Byzantine Festal Homilies on The Virgin Mary

2019 ◽  
pp. 153-167
Author(s):  
Mary B. Cunningham
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Virgin Mary ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
The Temple

Liturgical homilies in honour of the Virgin Mary, Theotokos (‘God-bearer’) were composed in Greek from about the early fifth century ce in the Eastern Christian Church. As Marian feasts were added to the Byzantine liturgical calendar between approximately the sixth and eighth centuries, preachers throughout the Eastern Roman empire (and beyond) added to this corpus, delivering homilies on subjects such as the Annunciation, the Nativity of the Virgin, her Entrance into the temple, and Dormition and Assumption into heaven. They were collected and transmitted mainly in liturgical collections, thus becoming readings for both liturgical and private devotional use. The surviving homilies, many of which remain untranslated into modern languages, contain a combination of Christological, narrative, and intercessory themes. As poetic, but also deeply theological, reflections on Mary, the Mother of God, these works represent important contributions to the wider Christian tradition.

scholarly journals Views of Athens in the year 1687

1883 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 86-89
Author(s):  
Charles Waldstein
Keyword(s):  
Fifth Century ◽  
Virgin Mary ◽  
Original Condition ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Temple

Since such works as Beulé's L'Acropole, d'Athènes, the Count De Laborde's Athènes au xv.e, xvi.e, et xvii.eSiècles, and Michaelis's Parthenon have appeared, the history of the Acropolis and its buildings has been made widely known, or at least the ascertainment of exact information has been made easy for all interested in these subjects. The more complete the list of records, the more importance do we attach to any new document referring directly to the Acropolis or the Parthenon. The two drawings in the library of the late Sir Thomas Phillipps at Thirlstane House, Cheltenham, here published, give views of the Acropolis in 1687.The main points in the history of the Parthenon (for this ever remains the centre of interest on the Acropolis of Athens), are the following: After its completion in 438 B.C. it appears to have remained in its original condition until it was turned into a Christian church about the middle of the fifth century or the middle of the sixth, and by peculiar persistency of its original dedication to the virgin goddess of wisdom, it appears to have been at first converted into a church of St. Sophia and then of the Virgin Mary. The alterations made chiefly affected the interior of the temple.

In Quest of Basil's Retreat: An Expedition to Ancient Pontus

Antichthon ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 73-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna M. Silvas
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Asia Minor ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Common Life ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Latin West ◽  
To Come ◽  
Arian Controversy

Basil of Caesarea (AD 329–378), his brother, Gregory of Nyssa (335–394), and their friend, Gregory Nazianzen (328–389), are a group of three great Christian thinkers of the late 4th century AD known as the ‘Cappadocian Fathers’. All were steeped in the culture of traditional Hellenism, and at the same time were great theologians and leaders who steered the Christian church of the eastern Roman empire in the turbulent years of the late 4th century. Theologically they are best known for bringing to a close the Arian controversy that had wracked the Christian church for most of the 4th century. Basil, called ‘the Great’ in the Christian tradition for his leading role in steering the Arian controversy to a conclusion, is also known for his reforms of the unruly ascetic movement in Asia Minor, documented in such works as his Asketikon. As a result of his labours he effectively established Greek cenobitic (common-life) monasticism. But his influence as a preceptor of Christian monasticism was destined to spread far, both east in Syria and in the Latin West. A Latin translation was an important source of the Rule of St Benedict, which set the tone of western monasticism for many centuries to come.

