Female Asceticism in Late Antique Georgian Literature

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Shota Matitashvili
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Subsequent Development ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Fictional Character ◽  
Typical Representative ◽  
In The Beginning

Abstract This article examines the forms of female asceticism preserved in the so-called extended recension of the Life of St. Nino – a young Christian Virgin who converted the eastern Georgian kingdom of Iberia in the beginning of the fourth century. This study attempts to reinterpret the traditionally-established point of view about the origins of this composition and investigates several aspects of early Georgian Christianity. According to traditional scholarly opinion, the Vita of St. Nino was composed during the eighth and ninth centuries in order to reinforce the cult of the holy virgin who converted Iberia but the contextualization of the vita into the literary realm of late antiquity reveals more ancient origins of various episodes and layers of the vita. We see martyrs, missionaries, miracle workers, prophets and apostles in the images of Nino and her fellow women. Nino is a typical representative of the female ascetic community formed in early Christendom. Apparently, after the invention of the Georgian alphabet, the literary interactions between Georgians and other eastern Christian peoples intensified. As the Martyrdom of the holy Queen Šušanik reveals, already in the fifth century Georgians had translated the acts of martyrs which certainly influenced the subsequent development of Georgian literature. Of course, the Life has an overwhelmingly legendary and fictional character but its ‘sacred fictions’ originated much earlier than has generally been thought in scholarship.

scholarly journals Thirty-four Years after "Leda Christiana". Misery and Splendour of the First Century of Coptic Art History

1970 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 217-251
Author(s):  
László Török
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
First Century ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Christian Churches ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Egyptian Culture ◽  
The Impact

The course of the research of Egyptian Late Antique art was influenced for more than seven decades in a most unfortunate manner by the erroneous intrepretation of the archaeological context of the foruth century AD mythological reliefs discovered in the 1890s by Édouard Naville at Heracleopolis Magna (modern Ahnas). The misinterpretation of the find circumstances led to the postulate of a Christianisation of pagan themes in Coptic art and of their employment in the decoration of Christian churches. The actual architectural and iconographic context of mythological reliefs from Ahnas and other Egyptian Late Antique sites was identified by Hjalmar Torp in a 1969 paper in which he suggested that the mythological reliefs, as well as the contemporary carvings with Christian themes, came from pagan and Christian funerary edifices. Torp also pointed out the impact of Roman funerary iconography on the decoration of third-fifth century Egyptian tomb chapels. The present study discusses the trends prevailing in the research of Egyptian Late Antique art before and after 1969 from the special point of view of Torp’s seminal work. Particular attention is paid to the interconnected issues of chronology, social-cultural context, and quality stratification. The analysis of individual groups of sculptures, paintings, and luxury textiles presents new data for the assessment of the international context of Egyptian art in the Late Antique and early Byzantine periods as well as for the investigation of the transfiguration of Egyptian culture in Late Antiquity.

scholarly journals THE EARLY RECEPTION OF PLINY THE YOUNGER IN TERTULLIAN OF CARTHAGE AND EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA

2017 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 247-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Corke-Webster
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Third Century ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Pliny The Younger ◽  
The Third ◽  
Stark Contrast ◽  
Eusebius Of Caesarea ◽  
Sidonius Apollinaris

In 1967 Alan Cameron published a landmark article in this journal, ‘The fate of Pliny'sLettersin the late Empire’. Opposing the traditional thesis that the letters of Pliny the Younger were only rediscovered in the mid to late fifth century by Sidonius Apollinaris, Cameron proposed that closer attention be paid to the faint but clear traces of the letters in the third and fourth centuries. On the basis of well-observed intertextual correspondences, Cameron proposed that Pliny's letters were being read by the end of the fourth century at the latest. That article now seems the vanguard of a rise in scholarly interest in Pliny's late-antique reception. But Cameron also noted the explicit attention given to the letters by two earlier commentators—Tertullian of Carthage, in the late second to early third century, and Eusebius of Caesarea, in the early fourth. The use of Pliny in these two earliest commentators, in stark contrast to their later successors, has received almost no subsequent attention.

