From owner-ltantsoc@VM.SC.EDU Thu Jun 27 03:38:23 1996 Return-Path: owner-ltantsoc@VM.SC.EDU Received: from VM.SC.EDU (vm.sc.edu [129.252.41.4]) by ccat.sas.upenn.edu (8.6.12/8.6.12) with SMTP id XAA18260 for ; Wed, 26 Jun 1996 23:38:00 -0400 Received: from VM.SC.EDU by VM.SC.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R3) with BSMTP id 2221; Wed, 26 Jun 96 21:13:49 EDT Received: from VM.SC.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@UNIVSCVM) by VM.SC.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 8913; Wed, 26 Jun 1996 21:13:02 -0400 Received: from VM.SC.EDU by VM.SC.EDU (LISTSERV-TCP/IP release 1.8b) with spool id 3545 for LTANTSOC@VM.SC.EDU; Wed, 26 Jun 1996 21:12:18 -0400 Received: from UNIVSCVM (NJE origin N330009@UNIVSCVM) by VM.SC.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 8869; Wed, 26 Jun 1996 21:12:15 -0400 Message-ID: Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 21:11:30 EDT Reply-To: Ralph Mathisen Sender: LTANTSOC -- Distribution List From: Ralph Mathisen Subject: Late Antiquity Newsletter To: Multiple recipients of list LTANTSOC Status: RO N.B. This innaugural issue of the *Late Antiquity Newsletter* is be- ing sent not only to those who specifically requested it, but also to a number of individuals who in the past have indicated an inter- est in matters Late Antique and Byzantine. "LAN" is not a discus- sion list, and it will be distributed several times yearly only. If you did not specifically request "LAN", you will not receive any further issues, but you can remain on the distribution list by send- ing a message to ralph.w.mathisen@sc.edu. And anyone who does not wish to receive any further issues of "LAN" may do so by sending a message to that effect to the same address. N.B. "LAN" is distributed by LISTSERV under the name LTANTSOC, in case any of you were wondering just what the connection of LTANTSOC was to the Late Antiquity Newsletter. ==================================================================== L A N THE LATE ANTIQUITY NEWSLETTER Volume 1 no.1 June, 1996 Table of Contents *Introductory Notes* *Conference Announcements* *Book Announcements* *Journal Announcements* *Job Openings* *Computer Notes:* "Hagiomail" "Late Antiquity on the Internet" Michael DiMaio "Recapitulation, Repetition, Digression, and Getting to the Point: A Discussion of the Murder of Hypatia and Other Matters" Ralph Mathisen ==================================================================== Publication information: The Late Antiquity Newsletter 1.1 (June, 1996) "LAN" is published several times a year under the auspices of the Society for Late Antiquity, which consists of those in attendance at the bi-annual Late Antiquity conferences. It is distributed over the Internet using a distribution list named LTANTSOC, which oper- ates using LISTSERV software. The following kinds of contributions are solicited: announcements of conferences, journals, books, WEB sites (all with or without sum- maries of contents), job openings, collaborative/interdisciplinary projects, work in progress, and requests for assistance. Also, suc- cinct notices of a scholarly nature that might be too brief for pub- lication in more traditional scholarly journals. Editor: Ralph W. Mathisen, Department of History, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C. 29208, U.S.A. EMAIL: ralph.w.mathisen@sc.edu. FAX: 803-777-4494 Copyright (1996) The Society for Late Antiquity N.B. To allow for easier electronic navigation, the different sec- tions are separated by a row of "============" and the different entries of each section by a row of "------------". Italics (under- scores) are represented by asterisks. ==================================================================== INTRODUCTORY NOTES This newsletter is an outgrowth of the "Shifting Frontiers in Late Antiquity" Conference held at the University of Kansas in March, 1995. At that time, the participants felt it would be worthwhile to continue holding Late Antiquity conferences (preferably bi-annu- ally), to circulate a Late Antiquity Newsletter, to continue to sup- port the Late Antiquity discussion list (LT-ANTIQ) and to create a Society for Late Antiquity that would consist of those present at the conferences and which would coordinate these functions. The proceedings of the first Interdisciplinary Late Antiquity Con- ference have just been published (*Shifting Frontiers in Late Antiq- uity*, R. Mathisen and H. Sivan eds. [Variorum, 1996]), and the sec- ond conference will be held in March of 1997 at the University of South Carolina (see announcement below). LT-ANTIQ now has been in operation since October, 1994, and now has over 800 subscribers. And this is the first issue of the *Late Antiquity Newsletter*, or "*LAN*" -- an appropriate acronym for a newsletter circulated over the Internet! "*LAN*" is intended to "get the news out" about current events re- lating to Late Antiquity, and will serve as a more structured corol- lary to LT-ANTIQ. It will provide announcements of conferences, books and journals, and job openings. Readers of the newsletter are encouraged to forward information on all these topics. It also will include discussions of computer-related topics, and summaries of some of the topics that have been discussed on LT-ANTIQ. It will be seen below that the electronic format of "LAN" makes it possible to include lengthy material -- such as the complete text of a discussion of the murder of Hypatia that took place on LT-ANTIQ -- that would very likely not be considered "publishable" in conven- tional print media. It also is a very straightforward matter to collect, collate, and re-circulate information that has appeared on other internet venues. A number of subscribers asked about the subscription fee. There is none. Please feel free to make copies of this newslatter (electron- ic or hard-copy) and pass it on to interested colleagues or to your library acquisitions department. The next issue is slated to be distributed in September, 1996. Although "*LAN*" is distributed using LISTSERV software (the same software that operates discussion lists), please note that "*LAN*" is not a discussion list itself (even if the "Welcome Notice" sent by the LISTSERV software might lead one to think differently!). Any messages sent to LTANTSOC, the email address for "*LAN*", will be delivered only to Ralph Mathisen, the distribution list owner, and will not go to the entire distribution list. To subscribe to the "*Late Antiquity Newsletter*" please send a note to ralph.w.mathisen@sc.edu asking to be put on the distribution list. Comments and suggestions regarding the format and content of "*LAN*" also can be sent to the same address. To subscribe to LT-ANTIQ, the Late Antiquity discussion list, please send a message consisting only of the words: SUBSCRIBE LT-ANTIQ first-name last-name to LISTSERV@VM.SC.EDU. ==================================================================== CONFERENCES -------------------------------------------------------------------- AMERICAN NUMISMATIC ASSOCIATION SUMMER SEMINAR The American Numismatic Association is offering several courses in ancient numismatics at the ANA Summer Seminar that will take place July 13-19. Robert Hoge is teaching a course on Ancient Numismat- ics; Kerry Wetterstrohm and David Vaggi are joining forces to teach a course on Ancient Greek Coins, and I will be teaching a course on Byzantine Numismatics. More information about these courses and the ANA Summer Seminars can be obtained from the ANA at: ana@money.org. They also have a website at, I believe: http://www.money.org --Chris Connell -------------------------------------------------------------------- "AUGUSTIN PREDICATEUR A LA LUMIERE DES SERMONS DECOUVERTS A MAYENCE" (5-7 septembre 1996) A conference on the recently discovered Mainz sermons of Augustine will be held at Chantilly, outside Paris, September 5-7, 1996. It is organized by Profs. G. Madec, F. Dolbeau, J.-Cl. Fredouille, Cl. Lepelley and J. Scheid, who also will speak. Other speakers include Profs. N. Duval, Banniard, Y.M. Duval, Dulaey, Rebillard, Pepin and a few others, as well as, in English, Profs. R.A. Markus, H. Chad- wick, R. Dodaro, S.A. Kennell, P. Garnsey, and, in German, Profs. Klockener, Muller, Klein, and Primmer. There will be four sessions: 1) Predication, liturgie, archeologie 2) Pastorale, Doctrine, Controverse 3) Discussions avec les paiens 4) Chronologie et liens avec l'actualite It should be followed by a publication of the sermons with transla- tion and comments. Location: "Les Fontaines" Route de Gouvieux BP 219-60631 Chantilly Cedex Tel: 44 57 24 60 Information: Mme Claudine Croyere Institut des Etudes Augustiniennes 3, rue de l'Abbaye 75006 Paris tel: 43 54 80 25. -------------------------------------------------------------------- THE TENTH CONFERENCE OF THE AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATION FOR BYZANTINE STUDIES (25-27 April 1997) The conference will be held at the Australian National University in Canberra, and the theme is "'Sailing to Byzantium': Approaches and Gauls." While nautical subjects, or a nautical twist, would be very appropriate, the theme also may be treated allegorically. Synopses of papers will be published in the *Byzantine Studies in Australia Newsletter*. Special conference guest will be Nancy Sevcenko, au- thor of *The Life of St Nicholas in Byzantine Art* (1982) and asso- ciate editor of the *Oxford Dicitonary of Byzantium* (1991). For further information, and to receive the second circular and reg- istration form, contact: Dr Ann Moffatt Art History Department, Australian National University Canbera, ACT 0200, AUSTRALIA Phone: (61) 6-249.2901 (W), 6-247.4783 (H) FAX: (61) 6-249.2705, EMAIL Ann.Moffatt@anu.edu.au -------------------------------------------------------------------- XVe CENTENAIRE DU BAPTEME DE CLOVIS COLLOQUE INTER UNIVERSITAIRE ET INTERNATIONAL (19-25 septembre 1996) Organized by Prof. Michel Rouche, Universite de Paris Sorbonne, this conference will bring together over 100 speakers discussing the sig- nificance of the activities and reign of Clovis. Pope John Paul II is also expected to attend. Speakers on contemporary topics include: A. Chauvot, B. Young, A. Bredero, R. Brulet. E. Prinz, M. Biarne, A. Ferreiro, C. Leonardi, F. Monfrin, C. Cantino-Wataghin, I. Ionita, L. Garcia-Moreno, P. Regerat, P. O'Rian, N. Tonnerre, J. Jarnut, E. Vanneufville, K. Schaferdiek, G. Scheibelreiter, J. Nelson, J. Pou- lin, L. Pietri, R. Mathisen, J. Heuclin, M. Saxer, A. Angenendt, J. Guyon, B. Fauvarque, P. Gabet, E. Nortier, L. Verlypse, P. Perin, F. Staab, R. Noel, L. Lotter, M. Heinzelmann, G. Arnldi, H. Siems, L. Cracco, B. Bachrach, O. Guillot, J.