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Zacharias Scholasticus and the Intellectual Influence of Aeneas of Gaza and John Rufus

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Zacharias Scholasticus and the Intellectual Influence of Aeneas of Gaza and John Rufus ARAM, 18-19 (2006-2007) 153-164. doi:E. WATTS 10.2143/ARAM.18.0.2020726 153 CREATING THE ASCETIC AND SOPHISTIC MÉLANGE: ZACHARIAS SCHOLASTICUS AND THE INTELLECTUAL INFLUENCE OF AENEAS OF GAZA AND JOHN RUFUS Dr. EDWARD WATTS (Indiana University) The city of Gaza in the late fifth and early sixth centuries has attracted atten- tion from scholars of both anti-Chalcedonian religious culture and late Roman intellectual history.1 At that time, Gaza and its port of Maiuma were at the center of two very different contemporary intellectual traditions. One of these traditions was connected to the anti-Chalcedonian monasteries of Maiuma. These monasteries produced renowned monks like Peter the Iberian and John Rufus who, beginning in the 450s, played an important role in the intellectual and spiritual evolution of anti-Chalcedonian culture in the region. At the same time, a different sort of intellectual development was taking place in the secular schools of the city. Gazan intellectual life seems to make little impression in literary sources for most of late antiquity, but, in the later fifth century, Gaza appears as a significant part of the intellectual networks of the Southeastern Mediterranean. This can first be seen in a wave of Gazan stu- dents attending schools and otherwise participating in the intellectual life of Alexandria.2 By the early sixth century, a distinct, Christian-themed, and Gaza-centered scholastic culture emerged under the leadership of Procopius and, eventually, Choricius of Gaza.3 This convergence of ascetic and sophistic achievement is not without ante- cedents. Indeed, in Alexandria itself, anti-Chalcedonian ascetic culture thrived while a renaissance was taking place in the city’s philosophical and rhetorical schools in the mid-fifth century.4 This development is not unconnected to the Gaza situation, but Gaza is distinct because the personal interaction between 1 On the general cultural environment in and around the city of Gaza, see K. Seitz, Die Schule von Gaza, (diss. Heidelberg, 1892); G. Downey, Gaza in the Early Sixth Century, (Norman, OK, 1963) and C.A.M. Glucker, The City of Gaza in the Roman and Byzantine Periods, BAR Interna- tional Series 325, (Oxford, 1987). 2 For the scholastic connections between Gaza and Alexandria, see E. Watts, “Student travel to intellectual centers: What was the attraction?” in L. Ellis and F. Kidner (eds.), Travel, Com- munication, and Geography in Late Antiquity, (Aldershot, 2004), 11-21 (esp. 15 n.12). Among the Gazans known to have attended Alexandrian schools in the later fifth century are Zacharias Scholasticus, Aeneas, Diodorus, and Procopius. 3 On the culture that emerges, see G. Downey, 1963 and C.A.M. Glucker, 1987, 51-7. 4 On this Alexandrian cultural environment, see E. Watts, City and School in Late Antique Athens and Alexandria (Berkeley, 2006), 204-56. 06-8819_Aram 18-19_08_Watts 153 06-26-2007, 17:47 154 CREATING THE ASCETIC AND SOPHISTIC MÉLANGE members of these circles is well documented in surviving sources. The signifi- cance of this is not often appreciated, however, because these sophists and as- cetics have usually been studied separately.5 Nevertheless, the Gazan evidence points to a degree of overlap between the two communities that was especially strong in the case of students. When seen through the perspective of these stu- dents, this environment provides a unique opportunity to glimpse the intellec- tual interaction between two seemingly distinct communities. This paper will examine the interplay between the ideas and anecdotes that circulated in each community and explore how surviving sources attempted to create common intellectual ground between anti-Chalcedonian ascetic and Classical sophistic traditions. A full study of Gazan cultural life in the period from c. 450-550 is, of course, not practical in this space. Instead, this discus- sion will focus on the early decades of this interplay and, specifically, on the person of Zacharias Scholasticus. Zacharias was an active author and was among the first generation of students whose educational experience was shaped by personal interactions with both sophists and anti-Chalcedonian as- cetics.6 Furthermore, because he wrote a number of works while still a student, his writings reveal the intellectual interplay between these two traditions in the student’s mind. Before turning to Zacharias, it is important to first consider the history of the sophistic and ascetic communities of Gaza. Both the first ascetic and so- phistic institutions in Gaza predate their late fifth century prominence and, in each case, there is an undeniable link to Egypt. Gazan intellectuals first attract our notice as a group of students who traveled to Alexandria for rhetorical and philosophical training in the middle decades of the fifth century.7 The earliest of these was Aeneas of Gaza, a Christian student of the Neoplatonic philoso- pher Hierocles. Hierocles had studied in Athens under Plutarch the scholarch before returning to Alexandria to teach a Neoplatonic philosophy tinged with pagan religious content.8 The religious difference between Aeneas and his 5 So, for example, J. Steppa (John Rufus and the World Vision of Anti-Chalcedonian Culture, [Piscataway, NJ, 2002]) spends only a bit of time on the sophistic circles of the city. M. Colonna (ed., Zacaria Scolastico, Ammonio: Introduzione, testo critico, traduzione, commentario, [Na- ples, 1973]) makes similarly slight mention of ascetic circles in her work. 6 Zacharias’ own scholastic experiences are on display in his Life of Severus. 