Religious Dissent in Late Antiquity, 350-450

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maijastina Kahlos
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Religious Dissent ◽  
Roman Society ◽  
History Of ◽  
Late Roman

Religious Dissent in Late Antiquity reconsiders the religious history of the late Roman Empire, focusing on the shifting position of dissenting religious groups. The groups under consideration are non-Christians (‘pagans’) and deviant Christians (‘heretics’). The period from the mid-fourth century until the mid-fifth century CE witnessed a significant transformation of late Roman society and a gradual shift from the world of polytheistic religions into the Christian Empire. This book demonstrates that the narrative is much more nuanced than the simple Christian triumph over the classical world. It looks at everyday life, economic aspects, day-to-day practices, and conflicts of interest in the relations of religious groups. The book addresses two aspects: rhetoric and realities, and consequently delves into the interplay between the manifest ideologies and daily life found in late antique sources. We perceive constant flux between moderation and coercion that marked the relations of religious groups, both majorities and minorities, as well as the imperial government and religious communities. Religious Dissent in Late Antiquity is a detailed analysis of selected themes and a close reading of selected texts, tracing key elements and developments in the treatment of dissident religious groups. The book focuses on specific themes, such as the limits of imperial legislation and ecclesiastical control, the end of sacrifices, and the label of magic. It also examines the ways in which dissident religious groups were construed as religious outsiders in late Roman society.

The Mediterranean Diaspora in Late Antiquity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross Shepard Kraemer
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Large Population ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Social Boundaries ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Mediterranean Population ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Orthodox Christian ◽  
The Mediterranean

The alliance of the Roman Empire with the emerging orthodox Christian church in the early fourth century had profound consequences for the large population of Greek- (and Latin-)speaking Jews living across the Mediterranean diaspora. No known writings survive from diaspora Jews. Their experiences must be gleaned from unreliable accounts of Christian bishops and historiographers, surviving laws, and limited material evidence—synagogue sites, inscriptions, a few papyrus documents. Long neglected by historians, the diaspora population, together with its distinctive cultural forms, appears in decline by the early seventh century. This book explores why. In part, diaspora Jews suffered from disasters that affected the whole late antique Mediterranean population—continuing warfare, earthquakes, and plague. But, like all other non-orthodox Christians, Jews were subject to extensive pressures to become orthodox Christian, which increased over time. Late Roman laws, sometimes drafted by Christian lobbyists, imposed legal disabilities on Jews that were relieved if they became Christians. Fueled by malicious sermons of Christian bishops, Christian mobs attacked synagogues and sometimes Jews themselves. Significantly, Jews retained many of their earlier legal rights while other non-orthodox Christians lost theirs. In response, some Jews became Christians, voluntarily or under duress. Some probably emigrated to escape orthodox Christian pressures. Some leveraged political and social networks to their advantage. Some violently resisted their Christian antagonists. Jews may occasionally have entertained the possibility of divine messianic intervention or embraced forms of Jewish practice that constructed tighter social boundaries around them—an increased use of Hebrew, and heightened interest, perhaps, in rabbinic practices.

scholarly journals LATE ANTIQUE OR EARLY BYZANTINE? THE SHIFTING BEGINNINGS OF BYZANTINE LITERATURE

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panagiotis A. Agapitos
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Structural Break ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Greek Literature ◽  
Methodological Problems ◽  
The One ◽  
Early Byzantine

The aim of the paper is twofold. On the one hand, it examines the epistemological reasons behind the shifting beginnings of Byzantine literature, a shift that covers a period of four centuries (AD 300-700), as well as the methodological problems for the study of Byzantine literature resulting from the rise of Late Antiquity as a new historical period and a new field of studies. On the other hand, the paper proposes a series of four textually immanent criteria and seven internal operative principles by means of which a different methodological approach to the «beginning» of Byzantine literature can be reached. For this purpose Eusebios of Caesarea and Lactantius will be used as the textual basis for establishing a structural break in literary production in the first two decades of the fourth century. For the purpose of controlling this proposal a comparison with an important but highly debated monument (the Arch of Constantine in Rome) will be made and some final conclusions as to the course of Greek literature in early Byzantine times will be made.

scholarly journals Addressing Conflict in the Fifth Century: Rome and the Wider Church

Scrinium ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-114
Author(s):  
Bronwen Neil
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Social Conflict ◽  
Social Resources ◽  
Conflict Theory ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Social Conflict Theory

Abstract In seeking to trace the escalation, avoidance or resolution of conflicts, contemporary social conflict theorists look for incompatible goals, differentials in power, access to social resources, the exercise of control, the expression of dissent, and the strategies employed in responding to disagreements. It is argued here that these concepts are just as applicable to the analysis of historical doctrinal conflicts in Late Antiquity as they are to understanding modern conflicts. In the following, I apply social conflict theory to three conflicts involving the late antique papacy to see what new insights it can proffer. The first is Zosimus's involvement in the dispute over the hierarchy of Gallic bishops at the beginning of the fifth century. The second and longest case-study is Leo I's intervention in the Chalcedonian conflict over the natures of Christ. The final brief study is the disputed election of Symmachus at the end of the fifth century.