-P. Martin, D. Claude, S. Prico- co, C. Morrison, K. Carr, J. Lusse, M. Chedeville, D. Scharer, B. Basdevant, R. Le Jan, H. Le Bourdelles. An equal number will speak on "L'evenement et son echo du VIIIe au XXe siecle" Information from: Association Memoire du Bapteme de Clovis 1, place du Cardinal Lucon 51100 Reims Phone: (011 33) 26 88 99 61, Fax: (011 33) 26 88 99 65. -------------------------------------------------------------------- THE TWENTY SECOND ANNUAL BYZANTINE STUDIES CONFERENCE (24-27 October 1996) The Twenty-Second Annual Byzantine Studies Conference will be held at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from Thursday evening, October 24, through Sunday early afternoon, October 27, 1996. The conference is the annual forum for the presentation and discussion of papers on every aspect of Byzantine studies and is open to all, regardless of nationality and academic status. Participants should note that the BSC is funded only by registration fees and dues, which must be paid by all participants, and that the Conference has no funding to defray the costs of travel or lodging for participants. Graduate Students may be eligible for a travel subsidy and should declare their status when submitting their ab- stracts. Current officers of the Byzantine Studies Conference are Mary-Lyon Dolezal (Univ. of Oregon), President; Ralph W. Mathisen (Univ. of S. Carolina), Vice President; Alice-Mary Talbot (Dumbarton Oaks), Trea- surer; Alice Christ (Univ. of Kentucky), Secretary. Questions concerning local arrangements in Chapel Hill may be di- rected to the Local Arrangements Committee: Carolyn L. Connor, Chair Email clconner@email.unc.edu , Department of Classics, CB#3145, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC 27599-3145 tel. 919-962-7191), Jaroslav Folda Department of Art, CB#3405, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3405 tel. 919-962-3036) tel. 919-962-3036) Dorothy Verkerk, Department of Art, CB#3405 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC 27599--3405; tel. 919-962-0729 -------------------------------------------------------------------- THE FIRST BIRMINGHAM COLLOQUIUM ON THE TEXTUAL CRITICISM OF THE NEW TESTAMENT (14-17 April 1997) The first Birmingham Colloquium on the Textual Criticism of the New Testament will be held at Chamberlain Hall, The University of Bir- mingham, from 14 to 17 April 1997. The meeting will be under the presidency of J. Neville Birdsall, Emeritus Professor of New Testament and Textual Criticism in the university. His address will be on the theme 'Language and Text of Homer and of the New Testament; Analogies and Influences in Ancient and Modern Times'. The other main speakers will be Professor Larry W. Hurtado, who has been appointed to the chair of New Testament in Edinburgh, Jeff Childers, who has recently completed a study of the Syriac versions of John Chrysostom, and Dr David Taylor, of Birming- ham University, who will speak on New Testament citations in Syriac patristic commentaries. There will also be seminars. Suggestions for themes are invited. Invitations to lead sessions will be made once the subjects have been determined. a 'Work in Progress' session, at which colloquium members will be invited to describe any current projects in which they are involved. Short papers Offers of papers on any aspect of the discipline are invited. The short papers will each be allotted 30 minutes, of which 10 will be available for questions and discussion. Applications to read a short paper and seminar proposals should be sent by October 31, and should include a brief (150-300 word) sum- mary of it. The cost will be approximately 140 pounds, including board and lodg- ing. Requests for Registration Forms, suggestions for seminars, and ap- plications to give a short paper should be sent to: Birmingham Colloquium on the Textual Criticism of the New Testament Dept of Theology University of Birmingham Edgbaston Birmingham B15 2TT U.K. Tel. 0121-414 5666 Fax 0121-414 6866 E-Mail D.C.Parker@bham.ac.uk D.G.K.Taylor@bham.ac.uk D.C. PARKER & D.G.K. TAYLOR DEPT OF THEOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM -------------------------------------------------------------------- REGIONALISM IN HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN ASIA MINOR (22-24 August 1997) A small research conference concerning Regionalism in Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor is being planned to be held at Trinity College, Hartford, CT, on Friday 22nd-Sunday 24th August, 1997. Participants will be asked to explore the mechanisms that create and maintain regional cohesion in Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor. For further information, contact the organizers: Gary Reger, Box 702550, Trinity College, Hartford CT 06106, email at gary.reger@mail.trincoll.edu, telephone 860-297-2393; or Hugh Elton, History and Classics Departments, Trinity College, Hartford CT 06106, email at hugh.elton@mail.trincoll.edu, telephone 860-297- 2230. Fax for both: 860-297-5111. -------------------------------------------------------------------- SETTIMANA DI STUDI SULL'ETA' ROMANOBARBARICA * Every year in Tivoli (Italy, near Rome), the last week of October: Settimana di studi sull'eta' romanobarbarica. Alle origini della cultura europea (a week dedicated, in 1994, to the V cent.; in 1995 to VI century; in 1997 to VII cent.; and so on). * Every year, 3 days of January are dedicated to the romano-barbar- ian age, by the Dottorato di Ricerca in Cultura dell'eta' romanobar- barica, Universita' di Macerata, Italy Information: dott. Maria Luisa Angrisani, Dipartimento di Filologia latina e greca, Universita' "La Sapienza" di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00100 Roma (Italy) Annalisa Bracciotti Universite di Udine E-Mail annalisa.bracciotti@dllgr.uniud.it Date: Sun, 16 Jun 1996 16:07:24 +0100 (MET) From: annalisa.bracciotti@dllgr.uniud.it (Annalisa Bracciotti) -------------------------------------------------------------------- SHIFTING FRONTIERS II: THE TRANSFORMATION OF LAW AND SOCIETY IN LATE ANTIQUITY (13-16 March 1997) Sponsored by The Department of History and the College of Liberal Arts (University of South Carolina) and the Society for Late Antiquity Nearly every student of Late Antiquity at one time or another has encountered "the law," be it a ruling by a Roman emperor, a canon of a church council, an entry in a barbarian law code, or the applica- tion of unwritten social practices that were even more potent than written law. And most of us, at one time or another, have had ideas about the role that "law" played, broadly writ, in the society of Late Antiquity, and about the transformations that both underwent from the third through the seventh century. This conference will provide a forum where many disparate strands of thought about the transformation of law and society during Late An- tiquity can be brought together into a cohesive whole. The topic is meant to be inclusive rather than exclusive. We hope to look not only at laws-qua-documents and laws-qua-official decrees, but also at laws-qua-social instruments, and how law, and notions surrounding law, functioned in real social contexts. We hope to have a very broad coverage, chronologically (third through seventh centuries), geographically (the western European, Byzantine, and Islamic worlds), disciplinary (ranging from the phi- lology to the anthropoligy), and methodologically (epigraphy, papy- rology, palaeography, archaeology). We also hope to have represen- tatives of Late Roman, Early Medieval, Byzantine, and Islamic stud- ies. Contributions that take an interdisciplinary approach, and submissions from junior scholars, are especially encouraged. Just a few of the many possible topics that we would like to see covered include: * The genesis of legislation: individual initiative or social need, proactive or reactive?; * The drafting of legislation, viz. the relative roles of emperors/kings, officials, and "staff"; * The nature of Roman "provincial" law, and its influence on the development of "barbarian" law; * The nature of law in "barbarian kingdoms," and the relation be- tween so-called "Roman" and "barbarian" law; * The process of the transmission and survival of Roman law; * The development and application of canon law; * The nature of legal "theory" in east and west; * The development of Islamic law; * How to "read" and interpret legal documents; * The nature of legal education; * The nature of law "on the ground": the promulgation and enforce- ment of legal injunctions; * The nature of "de facto" laws (or "customs") that defined social relations; how were the social customs of classical times trans- formed during Late Antiquity? * Social developments in which "law" is involved only conceptually. We anticipate publishing the proceedings in a format similar to that of the first conference (Aldershot: Variorum, 1996). Members of the Program Committee include Beatrice Caseau (Univ. of Paris IV -- Sorbonne), Gillian Clark (Univ. of Liverpool), Jacque- line Long (Univ. of Texas), David Miller (Tulsa, Okla.), Hagith Si- van (Institute for Advanced Study), and Dennis Trout (Tufts). Those who would like to present papers are asked to submit a one- page abstract clearly setting out thesis and conclusions to Ralph W. Mathisen, Dept. of History, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C. 29208, U.S.A. FAX 803-777-4494 -- EMAIL: Ralph.W.Mathisen@sc.edu. The Conference will be held March 13-16, 1997, on the campus of the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. The month of March in South Carolina is spectacular, with the azaleas in full bloom and the weather as good as it ever gets. Columbia is served by several major airlines and easily reached by Interstates 26 from Asheville, N.C. (145 mi.), 20 from Atlanta (200 mi.), and 77 from Charlotte, N.C. (90 mi.). For information about registration and accommodations, please for- ward a request to the address above. ==================================================================== BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS Thomas S. Burns, *Barbarians within the Gates of Rome. A Study of Roman Military Policy and the Barbarians, ca. 375-425 A.D.* (Bloom- ington, Ind.: Univ. of Indiana Press, 1995). Margarita Vallejo Girves, *Bizancio y la Espana Tardoantiqua*, Memo- rias del Seminario de Historia Antigua 4 (Alcala de Henares: Univ. de Alcala de Henares, 1993). Martin Heinzelmann, *Gregor von Tours (538-594) Zehn Bucher Ges- chichte. Historiographie und Gesellschaftskonzept im 6. Jahrhun- dert* (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 12994). Jacqueline Long, *Claudian's In Eutropium. Or, How, Whan, and Why to Slander a Eunuch* (Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Press, 1996). pp. 291 + xiv, with index. Bruno Luiselli, *Storia culturale dei rapporti fra mondo romano e mondogermanico* (Roma: Herder, 1992 (pp. 1000 ca.; it deals with the romanobarbarian kingdoms) Kristoffel DeMoen, *Pagan and Biblical Exempla in Gregory Nazianzen. A Study in Rhetoric and Hermeneutics*, Corpus Christianorum, Lingua Patrum 2 (Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, 1996) (498 p.). ISBN 2-503- 50481-7 (hb) / 2-503-50482-5 (pb) Annabel Jane Wharton, *Refiguring the Post Classical City: Dura Eu- ropos, Jerash, Jerusalem and Ravenna* (New York: Cambridge Universi- ty Press, 1995). Ewa Wipszycka, *Etudes sur le christianisme dans l'Egypte de l'Anti- quite tardive*, Studia Ephemeridis Augustinianum 52 (Rome: Institu- tum Patristicum Augustinianum, 1996) 452 pp., index. ISBN 88-7961- 045-7 L'auteur reedite avec des complements et des mises a jour ses arti- cles sur le christianisme egyptien, en y ajoutant des etudes ine- dites (dont "Les rapports entre les monasteres et les laures a la lumiere des fouilles de Naqlun (Fayoum"). L'ensemble est reparti en 4 sections (I. Le christianisme dans la societe egyptienne; II. Les institutions ecclesiastiques en Egypte; III. Le monachisme egyptien, avec un Appendice de Michel BREYDY, La version des Regles et pre- ceptes de St. Antoine verifiee sur les manuscrits arabes; IV.Les persecutions). L'ouvrage est muni d'index detaille des noms et des sujets. Orders; Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum, Via Paolo VI, 25, OO193 Roma, 1996 Jean Gascou Institut de Papyrologie (Universite des Sciences Humaines) 9, place de l'Universite 67084 Strasbourg Cedex From: gascou@monza.u-strasbg.fr (Jean Gascou) -------------------------------------------------------------------- *The Archaeology and Art of Central Asia Studies from the Former Soviet Union* Edited by B. A. Litvinskii and C. A. Bromberg (Volume 8 of the Bulletin of the Asia Institute Published May 1996) Contents A.I. Isakov, "Sarazm: An Agricultural Center of Ancient Sogdiana" A. Askarov and T. Shirinov, "The 'Palace,' Temple, and Necropolis of Jarkutan" V.I. Sarianidi, "Aegean-Anatolian Motifs in the Glyptic Art of Bac- tria and Margiana" I.V. P'iankov, "The Ethnic History of the Sakas" B.A. Litvinskii and I. R. Pichikian, "The Hellenistic Architecture and Art of the Temple of the Oxus" B.I. Vainberg, "The Kalali-Gir 2 Ritual Center in Ancient Khwarazm" G.V. Shishkina, "Ancient Samarkand" V.N. Pilipko, "Excavations of Staraia Nisa" A. Bader, V. Gaibov, and G. Koshelenko, "Materials for an Archaeo- logical Map of the Merv Oasis" V.A. Livshits and V. G. Shkoda, "Old Indian Kapala in a Bactrian Inscription from Qara-Tepe" E.V. Rtveladze, "Kampir-Tepe: Structures, Written Documents, and Coins" D.V. Rusanov, "The Fortifications of Kampir-Tepe" IU A. Rapoport, "The Palaces of Topraq-Qal'a" B.I. Marshak and V.I. Raspopova, "Worshipers from the Northern Shrine of Temple II, Panjikent" L.V. Pavchinskaia, "Sogdian Ossuaries" G.A. Pugachenkova, "The Form and Style of Sogdian Ossuaries" E.V. Zeimal', "The Circulation of Coins in Central Asia during the Medieval Period " Bibliography and Index Clothbound, 8= x 11= "; ca. 350 