Browse results
Abstract
In this article, I use John Malalas’ account of Cyrus’ two deaths – which he claimed was based on Pythagoras of Samos and Julius Africanus – as a case study for historiographical creativity in early Christian chronography. First, I detect that one of Cyrus’ deaths is calqued on Xerxes’ death in the Greek historian, Ctesias of Cnidus, and thus an original interpretation of the event. Second, I place this death story in the greater context of Malalas’ account, showing the great extent to which Malalas, or his source, has rewritten the story of Cyrus. Third, I test the death story’s attribution to Julius Africanus, which I argue is false, based on the high level of chronographic accuracy required for Africanus’ Chronographiae. Fourth and finally, I examine how Malalas was using Africanus’ authority to authenticate the dubious death story of Cyrus.
Abstract
The prefixed verb superaedificare, which is a calque of
Abstract
Cultures define themselves largely by how they remember the past; the commemoration of history provides a link to bygone eras that helps determine social dynamics in the present. But not everyone remembers the past in the same manner. Not only do people champion competing historical narratives, but they also memorialize the past in different ways, such as erecting monuments, glorifying a specific person, constructing and honoring an archive, revering a symbol, holding an event that repeats periodically, maintaining an institution, and more. These various hubs of memory creation and preservation are often called “sites of memory.” This article explores how various Christian groups in the second century invested their social memory in divergent sites. These sites not only propagated differing forms of Christian expression, but also diverse notions of what it means to remember. While some championed preservation of the past, others believed that memory entailed radical innovation.
Abstract
In his discussion of virtue and sin, John Chrysostom makes frequent reference to the law of nature. He defines it as a moral norm given by God at the time of creation and argues that on account of it humans know what must be done and what must not be done. This article examines the role of natural law in Chrysostom’s conception of human action, focusing on the relationship between the law and human freedom. It argues that Chrysostom draws on the philosophical idea of natural law in order to explain human moral responsibility and the capacity for good deeds. By clarifying the interplay between natural law and free choice he rejects the doctrine of determinism. It is shown that the concept of natural law is also fundamental for Chrysostom’s instruction as it provides a basis for the moral reformation of the believers’ actions and behaviour.
Abstract
In this article, I will examine the functions of oaths in narratives of encounter, confrontation and polemic between religious communities in late antiquity, especially Jews and Christians. Through an analysis of these narratives, I hope to show that oaths had several functions: specific oath formulae were strongly associated with specific religious identities, and as such could be used to highlight distance between religious groups. However, oaths could be used to demonstrate the permeability of religious boundaries, or even be deployed cunningly to conceal one’s identity or subvert expectations of its performance.
Abstract
Four fragmentary Egyptian papyrus sheets containing liturgical texts housed at the Catholic University of Milan were published by Giuseppe Ghedini in 1933 and subsequently known as the Milan Euchologion. While reportedly lost, a single photograph of the papyri preserved in Harold Idris Bell’s papers in the British Library allows for a reassessment of the arrangement and contents of the papyri. Based on a new analysis of the fragments, it is clear that they preserve the end of an anaphora (fruits of communion, intercession, and doxology), a prayer of fraction, and a prayer of thanksgiving after communion and that they date to the second half of the fourth century. This places them among the earliest material witnesses to the anaphora and the post-anaphoral part of the Eucharist.
Abstract
In strom. V.9.1 and strom. V.14.103–106, Clement of Alexandria presents opinions (doxai) of Greek philosophers regarding ‘eschatology’. By making use of so-called doxographies (i.e. the collection of philosophical opinions on a particular topic), Clement employs a popular method in contemporary philosophical debate. In this article, I will show how Clement reinterprets philosophers’ opinions and modifies them to construct a philosophical proof for (Christian) eschatology. It allows him to make controversial topics such as ‘final judgement’ and ‘resurrection’ more plausible to his philosophically educated readers, as according to him, these ideas have already been discussed and confirmed by several well-known philosophers (Heraclitus, Empedocles, Plato and the Stoics).