Infancy Gospel of Thomas

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Cousland
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Gospel Of Thomas ◽  
Original Language ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Infancy Gospel Of Thomas ◽  
The Temple

The so-called Infancy Gospel of Thomas (IGT) or Paidika is an apocryphal document that narrates episodes from Jesus’ youth from the age of five up until his twelfth year. With the exception of the Temple narrative based on Luke 2:41–52, the episodes are not found in the New Testament. While the deeds attributed to the youthful Jesus—such as healing—sometimes foreshadow those of the adult Jesus, they also include a number of curses and punishment miracles, where Jesus kills or harms those who thwart him. These punishment miracles tend to taper off as Jesus matures, but it is disputed among scholars whether this change reflects a transformation on the part of Jesus or on those around him. Also open to question is whether the IGT’s early audiences would have considered its picture of a punitive Jesus “unchristian” or whether this verdict reflects modern sensibilities. Whatever the case, the IGT proved to be highly popular with ancient audiences, and it was quickly disseminated across the empire and throughout the Christian world thereafter. Although scholars are not unanimous about its date, provenance, or original language, many would postulate that it was written in Greek sometime in the 2nd century ce in the eastern parts of the Roman Empire. Our earliest manuscripts are Syriac and Latin and date from the 5th or 6th century, but later forms of the IGT are attested in a host of other languages, including Greek, Slavonic, Ethiopian, Irish, Georgian, Latin, and Arabic. These versions show considerable variation within the narratives themselves. The earliest recensions tend to be shorter, and not all episodes are found in all versions. The version most commonly translated into modern languages is Tischendorf’s Greek A text, but it is based on late manuscripts that differ significantly from earlier versions of the IGT. It should also be kept in mind that the IGT’s associations with Thomas are tenuous at best; he is only mentioned in versions of the IGT dating from after the 8th or 9th centuries. Long-standing confusion between the IGT and the Gospel of Thomas has led some scholars to suppose that it might have gnostic features. Recent scholarship, however, has largely rejected this theory. It is now generally supposed that the work is proto-orthodox and was probably intended for the edification and entertainment of members—adults and children alike—of the emergent Christian church.

Christograms as Signs of Authority in the Late Roman Empire

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ildar Garipzanov
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Rhetorical Device ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Courtly Culture ◽  
Diachronic Change ◽  
Late Roman

The first section tests the main interpretations of Lactantius’ passage on Constantine’s victorious sign in 312 against existing graphic evidence from the 310s and early 320s, and consequently supports the interpretation of Lactantius’ description as a rhetorical device invented or modified by the Christian narrator. The next two sections support the argument that the perception of the chi-rho as Constantine’s triumphant sign became entrenched in courtly culture and public mentalities from the mid-320s onwards, and trace the diachronic change of the chi-rho from its paramount importance as an imperial sign of authority under the Constantinian dynasty to its hierarchic usage alongside the tau-rho and cross in the Theodosian period. The final section presents a contextualized discussion of the encolpion of Empress Maria and mosaics from several early baptisteries, illustrating the paradigmatic importance the chi-rho and tau-rho for early Christian graphicacy around the turn of the fifth century.

Syriac and Syro-Arabic Historical Writing, c.500–c.1400

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muriel Debié ◽  
David Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Fifth Century ◽  
Historical Writing ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
History Writing ◽  
Imperial History ◽  
Church Structures ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter analyzes how Syriac historiography is a rare example of non-etatist, non-imperial, history writing. It was produced, copied, and preserved entirely within Christian church structures. The Syriac-using Christians, however, were divided into numerous rival denominations and communities as a consequence both of the fifth-century theological controversies and of geopolitical boundaries. And since both of these factors strongly influenced both the motivations which underpinned the production of history writing and the forms it took, historians need to have some knowledge of these rival Syriac denominations. Because of internal Christian debates about the relationship of the divinity and humanity within Christ during the fifth century, the Syriac-using churches fragmented. All accepted that Christ was perfect God and perfect man, but differed fiercely about how to articulate this.

scholarly journals The Bronze Trumpeter at Sparta and the Earthquake of 464 b.c.