pp., 244 ills. $65 + $8 shipping in U.S. funds, U.S. bank Pre-payment necessary. Order from: Bulletin of the Asia Institute, 3287 Bradway Blvd., Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301 Telephone: 810-647-7917; Fax: 810-647-9223; E-mail: bai34@aol.com -------------------------------------------------------------------- *Holy Women of Byzantium: Ten Saints' Lives in English Translation* Edited by Alice-Mary Talbot The ten holy women whose biographies are presented here represent a wide variety of Byzantine female saints: nuns who disguised them- selves in male monastic garb; a repentant harlot who withdrew to the desert for forty-seven years of self-imposed isolation; a nun who escaped from Arab captivity to spend thirty-five years as a hermit on the abandoned island of Paros; a wonder working abbess who slew a dragon; widows who found refuge in the ascetic life of the convent; married laywomen and a queen abused by their husbands. The careers of these holy women demonstrate some of the divergent paths to sanc- tification in Byzantium, through mortification of the body, unques- tioning obedience to a monastic superior, repentance, acts of chari- ty, prophecy and miracle-working. At the same time the texts of their Lives reveal the Byzantine ambivalence towards women, reflect- ing the paradox of a civilization that simultaneously denigrated wo- men as daughters of Eve and elevated Mary as the Mother of God and the instrument of man's salvation. These *vitae*, ranging from the fifth to thirteenth centuries, also supplement traditional narrative histories by providing information on such aspects of Byzantine civilization as the impact of Arab and Bulgarian raids, iconoclasm, the monastic routine in convents, everyday family life and household management, and a smallpox epidemic in Thessalonike. This collec- tion of sacred biographies is the initial volume in a new Dumbarton Oaks series of translated Lives of Byzantine saints, rendered into English for the first time and fully annotated. Byzantine Saints' Lives in Translation, 1 384 pp. cloth ATHW $30.00 paperback ATHWP $18.50 Contents A. Nuns Disguised as Monks 1. Life of St. Mary/Marinos / translated by Nicholas Constas 2. Life of St. Matrona of Perge / Jeffrey Featherstone and Cyril Mango B. Female Solitaries 3. Life of St. Mary of Egypt / Maria Kouli 4. Life of St. Theoktiste of Lesbos / Angela C. Hero C. Cenobitic Nuns 5. Life of St. Elisabeth the Wonderworker / Valerie Karras 6. Life of St. Athanasia of Aegina / Lee Francis Sherry 7. Life of St. Theodora of Thessalonike / Alice-Mary Talbot D. Pious Housewives 8. Life of St. Mary the Younger / Angeliki E. Laiou 9. Life of St. Thomais of Lesbos / Paul Halsall E. A Saintly Empress 10. Life of St. Theodora of Arta / Alice-Mary Talbot Indices Index of People and Places General Index Index of Notable Greek Words You can address orders or inquiries for additional information on titles in Byzantine Studies published by Dumbarton Oaks to: DOBooks@aol.com Visit our publications WWW site at http://members.aol.com/DOBooks/TitleList.html or write Dumbarton Oaks Publishing Manager 1703 32nd Street, N.W. Washington D.C. 20007 FAX orders can be sent to: 202-625-6805 (office hours 9-5 EST). For personal orders use VISA or MasterCard and include expiration date and phone number. Date: Wed, 12 Jun 1996 20:41:29 -0400 From: "" Subject: Holy Women of Byzantium -------------------------------------------------------------------- *Shifting Frontiers in Late Antiquity* R.W. Mathisen, H.S. Sivan eds. (Aldershot: Variorum, 1996) pp. 384 + xvi with index, maps, plates. Includes 27 papers presented at the conference on "Shifting Fron- tiers in Late Antiquity," held at the University of Kansas, March, 1995. Part I, "Reevaluating Frontier Zones of Interaction", Sec- tions A, "How Roman, How Barbarian?: Filling the Imperial Void," B, "Redefining the Social Frontiers of Frontier Populations," and C, "Redrawing Internal Frontiers," Part II, "Reconceptualizing Meta- phorical Frontiers," Sections A, "Reshaping the Frontiers of Person and Gender," and B, "Rethinking the Frontiers of Ritual, Piety, and Spirit." Cost: L50 (post paid if paid in advance). Order from Ashgate Pub- lishing Ltd., Gower House, Croft Rd, Aldershot, Hampshire GU11 3HR, Great Britain *or* Old Post Road, Brookfield, Vermont 05036, USA. EMAIL: gf06@ashgate.com -------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW BOOK SERIES Byzantine Saints' Lives in Translation Series Editor: Alice-Mary Talbot Dumbarton Oaks is launching a series of English translations of me- dieval Greek Lives of saints to bring a selected group of these bi- ographies of holy men and women to the attention of a wider public. It is hoped that this new series will make available in translation a genre of medieval Greek text that has hitherto been relatively inaccessible. At present, the majority of the Byzantine Greek texts that have been translated into English are narrative histories or writings of the Church Fathers; these should now be complemented by other types of materials. This project to translate saints' Lives is not, in fact, a new idea, but one rooted in tradition, for many of the Greek Lives of saints were translated into Latin, Slavonic, Syriac, Armenian, Georgian, and Arabic during the early Christian and Byzantine centuries to make them accessible to non-Greek speak- ers. This new Dumbarton Oaks series will focus on the Greek Lives of holy men and women of the eighth to fifteenth centuries, few of which have been previously translated, but will include a few earli- er vitae as well. For the initial phase of the series three volumes are planned, the first two comprising collections of vitae of holy women and saints of the so-called iconoclastic period (ca.730-843), the third being the lengthy Life of the eleventh-century monk Laza- ros of Mt. Galesios. The series is aimed at a broad and multitiered audience: students and general readers who wish to learn more about the cult of saints, monasticism, and everyday life in Byzantium; scholars of the western medieval and Slavic worlds who want to do comparative studies in hagiography and monasticism; and Byzantine specialists who will find these volumes convenient selections of important vitae, accompanied by relatively extensive annotation and bibliography. -from the General Introduction to "Holy Women of Byzantium" Advisory Board for the Series John Duffy Elizabeth A. Fisher; Angela C. Hero; Alexander P. Kazhdan; Angeliki E. Laiou; Henry Maguire; Mi- chael McCormick; Ihor Sevcenko; Denis F. Sullivan Titles in Preparation no. 1: Holy Women of Byzantium (now available) no. 2: Byzantine Saints and Iconoclasm no. 3: St. Lazaros of Mt. Galesios Date: Wed, 12 Jun 1996 20:41:16 -0400 From: "" Subject: Byzantine Saints' Lives in Translation -------------------------------------------------------------------- ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EARLY CHRISTIAN ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY (EECAA) We seek contributions in all categories of late antique material culture, especially iconography, for the *Encyclopedia of Early Christian Art and Archaeology* (EECAA). The project aims at a brief but comprehensive treatments of all late antique material evidence, A.D. 200 - 600; as the title indicates, with a focus on Christian remains. Please send a list of your publications via either elec- tronic or regular mail. Advanced graduate students may apply. If there are any questions, please feel free to call the office of Terri A. Fahrney at the University of Missouri -- St. Louis, at 314/517-5781. Mailing Address: E-MAIL ADDRESS: PCF/Terri A. Fahrney Dept. of History DR. C. FINNEY AND TERRI A. FAHRNEY 406 Lucas Hall 8001 Natural Bridge Road St. Louis, MO 63121 -------------------------------------------------------------------- *TRANSLATED TEXTS FOR HISTORIANS* (TTH) *TTH* is published by Liverpool University Press and distributed in the USA by University of Pennsylvania Press. The series remit is to make available translations of texts from c.300 - 800 AD, with in- troduction and annotation suited to the needs of students and of those teaching and researching in Late Antiquity. 23 volumes have been published so far. Most are translations from Latin and Greek; one is from Syriac, and another is expected this year; translations from Armenian, Georgian and Arabic are among those in preparation. Expected soon in 1996 are a revised edition of Vegetius, *Epitome of Military Science*, ed. Nicholas Milner; *Donatist Martyr Stories: The Church in Conflict in Roman North Africa*, ed. Maureen Tilley; *Pseudo-Dionysius of Tel Mahre = John of Ephesus, Ecclesiastical History* part 2, ed. Witold Witakowski. The editors are always glad to hear from specialists who would like to suggest, or to offer, a translation. Do please also tell us, or ask, about plans to translate relevant texts for other series, be- cause there have been cases of duplicated effort! The General Editors are Gillian Clark, University of Liverpool, email egclark@liv.ac.uk, and Mary Whitby, Royal Holloway, University of London, email m.whitby@rhbnc. The Editorial Committee are Sebastian Brock (Oxford), Averil Cameron (Oxford), Henry Chadwick (Oxford), John Davies (Liverpool), Carlotta Dionisotti (London), Peter Heather (London), Robert Markus (Notting- ham), John Matthews (Yale), Claudia Rapp (UCLA), Raymond Van Dam (Ann Arbor), Michael Whitby (Warwick), and Ian Wood (Leeds). From: Gillian Clark ==================================================================== JOURNAL ANNOUNCEMENTS -------------------------------------------------------------------- *L'ANTIQUITE TARDIVE* The journal l'Antiquite Tardive was established in 1988 during the Congres International d'Archeologie chretienne at Lyon. The journal deals with both archaeology and history. The next issue will be out in the fall, and it will present an important discussion of double churches, as well as other historical papers. The journal can be or- dered from Brepols, Steenweg op Tielen 68, B-2300 Turnhout, Belguim. Claire Sotinel -------------------------------------------------------------------- *CLASSICS IRELAND* on the World Wide Web Volume 3 (1996) of *CLASSICS IRELAND*, the journal of the Classical Association of Ireland, has already been issued in traditional form but now it is available over the network. Read and see what it's like. Several late antique articles can be found here including Claudine Dauphin on prostitution in the Byzantine Holy Land and John Curran on the Bones of St. Peter. Although it is available electronically we would ask you to encour- age your libraries to order the printed version because it helps our finances. Subscription rates are low. The URL for the *CLASSICS IRELAND* home page is http://www.ucd.ie/~classics/ClassicsIreland.html If you encounter any problems, mail me at aerskine@macollamh.ucd.ie. If you wish to contribute to future issues or to order a printed copy for your library, contact the editor Theresa Urbainczyk (email: urbain@macollamh.ucd.ie). Andrew Erskine Department of Classics University College Dublin aerskine@macollamh.ucd.ie *Classics Ireland* volume 3 1996 "Sir George Cockburn: an Irish traveller and collector", Raymond Astbury "The Bones of St Peter?", John Curran "Brothels, Baths and Babes: prostitution in the Byzantine Holy Land Claudine Dauphin "Laser-Quests: unnoticed allusions to contraception in a poet and a princeps," Nick Fisher "A modest proposal for education in Ireland", D.R. Howlett "Slavery in the Roman Empire: numbers and origins", John Madden "Seamus Heaney's Cure at Troy: Politics and Poetry", Marianne McDon- ald "George Thomson and the Irish Language", Sean O Luing "Orpheus Reborn: Gottfried Benn's Orpheus' Death", Hugh Ridley "The Politics of Aeschylus' Eumenides", Keith Sidwell Plus Book Reviews -------------------------------------------------------------------- *INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THE CLASSICAL TRADITION* (*ISCT*) The ISCT is dedicated to the study of the transmission, reception, and influence of all aspects of Graeco-Roman antiquity in other cul- tures and later periods, from antiquity itself, especially Late An- tiquity as a transition period, through the Middle Ages, the Renais- sance and the Early Modern period into the present