Religion & City Life in the Later Roman Empire

CLAH266 – lecture 6/ seminar 32nd November 2012Dr Jamie Wood

Aims•To help you to start

preparing essay over reading week

•To provide you with an overview of religion in the later Roman Empire, especially in relation to social and political history

•To introduce you to some key themes and sources related to urban life in the later Roman Empire City

Structure

•Essay writing workshop•Religion in the later Roman Empire

▫Religion to Constantine’s conversion▫Impact of the conversion

Christian triumph: church and state or a state church

Christians and pagans/ polytheists Christians and Jews Rise of the bishop

•Seminar on city life in the later Roman Empire

Essay-writing workshop• For homework, you should have

chosen an essay question and done some thinking about it ▫(see handout for questions and ideas

for breaking them down)• Task:

▫If you have not done the above, spend some time on your own thinking about the questions

▫If you have thought about a question, find someone who has done a different question and… Explain your thoughts to one another,

offering feedback and suggestions Take notes and think about their

suggestions▫Then - repeat

Last week: Rise of monotheism and henotheism in 2nd and 3rd Cs

• Increasing congruence between Christian beliefs and practices and Roman elite▫Theology – philosophy – monotheism (Neo-

Platonism and ‘the One’) ▫Religion – politics – henotheism (political

implications, esp. for emperors)•Emperors start to promote one dominant god

within the pantheon ▫Elagabalus (Sol Invictus); Diocletian (Jupiter)

•Punishment of deviance from traditional cult▫Use of bureaucracy (e.g. Decian ‘Persecution’)

Conversion of Constantine•Christian God as a

successful god of war▫Proves his (sorry girls)

superiority on the battlefield•Problems with our sources

▫Eusebius may have put a theological ‘spin’ on his account(s) of Constantine’s conversion (see Price)

▫He also presents earlier attempts to enforce conformity as targeted persecutions of Christians when they may not have been

Church-state relations after Constantine

•Note: both ‘church’ and ‘state’ anachronistic terms in this period

•But: religion does continue to be a state matter from Constantine onwards (seminar last week)▫Investment of resources into the

Christian communities▫Local conflicts within cities over

who is bishop▫Theological disputes

Patronage of cult and resolution of disputes are both part of traditional role of Roman emperors

Defining the relationship• Patronage from emperor to a new cult = Christianity

(among others) ▫But C continues to connect himself to other cults (e.g.

coins)• Caesaropapism?

▫Not yet – this is very early stages▫State does not control the church (or vice versa)

Some Christians are not keen on increasingly close connection to the emperor Donatists in Africa – hardliners who don’t want to compromise;

schism with those who have done so Others think that to engage with the ‘world’ too much

undermines the purity of the church (imperial government is essence of worldly affairs)

• Still trying to figure out how the relationship works

Heretics as emperors•4th century: an Arian century?

▫Arian emperors after Constantine (Arian?) Constantius II (337-361) Valens (364-378)

•Not until end of 4th century do we see triumph of ‘orthodoxy’ with Theodosius I (week 9)▫Creation of a back story by

later ‘orthodox’ historians▫Various theological

disagreements in East and between East and West lead to questioning of ‘orthodoxy’ of nearly every emperor

Missorium of Kerch depicting Constantius II on horseback with a

spear. He is preceded by victory and accompanied by a

guardsman. Notice also the Chi-Rho symbol.

Powerful pagans• Julian, emperor 361-363 (week 8)

▫ Attempted revival of paganism (termed Hellenism), but along highly ‘Christian’ lines

• Eugenius, usurper in West 394-396▫ Christian, but had pagan supporters and offered renewed

patronage to traditional cults (e.g. Altar of Victory restored to Senate House)

▫ Divine intervention at Battle of Fridigus leads to his defeat by Theodosius I

• Aristocracy▫ Pleas for tolerance, e.g. Symmachus vs. Ambrose on Altar

of Victory ▫ Bloch, H. (1963), ‘The Pagan Revival in the West at the End of the

Fourth Century’, in: A. Momigliano, ed., The Conflict Between Paganism and Christianity in the Fourth Century (Oxford), pp. 193–218.

• Army ▫ Possibly more conservative in religious terms than other

groups ▫ Esp. important to them that god(s) bring victory

Imperial attitudes to pagans •Overall: dwindling support during

4th C•Reign of Julian a turning point

▫Christians recognise how precarious their position was/ their dependence on imperial patronage

•Theodosian Dynasty (from late 4th C): triumph of Christian orthodoxy▫Imperial support for militant monks

(Hypatia: week 10)▫Destruction of pagan temples and

shrines▫Legal actions

Juliam, depicted on bronze coin from Antioch, minted

360-363; note the philosopher’s pose

‘Superstition shall cease’ (Codex Theodosianus, 16.10.2)

•“Superstition shall cease; the madness of sacrifices shall be abolished. For if any man in violation of the law of the sainted Emperor, Our father, and in violation of this command of Our Clemency, should dare to perform sacrifices, he shall suffer the infliction of a suitable punishment and the effect of an immediate sentence.”▫(date of law is 341; but the code was

promulgated under Theodosius II in 438)

Christians and Jews• Tension during the age of

‘persecutions’▫Jewish crowds often cited as

instigating persecution of Christians by Roman authorities

• Tension continued▫Mob violence in cities

E.g. Alexandria; the synagogue at Callinicum

▫Imperial matter Jews as another deviant group that

needed to be policed Keeping peace in the cities (Codex

Theodosianus 16.8.1, 9) ▫Theology and polemic

Jews as murderers of Jesus Converting the Jews and the Second

Coming The Jews and Christian history

The rise of the bishop

•A sought after office▫Conduit for imperial investment in the local church/

city ▫Legal roles as judges (see week 4)▫Represent and protect cities to outside authorities

E.g. Pope Leo I (440-61) and Attila the Hun in 452▫Bishops together in council bring forth Holy Spirit)

•Attracts highly trained individuals away from traditional career paths▫E.g. Ambrose of Milan (week 4) and Augustine of

Hippo

Christianity and the Fall of the Roman Empire

•Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: ▫Movement of elite males

into monasteries and office as bishop is a primary reason for the fall of the Roman Empire in the West

▫Formerly they would have joined (or led) the legions

▫Decline of Roman masculinity and take-over by German barbarians

Conclusion on Religion•Religion and politics still inextricably linked

▫Christian God as a god of war and the god of the emperors

▫Fear about subversives/ non-conforming groups now focussed on non-Christians

•Relations between emperor and church in many ways traditional▫Sponsorship and resolving disputes; policing

deviance•Relations between Church and Empire being

worked out during 4th century▫‘Victory of orthodoxy’ a projection backwards,

like ‘victory of Christianity’

So, what happened? •Revolution? •Evolution? •A change in management? •A change in name?

• Gradual christianisation of imperial household, aristocracy and religious leadership

•But basic functioning of society-politics and role of religion within them remains the same

Seminar on City Living in the Later Roman Empire

Homework: more on the essay•Prepare 2-sides of A4 plan for your essay,

including:1. An outline of the structure of your essay2. Details of 1 relevant primary source, with some

relevant quotations picked out3. Details of 1 relevant journal article or book

chapter, with some relevant points picked out4. An idea for an argument [= a direct answer to

the question set, key point(s), no fence sitting] If you send this to me by 5pm on Wednesday of week

8 (14th November), then I will read through and provide you with feedback

If you print this off and bring it to the class on 16th November, I will bring it back the following week