Books+ Search Results
Heirs of Roman persecution : studies on a Christian and para-Christian discourse in late antiquity
Title
Heirs of Roman persecution : studies on a Christian and para-Christian discourse in late antiquity / edited by Éric Fournier and Wendy Mayer.
ISBN
1351240668
1351240676
1351240684
1351240692
9781351240666
9781351240673
9781351240680
9781351240697
9780815375128
Publication
Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2020.
Copyright Notice Date
©2020
Physical Description
1 online resource (xiv, 347 pages)
Local Notes
Access is available to the Yale community.
Access and use
Access restricted by licensing agreement.
Biographical / Historical Note
Éric Fournier is Professor of History at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Wendy Mayer is Associate Dean for Research and Professor at University of Divinity, Australian Lutheran College.
Summary
"The subject of this book is the discourse of persecution used by Christians in Late Antiquity (c. 300-700 CE). Through a series of detailed case studies covering the full chronological and geographical span of the period, it investigates how the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity changed the way that Christians and para-Christians perceived the hostile treatments they received, either by fellow Christians or by people of other religions. A closely related second goal of this volume is to encourage scholars to think more precisely about the terminological difficulties related to the study of persecution. Indeed, despite sustained interest in the subject, few scholars have sought to distinguish between such closely related concepts as punishment, coercion, physical violence, and persecution. Often, these terms are used interchangeably. While there are no easy answers, an emphatic conclusion of the studies assembled in this volume is that "persecution" was a malleable rhetorical label in late antique discourse, whose meaning shifted depending on the viewpoint of the authors who used it. This leads to our third objective: to analyze the role and function played by rhetoric and polemic in late antique claims to be persecuted. Late antique Christian writers who cast their present as a repetition of past persecutions often aimed to attack the legitimacy of the dominant Christian faction through a process of othering. This discourse also expressed a polarizing worldview in order to strengthen the group identity of the writers' community in the midst of ideological conflicts and to encourage steadfastness against the temptation to collaborate with the other side"-- Provided by publisher
Variant and related titles
Taylor & Francis. EBA 2024-2025.
Other formats
Print version: Heirs of Roman persecution. Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2020
Format
Books / Online
Language
English
Added to Catalog
August 08, 2024
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents
The Christian discourse of persecution in late antiquity: an introduction
Breaking the apocalyptic frame: persecution and the rise of Constantine
Begrudging the honor: Julian and Christian martyrdom
A misunderstood emperor?: Valens as a persecuting ruler in late antique literature
Theologies under persecution: Gregory of Nazianzus and the Syntagmation of Aetius
For their own good: Augustine and the rhetoric of beneficial persecution
In the footsteps of the Apostles of Light: persecution and the Manichaean discourse of suffering
To collect gold from hidden caves: Victor of Bita and the Vandal persecution of heretical barbarians in the late antique North Africa
You have made common cause with their persecutors: Gelasius, the language of persecution, and the Acacian schism
Everyone but the kings: the rhetoric of (non- )persecution in Gregory of Tours' Histories
Persecutio, seductio, and the limits of rhetorical intolerance in Visigoth's Iberia
The city a palimpsest: rewriting Arian violence in fifth-century historiography
The name of ill-omen: Basiliscus and the church in Constantinople
Martyrs of exile: John of Ephesus and religious persecution
Persecution and apostasy: Christian identity during the crises of the seventh century
Heirs of Roman persecution: common threads in discursive strategies across late antiquity.
Subjects
Also listed under
Bookmark As
Citation