1909 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-62
Author(s):  
Leonard Whibley
Keyword(s):  
Fifth Century ◽  
British School ◽  
The Temple

Among the objects discovered in the excavation of the temple of Athena Chalkioikos at Sparta is a small bronze figure of a trumpeter (illustrated in the Annual of the British School at Athens, xiii p. 146). Mr. Dickins, who says that the figure ‘can be dated without hesitation in the middle of the fifth century,’ regards ‘the presence of a trumpeter as a dedication in Sparta as perplexing, because the Spartans marched to battle to the sound of flutes, and made no use of trumpets for martial music’. This is, I think, the view generally held. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a possible reason for the dedication of the trumpeter at the date, which the style of the work suggests.

The Date and Circumstances of Olympiodorus of Thebes

Traditio ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 1-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Gillett
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Imperial Court ◽  
Political Narrative ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Western Half

Olympiodorus of Thebes is an important figure for the history of late antiquity. The few details of his life preserved as anecdotes in hisHistorygive glimpses of a career which embraced the skills of poet, philosopher, and diplomat. A native of Egypt, he had influence at the imperial court of Constantinople, among the sophists of Athens, and even outside the borders of the empire. HisHistory(more correctly, his “materials for history”) is lost, surviving only as fragments in the narratives of Zosimus, Sozomen, and Philostorgius, and in the rich summary given by the ninth-century Byzantine patriarch Photius. These remains comprise the most substantial narrative sources for events in the western Roman Empire in the early fifth century. Besides its value as a source, theHistoryis important as a monument to the vitality of the belief in the unity of the Roman Empire under the Theodosian dynasty. Olympiodorus wrote in Greek, and knowledge of his work is attested only in Constantinople, yet his political narrative, from 407 to 425, concerns only events in the western half of the empire. To understand the significance of these facts, it is necessary to set the composition of Olympiodorus's work in its proper context. Clarifying the date of publication is the first step toward this goal. Internal and external evidence suggests that the work was written in 440 or soon after, more than a decade later than the date of composition usually accepted. Taken with thematic emphases evident in the structure of theHistory, this revised dating explains why an eastern writer should have written a detailed account of western events in the early part of the century. Olympiodorus's account is a characteristic product of the highly literate class of eastern imperial civil servants, and of their genuine preoccupation with the relationship between the eastern and western halves of the Roman Empire at a time when both were threatened by the rise of the new Carthaginian power of the Vandals.

scholarly journals Mathematical-geographical intention in orienting mediaeval churches of the Serbian monastery Gradac

2011 ◽  
Vol 91 (4) ◽  
pp. 141-158
Author(s):  
Milutin Tadic ◽  
Aleksandar Petrovic
Keyword(s):  
Virgin Mary ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Patron Saint ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Exact Analysis ◽  
John The Baptist ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Church

The subject of the paper is an exact analysis of the orientation of the Serbian monastery churches: the Church of the Virgin Mary (13th century), St. Nicholas' Church (13th century), and an early Christian church (6th century). The paper determines the azimuth of parallel axes in churches, and then the aberrations of those axes from the equinoctial east are interpreted. Under assumption that the axes were directed towards the rising sun, it was surmised that the early Christian church's patron saint could be St. John the Baptist, that the Church of the Virgin Mary was founded on Annunciation day to which it is dedicated, and that St. Nicholas' Church is oriented in accordance with the rule (?toward the sunrise?) even though its axis deviates from the equinoctial east by 41? degrees.

Caligula, the Church of Antioch and the Gentile Mission

2000 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Nicholas H Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Jewish Community ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Jewish Communities ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Church

AbstractThis study examines such data as are available regarding the impact of the crisis which confronted Jewish communities in many parts of the Roman Empire during the reign ofGaius Caligula (3 7-41 CE). Particular attention is given to Antioch on the Orontes, and to the Christian community which emerged there and was to become a major force both in the spread of Christianity and in the conversion of Gentiles to a hitherto Jewish movement. It is argued that the crisis was a major catalyst in changing the character of the Christian church in Antioch, so that it acquired an identity distinct from that of the Jewish community. The reappraisal of eschatological expectations occasioned by the crisis led to the conviction that Gentiles must be included in the Church before the parousia of Christ.

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