AMBROSE AND JOHN CHRYSOSTOM This page intentionally left blank Ambrose and John Chrysostom Clerics between Desert and Empire J. H. W. G. LIEBESCHUETZ 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With oYces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York # J. H. W. G. Liebeschuetz 2011 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available Typeset by SPI Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by MPG Books Group, Bodmin and King’s Lynn ISBN 978–0–19–959664–5 13579108642 Acknowledgements I want to thank Professor Tassilo Schmitt and Professor Christoph Auffarth for inviting me to Bremen to take part in their stimulating seminar ‘das Christentum als antike Religion’, and Professor Tho- mas Weber for asking me to come to Mainz to participate in the conference ‘Krise und Kult’. Hartmut Leppin sent me copies of his then unpublished papers on Ambrose’s Apologies for David.Robert Markus once more read and sternly, but helpfully, criticized parts of my typescript, while John Drinkwater read the whole of it, and provided me with a large number of corrections and highly relevant comments. I also want to thank Pauline Allen for sending me from Australia a copy of Martin Illert’s interesting and stimulating if controversial Johannes Chrysostomus und das antiochenische Mo¨nchtum. It goes without saying that none of these colleagues is responsible for what I have written, least of all for the errors and omissions. This page intentionally left blank Contents Abbreviations xi Introduction 1 I. BACKGROUND AND FORERUNNERS 1. The Classical Roots of Christian Asceticism 9 (i) Sexual purity in the Graeco-Roman world 9 (ii) ‘The care of the self’ in the early Empire 12 (iii) The development of Christian asceticism 23 (iv) Christian asceticism becomes a mass movement and institutionalized: the role of Antony 34 2. The Classical Roots of Christian Outspokenness (ÆææÅÆ)43 (i) Republic and Early Empire 43 (ii) Church and State: a new situation and a new problem 48 (iii) A loyal opposition 52 II. AMBROSE 3. Ambrose Writer and Preacher 57 (i) Life and letters 57 (ii) Ambrose and the ascetic movement 63 (iii) Ambrose on virgins and widows 66 (iv) Ambrose, preacher and champion of the Nicene cause 73 4. Thoughts of Ambrose on the Position of the Emperor and the Duties of the Clergy 77 (i) De officiis ministrorum 77 (ii) The Apologies for David 80 viii Contents 5. Ambrose in Action 85 (i) The conflict over the use of a basilica 85 (ii) Ambrose and the massacre at Thessalonica 89 (iii) The significance of the affairs of the Altar of Victory and the synagogue of Callinicum 91 III. CHRYSOSTOM 6. Asceticism in Syria and Mesopotamia 97 (i) The Syrian tradition of asceticism 97 (ii) Urban and extra-urban asceticism 105 (iii) Monks and education 109 7. The Sources for the Early Life of Chrysostom 113 (i) Chrysostom on himself 113 (ii) Pseudo-Martyrius 114 (iii) Palladius 116 (iv) Socrates: was Chrysostom for some time associated with Euagrius, son of Pompeianus? 117 8. The Early Life of Chrysostom 124 (i) When was Chrysostom born? 124 (ii) Education and conversion to ascetic life 126 9. Early Writings 133 (i) Literary works and sermons: two genres 133 (ii) Adversus oppugnatores vitae monasticae 141 (iii) De sancto Babyla, contra Iulianum et gentiles 148 (iv) Ascetic writings addressed to women: on widows and virgins 152 (v) Chrysostom’s advice to male ascetics 158 (vi) Penitence and contrition 161 10. From Monk to Priest: The De sacerdotio 166 (i) Themes 166 (ii) Provenance and date of De sacerdotio 168 (iii) Chrysostom backs into the priesthood: nolo episcopari 171 (iv) Monasticism in De sacerdotio and later 173 Contents ix 11. Chrysostom: Preacher on Women and Marriage 177 (i) On women and marriage 177 (ii) The date and provenance of Homily 11 and some other homilies on Ephesians 181 12. Chrysostom Priest and Teacher: Asceticism for All 185 (i) Chrysostom as a preacher 185 (ii) Creation of an identity was the result, not the purpose, of preaching 190 (iii) Positive recommendations 194 (iv) Negatives and prohibitions 196 (v) The education of children 198 (vi) The Stoic programme with a difference 203 (vii) The impact of Chrysostom’s sermons 204 13. Chrysostom’s Attitude to the Classical City 205 (i) Vainglory (˚åíïäïîßÆ). 