Éric Fournier and Wendy Mayer (eds.)
(Routledge; New York, NY: 2020)
The subject of this book is the discourse of persecution used by Christians in Late Antiquity (c. 300–700 CE).
Through a series of detailed case studies covering the full chronological and geographical span of the period, this book investigates how the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity changed the way that Christians and para- Christians perceived the hostile treatments they received, either by fellow Christians or by people of other religions. A closely related second goal of this volume is to encourage scholars to think more precisely about the terminological difficulties related to the study of persecution. Indeed, despite sustained interest in the subject, few scholars have sought to distinguish between such closely related concepts as punishment, coercion, physical violence, and persecution. Often, these terms are used interchangeably. Although there are no easy answers, an emphatic conclusion of the studies assembled in this volume is that “persecution” was a malleable rhetorical label in late antique discourse, whose meaning shifted depending on the viewpoint of the authors who used it.
This leads to our third objective: to analyze the role and function played by rhetoric and polemic in late antique claims to be persecuted. Late antique Christian writers who cast their present as a repetition of past persecutions often aimed to attack the legitimacy of the dominant Christian faction through a process of othering. This discourse also expressed a polarizing worldview in order to strengthen the group identity of the writers’ community in the midst of ideological conflicts and to encourage steadfastness against the temptation to collaborate with the other side.
“Taken together, these thought-provoking essays offer scholars of late antiquity much to think about…[T]he volume’s various authors collectively remind their readers of the innate interdisciplinarity and capaciousness of late ancient studies as they embrace a variety of models and interlocutors from a wide array of scholarly disciplines, including (but, of course not limited to) the study of rhetoric, narratology, and political philosophy.In sum, this volume stands as a striking reminder of our responsibility as scholars and critics to scrutinize claims of persecution – whether in the ancient or contemporary world – in their rhetorical and historical contexts, and, perhaps more importantly, that there are many ways to do so.” (Carl R. Rice, Review in Ancient Jew Review)
Heirs of Roman Persecution draws its origins from two panels Éric Fournier organised on the theme of “Persecutions of Christians after Constantine: Polemic and Rhetorical Discourse,” presented at the annual meeting of the North American Patristics Society, Chicago, on May 26, 2017. It features inter alia revised versions of papers from these sessions, including those by contributors to the “Memories of Utopia” project Wendy Mayer and Ryan Strickler.
Contents
- Éric Fournier, The Christian Discourse of Persecution in Late Antiquity: An Introduction.
Part I: The Later Roman Empire of the 4th and 5th Centuries
- Elizabeth Depalma Digeser, Breaking the Apocalyptic Frame: Persecution and the Rise of Constantine.
- Nathaniel Morehouse, Begrudging the Honor: Julian and Christian Martyrdom.
- Maijastina Kahlos, A Misunderstood Emperor? Valens as a Persecuting Ruler in Late Antique Literature.
- Byron MacDougall, Theologies under Persecution: Gregory of Nazianzus and the Syntagmation of Aetius.
- Adam Ployd, For Their Own Good: Augustine and the Rhetoric of Beneficial Persecution.
- Mattias Brand, In the Footsteps of the Apostles of Light: Persecution and the Manichaean Discourse of Suffering.
Part II: Post-Roman Kingdoms of the Western Mediterranean (5th and 7th Centuries)
- Éric Fournier, ‘To Collect Gold from Hidden Caves.’ Victor of Vita and the Vandal ‘Persecution’ of Heretical Barbarians in Late Antique North Africa.
- Samuel Cohen, ‘You Have Made Common Cause with their Persecutors’: Gelasius, the Language of Persecution, and the Acacian Schism.
- Éric Fournier, Everyone but the Kings: The Rhetoric of (Non-)Persecution in Gregory of Tours’ Histories.
- Molly Lester, Persecutio, Seductio, and the Limits of Rhetorical Intolerance in Visigothic Iberia.
Part III: Eastern Mediterranean in the 5th-7th Centuries
- Rebecca S. Falcasantos, The City a Palimpsest. Rewriting Arian Violence in Fifth-Century Historiography.
- Jason Osequeda, The Name of Ill-Omen: Basiliscus and the Church in Constantinople.
- Christine Shepardson, Martyrs of Exile: John of Ephesus and Religious Persecution.
- Ryan Strickler, Persecution and Apostasy: Christian Identity during the Crises of the Seventh Century.
Concluding Reflections
- Wendy Mayer, Heirs of Roman Persecution: Common Threads in the Discursive Strategies across Late Antiquity.
