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6 Destruction of Libraries 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 (), . DOI 10.1515/9783110486070-008, © 2020 Dirk Rohmann, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License. 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”
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