time. This in- cludes all fields of human creativity such as literature, the arts, architecture, philosophy, the sciences, medicine, law, politics, scholarship in the historical disciplines, education, and popular culture. The scope is not only cross-disciplinary but also interna- tional and cross-cultural (both as to the subject areas and to the range of communication and cooperation). The ISCT's main publication is the quarterly International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT) edited by Wolfgang Haase and Meyer Reinhold (Boston University) in cooperation with a distinguished multi-disciplinary Editorial and Advisory Board. The IJCT features articles, short notes, book reviews, research reports, and news of the field in any of five languages: English, French, German, Ital- ian, and Spanish (all articles with abstracts in English). Publica- tion now stands at Vol. 2, issue 3. The following material is related to Late Antiquity: In II 2 (Fall 1995): Wolfgang Liebeschuetz, "Pagan Mythology in the Christian Empire." In II 3 (Winter 1995): Wolfram Hoerandner, "Literary Criticism in 11th-Century Byzantium: Michael Psellos on John Chrysostom's Style." Jacqueline Long, "Juvenal Renewed in Claudian's *In Eutropium*." In II 4 (Spring 1996): Roger C. Blockley, "Ammianus Marcellinus and his Classical Back- ground - Changing Perspectives." There also are a number of book reviews on Late Antique topics In I 3 (winter 1995), p. 139 ff.: Fergus Millar, *The Roman Near East 31 BC-AD 337* (Cambridge, MA, 1993), reviewed by Wolfgang Liebeschuetz. ibid., p. 145 ff.: *Terentianus Maurus. De syllabis*, hrsg. und uebers. von Jan-Wilhelm Beck (Goettingen 1993), reviewed by Robert A. Kaster. ibid., 147 ff.: Augustine, *Confessions*, 3 vols., introduction, text, and commen- tary by James J. O'Donnell (Oxford, 1992), reviewed by Michele R. Salzman. ibid., 150 ff.: Ralph Whitney Mathisen, *Roman Aristocrats in Barbarian Gaul. Strategies for Survival in an Age of Transition* (Austin, 1993), reviewed by J. F. Drinkwater. In I 4 (spring 1995), 152 ff.: Averil Cameron, *The Later Roman Empire, AD 284-430* (Cambridge, MA, 1993) reviwed by Michele R. Salzman. In II 1 (summer 1995), 124 ff.: Peter Salway, *The Illustrated History of Roman Britain* (Oxford, 1993), reviewed by Wolfgang Liebeschuetz. ibid., 128 ff.: C. R. Whittaker, *Frontiers of the Roman Empire. A Social and Eco- nomic Study* (Baltimore and London, 1994), reviewed by Ralph M. Mathisen. ibid., 131 ff.: Dennis Ronald MacDonald, *Christianizing Homer. The *Odyssey*, Plato, and the *Acts of Andrew** (Oxford, 1994), reviewed by David Dawson. In II 4 (spring 1996), forthcoming: William E. Klingshirn, *Caesarius of Arles. The Making of a Chris- tian Community in Late Antique Gaul* (Cambridge, 1994), reviewed by Charles Kannengiesser. Forthcoming in issues of volume III: Roger S. Bagnall and Bruce W. Frier, *The Demography of Roman Egypt* (Cambridge, 1994) and Roger S. Bagnall, *Egypt in Late Antiqui- ty* (Princeton, 1994), reviewed together by Diana Delia. Paul A. Olson, *The Journey to Wisdom. Self-Education in Patristic and Medieval Literature* (Lincoln, Nebraska, 1995) reviewed by Fritz-Peter Hager. Jill Harries, *Sidonius Apollinaris and the fall of Rome AD 407-485* (Oxford, 1994), reviewed by Ralph W. Mathisen. II 2 should appear soon; we expect the rest of them will be out by the end of the summer. Full regular membership in the ISCT, which for 1995/96 is at $52 in the US and $68 in all other countries (in Europe alternatively DM 105), includes a subscription to the ISCT and to the joint Newslet- ter of the Institute for the Classical Tradition and the ISCT, as well as other benefits. To join and obtain more information, write to: ISCT, Institute for the Classical Tradition, Boston University, 745 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 (USA). Phone: 617-353-7370 or -7378; Fax: 617-353- 7369. E-mail isct@acs.bu.edu. Eric Parks Editorial Assistant From: Eric Parks -------------------------------------------------------------------- MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE HISTORY Emeritus Editor James A. Evans reports that the new editors of Stud- ies in Medieval and Renaissance History are at the University of Victoria. The proofs for Volume 15, completed and returned a rather long time ago, seem to be held up by AMS Press, the publisher. His understanding is that vol. 15 will be published eventually. -------------------------------------------------------------------- *MEDIEVAL PROSOPOGRAPHY* 17/1 (Spring 1996) -- Special Issue: Late Antiquity and Byzantium -- Ralph W. Mathisen, Guest Editor Introduction-- by Ralph W. Mathisen Studies-- by Raymond Van Dam, Hugh Elton, Steven Muhlberger, Geof- frey Greatrex, Jeffrey A. Oaks Instrumenta Studiorum-- by Stefan Rebenich, J.R. Martindale, Thomas Pratsch, Evengelos Chrysos, Alice-Mary Talbot and Lee F. Sherry, Victoria Erhart, K.S.B. Keats-Rohan and David Thornton Bibliographica-- by Allen E. Jones, Jr. Reviews-- by Mark W. Graham, Barbara M. Kreutz, Ralph W. Mathisen, Marilyn Oliva, Joel T. Rosenthal, Mary A. Rouse, Wendell Tate Varia-- on the New DNB and PROSOPON Published by Medieval Institute Publications Issue Price: $10.00 Ordering information: Contact Ardis Syndergaard, Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008- 3801 Tel: (616) 387-8755; Fax: 616 387-8750; email: syndergaard@wmich.edu -------------------------------------------------------------------- *THE PICUS* The Picus, journal of the Classical & Medieval Numismatic Society. If anyone is interested in receiving information about the Society or the journal, I would be pleased to furnish it. Please email me (I am the Secretary-Treasurer) or write to the Society at P.O.Box 956, Station B., Willowdale, Ontario, Canada, M2K 2T6. W.H.McDonald.......billmcdo@idirect.com.........Fax 416-490-6452 ==================================================================== JOB OPENINGS -------------------------------------------------------------------- THE UNIVERSITY OF GRONINGEN THE NETHERLANDS CHAIR OF CLASSICAL LATIN Applications are invited for the chair of Classical Latin (including Neolatin) within the Faculty of Arts. This is a tenured post. The person appointed will be a member of the Department of Classical Languages. He/she will be ultimately responsible for the teaching of Classical Latin and Neolatin, and for the research in this field within the department of Greek and Latin. The appointee will be expected to carry out his/her research within the framework of the Research Institute for Classical, Oriental, Medieval and Renaissance Studies (COMERS). Further particulars are available from the Secretary of the selec- tion committee, Prof. C.H. Kneepkens, phone (50) 3637265 or 3636114, fax nr (50) 3637263. The international code of the Nether- lands is 31. Letters of application, including a curriculum vitae, a list of pub- lications and the names and addresses of at least two referees should be sent to: the Head of Personnel Department, University of Groningen, P.O.Box 72, 9700 AB Groningen, The Netherlands. -------------------------------------------------------------------- UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN THE DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICS LECTURESHIP IN LATE LATIN AND PALAEOGRAPHY Applications are invited for a three-year post at Assistant/College Lecturer level in Late Latin and Palaeography in the Department of Classics. The successful candidate, who should be qualified in Classical and Late Latin, will be expected: *to be responsible for the teaching of beginners' and advanced Latin to students of the MPhil in Medieval Studies and to other postgradu- ate students of the Faculty of Arts. *to provide such teaching of Latin (of all periods), Latin studies and supervision of postgraduate students as the Head of the Depart- ment of Classics might require. *to give a course in Palaeography to students in the Department of Archives *to carry out work in relation to the Collectio Canonum Hibernensis. The appointee will be expected to assist in the completion of a new critical edition of the text to replace that of Hermann Wasserschle- ben (Die irische Kanonensammlung, Leipzig 1885). There may be an opportunity in the second and third years of the contract to offer a special subject in the MPhil programme and/or in the BA Classics course. An important aspect of the appointment will be a willingness to play a lively role in the MPhil programme and more generally in the de- velopment of medieval studies within the Faculty of Arts through the promotion of Latin. The appointment will be made at the level of either Assistant Lec- turer or College Lecturer. The current salary scales are: Assistant Lecturer: IR#13,921 - IR#22,468 College Lecturer: IR#21,701- IR#35,807 Informal enquiries can be made to Prof. Andrew Smith (353 1 7068168), email: smithand@macollamh.ucd.ie. Interviews will take place on August 28th and candidates called for interview will be expected to give a short seminar paper on a topic of their choice. Applicants should send six copies of their CV and the names, ad- dresses, telephone/fax numbers, email addresses of three referees to Room 106, the Personnel Office, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. Telephone: 353 1 7061436 and 353 1 7061508 Fax: 353 1 2692472 THE CLOSING DATE: THURSDAY 4TH JULY Andrew Erskine, Department of Classics, University College Dublin Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland aerskine@macollamh.ucd.ie tel (direct) 7068218 ==================================================================== COMPUTER NOTES -------------------------------------------------------------------- HAGIOMAIL HAGIOMAIL is an electronic forum on Christian Hagiography (Greek, Latin, Oriental, Vernacular), established by the Societe des Bollan- distes (24, Bd St-Michel; B-1040 Bruxelles, Belgium). Its purpose is to encourage interdisciplinary links between Researchers in Hagi- ography and related fields (manuscripts, Church history, vernacular literature, folklore, liturgy, calendars, iconography of Saints, scholarship). Questions arising from research, brief notices about bibliographical matters and new publications may be posted in any modern international language. How does "hagiomail" work? When a subscriber sends an e-mail to "hagiomail", the message is automatically dispatched to all the sub- scribers. So you can post questions arising from research, brief notices about bibliographical matters and new publications. Post- ings in any modern international language. No registration fee. If you wish to join the list, simply send the message: subscribe hagiomail to Majordomo@belnet.be The e-mail address of the list is hagiomail@belnet.be Sincerely yours. Ugo Zanetti Bollandist -------------------------------------------------------------------- "LATE ANTIQUITY ON THE INTERNET" Michael DiMaio Although students of Late Antiquity have traditionally relied on books and journals as source materials for their studies of the pe- riod, the advent of the Internet has changed all of this. Now, much of what was once only available in hard copy is beginning to appear in an electronic format in record time. This revolution in research material is not without its labor pains since the Internet is still in its infancy; for example, although Latin text can easily be re- trieved from the 'Net, Greek language text cannot be because, as far as I have been able to determine, no ASCII code has yet been estab- lished for the Greek alphabet. Until agreement can be reached on this point, Greek text has to be stored using the Roman alphabet effectively rendering the 'Net a useless tool in this area of Late Antique Studies. Additionally, many scholars and students of Late Antiquity have yet to embrace this new technology and perhaps are uncertain whether or not it would be of any use to them in their scholarly endeavors. The purpose of this column is to serve, in brief compass, as an in- troduction to this new technology and to show the neophyte how easy it is to access the 'Net and that one does not have to be a Geek or Nerd to do so. If one can learn how to use the arcane tools of Classical scholarship, then one should be able to master the use of the Internet in one's research without any pain whatsoever. Because 