Verse and Conversion: Poetship, Christianity, and the Transformation of the Roman World, AD 400-700 The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Ungvary, David. 2018. Verse and Conversion: Poetship, Christianity, and the Transformation of the Roman World, AD 400-700. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:41129133 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Verse and Conversion: Poetship, Christianity, and the Transformation of the Roman World, AD 400-700 A dissertation presented by David Wilson Ungvary to The Department of the Classics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of Medieval Latin Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts March 2018 © David Wilson Ungvary All rights reserved. Dissertation Advisor: Professor Jan Ziolkowski David Wilson Ungvary Verse and Conversion: Poetship, Christianity, and the Transformation of the Roman World, AD 400-700 Abstract This dissertation presents a cultural history of Christian Latin poetic authorship from the late Roman through the post-imperial period. It analyzes the evolution of Latin verse-writing habits, authorial practices, and routines (i.e. “poetship”) within contemporary Christian discourses surrounding spiritual self-formation, self-presentation, and behavior, and in the context of social and political reconfigurations during the period of Roman imperial transition from roughly AD 400 to 700. In particular, the study explores how classical Latin poetry, which the Roman nobility used for centuries to encode and reproduce the culture of their class, came to function as a medium for the representation of holiness and the assertion of ascetic Christian identity, often constructed in fundamental opposition to traditional Roman systems of power, morality, and belief. Investigation reveals that efforts to integrate poetic practice within post-Roman Christian life often functioned paradoxically, representing conflicting desires to retain classical poetry as an instrument of authority and to subvert the traditional modes and images of power to which poetry was connected. Individual case studies entail historically sensitive close readings of verse writers active in the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries: Sidonius Apollinaris, Avitus of Vienne, Venantius Fortunatus, the Visigothic king Sisebut, and Eugenius of Toledo. These examinations show that Christian poets operated with new ethical and political imperatives under barbarian and ecclesiastical regimes to transfigure verse writing on social and aesthetic levels into a mode of pious practice, and to produce creative visions of authorship that both mirrored and made cultural transformations in the post-imperial world. Some poets implicated their writing practices in contemporary ascetic movements by renouncing secular themes and formal features for - iii - the sake of their souls; others described their religious poetry as the fulfillment of a sacred vow to God or the saints. Collectively, these cases open a window onto the development of interplay among poetic experimentation, shifting structures of regional power, and emergent spiritual practices, including ascetic conversion, Christian burial, and penance. Viewed in this light, the transformation of Christian Latin poetship appears not only as an intriguing moment in literary history, but as a cultural phenomenon with significant implications for the construction of early medieval society. - iv - Table of Contents Acknowledgements……………………………………...................................................viii List of Abbreviations………………………………….....................................................xi Chapter One: Verse and Conversion, Asceticism and Authorship: an Introduction………………. 1 Chapter Two: Asceticism and Poetship in Post-Roman Gaul: Sidonius Apollinaris and Avitus of Vienne……………………………………...47 Chapter Three: The Dead, Poets, and Society (I): Christian Latin Verse Epitaphic Habits to Post-Roman Late Antiquity……………117 Chapter Four: The Dead, Poets, and Society (II): Venantius Fortunatus………………………………………………………….160 Chapter Five: Clarifying the Eclipse: Sisebut, Isidore, and the Poetics of Power in Post-Roman Iberia…………………236 Chapter Six: The Voice of the Dead King Chindasuinth: Poetry, Politics, and the Discourse of Penance in Visigothic Spain……………….275 Bibliography……………………………………...........................................................316 - v - Read – Sweet – how others – strove – Till we – are stouter – What they – renounced – Till we – are less afraid – Emily Dickinson - vi - To Emily - vii - Acknowledgements That the writing of this dissertation has so often been a happy and exhilarating experience owes to many people and institutions whose generosity, humanity, and enthusiasm both energized me and enabled my project. This study would not have been possible without the support of the Presidential Scholar Dissertation Completion Fellowship and the Charles P. Segal Student Research and Travel Fellowship at Harvard University, and the William R. Tyler Fellowship at Dumbarton Oaks. Some material incorporated into this dissertation benefited from comments and questions from gracious audience members, to whom I am thankful, at the International Medieval Congress in Kalamazoo, MI, the Medieval Academy of America’s Annual Meeting in Boston, MA, and at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C. I am humbled to think of the dozens of individuals—colleagues, friends, and family members—who have given selflessly of themselves to help me on this journey, each in their own way. As an undergraduate at Duke University I was fortunate to study under Francis Newton, who first introduced me to the world of Medieval Latin literature, and who, more importantly, acted as a model of integrity, deliberateness, and compassion. In many ways, I have tried to follow in Francis’ footsteps while working on this project. As a graduate student, I received unparalleled administrative and library support, which always made the going smooth; in particular I would like to thank Teresa Wu, Alyson Lynch, and Deb Stewart. I am grateful to have enjoyed the company of brilliant colleagues, who often served as sounding-boards and always as loyal confidantes. I wish to thank my fellow classicists: Julian Yolles, Albertus Horsting, Greg Mellen, Charles Bartlett, Anthony Shannon, Katie van Schaik, Sam Blankenship, Tyler Flatt, and Alex Forte; as well as my fellow fellows at Dumbarton Oaks: John Davis, John Zaleski, Nikos Zagklas and Hendrik Dey. I owe an especially heavy debt of gratitude to Nate Aschenbrenner. For the last five years, since our time preparing together for exams in medieval history, no one has spent more hours in conversation with me about my project, and no one has been a more thoughtful friend. - viii - Whatever this dissertation may achieve, it would be far less without the expert guidance, incisive questioning, and sometimes magical inspiration of my committee members. I profited immensely from Richard Tarrant’s incomparable knowledge of Latin poetry. Many of the intertextual possibilities noted in this study were first spotted by his eagle eye. Richard also provided handwritten notes on a completed draft of the dissertation, which saved me from myself on many occasions. Michael McCormick brought to this project a remarkable command of late ancient and medieval history, which he shared with incredible kindness. As he read each draft, he challenged me to deepen my level of inquiry, while simultaneously motivating me with his excitement for my findings. Emma Dench is a shifter of paradigms. Her abilities to find perfect angles of new perspective and to articulate the complex with clever simplicity often liberated me when I was stuck in my thinking. At the same time, she was a stabilizing force at the rockiest points of the writing process by virtue of her steadfast enthusiasm and astonishing generosity of spirit. Last but not least, I am indebted to my advisor Jan Ziolkowski, who not only oversaw this project, but served as a mentor throughout my graduate career. Despite juggling an impossible number of commitments, he never failed to make time for me. Jan expanded my understanding of the Medieval Latin world, pointed out countless new avenues of exploration, and showed me what selfless scholarship looks like. My heart turns in gratitude to those people who, it seems, have always been there for me. To my friends Patrick, Nicholas, Andrew, and Adam, who have for years patiently withstood my ramblings about Latin poetry, and who have kept me grounded with their fellowship, thank you. To my parents-in-law, Dale and Maryanne, who made their home a refuge, and who modeled charity and loyalty to me for the last 13 years, thank you. To my brother Stephen, whose resilience is a source of inspiration, and whose solidarity as a fellow PhD candidate strengthened me in times of struggle, thank you. To my mother, whose wondrous courage and conviction in the grand possibilities of grace continue to bolster me against doubt, thank you. I wish here to acknowledge my grandmother Mary and my father Frank, whom I think about almost every day, but who passed before I entered