcolm Choat 24 Late Antique Historiography: A Brief History of Time 357 David Woods PART IV Empire, Kingdom, and Beyond 373 25 Law in Practice 377 Caroline Humfress 26 The Mirror of Jordanes: Concepts of the Barbarian, Then and Now 392 Andrew Gillett 27 Beyond the Northern Frontiers 409 Guy Halsall 28 From Empire to Kingdoms in the Late Antique West 426 John Vanderspoel 29 Rome and the Sasanid Empire: Confrontation and Coexistence 441 Jan Willem Drijvers 30 Syria, Syriac, Syrian: Negotiating East and West 455 Christine Shepardson 31 Syria and the Arabs 467 David Cook 32 The Early Caliphate and the Inheritance of Late Antiquity (c. AD 610–c. AD 750) 479 Andrew Marsham PART V The Sacred 493 33 Christianization, Secularization, and the Transformation of Public Life 497 Richard Lim 34 The Political Church: Religion and the State 512 Michael Gaddis 35 The Late Antique Bishop: Image and Reality 525 Rita Lizzi Testa 36 The Conduct of Theology and the ‘‘Fathers’’ of the Church 539 Thomas Graumann viii Contents 37 Defining Sacred Boundaries: Jewish–Christian Relations 556 Naomi Koltun-Fromm 38 Pagans in a Christian Empire 572 Neil McLynn 39 ‘‘Not of This World’’: The Invention of Monasticism 588 Daniel F. Caner Bibliography 601 Index 700 Figures 20.1 Ancient trompe l’oeil, panel from a cubiculum in the villa of P. Fannius 290 20.2 Prima Porta Augustus 293 20.3 Bronze colossus of an emperor 294 20.4 Images of co-emperors displayed in icons and embroidery around an official 297 20.5 Wall painting of Orpheus and animals 298 20.6 Dionysiac mosaic in Santa Costanza 299 20.7 Wall painting of Hercules and Athena