Violence and Authority in Eusebius of Caesarea's
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VIOLENCE AND AUTHORITY IN EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA’S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY A thesis submitted to The University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in the Faculty of Humanities 2013 JAMES CORKE-WEBSTER SCHOOL OF ARTS, LANGUAGES AND CULTURES Contents Page List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................... 4 Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Declaration ................................................................................................................................ 6 Copyright Statement ................................................................................................................ 7 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... 8 Introduction: Violence and Authority in Eusebius of Caesarea’s Ecclesiastical History ..................................................................................................................................... 11 I. Eusebius of Caesarea and the Ecclesiastical History ........................................................ 12 II. History of Scholarship on the Ecclesiastical History ...................................................... 22 III. Eusebius and the Second Sophistic ................................................................................ 27 IV. Eusebius‘ ―Life of Origen‖ ............................................................................................ 32 V. A Rhetoric of Legitimate Authority ................................................................................ 38 1. Parental Authority: Piety, Education, and the Christian Household ........................... 42 I. Origen‘s Childhood ........................................................................................................... 42 II. Reading Behind the Lines ................................................................................................ 47 III. The Family in the Ecclesiastical History ....................................................................... 67 IV. Reclaiming the Family ................................................................................................... 72 V. The Christian Face of the Roman Parent ......................................................................... 76 2. Ascetic Authority: Renunciation, Training and the Christian School .......................... 84 I. Origen‘s Ascetic Impulse .................................................................................................. 84 II. Revealing Ambivalence ................................................................................................... 91 III. Asceticism in the Ecclesiastical History ........................................................................ 97 IV. The Ascetic Tradition ................................................................................................... 110 V. A Temperate School ...................................................................................................... 117 3. Intellectual Authority: Charisma, Clergy and Christian Networks ............................ 129 I. Origen‘s Scholarly Career ............................................................................................... 129 II. Untold Stories ................................................................................................................ 136 III. Scholarship and Leadership in the Ecclesiastical History ........................................... 151 IV. Church Traditions ......................................................................................................... 169 V. Eusebius and the Christian Church ................................................................................ 175 2 4. Mortal Authority: Martyrdom, Flight and the Christian Community ....................... 183 I. Origen‘s Death ................................................................................................................ 183 II. Going Out with a Whimper ........................................................................................... 188 III. Martyrdom in the Ecclesiastical History ...................................................................... 196 IV. Violent Traditions ........................................................................................................ 216 V. The Authority of the Martyrs ........................................................................................ 224 Conclusion: Offering the Book ........................................................................................... 235 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................... 246 WORD COUNT (INCLUDING FOOTNOTES AND ENDNOTES: 79,571) 3 List of Abbreviations Journal abbreviations are taken from l'Annee Philologique. AB Analecta Bollandiana ANRW Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt ChHist Church History CQ Classical Quarterly CRAI Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres EThL Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses GRBS Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies HThR Harvard Theological Review Historia Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JECS Journal of Early Christian Studies JRS Journal of Roman Studies JTS Journal of Theological Studies P&P Past & Present RAC Rivista di archeologia cristiana SO Symbolae Osloenses VigChr Vigiliae Christianae ZKG Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte ZPE Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 4 Abstract ‗Violence and Authority in Eusebius of Caesarea‘s Ecclesiastical History‘, a thesis submitted to The University of Manchester by James Corke- Webster for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) on the 7th March 2013. The first Christian historian, Eusebius of Caesarea, wrote his pioneering Ecclesiastical History in the early 4th century, just after the western emperor Constantine‘s ―conversion‖ to Christianity. It was a history born of Eusebius‘ present and designed for the future. Reading Eusebius and the Ecclesiastical History within the second sophistic movement, I argue that Eusebius‘ picture of Christian history appropriated the past to fundamentally re-imagine the essence of Christian authority. Eusebius‘ descriptions of past Christians used them as exemplars of a new model of Christian leadership designed for his 4th century context. Eusebius was writing in the first place for the Christian clergy; elite provincial Christians who shared the mores and stereotypes of their elite non-Christian neighbours. He therefore presented a model of Christian authority not based around the extreme violence of martyrdom and asceticism which had characterised the charismatic heroes of earlier 2nd and 3rd century Christian literature. It was based instead on a traditional elite rhetoric of temperance, learned through paideia and manifested in care for dependents. Around this thread Eusebius built his Empire-wide church. 5 Declaration No portion of the work referred to in this thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. 6 Copyright Statement i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns certain copyright or related rights in it (the ―Copyright‖) and s/he has given The University of Manchester certain rights to use such Copyright, including for administrative purposes. ii. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts and whether in hard or electronic copy, may be made only in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) and regulations issued under it or, where appropriate, in accordance with licensing agreements which the University has from time to time. This page must form part of any such copies made. iii. The ownership of certain Copyright, patents, designs, trade marks and other intellectual property (the ―Intellectual Property‖) and any reproductions of copyright works in the thesis, for example graphs and tables (―Reproductions‖), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s) of the relevant Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions. iv. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure, publication and commercialisation of this thesis, the Copyright and any Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions described in it may take place is available in the University IP Policy (see http://www.campus.manchester.ac.uk/medialibrary/policies/intellectual- property.pdf), in any relevant Thesis restriction declarations deposited in the University Library, The University Library‘s regulations (see http://www.manchester.ac.uk/library/aboutus/regulations) and in The University‘s policy on Presentation of Theses 7 Acknowledgements This dissertation owes much to its own scholarly ecclesia. I have acquired debts and gratitudes not nearly adequately expressed in the brief lines below, and others that cannot be put so easily on paper. Suffice it to say that this dissertation not only would have been very different without the input