7 These are the first Gazan teachers of significance, but Palestine had been an important center for sophistic teaching since the second century. For its earlier prominence, see J. Geiger, “Notes on the Second Sophistic in Palestine,” ICS 19 (1994), 221-30. Notable in this early con- text is Ptolemaeus, a sophist known from a third century inscription as a “Gazan and citizen of many other cities.” On this inscription, see C.A.M. Glucker, 1987, 51 and Appendix 46. Jerome (Life of Hilarion 2) states that Hilarion, who was born outside of Gaza, also studied rhetoric in Alexandria in the fourth century. 8 One can get a brief sense of this from Damascius’ Life of Isidore fr. 45B (Athanassiadi). On the character of his teaching, see the fragments of his On Providence, preserved in Photius, Bibl., cod. 214 p 171 a 5. Notable among the larger studies of Hierocles are I. Hadot, Le Problème du Néoplatonisme Alexandrin: Hiéroclès et Simplicius, (Paris, 1978); and N. Aujoulat, Le Néo- Platonisme Alexandrin Hiéroclès d’Alexandrie, (Leiden, 1986). 06-8819_Aram 18-19_08_Watts 154 06-26-2007, 17:47 E. WATTS 155 teacher was significant, and it manifested itself particularly in a difference of opinion about the eternity of the world. Despite this, Aeneas had a positive im- pression of Hierocles and his fellow students. In his fictional dialog, Theophrastus, Aeneas had the characters profess their great fondness for Hierocles and the intellectual environment he created.9 Furthermore, if his small number of surviving letters can be taken as exemplary, Aeneas partici- pated in this Alexandria-centered intellectual milieu even after his return to Gaza and remained friendly with the pagan leaders of it for the rest of his life.10 While adopting the basic intellectual approaches and social behaviors ap- propriate to a member of this larger Southeastern Mediterranean cultural com- munity, Aeneas’ writings give evidence of an approach to philosophical ques- tions that differed from that of his teacher. In the Theophrastus in particular, Aeneas sought to prove that events on earth prefigure the eventual resurrection of souls by drawing upon three miracles. These include the resurrection of a dead child by a gérwn (in all likelihood a monk), the healing of a blind man, and a marvel in which Catholic Christian men who had their tongues cut out by the Vandals recovered the ability to speak.11 All of these are Christian mira- cles, but, while Aeneas emphasizes that a god performed them, he does not explicitly identify them as acts of the Christian God. Indeed, while his work bears the imprint of his own religious experiences, the Theophrastus downplays the Christian significance of these marvels. As such, it reflected the standards of an intellectual world in which persuasive discourse was defined by Classical philosophical standards. Miraculous events, like those that Aeneas found to be effective illustrations of his philosophical points, could be included, but they were not introduced in a way that emphasized their specific Christian origins or significance. The generation of Gazan students that followed Aeneas remained associated with this larger Alexandrian intellectual world. It seems that the best students from Gaza continued to make their way to Alexandria to study into the early sixth century. This generation of students included Zacharias Scholasticus and Procopius of Gaza.12 In the writings of these students, however, the pattern of discourse has changed. Their expressions of Christianity have become more explicit and, in some cases, their attacks on pagan teachings have become 9 Aeneas, Theophrastus, ln. 8-12. 10 For his letters, see L. Positano (ed. and trans.), Enea di Gaza: Epistole (Naples, 1961). 11 The gérwn is described in Th. 64.27-65.19. The story of the blind man is told in Th. 65.23- 66.6. Finally, Aeneas explains the miraculous speech of the victims of mutilation in Th. 66.15- 67.13. This last event seems to have involved victims of Hunneric’s persecution in 484. On this, see N. Aujoulat, “Le Theophraste d’Énée de Gaza. Problèmes de Chronologie,” Koinonia 10 (1986), 67-80. 12 On Zacharias’ student experiences in Alexandria, see Zacharias, Life of Severus, 12-46. Procopius’ pride at winning a rhetorical crown in Alexandria suggests his attachment to the intel- lectual culture of the city (Procopius, Ep.
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