THE IMPERIAL CULT AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHURCH ORDER SUPPLEMENTS TO VIGILIAE CHRISTIANAE Formerly Philosophia Patrum

TEXTS AND STUDIES OF EARLY CHRISTIAN LIFE AND LANGUAGE

EDITORS

J. DEN BOEFT — R. VAN DEN BROEK — W.L. PETERSEN D.T. RUNIA —J.C.M. VAN WINDEN

VOLUME XLV THE IMPERIAL CULT AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHURCH ORDER Concepts and Images of Authority in Paganism and Early Christianity before the Age of Cyprian

BY

ALLEN BRENT

BRILL LEIDEN • BOSTON • KOLN 1999 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Brent, Allen. The imperial cult and the development of church order : concepts and images of authority in paganism and early Christianity before the Age of Cyprian / by Allen Brent. p. cm. — (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae, ISSN 0920-623X ; v. 45) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and indexes. ISBN 9004114203 1. Church polity—History—Early church, ca. 30-600. 2. Emperor worship—Rome. 3. Christianity and other religions—Roman. I. Tide. II. Series. BV648.B73 1999 261.2'207'09015—dc21 99-36631 CIP

Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme

[Vigiliae Christianae / Supplements] Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae : formerly Philosophia Patrum ; texts and studies of early Christian life and language. - Leiden ; Boston ; Koln : Brill. Friiher Schriftenreihe ISSN 0920-623X Vol. 45. Brent, Allen: The imperial cult and the development of church order. - 1999 Brent, Allen: The imperial cult and the development of church order : concepts and images of authority in Paganism and Early Christianity before the Age of Cyprian / by Allen Brent. - Leiden ; Boston ; Koln : Brill, 1999 (Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae ; Vol. 45) ISBN 90-04-11420-3

ISSN 0920-623X ISBN 90 04 11420 3

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PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS Caroline Penrose Bammel, F.B.A. (1940-1995) In piam memoriam

CONTENTS

Abbreviations ix Plates xv Introduction xix

I. Christian and Pagan Cultus by the Third Century 1 A. Cyprianic Hierarchy and Decius Trajan 2 B. Christian and Imperial Cult: Parallels Before Cyprian 4 C. Church Order as Apologia: The Reactive Thesis 8 D. Imperial and Christian Order: Contra-Cultural Relations 11

II. The Foundations of the Imperial Cult 17 A. Republican Antecedents of the Imperial Cult 19 B. The Inauguration and Reception of the Imperial Cult 59

III. Imperial Ideology and the Origins of Church Order 73 A. Luke-Acts: Traditional Eschatology Transformed 78 B. Luke-Acts in the Context of Imperial History 82 C. Lukan Images of Contra Culture 101 D. Church Order and Imperial Society 130 E. In Conclusion: Theophilus and His Circle 137

IV. Clement of Rome and Domitian's Empire 140 A. Domitian and the Writing of Clement's Corinthians ... 141 B. Clement: Church Order and Imperial Peace 144 C. Clement's Construction of a Contra Culture 161

V. The Apocalypse and Domitian's Iconography 164 A. Domitian's Cult and the Date of the Apocalypse 164 B. The Domitianic Backcloth to the Apocalypse 177 C. In Conclusion: Apocalypse and the Imperial Cult 208

VI. Ignatius of and the Martyr's Procession 210 A. Ignatian Typology and Domitian's Iconography 211 viii CONTENTS

B. The Martyr Procession and Cultic Ambassadors .... 228 C. Order in Clement, Ignatius and the Apocalypse 248

VII. Pagan and Christian