Soldiering for God History of Warfare Editors Kelly DeVries Loyola College in Maryland John France University of Wales Swansea Michael S. Neiberg University of Southern Mississippi Frederick Schneid High Point University VOLUME 61 Soldiering for God Christianity and the Roman Army By John F. Shean LEIDEN • BOSTON 2010 Cover illustration: Christ as a warrior (5th–6th century), mosaic, Cappella di Sant’Andrea, Museo Arcivescovile, Ravenna. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Shean, John F. Soldiering for God : Christianity and the Roman army / by John F. Shean. p. cm. — (History of warfare ; 61) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-18731-3 (hardback : acid-free paper) 1. Rome—Army—Religious life. 2. Rome—History—Empire, 284-476. 3. Christianity—Rome. I. Title. II. Series. DG89.S47 2010 270.1—dc22 2010020323 ISSN 1385-7827 ISBN 978 90 04 18731 3 Copyright 2010 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. To my wife CONTENTS List of Illustrations ............................................................................ ix Preface ................................................................................................. xi Acknowledgements ............................................................................ xiii Abbreviations ..................................................................................... xv Chapter One Introduction: The Warrior’s Path to God .......... 1 Chapter Two Roman Army Religion .......................................... 31 Chapter Three Christian Attitudes towards the Roman State, War, and Military Service ............................................................ 71 Chapter Four Sociology of Early Christianity ........................... 105 Chapter Five Evidence for the Presence of Christians in the Roman Army .................................................................................. 177 Chapter Six The Thirteenth Apostle ............................................ 217 Chapter Seven Church and State in the Fourth Century ........ 279 Chapter Eight The Impact of ‘Barbarization’ on the Roman Army ................................................................................................ 327 Chapter Nine Consequences of Conversion .............................. 369 Table 1 ................................................................................................. 409 Bibliography ........................................................................................ 415 Index .................................................................................................... 439 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Christ as a warrior (5th–6th century), mosaic, Cappella di Sant’Andrea, Museo Arcivescovile, Ravenna .......... cover Chi-rho ................................................................................................. 271 Wheel symbol of European Sun god .............................................. 271 PREFACE This study began as the topic of my doctoral dissertation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison under the direction of Frank M. Clover. At the outset I wish to thank him for the many years of patient guidance and mentoring that made it possible for me to bring my dissertation to a successful conclusion, the first step in any academic career. I also wish to thank the members of my dissertation committee (Barry B. Powell, John W. Barker, John Scarborough, and Maureen F. Mazzaoui) for their helpful comments and suggestions. In the years since I left Madison, I have continued to revise and rethink the original scheme of my work. It was clear to me that the Christianization of the Roman military was an essential component in the reorientation of the Roman government’s religious outlook during the fourth century. But I also came to realize that the increasing num- ber of Christians in the army also had a major impact on the Christian movement as a whole. Much of the expanded scope of this work is intended to place the conversion of the army within the context of the development of the institutional church. I have been privileged to have had the opportunity to discuss and critique these issues with a num- ber of eminent scholars, too numerous to individually name. Scholars working in the field of Late Antique studies and early Christian history have, in recent years, produced a number of innovative and thought provoking works which have had a major influence on my work and which helped me refine my original thesis. The exponential growth in the number of important studies in recent years has convinced me that there has never been a better time for a researcher to be studying the growth and expansion of the Christian movement. On a more personal note, I wish to thank a number of colleagues and close friends who have, in so many ways, contributed to the cul- mination of this book. My deepest appreciation goes to Linda Jones Hall, a good friend and valued colleague, for her infectious enthusi- asm, her helpful suggestions, and her useful contacts. Special thanks also go to Robert Frakes for all the extraordinary work he did in carefully reviewing and critiquing the manuscript. His suggestions and comments helped improve the final draft immeasurably. Special mention to Walter Kaegi and Thomas Burns for agreeing to read the xii preface manuscript, to Harold Drake whose sharp eye caught some embar- rassing mistakes, and to my old friend Albert Nofi for his encourage- ment and help in bringing this book before a wider audience. This work was supported by two grants from the City University of New York PSC-CUNY Research Award Program (Grants #60113–3536 and #68459–0037), which gave me release time from teaching that proved invaluable in helping me complete this work. I am also grateful to John France, the series editor for Brill, for his kind comments and positive feedback. Julian Deahl and Marcella Mulder at Brill provided expert guidance and work in overseeing the final preparation of the manuscript for publication. Of course all the mistakes that remain are entirely my own. Finally, I thank my wife Christina, who more than anyone else has made the present book possible. For many years she has not only been my emotional support, but also my mentor and my best friend. I have benefited immensely from her wealth of professional experience as an accomplished Linguist, as she has consistently given me practi- cal advice, encouragement, and the inspiration to carry on. Looking back on the many years of marriage and professional life that we have shared together, I can only reflect on how fortunate I am to have such an extraordinary companion on life’s journey. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Most of the direct quotations from the works of Christian writers are taken from the series The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 10 vols., ed. A. Roberts and J. Donaldson (New York: Christian Literature Co., 1885–1896). These texts are also available online at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library site maintained by Calvin College: http://www.ccel.org/. The quotations in chap. 4 from Wayne Meeks’ essay is taken from the website Frontline: From Jesus to Christ—The First Christians: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/. FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of wgbh educational founda- tion. Web site copyright 1995–2008 WGBH educational foundation. Drawings on page 271 courtesy of Ed Rinkiewicz. ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviations not listed below can be found in S. Hornblower and A. J. Spawforth, ed. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. Acta Scill. Passion of the Scillitan Martyrs AE l’Année Èpigraphique Amm. Marc. Ammianus Marcellinus ANF The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 10 vols., ed. A. Roberts and J. Donaldson (New York: Christian Literature Co., 1885–1896) Anon. de reb. bell. Anonymous, De rebus bellicis Anon. Vales. Anonymous, Excerpta Valesiana ANRW Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt, ed. H. Temporini, et al. (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1972–) Arn. Adv. nat. Arnobius, Adversus nationes BAR British Archaeological Reports, International Series (Oxford) Blockley The Fragmentary Classicising Historians of the Later Roman Empire: Eunapius, Olympiodorus, Priscus and Malchus, 2 vols., ed. R. C. Blockley (Liverpool: F. Cairns, 1981–1983) CAH1 Cambridge Ancient History, ed. S. A. Cook, F. E. Adcock, M. P. Charlesworth, and N. H. Baynes, 12 vols., 1st ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1923–39) CCSL Corpus Christianorum Series Latina (Turnhout: Brepols, 1954–) Chron. min. Chronica minora, Monumenta Germaniae Histo– rica, 3 vols., ed. T. Mommsen (Munich: Monu– menta Germaniae Historica, 1981) CIL Corpus inscriptionum Latinarum, ed. T. Mommsen, et al. (Berlin: G. Reimerum, 1862–) CJ Codex Justinianus (Corpus iuris civilis), ed. P. Krueger (Berlin: Weidmann, 1877) xvi abbreviations CSEL Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum