Roman History Books and More

more on monasticism

The figures Gibbon particularly draws our attention to in the early history of monasticism are St. Anthony in Egypt and St. Martin in Gaul.

Monasticism seems to have started in Egypt, and we have accounts of some of the monks by  Rufinus and Palladius. Perhaps the most famous of the monks was St. Anthony, a life of whom was written by his contemporary admirer, Athanasius. The Catholic Encylopaedia has a more modern account.

Anthony has been a popular subject for painters: Hieronymus Bosch painted a lurid picture of Anthony's temptation by demons. Another picture on the same subject was painted by Matthias Grünewald as part of the Isenheim Altarpiece, which also contains a more restful picture of Anthony's visit to St. Paul the Hermit.

lupercal found?

As a follow up from our read earlier this year of Scullard's "History of The Roman World: 753-146 BC" and in anticipation of next year's read of T J Cornell's "The Beginnings of Rome", our regular readers may be interested to know of a report from the BBC that a cavity has been found near the remains of Augustus' palace in Rome.

The archaeologists who discovered it speculate that it may be the Lupercal, the cave the Romans thought was the place where the famous she-wolf suckled Romulus and Remus. In his note to the entry on the Lupercal in Platner's Topographical Dictionary, Bill Thayer of LacusCurtius seems to be sceptical, as does Mary Beard.

monasticism

One doesn't have to read very far in Gibbon's account of early monasticism to realise that he takes a very negative view of the subject.

Indeed, in the introduction of her translation, The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks, Benedicta Ward says: "Some of the  monastic extremes of physical discipline, such as going to the limits of existence with as little sleep, food, drink and companionship as possible, were a cause for wonder, then and later, not always of a complimentary kind." (page xi). In her footnote to this comment she particularly singles out Gibbon as an example. The translation (but not the introduction) can also be viewed at Google Books. Since the book is a compilation of sayings with the occasional background story, the fact that some pages have been skipped don't make so much of a difference as it usually does.

pope damasus I

Gibbon quotes Ammianus Marcellinus on the rioting that ensued after the death of Pope Liberius. At the time bishops were chosen by popular election, and two more or less simultaneous elections for bishop of Rome were held by different factions, one supporting Liberius' deacon Ursinus, and the other supporting Damasus. As a pagan, Ammianus is naturally uninterested in any theological differences that may have been at stake, and criticises the two candidates for ambition to enjoy the luxurious lifestyle of the bishop of Rome, in contrast to the frugal lifestyles of provincial bishops.

neoplatonism and julian the apostate

The religion that Julian was trying to promote as a rival to Christianity was more than the rituals of the traditional Greek and Roman worship of the gods, it was highly influenced by the Neoplatonic philosophies proposed by Plotinus, Porphyry and Iamblichus. Neoplatonism is a modern name for the schools of thought based on Plotinus' interpretation of Plato's writings and his attempt to synthesise them with other, later, philosophical schools.

Very basically, the idea was that the Divine was so caught up contemplating its creation that some parts got trapped inside the creation and now have to find their way back through the study of philosophy. How exactly this was to be done differed from writer to writer. Iamblichus invoked the aid of the gods, who were supposed to be parts of the Divine who were less trapped than humans, using a technique called theurgy.

historical figures in “the dream of scipio” – II : the cathars

In the 14th century part of our current read, The Dream of Scipio, Olivier de Noyen encounters two “heretics” and learns of their beliefs, one of which is reincarnation.  In the novel, this is traced back to the 5th century protagonist Manlius, his philosophical treatise on The Dream of Scipio, and his philosopher friend Sophia.

As in so much in the novel, there is a grain of truth to it, and we were reminded of the Cathars, which were quite familiar to some in our reading group.  Wikipedia (handle with care as usual) has an extensive article on Catharism, with a number of external links, one of which is Cathars and Cathar Beliefs in the Languedoc  (Cathars and the Cathar Crusade: history, cathar theology, crusade leaders, explanations, maps and source documents).

the flamen dialis

In The Legatus Mystery by Rosemary Rowe, the chief priest of Jupiter in the Roman colonia of Glevum, an elderly eccentric, aspires to the post of flamen dialis, chief priest of Jupiter of Rome, the most distinguished of the priesthoods after the pontifex maximus.  In fact, he practices already at being so by observing all the rituals and restrictions of that position and requires his young wife to do the same as flaminica dialis.

Here is Cicero outlining these rules:

A great many ceremonies are imposed upon the Flamen Dialis [the priest of Jupiter], and also many restraints, about which we read in the books On The Public Priesthoods and also in Book I of Fabius Pictor's work.  Among them I recall the following:  1) It is forbidden the Flamen Dialis to ride a horse;  2) It is likewise forbidden him to view the classes arrayed outside the pomerium [the sacred boundary of Rome], i.e., armed and in battle order---hence only rarely is the Flamen Dialis made a Consul, since the conduct of wars is entrusted to the Consuls;  3) It is likewise forbidden for him ever to take an oath by Jupiter;  4) It is likewise forbidden for him to wear a ring, unless it is cut through and empty;  5) It is also forbidden to carry out fire from the flaminia, i.e., the Flamen Dialis’ house, except for a sacral purpose;  6) if a prisoner in chains enters the house he must be released and the chains must be carried up through the opening in the roof above the atrium or living room onto the roof tiles and dropped down from there into the street;

timeline for apostle paul

Thanks to vcl, here is a clearly laid out timeline for the journeys of the Apostle Paul, with a nice map too, which will help readers of our current book, The Kingdom of the Wicked.

Still, this should be taken with a grain of salt, and I take no responsibility for the rest of the website which this informations comes from!  ;-)

There is also St. Paul at The Catholic Encyclopedia, and my earlier post, as well as Saul of Tarsus from the Jewish Encyclopedia.

ananias and psalm 24

The Zealots guffawed, but the visitors from Antioch did not understand. If they had thought about the writing of the name they would have seen that Hananiah spelt backwards gave Yochanan. The twenty-fourth psalm of David had the line: 'The temple court cried out "Lift up your heads, O ye gates and let Yochanan the son of Narbai and the disciple of Pinqai enter and fill his belly with the divine sacrifices."' Ananias was noted for his greed. Pinqai suggested pinka, a dish of stewed meat with onions to which the high priest was partial. In some ways the Jews were a subtle people.

I found this passage from pages 250-251 of my copy of The Kingdom of the Wicked rather puzzling…

pontius pilate

The Council of Nicea, which was covered in our Gibbon reading earlier this month, produced the Nicene Creed, one line of which reads in English "For our sake, he was crucified under Pontius Pilate". Pontius Pilate appears in the early part of our current reading, The Kingdom of the Wicked.

He is not only mentioned in the Gospels, but also by Josephus and Philo. For texts and discussion, see livius.org and The Ecole Initiative (texts at the bottom of the page). An inscription by Pilate was found in Caesarea in 1961. Some coins issued by Pontius Pilate can be seen here.

pontifex, pontifex maximus

In The First Man in Rome, there are squabbles about who should become a pontifex, as well as pontifex maximus, after either post has become vacant, and families are jealously trying to preserve their prerogatives.

The pontifex maximus was the highest priestly position in Rome, head of the college of the pontifices.

Smith's Dictionary at Lacus Curtius has this:

a jewish temple in egypt

While reading Colleen McCullough's The October Horse,  I came across this passage (page 116):

In the southeast of the Delta lay the Land of Onias, an autonomous enclave of Jews descended from the High Priest Onias and his followers, who had been exiled from Judea for refusing to prostrate themselves flat on the ground before the King of Syria; that, Onias had said, they did only to their God. King Ptolemy VI Philometor gave the Onians a large tract of land as their own in return for an annual tribute and soldiers for the Egyptian army. The news of Cleopatra's generosity had spread to the Land of Onias, which declared for her in this civil war and made it possible for Mithridates of Pergamum to occupy Pelusium without a struggle; Pelusium was full of Jews and had strong ties to the Land of Onias, which was vital to all Egyptian Jews because it held the Great Temple. This was a smaller replica of King Solomon's temple, even to a tower eighty feet tall and artificial gulches to simulate the Vales of Kedron and Gehenna.

Intrigued by the idea of there having been another temple besides the one in Jerusalem, I did a bit of googling and came to the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901-1906) entry for Leontopolis,  which gives Josephus as the source of our information about this temple.

elcesaites, elchasaites, helkesaites

In Zenobia, the Warrior Queen, the narrator Simon and his friend Taimsa, who study at Apamea, encounter one Alcibiades, who preaches the doctrine of the Elchasaites.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Elcesaites were a sect of Gnostic Ebionites, whose religion was a wild medley of heathen superstitions and Christian doctrines with Judaism. Hippolytus (Philosophumena, IX, 13-17) tells us that under Callistus* (217-222) a cunning individual called Alcibiades, a native of Apamea in Syria, came to Rome, bringing a book which he said had been received from Parthia by a just man named Elchasai (’Elchasaí; but Epiphanius has ’Elksaí and ’Elkessaîoi; Methodius, ’Elkesaîos, and Origen, ’Elkesaïtaí). The contents of the book had been revealed by an angel ninety-six miles high, sixteen miles broad, and twenty-four across the shoulders, whose footprints were fourteen miles long and four miles wide by two miles deep. Read on.

*Callistus was the Bishop of Rome.

Related is Catholic Encyclopedia: Apocrypha, A long article with a comments on each Apocryphal book. Classified according to origin, and the e-text Apocryphal Acts of The Apostles, Edited From Syriac Manuscripts in The British Museum and Other Libraries by W. Wright, LL.D., Ph. D., 1871.

JSTOR has an article The Acts of the Apostles by A.F.J. Klijn.

brooklyn museum: jewish mosaics, photos

Finally got a few photos of the exhibit, see brooklyn museum: jewish mosaics from the roman empire and more.

Click on images to enlarge









Photos © Dave Kush

gibbon on his 'vindication' (gibbon & christianity cont'd)

The Autobiographies of Edward Gibbon, continued

From Memoir E,  completed March 1791  My Own Life  (as titled in the print edition, 'typos' and spelling as in the original)  E-text from Gutenberg.  

1779. Feb.8.  [see also Bingley's  Gibbon and christianity below]

Had I believed that the majority of English readers were so fondly attached even to the name and shadow of Christianity; had I foreseen that the pious, the timid, and the prudent, would feel, or affect to feel, with such exquisite sensibility; I might, perhaps, have softened the two invidious chapters, which would create many enemies, and conciliate few friends. But the shaft was shot, the alarm was sounded, and I could only rejoice,  that if the voice of our priests was clamorous and bitter, their hands were disarmed from the powers of persecution.  I adhered to the wise resolution of trusting myself and my writings to the  candour of the public, till Mr. Davies of Oxford presumed to attack, not the faith, but the fidelity, of the historian.  My Vindication, expressive of less anger than contempt, amused for a moment  the busy and idle metropolis; and the most rational part of the laity, and even of the clergy, appear to have been satisfied of my innocence and accuracy. I would not print this Vindication in quarto, lest it should be bound and preserved with the history itself.  At the distance of twelve  years, I calmly affirm my judgment of Davies, Chelsum, &c.  A victory over such antagonists was a sufficient humiliation. They, however, were rewarded in this world.  Poor Chelsum was indeed neglected; and I dare not boast the making Dr. Watson a bishop; he is a prelate of a large mind and liberal spirit: but I enjoyed the pleasure of giving a Royal pension to Mr. Davies, and of collating Dr. Apthorpe to an archiepiscopal living. Their success encouraged the zeal of Taylor the Arian, [Note: The stupendous title, Thoughts on the Causes of the grand Apostacy, at first agitated my nerves, till I discovered that it was the apostacy of the whole church, since the Council of Nice, from Mr. Taylor's private religion. His book is a thorough mixture of high enthusiasm and low buffoonery, and the Millennium is a fundamental article of his creed.] and Milner the Methodist, [Note: From his grammar-school at Kingston upon Hull, Mr. Joseph Milner pronounces an anathema against all rational religion. His faith is a divine taste, a spiritual inspiration; his church is a mystic and invisible body: the natural Christians, such as Mr. Locke, who believe and interpret the Scriptures, are, in his judgment, no better than profane infidels.] with many others, whom it would be difficult to remember, and tedious to rehearse. The list of my adversaries, however, was graced with the more respectable names of Dr. Priestley, Sir David Dalrymple, and Dr. White; and every polemic, of either university, discharged his sermon or pamphlet against the impenetrable silence of the Roman historian.  In his History of the Corruptions of Christianity, Dr. Priestley threw down his two gauntlets to Bishop Hurd and Mr. Gibbon.   I declined the challenge in a letter, exhorting my opponent to enlighten the world by his philosophical discoveries, and to remember that the merit of his predecessor Servetus is now reduced to a single passage, which indicates the smaller circulation of the blood through the lungs, from and to the heart.  Instead of listening to this friendly advice, the dauntless philosopher of Birmingham continued to fire away his double battery against those who believed  too little, and those who believed too much. From my replies he has nothing to hope or fear: but his Socinian shield has repeatedly been pierced by the spear of Horsley, and his trumpet of sedition may at length awaken the magistrates of a free country.  The profession and rank of Sir David Dalrymple (now a Lord of Session) has given a more decent colour to his style.  But he scrutinized each separate passage of the two chapters with the dry minuteness of a special pleader; and as he was always solicitous to make, he may have succeeded sometimes in finding, a flaw. In his Annals of Scotland, he has shewn himself a diligent collector and an accurate critic. I have praised, and I still praise, the eloquent sermons which were preached in St. Mary's pulpit at Oxford by Dr. White.  If he assaulted me with some degree of illiberal acrimony, in such a place, and before such an audience, he was obliged to speak the language of the country.  I smiled at a passage in one of his private letters to Mr. Badcock;  "The part where we encounter Gibbon must be brilliant and striking." I n a sermon preached before the university of Cambridge, Dr. Edwards complimented a work, "which can only perish with the language itself;"  and esteems the author a formidable enemy.  He is, indeed, astonished that more learning and ingenuity has not been shewn in the defence of Israel; that the prelates and dignitaries of the church (alas, good man!) did not vie with each other, whose stone should sink the deepest in the forehead of this Goliath.