205 (ii) The Church in a civic emergency: Chrysostom during the Riot of the Statues 209 14. Chrysostom on Church and State 216 15. Chrysostom and the Imperial Court 224 (i) Bishop of the imperial residence 224 (ii) The Gainas affair 227 (iii) The ups and downs of Chrysostom’s relationship with Eudoxia up to the Synod of the Oak 231 (iv) Eudoxia and the fall of Chrysostom 234 (v) Why did Arcadius turn against Chrysostom? 238 (vi) Did Chrysostom contemplate resistance after the Synod of the Oak? 241 (vii) Chrysostom and Eudoxia: recall and final exile 244 IV. CONCLUSION 16. Ambrose and Chrysostom Compared 251 (i) Similarities and differences 251 (ii) Ambrose and Chrysostom on priestly duties: De sacerdotio and De officiis ministrorum 254 x Contents (iii) Ambrose and Chrysostom on rulers and penitence: the homilies In Oziam and the Apologies for David 256 (iv) Why did Ambrose succeed and Chrysostom fail? 257 (v) Was Chrysostom influenced by Ambrose? 261 17. The Long-Term Influence of Ambrose and Chrysostom 265 Bibliography 277 Index 297 Abbreviations ANF Ante-Nicene Fathers of the Church Annales ESC Annales e´conomies, socie´te´s, civilisations BMGS Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies CAH Cambridge Ancient History CCSL Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum Latinorum CT Theodosian Code GCS Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte FC Fathers of the Church HE Historia Ecclesiastica JAC Jahrbuch fu¨r Antike und Christentum JHS Journal of Hellenic Studies. JRA Suppl. Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplement JRS Journal of Roman Studies JTS Journal of Theological Studies NPNF Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers of the Church NTS New Testament Studies Offic. Ambrose, De officiis Pat. Syr. Patrologia Syriaca PG Patrologia Graeca PL Patrologia Latina PLRE Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire PW Paulys Realencyclopa¨die der klassischen Altertumswis- senschaft PW Suppl. Realencyclopa¨die der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft Supplement RAC Reallexikon fu¨r Antike und Christentum xii Abbreviations REG Revue des e´tudes grecques REL Revue des e´tudes latines S. Chr. Sources chre´tiennes Sem. Clas. Semitica et Classica TU Texte und Untersuchungen Vig. Christ. Vigiliae christianae Introduction This book is about the writings and actions of two famous clerics of the late fourth century ad, John Chrysostom of Antioch and Am- brose, bishop of Milan 374–97. The slightly younger1 John Chrysos- tom—he was known as Chrysostom, ‘Golden Mouth’, only from the sixth century—was ordained into the priesthood at Antioch in 386, and was bishop of Constantinople 398–404. Each was bishop of a city where the emperor and his court resided, at the time when court society was for the first time overwhelmingly Christian.2 The idea to write on this topic first came to me when I was translating the political letters of Ambrose,3 and was struck by the similarities and parallels in the writings and actions of these two perhaps equally great, but certainly in many ways very different ecclesiastics. One important experience shared by Ambrose and Chrysostom was an encounter with the ascetic ideal, which greatly influenced the thought and teaching of both men. Both careers provide an illustration of the power and influence of the ascetic movement, which was shaping the culture of the Roman world through the fourth, fifth, and subsequent centuries to an ever in- creasing extent. The ascetic ideal continued to have enormous influ- ence for long after, in both East and West. Until very recently, separation of the sexes, and a certain distrust of the world and its values, was given much greater emphasis in the education of the 1 See below, 124. 2 John Matthews, Western Aristocracies and the Imperial Court (Oxford, 1975), 101–45 (Constantinople), 183–222 (Milan). 3 W. Liebeschuetz, Ambrose of Milan: Political Letters and Speeches (Liverpool, 2005). 2 Introduction young than social adjustment and material advancement. Modern scholars, and contemporary men and women generally, find it diffi- cult to understand the enormous and lasting allure of the ascetic ideal, and not least the belief in the amazing powers—amounting to spiritual transformation—that could be achieved through sexual abstinence.