Körperlichkeit in der Philosophie der Spätantike. Corporeità nella filosofia tardoantica

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Visual Arts ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Body ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Philosophical Importance

In this volume, the idea of the body and corporeality in the philosophy of late antiquity is examined. It deals with questions of ontology, mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology, anthropology, politics, theology and aesthetics. The importance of the topic results both from its historical relevance (for the visual arts, literature, the specialist sciences, religion and general cultural history) as well as its philosophical importance. From a philosophical point of view the late antique reflection on corporeality contains an impressive array of meanings discussed in this volume. With contributions by Riccardo Chiaradonna, Giovanni Colpani, Diego de Brasi, Sabine Föllinger, Christoph Helmig, Christoph Horn, Alberto Jori, Alessandro Linguiti, Claudia Lo Casto, Christoph Markschies, Dmitri Nikulin, Federico Petrucci, Flavia Salvatori, Ambra Serangeli, Daniela Taormina, Chiara Tommasi, Denis Walter

Architecture and élite identity in late antique Rome: appropriating the past at Sant'Andrea Catabarbara

2013 ◽  
Vol 81 ◽  
pp. 279-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregor Kalas
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
Multiple Identities ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Physical Layers ◽  
The Past ◽  
Elite Identity ◽  
Elite Status ◽  
The Church

The conversion of a fourth-century secular basilica into the church of Sant'Andrea Catabarbara in Rome during the 470s invites a discussion of how architectural adaptation contributed to the identity of its restorer, Valila. More than a century after the praetorian prefect of Italy, Junius Bassus, founded the basilica in 331, a Goth named Valila, belonging to the senatorial aristocracy, bequeathed the structure to Pope Simplicius (468–83). References to Valila's last will in the church's dedicatory inscription were inserted directly above Junius Bassus's original donation inscription, inviting reflections upon the transmission of élite status from one individual to another. The particularities of Valila's legacy as a testator, as indicated in the references to his will in the Sant'Andrea Catabarbara inscription and confirmed by a charter he wrote to support a church near Tivoli, suggest that he sought to control his lasting memory through patronage. Valila's concern for a posthumous status provides a context for interpreting the interior of the Roman church. Juxtaposed to the church's fifth-century apse mosaic were opus sectile panels depicting Junius Bassus, together with scenes of an Apollonian tripod and an illustration of the exposed body of Hylas raped by two nymphs originating from the earliest phase of the basilica. The article proposes that Valila nuanced his élite identity by preserving the fourth-century images and thereby hinted that preservation fostered both the accretion of physical layers and the accrual of multiple identities by a Gothic aristocrat in Rome.

scholarly journals Late Antique Cultures of Breath: Politics and the Holy Spirit

2021 ◽  
pp. 69-84
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Inner Life ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Human Difference ◽  
The Universe

AbstractUsing sources from the fourth century CE, Thomas E. Hunt analyses how people imagined breath in late antiquity. Breathing was a way to mark out and understand human difference in the complex social world of the late Roman Empire. In this context, a person’s breath was used to judge the quality of their social relationships. Breath also held cosmic import, for when a person drew in air they participated in the wider structure of the universe. Christian writers described the inner life of God by referring to these models of breath and breathing. In this essay, Hunt shows how social and theological accounts of breathy relation reinforced each other.

The Saint as an Astute Heroine

Mnemosyne ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annelies Bossu ◽  
Koen De Temmerman ◽  
Danny Praet
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Specific Area ◽  
General Assumption ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Dominant Position ◽  
Thematic Area ◽  
Traditional Patterns

This article provides a detailed analysis of character construction in the fifth century passio Caeciliae (Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina 1495 – 1495a – 1496). Our analysis sets out to challenge the general assumption that character construction in the late antique passions can correctly be described in terms of stereotypes. The passio Caeciliae appeals to and inverts reader expectations based upon traditional patterns in erotic narrative. We also argue that it individuates the different characters (Caecilia and her fellow martyrs) by documenting one specific area of their representation, namely rhetorical ability. In this thematic area, Caecilia is set apart from her husband Valerianus: unlike him, she displays elaborate rhetorical aptitude which allows her to obtain the dominant position in the marriage and to achieve her aims. But the art of rhetoric is also a skill that can be learned as is shown by the character of Valerianus whose rhetorical approach changes in the course of the passion. Our analysis suggests that this passion from a literary point of view constitutes a more interesting text than is generally assumed.

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