80% of the home computer market is PC based, my examples will be drawn from that realm. In its early days, the Internet was a pretty intimidating place be- cause it required detailed knowledge, on the part of an individual user, of Unix or Vax operating systems and many discrete pieces of software. The 'Net was made up of minicomputers or mainframes and the user would employ a dumb terminal to communicate with the host machine; a PC user would use a terminal program such as Pro-Comm Plus or the Terminal Program, which comes with Microsoft Windows 3.1 or 3.11, to connect to a mainframe which, in turn, would be an ac- cess point to the Internet. In a word, these telecommunications programs would fool the mainframe into believing that a dumb termi- nal was connected to it; simply put, one could not directly access the 'Net with a microcomputer, but would have to go through a anoth- er machine (usually a Vax or Unix machine) that would serve as an intermediary between the end user and the net. When, however, TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), which al- lowed SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol) or PPP (Point to Point Protocol) direct connections for microcomputers to the 'Net via mo- dem and telephone line, was developed, this situation completely changed because the home computer could be directly linked to the Internet in the same way that a mainframe or microcomputer could. I recommend the 16 bit slip by Winsock Trumpet slip for those who use Windows 3.1 or 3.11; it is usually provided to users by their Internet provider or can be downloaded from various locations on the 'Net. Installation of this program is simple. The data needed for getting the program up and running can be obtained from the Provid- er. If the user is lucky enough to own Microsoft Windows 95, a pro- gram built into the system called "Dialup Networking," which can be installed at the same time as Win 95, contains both a 32 bit SLIP and a 32 bit PPP connection. Unfortunately, however, one will need the help of one's provider to configure this slip, although it is probably -- in my opinion -- the most reliable on the market. In should be noted in passing that, for the end user, there is no dis- cernable difference between a Slip and a PPP connection. Because of the advent of SLIP and PPP protocols and the development of the World Wide Web (WWW) in 1991, all the complexity of using the 'Net is effectively reduced to using two actions: point and click, words which may well have appeared first in the MAC community of users. The WWW is made up of multimedia files all interconnected by hypertext links. Traditionally, on the web, text is printed in black and the hypertext link (if a word) would be printed in blue. If you clicked on a specific link, you would go to the web location where the hypertext link pointed. The various locations on the WWW are called Web sites. To move around the WWW web, the user needs a web browser and the address or URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of a specific web site. I will reserve my comments about browsers to the next paragraph. A typical URL would be http://www.vocaltec.com/wel- come.html. "Http" tells the computer that it is using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol to transfer the file welcome.html (which is creat- ed by the use of HyperText Markup Language -- html) to the user from the web site run by Vocaltec, a company that dominates the transfer of voice files across the net. Many of the technicalities mentioned in the previous paragraph are rendered superfluous by a special program called a web browser which allows its users to cruise the web to different sites and to upload and download material from the web; these materials include text, audio, video, and various types of graphic files. The use of an individual browser is largely intuitive and requires the user only to know what URL he wants and to be able to click his or her mouse on a specific hypertext link. In a word, one program does the work of a multitude of programs. The two browsers, which dominate the WWW at present are Netscape (my favorite) and the Microsoft Exploer- er; although your internet provider may supply you with Netscape, both browsers, as well as a multitude of other software, are avail- able from Stroud's CWS App List (http://cws.wilmington.net), The Ul- timate Collection of Winsock Software (http://tucows.phx.cox.com), or Windows 95 Company (http://www.windows95.com/apps/). Needless to say, more software than netware can be obtained from these sites and they merit frequent visits. In passing it is worth noting that both of these browsers also have email and network news readers built in to them so that one can keep down the total number of net applica- tions to a minimum. Below I have included a basic list of web sites which would provide the new user with good starting points to use in order to get a bas- ic familiarity with material on Late Antiquity, although most of them are not specificially geared toward Late Antiquity. The common thread that joins all these sites is that they will provide the 'net neophyte with a broad number of hypertext links which allow him or her to become familiar with what is available on the subject in the shortest time possible. Scholarly Resources: Scholars: Listing of Ancient Historians in the US and Canada: http://ivory.trentu.ca/www/cl/aahdir.html Home Page Directory of Classicists: http://aleph.lib.ohio-state.edu/~bcase/hoipolloi.html Works: Electronic Resources for Classicists: http://www.circe.unh.edu/classics/resources.html Archaeology: Romarch List Home Page: http://www.umich.edu/~pfoss/ROMARCH.html Historical: Centre for East Roman Studies http://www.warwick.ac.uk/WWW/faculties/arts/Class The Byzantine Studies Home Page http://www.bway.net/~halsall/byzantium.html General: Classics Home Page: http://rome.classics.lsa.umich.edu/welcome.html James O'Donnell's Home Page: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/ On-Line Reverence Book for Medieval Studies: http://kuhttp.cc.ukans.edu/kansas/orb/mainpage.html Of all of these web sites, the last three are the ones that should be examined first. James O'Donnell's Home Page is the closest thing that there is to a home page for Late Antiquity. If there is a link to an arcane topic, Jim O'Donnell has it. His discussion of the use of the Internet as a teaching tool and the manner in which he uses it at Penn should be required reading for all academics who want to be up to paar on a very fascinating topic. Jim is also a major pio- neer in the of the 'Net in the study of Late Antiquity. If my home page were as good as his, I would be proud. The Classics Home Page covers all periods of antiquity and provides the user with a large number of hypertext links to all aspects of antiquity including the period we are interested in. The virtual tour of Diocletian's pal- ace in Split is worthy of note. The On-Line Reference Book for Me- dieval Studies (ORB), currently in progress, is one of the most fas- cinating sites of which I am aware. Among other things, it has an online encyclopedia that will treat aspects of Late Antiquity as well as serving as a source book for the Middle Ages and for aspects of Late Antiquity. Submissions for this site are peer reviewed. It should be remembered that web sites are not static like the printed page; some sites change on a daily basis, while others change over a long span of time. Netscape, for example, if confi- guered correctly, can monitor these changes. URLs can disappear in the blink of an eye; what is here today, can be gone tomorrow. Al- though one can learn new web sites from surfing the Net, I have found that I heave discovered more of them from postings to the var- ious subject e-mail(electronic mail) lists which may treat Late An- tiquity. Some that deal totally or in part with Late Antiquity are: Lt-Antiqu@vm.sc.edu Late Antiquity Numism-l@vm.sc.edu Ancient/Medieval numismatics Byzans-l@mizzou1.missouri.edu Byzantine studies Romarch@rome.classics.lsa.umich.edu Roman archaeology Mediev-l@ukanvm.bitnet Medieval studies Classics@u.washington.edu Classics E-mail, which remains the foundation of the Internet, can be down- loaded from the net using Netscape or Microsoft Explorer or such stand alone mailers as Eudora or Pegasus, which can be downloaded from the software sites discussed above. I prefer the Pegasus Mail- er, for example, to the mailer that is in Netscape. It is easy to subscribe to any of these mailing lists. To subscribe to lt-antiq, one would send an email note to listserv@vm.sc.edu with an empty subject line. In the body of the e-mail note, one would type SUB- SCRIBE LT-ANTIQ first-name last-name. If done properly, you will never have an empty electronic mailbox again. What about future technology on the 'net? Today the latest rage is voice across the 'Net or telephony. Iphone 4.0 from Vocaltec re- mains the standard. Will the trend change? Yes. the best location tp investigate future trends on the net is to follow closely Jeff Pulver's site Netwatch (http://www.pulver.com/Netwatch/). Pulver follows changes on the Netwatch. The ordinary user can too. In conclusion, to quote one famous psychologist, "take on the day." Michael DiMaio, Ph.D Department of Philosophy Salve Regina University Newport, RI DMSXCT583I EOF: From: "Michael_DiMaio" Organization: Salve Regina University -------------------------------------------------------------------- "Recapitulation, Digression, and Getting to the Point: A Discussion of the Murder of Hypatia and Other Matters" Ralph W. Mathisen The discussions that take place on Internet discussion lists are by their very nature dynamic. Depending on their settings, sub- scribers either receive postings in real time, as they are posted, or (if they are set to "DIGEST"), they receive daily collections of all the postings. In either case, discussions progress on a minute- by-minute basis for some, a day-to-day basis for others. Nor does the debate take place in any kind of logical or sequential order. A response to one point may not appear until days later, at a time when the discussion has already moved on to other things. Some dis- cussants insist on repeating the ipsissima verba of a previous com- mentator before adding their own views -- or even interspersing their views with those of another. The special nature of Internet discussions, with their lack of direct personal contact and the concommitant removal of some conven- tional social controls, also can result in some debates getting rather out of hand. Especially when discussions touch on topics dear to one's heart. There is often a tendency or temptation to shoot from the hip, to speak in haste and, perhaps, repent at lei- sure. The following recapitulation of a discussion of the murder of Hypatia, which took place between January 29 and February 8, 1996, exemplifies many of the aspects of Internet discussions. It shows a typical Internet tempest in a teacup that flared up as rapidly as it died down. It is replete with talk of "flames" and even of the de- struction of discussion lists as a result of, well, too much discus- sion. It is full of digressions, repetitions, misunderstand- ings .... and even misinformation. And it demonstrates the vitality of the new form of scholarly-cum-popular communication represented by Internet discussion lists. It is presented in its original for- mat -- only the headers have been deleted! --, so apologies for long lines, misspellings, and other stylistic and technical infelicities. It all began with an innocent query about the Library of Alex- andria, but soon turned to more juicy topics... ===================================================================== ==== Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1996 23:26:56 CST From: "OREL, SARA" Subject: query on Egypt c. 600 I tried to send this earlier, but of course got the wrong address, so I am reposting this query. I have a request for help. My antiquity books stop in the late 6th century and my history of Islamic Egypt books generally are very light on pre-Islamic Egypt, so my query falls into the great gap typical of all libraries (although not always in the same fields of course). Someone has asked me (actually insists and I think she may be inaccurate) if Arabic is the common spoken language in Egypt at the time of the final burning of the Library of Alexandria ca. 600. I would guess that the common tongue was still Coptic but I don't know how long it took Arabic to take over completely (or at least as the vernacular). Also my Library of Alexandria knowledge is a bit slim, so could anyone confirm for me that it was intact enough to burn at that point? Thanks for your help. Is it appropriate to refer her to Bagnall's *Egypt in Late Antiquity* for military in society info at this late a date? Thanks Sara E. Orel Northeast Missouri State University/Truman State University ===================================================================== ==== Date: Tue, 30 Jan 1996 07:43:03 -0500 From: "Timothy M. Teeter" The burning of the Library is largely a myth. See the articles/works of Diana Delia on this (sorry, I don't have the exact references available, but you should be able to dig them out). Since the Arabs did not conquer Egypt until 639-641, it is hard to see how Arabic could be the common language c. 600. In any event, Greek papyri continue for sometime into the Arab period. Bagnall's work contains some information relevant to the sixth and seventh centuries, but concentrates on the fourth. His bibliography is helpful. For other general information (and useful bibliography) see Alan Bowman, Egypt After the Pharaohs (1986). Tim Teeter ===================================================================== Date: Tue, 30 Jan 1996 10:16:19 -0400 From: Helene Gidley X7701 Subject: ltant: Re: query on Egypt c. 600 To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ I thought the library was burned to the ground in circa 452 a.d., just after Hypatia was murdered. She was one of the last teachers in the library/museum, her father was the last director. Helene Gidley ====================================================== Date: Tue, 30 Jan 1996 21:08:01 -0600 From: Ted Mayes <0500074@ACAD.NWMISSOURI.EDU> Subject: ltant: Re: query on Egypt c. 600 To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ Helene Gidley wrote: Unfortunately, the sources are not clear enough to know exactly what was burned and when. Some of the books may have been burned by Julius Caesar's war in Alexandria against Ptolemy. Some may have been burned in 452. There is a report that some were burned under Arab governors (I don't have the exact reference to that, but I'll try to find it). Exactly what was burned and when, and whether it was part of the Ptolemies' famous hoard of books is very murky. Also, Hypatia was, apparently murdered, but she may not be one of the last teachers in the library, just one of the last that we know about. The same can be said about her father, merely one of the last directors we know about. Remember that paganism was going out of style at the time, and little was recorded about the library. As far as the Museum, E.R. Hardy in *Christian Egypt: Church and People - Christianity and Nationalism in the Patriarchate of Alexandria* said- "In 215 Severus' son Caracalla visited Alexandria, and treated its traditional restiveness and freedom of speech as rebellion, which he punished by executions, a massacre ... and the loss of special privileges. The famous Museum disappeared from history at this time, and probably its endowments were suppressed by Caracalla." Finally, since Hypatia's murder is sometimes used to denigrate Christianity, two quotes about Alexandria - Hardy again - "The people of Alexandria had throughout the ancient history of the city a reputation for excitability and readiness to riot for any cause or almost for non. .... Third-century Alexandria had not lost its ancient habits; the rebellion of 262 is said to have begun between a soldier and a magistrate's slave about the value of their shoes." Marrou, H.I., "Synesius of Cyrene and Alexandrian Neoplationism" - "Fanaticism [in Alexandria] was not the monopoly of Christians; it was to be found equally in the other camp. .... Zacharias Scholasticus ... records for us ... a significant episode which occurred about 485-7.... He describes how pagan students in Alexandria lynched one of their fellows, Paralios, who was about to become a convert to Christianity, for having dared to defame publicly their great goddess Isis." Ted Mayes 0500074@acad.nwmissouri.edu ====================================================== Date: Wed, 31 Jan 1996 08:33:49 +0000 From: Alex Woolf Subject: ltant: Re: query on Egypt c. 600 To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ So here we have pagan university students in 485-7, some time after Hypatia murder if I recall rightly the date for that. The link of the University and Isis also recalls Oxford [where the Thames is called the Isis], was this a conscious emulation of pagan Alexandria? Alex ====================================================== Date: Wed, 31 Jan 1996 06:19:54 -0600 From: Ted Mayes <0500074@ACAD.NWMISSOURI.EDU> Subject: ltant: Re: query on Egypt c. 600 To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ Alex, From your email address, you'd probably have a better knowledge of whether or not Oxford is consciously or unconsciously emulating Alexandra. However, even in 485-7, using "pagan university students" is something of an anachronism. There were definitely pagan philosophy students in Alexandria at that time, and Alexandria was very proud of their philosophical "schools" but the "university" with all the connotations that that word suggests was a medieval development. Was it Bologna or Paris that was first? ====================================================== Date: Wed, 31 Jan 1996 16:28:22 -0500 From: "R. W. Tucker" Subject: Re: query on first university >the "university" with all the connotations that that word suggests was a >medieval development. Was it Bologna or Paris that was first? Paris certainly claims to be first, and claims Peter Abelard as its founder. I'm not sure he had any such thing in mind. Rob Tucker, Philadelphia ===================================================================== Date: Wed, 31 Jan 1996 22:05:02 -0400 From: Mark DeLancey Subject: Re: query on first university >the "university" with all the connotations that that word suggests was a >medieval development. Was it Bologna or Paris that was first? That's funny...I thought it was Al-Azhar in Cairo, founded in 970. Mark DeLancey ====================================================== Date: Wed, 31 Jan 1996 08:40:42 -0500 From: gary reger Subject: ltant: Re: query on Egypt c. 600 To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ I haven't been following this thread, but has anyone mentioned the book on the library, titled (I think) *The Library of Alexandria* by Luciano Canfora, published by University of California Press? (I may have both title and author slightly wrong as I cite from memory.) ===================================================================== Date: Wed, 31 Jan 1996 15:25:19 +0000 From: Margaret Lantry Subject: Re: query on Egypt c. 600 The book is Canfora *La biblioteca scomparsa*. Translated into English as *The Vanished Library*, published in Berkeley, CA and London in 1989. It is out in paperback (at least in the English edition published by Hutchinson Radius) and is quite a slim volume. Edition Manager West Road RHS British Bibliographies Cambridge CB3 9EF UK ===================================================================== Date: Wed, 31 Jan 1996 10:53:59 -0600 From: John G Suhayda Subject: ltant: Re: query on Egypt c. 600 To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ What (if any) is the historical concensus regarding the Christian account of the martyrdom of Saint Katherine? Somehow hers story appears to me to be the mirror image of Hypatia's, with the Christian and pagan roles reversed. John Suhayda suhayda@cig.mot.com ===================================================================== Date: Wed, 31 Jan 1996 14:18:50 -0600 From: Ted Mayes <0500074@ACAD.NWMISSOURI.EDU> Subject: Re: query on Egypt c. 600 John Suhayda asks what the consensus is on the martyrdom of Saint Katherine - unfortunately I'm not acquainted with that story (I've concentrated more on the dogmatical writings than the stories of saints and hermits). If someone else knows about this, or has an opinion, please feel free to jump in. Re the Library, not only is Luciano Canfora, *The Vanished Library* (Berkely: U of CA Press, 1987) good for information about the Library and Museum/Mouseion, but also check out Mostafa El-Abbadi, *The Life and Fate of the Ancient Library of Alexandria*, (Paris: Unesco, 1990). What my notes indicate to me is that it's most probably that Caracalla pulled all of the monetary support for the Mouseion/Library. The area that the Museum was located in, the Bruchion, was devastated in a 273 in a rebellion against Aurelian (in support of Zenobia?). However, Synesius of Cyrene saw the Musueum in 380, so it was still in existence then. It's believed that it met its fate in 391 when Theodosius closed/destroyed the pagan temples in Alexandria (and after all that was what the Museum was, a temple dedicated to the Muses). In the fifth century there seems to have been a reaction against learning, libraries across the empire closing down (Ammianus makes a comment about Rome being devoid of books). There is a 12th century report that one of the early Arab rulers of Egypt (Amr?) had some books burned, but El- Abbadi says that was probably an invention. There might have been some of the books from the ancient library burned then, but there's no way that we can know that. By that time, the world had turne away from such "old" things and they were priding themselves on being "modern." Ted Mayes 0500074@acad.nwmissouri.edu ===================================================================== Date: Wed, 31 Jan 1996 13:24:58 -0500 From: Richard Landes Subject: Re: query on Egypt c. 600 what's our source for this incident? rlandes ==================================================== Date: Wed, 31 Jan 1996 18:43:48 -0600 From: Ted Mayes <0500074@ACAD.NWMISSOURI.EDU> Subject: Re: query on Egypt c. 600 "rlandes" asked what the source was for the story about the pagan students in Alexandria who lynched a fellow student who was about to convert to Christianity. H.I. Marrou, "Synesius of Cyrene and Alexandrian Neoplatonism", *Paganism and Christianity in the Fourth Century*, ed. A. Momigliano (Oxford:Clarendon Press, 1963), pp. 136-137, where Marrou attributes it to the *Life* of Severus of Antioch (Monophysite patriarch) by Zachrias Scholasticus. (I do not have in my notes the reference to the edition or page numbers of Scholasticus' *Life*) Ted Mayes 0500074@acad.nwmissouri.edu ===================================================================== Date: Thu, 1 Feb 1996 01:27:24 -0500 From: Richard Landes Subject: ltant: Re: query on Egypt c. 600 To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ part of my reason for asking was to know just how reliable we can take such a tale: when a Christian patriarch tells us that pagan students lynched a fellow because he was planning to convert, I need to know more before I'll set it up as a "counter" (as does Marrou I presume) to the attack on Hypatia (evidence for which comes from the perps). rlandes ====================================================== Date: Thu, 1 Feb 1996 11:19:35 -0500 From: "Jeffrey A. Oaks" Subject: ltant: Hypatia To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ For a review of Maria Dzielska's new book *Hypatia of Alexandria* by a mathematician, see The American Mathematical Monthly, vol 103 no.1, Jan 1996, pages 83-87. ====================================================== Date: Thu, 1 Feb 1996 11:41:52 -0800 From: John Servais Subject: ltant: Re: query on Egypt c. 600 To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ An opinion here - which can be taken to private mail if it is inappropriate to the list. The implication, and I also think there was this implication, that the pagan murder counters the murder of Hypatia misses the point. The Christian claim that their's is a religion of love and brotherhood and superior to pagan values is exposed as hypocricy in light of the murder of Hypatia committed by monks with the approval if not the blessing of the patriarch of Alexandria. For them to say the pagans also committed murder is beside the point. The murder of Hypatia - and the circumstances surrounding it - need to be addressed directly and in the context of the development of Christianity - and not excused on the basis that it was no worse than what the pagans practiced or that it was typical of Alexandrian historical events. John Servais NorthWest House ====================================================== Date: Thu, 1 Feb 1996 18:00:12 -0600 From: Ted Mayes <0500074@ACAD.NWMISSOURI.EDU> Subject: ltant: Re: query on Egypt c. 600 To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ rlandes was concerned that the lynching of a pagan student was a 'counter' to the murder of Hypatia - I believe that Marrou was not trying to "counter" a murder by balancing it with another murder, but merely pointing out that fanaticism, of many shades and varieties, was endemic in Alexandria. It cannot be laid simply at the feet of one group in Alexandria, or one group in the ancient world. rlandes also suggest that testimony from a Christian patriarch is suspect when speaking about pagan problems, but that the evidence of the Hypatia's murder, coming from the "perps" is definitive. I have to check my notes on this, but I didn't understand that the "perps" had actually written a confession. Perhaps rlandes is just more trusting of his sources than I am. I'm not aware off hand of an Alexandrian historical source on the matter, but perhaps rlandes is content with the historical witness of those who in many instances were anti-Alexandrian. John Servais sees the murder of Hypatia as sign of Christian hypocrisy, if Christianity is a religion of "love and brotherhood." 