Michele Renee Salzman. The making of a Christian aristocracy: Social and religious change in the Western . Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2002. XIV + 354 S. $52.00, cloth, ISBN 978-0-674-00641-6.

Reviewed by Randall S. Howarth

Published on H-W-Civ (June, 2003)

Was the Emperor's Preference Decisive? of traditional totems of honor and status as ex‐ Salzman presents an excellent analysis of the pressed in pagan ritual and ofce. These percep‐ interaction of the Roman aristocracy with Chris‐ tions varied according to region, family history, tianity in the western half of the Roman Empire. and career path; by extension, one may identify The argument is based on prosopographical data variant paces of conversion according to these cri‐ for the years 284-423 (all dates are C.E.) drawn teria. All told, "the emperor's infuence was more largely from the Prosopography of the Later Ro‐ limited and more difuse than many have argued" man Empire and its numerous addenda. She takes (p. 5). In addition, Salzman argues that common issue with the scholarly consensus as presented perceptions of the role of women in hastening the by prominent scholars such as R. MacMullen and Christianization of the aristocracy cannot be sub‐ T. D. Barnes to the efect that the most salient dy‐ stantiated. namic driving the conversion of the western Ro‐ Chapter 1 develops the method. Salzman has man aristocracy was the Emperor's religious pref‐ assembled 414 short biographies representing all erence. The view with which Salzman takes issue known western Roman aristocrats between 284 is, simply stated, that since all emperors save one and 423 whose religious preference is expressed were Christian after Constantine, the conversion in the sources. Their careers are placed against of the empire and its aristocracy was inevitable. the background of other available forms of evi‐ The implication of the traditional view is that the dence, especially letters of church fathers and leg‐ emperor's infuence was more or less direct and islation. The terminal dates represent the ascen‐ compelled conversion from the top down. The re‐ sion of Diocletian and the death of the emperor visionist view for which Salzman argues persua‐ Honorius. Aristocrats are defned for the purposes sively is much more nuanced; the conversion of of this study as being at least clarissimi, a rank in‐ the Roman aristocracy had much more to do with dicating senatorial standing. The study is restrict‐ individualized perceptions concerning the value ed to one-half of the empire since the two halves H-Net Reviews of the empire and their respective aristocracies that networks of patronage and association exist‐ enjoyed markedly diferent economic and social ed that preconditioned religious preferences of in‐ histories, and it accords with the division of the dividual members of those networks and all of senatorial order on a geographical basis by the this practically limits the choices that an emperor emperor Constantius II in the 350s. Salzman puts could make as far as imperial appointments and forth two observations that will inform the rest of promotions go. In essence, except for the highest the book. First, there was a marked and early cor‐ ofces, emperors made their appointments from respondence between the integration of aristo‐ lists they were handed, a process that was repeat‐ cratic ingenues under imperial patronage and ed at lower levels. This results in a difused privi‐ their identifcation with , and, second‐ lege of adlection (pp. 115-116). This is compound‐ ly, there was a great deal of overlap in the atti‐ ed, Salzman argues, by the reluctance of Chris‐ tudes of contemporaneous pagan and Christian tians to seek civic ofces with obviously pagan aristocrats with respect to noble concerns and components. This problem was recognized by values. The hypothesis tendered in this chapter is in 367 in his attempts to de-paganize Ro‐ that the church fathers and emperors essentially man civic ofces after which Christian identifca‐ Christianized the values of the western Roman tion tracks upward in this category. On the other aristocracy (p. 18). hand, the much more open track to an imperial Chapter 2 defnes the process whereby the service that had no ritual element was inviting to levels of titles and honors belonging to the senato‐ ingenues and in which categories there rial order were developed and argues that the pri‐ was a substantial and obvious overlap. In these mary concern of all members of this class was the categories of service, a much faster rate of Chris‐ procurement of prestige, among the accouter‐ tian identifcation is seen as early as the (p. ments of which was the supervision of public cult. 126). The reverse dynamic is clear under the pa‐ The corresponding priesthoods in the city of gan emperor during whose tenure mem‐ were still sought and exercised well into the bers of the imperial service include converts from second half of the fourth century (pp. 64-65). Christianity to . However, strictly mili‐ Chapter 3 breaks down the aristocracy into the re‐ tary appointments were made by all the later em‐ gional categories and shows how families with perors outside of the imperial service, no doubt to long histories in and Rome as well as provin‐ discourage ambitious rivals in the civil govern‐ cial aristocracies with strong patronage ties to ment, and show no numerical advantage accruing Italian families, Roman Africans especially, tend‐ to either pagans or Christians until well into the ed to be represented at higher rates as pagans ffth century. For example, Gratian and Honorius, presumably because of the perceived career bene‐ both zealous Christians, appointed pagans to the fts accruing from pagan ofces. Conversely, since position of Magister Equitem (for the years the Gallic aristocracy was physically closer to the 380-383 and 408-409 respectively). In the case of western emperor's capital at Trier and there exist‐ Honorius, this forced the emperor to rescind his ed no such "status-laden priesthoods" in (p. own decree making pagan appointments illegal. 88), a higher percentage of the aristocracy identi‐ This refects, Salzman argues, the much more fed itself as Christian, or did so sooner than in practical requirements of military appointments. Italy. The chapter concludes with a synthesis of chap‐ ters 2 and 3: there was a two-step process ob‐ Chapter 4 expands the argument by identify‐ tained in the period under question with a gradu‐ ing and considering the ways and means to a suc‐ al falling away from pagan institutions followed cessful aristocratic career. The essential point is