"But the force of truth will oblige us to confess, that in the attacks which have been levelled against our sceptical historian, we can discover but slender traces of profound and exquisite erudition, of solid criticism and accurate investigation; but we are too frequently disgusted by vague and inconclusive reasoning; by unseasonable banter and senseless witticisms; by imbittered bigotry and enthusiastic jargon; by futile cavils and illiberal invectives. Proud and elated by the weakness of his antagonists, he condescends not to handle the sword of controversy."--Monthly Review, Oct. 1790.

 Let me frankly own that I was startled at the first discharge of ecclesiastical ordnance; but as soon as I found that this empty noise was mischievous only in the intention, my fear was converted into indignation; and every feeling of indignation or curiosity has long since subsided in  pure and placid indifference.

Gibbon and christianity

A vindication of some passages in chapters XV & XVI, and online pages of  'vindication'.

by Bingley

On the publication of Volume 1 of Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire many people were outraged by chapters XV and XVI, and a number of rebuttals appeared. As Gibbon himself puts it in his "A Vindication of some passages in the fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire" (A VINDICATION &c. &c. by Edward Gibbon, Introduction):

When I delivered to the world the First Volume of an important History, in which I had been obliged to connect the progress of Christianity with the civil state and revolutions of the Roman Empire, I could not be ignorant that the result of my inquiries might offend the interest of some and the opinions of others. If the whole work was favourably received by the Public, I had the more reason to expect that this obnoxious part would provoke the zeal of those who consider themselves as the Watchmen of the  Holy City. These expectations were not disappointed; and a fruitful crop of Answers, Apologies, Remarks, Examinations &c. sprung up with all convenient speed.

Ever since there have been Christians eager to criticise Gibbon, and atheists and agnostics eager to enrol him in their cause:

Cardinal Newman's mid 19th century characterisation of Gibbon is often quoted: It is melancholy to say it, but the chief, perhaps the only English writer who has any claim to be considered an ecclesiastical historian, is the unbeliever Gibbon.

Gibbon is included in this list of  "people who have made important contributions to atheism, skepticism, agnosticism and religious critique through history": Famous Atheists, Skeptics and Freethinkers, at Agnosticism / Atheism at About.com.

The following two articles, however, argue that Gibbon was in fact a believing Christian despite his criticism of the disparity between Christian belief and Christian practice:

Edward Gibbon & the Enlightenment
Gibbon Misconstrued

Postscript from Irene: Vicki pointed out earlier today that the Vindication is not included in some print editions. Here is the full online version.

brooklyn museum: jewish mosaics from the roman empire and more

Today, we went to the Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, N.Y., and among other things, saw the exhibit Tree of Paradise: Jewish Mosaics from the Roman Empire (obsolete link removed 7/13), from a sanctuary floor of the synagogue in Hammam Lif, Tunisia.  This was of particular interest to me because I had seen a Tunesian mosaic exhibit in Cologne, Germany, a few years back.  There was a similarity in color selections.

Unfortunately, today was the last day, so the preceding link may not be up for long.   But here is an excellent write-up and background by Kris Hirst at Archaeology at About.com.  She includes illustrations, Scenes from Paradise, so I need not repeat a descripition.  Twenty-one pieces of the mosaics have been in possession of  the Brooklyn Museum since 1905.

I found the exhibit a little disjointed, with a lot of Egyptian Jewish material joined in, but the history of the mosaics, their discovery by French army captain Ernest de Prudhomme in 1883, the drawings of them by one of his soldiers which prove extremely valuable today, is fascinating and was well presented.  Emphasis was put on the fact that the patron/donor of the mosaic was a woman, the first known of this kind.  Analogies of religious symbolism between Judaism and Christianity were noted and a good general historic background given.

This discovery of the mosaics is termed "the birth of synagogue archaeology."

Some photos may be forthcoming.  Here  (8/14)

I spent a good deal of the remainder of the day in the renowned Egyptian collection, which is freshly introduced with Egypt Reborn.  At the bottom of that page are links to the rest of the collection. And there was also Egypt Through Other Eyes.  At the end of it, I was mentally exhausted...not being helped by us getting stuck in Sunday afternoon traffic... Unfortunately, the Brooklyn Museum is not as easily accessible to us as the Met, and other museums, in Manhattan.