1)One could say that the exception proves the rule - there is one pagan martyr, killed by a mob, for reasons that seem to be murky at best. True that one murder (and others committed by those who claim to be Christian) should not have happened, but does that then mean that paganism is now equal to the moral stature of Christianity? Some Christian fanatics killed a pagan (which, of course, should not have happened). Shall we then compare that with the hundreds and thousands of Christian martyrs sent to death, the mines, or torture, by good, responsible, civic-minded pagans, because of their belief in a crucified Jew? 2) The murder was committed "with the approval if not the blessing of the patriarch of Alexandria." That certainly was the accusation of anti- Alexandrian apologists, but an accusation does not constitute proof. I believe that Athanasius was also accused of a number of horrific crimes, and even though he proved them to be false, was convicted and deposed of those crimes. Let's not forget that ideas of "justice" in the ancient world are not the ideas of "justice" that we have. Ted Mayes 0500074@acad.nwmissouri.edu ====================================================== Date: Fri, 2 Feb 1996 00:45:53 -0800 From: John Servais Subject: ltant: Re: Hypatia To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ OK, tmayes, this can get involved and irrelevant very quickly, but I'll follow you for the moment. If others want this discussion carried to private mail then I will certainly do that. I have already replied privately to others. >John Servais sees the murder of Hypatia as sign of Christian hypocrisy, if >Christianity is a religion of "love and brotherhood." 1)One could say that >the exception proves the rule - there is one pagan martyr, killed by a mob, >for reasons that seem to be murky at best. True that one murder (and others >committed by those who claim to be Christian) should not have happened, but >does that then mean that paganism is now equal to the moral stature of >Christianity? Some Christian fanatics killed a pagan (which, of course, Stop. I did not suggest that paganism is now equal to ... Christianity. You are taking my remarks beyond what I said so you can follow with: >should >not have happened). Shall we then compare that with the hundreds and >thousands of Christian martyrs sent to death, the mines, or torture, by good, >responsible, civic-minded pagans, because of their belief in a crucified Jew? OK, that is a very emotion loaded statement that suggests something that is not true. Most people sent to the "mines", etc. were not sent simply because of the tenents of their faith. That statement by you has been carefully disected and refuted by many scholars over the last couple hundred years. Politics and power were more at work than religion. There is no space here for me to refute it. But for you to misstate my conclusion in order to insert this emotion choked and highly distorted statement is, in my experience, the usual response of Christian apologists. A lot of crimes have been committed over the centuries. Does that excuse crime? Let us stick to the issue. >2) The murder was committed "with the approval if not the blessing of the >patriarch of Alexandria." That certainly was the accusation of anti- >Alexandrian apologists, but an accusation does not constitute proof. I >believe that Athanasius was also accused of a number of horrific crimes, and >even though he proved them to be false, was convicted and deposed of those >crimes. Let's not forget that ideas of "justice" in the ancient world are >not the ideas of "justice" that we have. Do you deny that Cyril was a willing participant in the murder of Hypatia? You don't expose yourself by taking a stand here - you merely try to cast doubt on others. Take a stand. It is not a question of "proof". It is a question of what our evidence suggests happened. Athanasius is not a subject of this narrow question. I did not suggest that the concept of justice is a fixed or absolute idea - why do you imply that I did? Are you suggesting that the murder of Hypatia can be understood in terms of the concept of justice prevelant in Christian communities in the early 400s? Just what are you trying to refute with item 2)?? You question and you imply, but you do not refute. It seems amazing how some issues - no matter how old or no longer relevant - are still hot issues. I am a participant. The Hypatia issue has emotions all over it, making a discussion of it almost impossible. I went too far suggesting that her murder "exposed as hypocricy" the Christian claim to be a religion of love and brotherhood. And Tmayes seems to me to be ducking the issues at every step, trying to draw the subject to crimes committed against Christians. There are some real historical questions associated with the Hypatia issue. I hope we can address them directly with what facts and evidence we possess from the past. John Servais NorthWest House ====================================================== Date: Thu, 1 Feb 1996 23:26:19 -0500 From: Richard Landes Subject: ltant: Re: query on Egypt c. 600 To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ i didn't mean to start a fight, but can't always resist. On Thu, 1 Feb 1996, Ted Mayes wrote: > rlandes was concerned that the lynching of a pagan student was a 'counter' > to the murder of Hypatia - I believe that Marrou was not trying to "counter" > a murder by balancing it with another murder, but merely pointing out that > fanaticism, of many shades and varieties, was endemic in Alexandria. i am suspicious of the use of "merely" here, there is, i suspect, a strong element of apologetic here, whether one of "counters" or of "tempers". (see below) > rlandes also suggests that testimony from a Christian patriarch is suspect > when speaking about pagan problems, but that the evidence of the Hypatia's > murder, coming from the "perps" is definitive. I have to check my notes on > this, but I didn't understand that the "perps" had actually written a > confession. please do check your notes. this is not my field, and i was shooting from the fingertip. i wouldn't expect a confession. my guess is that the perps, if they wrote about it at all, probably thought they were doing God's work. > Perhaps rlandes is just more trusting of his sources than I am. ouch. (see below) > I'm not aware off hand of an Alexandrian historical source on the matter, > but perhaps rlandes is content with the historical witness of those who in > many instances were anti-Alexandrian. apparently, if we are to believe Marrou, with good reason. > John Servais sees the murder of Hypatia as sign of Christian hypocrisy, if > Christianity is a religion of "love and brotherhood." 1)One could say that > the exception proves the rule - there is one pagan martyr, killed by a mob, > for reasons that seem to be murky at best. one cd say "murky at best" for the pagan attacks on Christians too, no? > True that one murder (and others > committed by those who claim to be Christian) should not have happened, but > does that then mean that paganism is now equal to the moral stature of > Christianity? is this apologetic? i don't think anyone is trying to "resurrect" the moral virtue of pagans in late antiquity. > Some Christian fanatics killed a pagan (which, of course, should > not have happened). Shall we then compare that with the hundreds and > thousands of Christian martyrs sent to death, the mines, or torture, by good, > responsible, civic-minded pagans, because of their belief in a crucified Jew? what is/are your source/s for "hundreds and thousands" sent to death, mines, torture? you seem awfully trusting here. is there not a school that puts the numbers in the dozens to hundreds? > 2) The murder was committed "with the approval if not the blessing of the > patriarch of Alexandria." That certainly was the accusation of anti- > Alexandrian apologists, but an accusation does not constitute proof. I > believe that Athanasius was also accused of a number of horrific crimes, and > even though he proved them to be false, what is your source here? are you stating this as a fact, or as your conviction? > was convicted and deposed for those > crimes. Let's not forget that ideas of "justice" in the ancient world are > not the ideas of "justice" that we have. what do you mean by this last remark? as far as i know, the ideas of justice that we find in the Bible, Christian and Hebrew, are fairly close to our own current ideals. rlandes ====================================================== Date: Fri, 2 Feb 1996 09:03:15 -0800 From: John Servais Subject: ltant: Re: Hypatia To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ I agree, and for my part will pursue this issue privately. I've no desire to offend. And this mailing list is far too enjoyable to risk hurting it. In the last para of my previous post I tried to back up a bit. My apologies to anyone my comments may have offended. I welcome any private email on the subject. John Servais ====================================================== Date: Fri, 2 Feb 1996 09:49:35 -0500 From: "Timothy M. Teeter" Subject: ltant: Re: Hypatia To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ I recently got involved in a discussion on a religio-historical matter (the alleged marriage of Jesus) that very nearly exploded and destroyed another list. I would hate to see the same happen here. If we're going to discuss the murder of Hypatia (a legitimate question), then let us do so dispassionately. It is absurd to think that the action of an Alexandrian mob 1500 years ago says anything directly about the truth or untruth of the Christian religion, and it is asurd to engage in some sort of tit-for-tat game of whose side has the most blood on its hands. Surely it is no secret by now that terrible things have been, and continue to be, done in the name of religion. Whether or not such things tell us anything about the truth of a religious claim is an interesting question, but one that is best pursued elsewhere. Tim Teeter ====================================================== Date: Sat, 3 Feb 1996 17:03:20 -0500 From: "p.d. snider" Subject: ltant: Re: Flames all over: library, Arabs, etc To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ I don't seem to have seen the beginning of this thread, so I'll apologize if I make a point that has been made before. But, something has struck me both within this post and in other similar postings intending to correct the assumption that European civilization is wholly based upon Christian intellectual endeavor. I would not ever attempt to minimize the critical role that Islam has played in the preservation of elements of Greek philosophy and science. Any