2 H-Net Reviews by a convergence of what had been two separate ing to manage. He was not therefore in a position career paths, Christian and pagan (pp. 135-137). to outrun it. There is certainly no evidence of forc‐ Chapter 5 considers the role of aristocratic ing an overall top-down conversion until the sixth women in the Christianization of their men. Salz‐ century; rather, there was only a progressive cir‐ man argues that there is little basis for the notion, cumscription of pagan ritual and Salzman argues, as argued for example by P. Brown, that women all imperial eforts concerning Christianity com‐ were in any signifcant way responsible for has‐ ported with the prevailing attitudes of the aristoc‐ tening the process of conversion among the aris‐ racy. In chapter 7, "Aristocrats' Infuence on Chris‐ tocracy. Salzman concedes that there were ele‐ tianity," Salzman concludes the study by asserting ments of Christianity that acted to reinforce fe‐ that Christianity changed itself as it assimilated male independence, especially in widowhood, the values of the aristocracy the culmination of and therefore Christianity may have held some which process was the co-optation of the status special appeal for women but cautions that al‐ culture (p. 200), the civic responsibilities of the most all of the relevant ancient sources argued nobility (pp. 205-209), and its literary values (pp. that women should not actively proselytize and, 213-218). on the contrary, should respect traditional Roman The text is followed by a series of appendices patriarchal values. Against the possible objection featuring lists of aristocrats whose careers inform that such strictures on women suggest the oppo‐ the argument and tables weighting their progres‐ site in reality, Salzman notes that the controver‐ sive identifcation as pagan or Christian according sies actually reported in the sources tend to focus to the criteria in the argument and there is a sepa‐ on women's rights to give away their patrimony rate appendix for the sources for the database. and the potential impact of either this prospect or There is no comprehensive bibliography, merely a that of their celibacy on the family (p. 152). Lack‐ list of frequently cited works, but the end notes, ing a socially acceptable public venue for infu‐ comprising about seventy pages, add much in the encing others, Christian women could only have way of secondary reference. been in a position, outside of the family, to infu‐ The prose is pleasant and the argument is ence other Christians (p. 173). But the most telling both thorough and accessible to non-specialists. statistic that Salzman adduces from her sample is Untranslated references appear only in the end‐ the rarity of evidence in which a Christian wife in notes. One defnitely gets the impression that Salz‐ a mixed marriage converted her husband; only man controls the topic and the relevant bibliogra‐ one such case is known. Finally, Salzman argues, phy, but the notes that support the argument are the assumption that women were instrumental in not as helpful as they might be in identifying the converting their husbands stands upon an un‐ specifc ways in which other authors depart from proved premise, that aristocratic women tended the arguments carried in the text. However, the to identify with Christianity before men. The sam‐ overall thesis concerning imperial control of the ple of identifable Christian aristocrats shows no pace of conversion seems, in the end, to depart time lag in patterns of identifcation according to from the standard view only by degree; where the gender. emperor was able to afect religious identifca‐ Chapter 6, "The Emperor's Efect," returns to tion, he did so and, therefore, the book does not the central thesis. It argues briefy that the emper‐ fundamentally dislodge the argument that once or was, in addition to the arguments made in the emperors were Christian, the rest was in‐ chapters 3 and 4, limited in his potential zeal by evitable. The only apparent exception that his membership in the class that he was attempt‐ emerges in the statistics seemed to be in military

3 H-Net Reviews appointments but as Salzman argues, imperial preferences in this sphere were tempered by practical concerns and drew heavily on the incor‐ poration of Barbarian elites whose eventual iden‐ tifcation as Christians was, I might argue, as polit‐ ically motivated as that of anyone. The clearest spikes in Christian identifcations that are indicat‐ ed by Salzman come in two periods: following the death of Julian "the Apostate" and during the con‐ solidation of Theodosius's infuence in the West. Both of these periods were marked by dramatic escalations of anti-pagan, anti-heretical, and anti- Jewish rhetoric and legislation as well as by the rise in infuence of the radical Christians. These key thresholds and their correlation with activist emperors would seem to vindicate the standard view but this possibility is given only cursory con‐ sideration. Salzman does mention, at various places in the text, that Christian leaders com‐ plained that too many conversions were political‐ ly motivated but since there is no way to corre‐ spond this anecdotal evidence with the quantita‐ tive approach she takes, this dynamic ends up falling through the cracks. On the other hand, the arguments put forth in the book indicate how much the process of imperial infuence was in fact indirect and illustrates its practical limita‐ tions. The arguments pertaining to the putative infuence of aristocratic women in the direction of conversion are quite interesting and would be de‐ cisive I think except that their identifable num‐ bers are so small. With that caveat, the close cor‐ relation of male and female patterns of Christian identifcation will stand as a compelling argument against the standard view. All things considered, this is an excellent book that deepens our understanding of imperial infu‐ ence in the conversion process and it should re‐ main useful for a long time.

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Citation: Randall S. Howarth. Review of Salzman, Michele Renee. The making of a Christian aristocracy: Social and religious change in the . H-W-Civ, H-Net Reviews. June, 2003.

URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=7773

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