review of the evidence would decisively refute any contention. However, I find it interesting how such postings ignore other areas of Greek philosophy, and, more importantly, literature, which we know were not transmitted through Islam, but rather by, often fugitive, Byzantine scholars who began to show up in Italy in the fourteenth century. I don't have my books at hand right now to give many details, but I do recall the first lecturer in Greek at Florence was a Byzantine refugee. To the best of my knowledge, there is no evidence to suggest that the Arabs transmitted any other texts but Aristotle among the philosophers and some natural philosophers. So, where did our surviving Greek canon come from? Partly from the Crusaders, but mostly from our refugee Byzantine scholars. Without them, we would have virtually no Greek literature, or at any rate, nowhere near the variety we have now Okay, sorry for the rant. Keep in mind, I do agree with this poster's last comments about recognizing that our concept of Europe has to understood as a patchwork of various civilizations. I would emend his identification as Christians fostering the illusion of a single influence model. It might be better to suggest that this is primarily an argument of Westerners, who have historically had problems recognizing its cultural debts to non-Western civilizations like Islam and, like the Byzantines. ====================================================== Date: Sat, 3 Feb 1996 11:54:18 +0100 From: Serge Pahaut Subject: ltant: Flames all over: library, Arabs, etc To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ Thanks to Ted Mayes for giving useful precisions. I hope he will accept the following supracommentaries, I assume he could probably confirm, and forgive the excess. I do think our Internet feast will have an end, as had the library of Alexandry. But this is an approximative, global end. Let us proceed to local flaming. 1) The library did not burn "just after" the killing of Hypatia. I know of only one date for the latter event, namely 415. A bit far from "circa 452 AD". more flaming : 2) As developed in a lot of papers, the burning of Alexandria library is largely a literary theme, which contaminated some historiographical conventions, such as the "destruction" by the ill-famed calife, using his criterium: "if the books are verisimilar to the Quran, we do not need them; if they are not, they are bad books". Fact is that the Arabs did read greek philosophy and science -through various ways, including christian ones. Western christian empire did not at all. "European" we are all, including Arabs. They were only better European, as heirs of greek antiquity (among others). still more flaming : 3) Hypatia was "apparently" murdered in 415. Conspicuous is the silence of local sources; and accordingly we do not know much. For other philosophers of late alexandrian antiquity, we are not even sure whether they were Pagans or Christians. Police regulations had it that a pagan philosopher was not a ""normal being"". (next flame please) 4) As we all know, pagan antiquity was not a garden of roses for everybody. But could please christian intellectuals first correct the global scenario they have suggested in almost all their books. I assume Pr. Henri-Irenee Marrou was cautious about this sensitive period of inchoative and brutal domination by one religion. Fourth and fifth centuries were definitely not times of benign compassion. "Christian" times were very hard in local police offices. Is martyrdom still an exclusivity? Is not fanaticism a strategy for exclusivity? What about a group saying it is prosecuted, and winning the game in so dubious conditions? What is at stake is not at all assessing the degree of fanaticism of certain groups vs. others. When will christians stop pretending having inaugurated an era of christian civilisation in the sense we all define it now: man-woman equality, active compassion, etc. To say the truth, these moral caracteristics were common acquisitions. So-called christian civilisa- tion is a common creation of local populations, including Jews, Arabs, etc. if christians do put their hope in Christ alone, they will appear more miserable according to their human fellows. (Paul, Cor. 15:19, my translation). (stop flaming mode) To put it plainly: I cannot possibly conceive any more dangerous legend than the one pretending christians did receive an ancient civilisation Moslems did not. Europe was a collective endeavour. It still is. As attested by the Cyropaedia, the LXX, the love story of Julius Caesar with Cleopatra etc, a lot of tentatives do attest the destiny of antiquity was not to be the exclusive heritage of western atlantic Europe or, worse, "western civilisation". We do not know what the futur will be. Time to think about. Serge PAHAUT Universite' Libre de Bruxelles (CP 231) ====================================================== Date: Sat, 3 Feb 1996 19:41:26 -0600 From: Ted Mayes <0500074@ACAD.NWMISSOURI.EDU> Subject: ltant: Re: Hypatia To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ To all list members - my most sincere apologies if my words were taken as a flame. They were not meant to be. To rlandes and John Servais especially, my apologies for any offense I have caused you - now that Ambrose has rebuked Theodosius, I'll have to let some time pass before I write to make sure that I don't hurt anyone. To Serge Pahaut, I was not trying to imply that Christians had received an an ancient civilization and the Moslems had not. I know some things about pre- Moslem Egypt, very little about post-Moslem Egypt. Please feel free, if you have the knowledge to share it with me privately, or with the list in general. I think the last thing I said was that El-Abadi [sp?] said the story of the Caliph burning the Library was an invention - and personally I think he's probably right - without an effort to hang on to knowledge and books, it disappears all too fast. The chances are that the Library had disappeared in the years before the Arab conquest of Egypt. As for Hypatia, Socrates Scholasticus (*HE*, VII, 15) says that "some" of the Christian populace, led by "a reader named Peter", ambushed Hypatia, killed, dismembered her, and burnt her remains. He then goes on to say "This affair brought not the least opprobium, not only upon Cyril, but also upon the whole Alexandrian church. And surely nothing can be farther from the spirit of Christianity than the allowance of massacres, fights, and transactions of that sort." Socrates apparently knew about this because he had been educated by two pagan priests/grammarians (Helladius and Ammonius) who fled Alexandria during/ after the Christian/pagan riots of 389AD. The other two original sources about the incident are from the letters of Synesius and Philostorgius' histo- ry. Those two I haven't read yet - if anyone has, perhaps they could put on the list the information that those sources have. One of the curious things to me, especially since Socrates was a lawyer, was the lack of any mention of what happened to "Peter" and the others who murdered Hypatia. It is even more curious, since in the previous chapter, Socrates is careful to mention that a monk (Ammonius) who threw a stone at the prefect and hit him, was publicly tortured to death for his assault on the prefect. But no mention is made of what happened to the murderers of Hypatia. Can anyone else out there clarify this a little? Ted Mayes 0500074@acad.nwmissouri.edu ====================================================== Date: Sun, 4 Feb 1996 01:25:31 -0500 From: Richard Landes Subject: ltant: Re: Hypatia To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ you caused me no offense. i personally think people are too sensitive about supposed flames. what we consider a flame wd be considered polite at most of the church councils of the era we're discussing, not to mention a medieval dispute. say what you think as long as you're willing to hear how others respond. the fact is that, willy nilly, we all have our own blind spots, soft spots and private wars with our historical subjects, and the only way to iron them out is to voice them. i personally think that the effort to void historical analysis of value judgments has impoverished it immensely, especially for the period we're talking about. this doesn't mean we have to carry ours back there (altho, again, it's hard not to), but it does mean we have to pay attention to the value judgments of those we are dealing with. the "scientific" effort to back away from the kinds of polemics that the older Protestant-Catholic debates on the coming of Constantine generated, has produced, imho, a rather pale reconstruction, with many of the most impt currents of action and reaction lost in the process. > As for Hypatia, Socrates Scholasticus (*HE*, VII, 15) says that "some" of the > Christian populace, led by "a reader named Peter", ambushed Hypatia, killed, > dismembered her, and burnt her remains. He then goes on to say "This affair > brought not the least opprobium, not only upon Cyril, but also upon the whole > Alexandrian church. And surely nothing can be farther from the spirit of > Christianity than the allowance of massacres, fights, and transactions of > that sort." he's surely not the only one viewing this matter in this fashion. what are Peter and his boys thinking? what is Cyril saying to his critics? to Peter? to himself? > One of the curious things to me, especially since Socrates was a lawyer, was > the lack of any mention of what happened to "Peter" and the others who > murdered Hypatia. It is even more curious, since in the previous chapter, > Socrates is careful to mention that a monk (Ammonius) who threw a stone at the > prefect and hit him, was publicly tortured to death for his assault on the > prefect. But no mention is made of what happened to the murderers of Hypa- tia. > Can anyone else out there clarify this a little? sounds like no one got punished. after all a pagan woman probably doesn't have the same wergeld that a Christian (?) prefect did. rlandes ====================================================== Date: Sun, 4 Feb 1996 06:23:43 -0600 From: Ted Mayes <0500074@ACAD.NWMISSOURI.EDU> Subject: ltant: Re: Hypatia To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ Richard, It could be that a woman was considered less valuable than a man in the ancient world. However, the thing that makes me wonder about that is that the supposed "reason" behind the murder of Hypatia was that she was such a "good friend" of the prefect Orestes that she was held to be the reason why Orestes refused to be reconciled to Cyril. According to Socrates, Cyril, at the urging of the other clergy members, went out of his way (though how far out of his way is a little hard to judge at this time) to try and patch things up with Orestes. Plus there's the fact that Hypatia occupied a rather unique position - the only woman in recorded history who officially occupied a chair of philosophy at the Museum of Alexandria. Considering her unique position/qualifications, her supposed closeness to the prefect who was quarreling with Cyril, and the ghastly mode of death, it still seems a little strange that Socrates doesn't mention what happened to her murderers. Ted Mayes 0500074@acad.nwmissouri.edu ====================================================== Date: Sun, 4 Feb 1996 16:58:04 -0500 From: "p.d. snider" Subject: ltant: Re: Hypatia To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ Keeping in mind that I am by no means a specialist in the transmission= of Greek literature to the West, whether through Islam, Italy or wherever, I would like to ask the question what works exactly, other than= Aristotle and some natural philosophers, were transmitted through Islam? To the best of my knowledge, based on an admittedly cursory survey done some years ago in an undergrad. course, Islamic scholars were simply uninterested in the rest of the corpus of Greek literature. Is this assumption. As for circumscribing the arab contribution to the West in only natural= philosophy, I was not trying to imply such a thing. I was arguing that transmission of Greek literature is based on these areas, as well as philosophy, especially logic. I recognize Islamic influence on art and, in some areas, literature. I also recognize that there are probably areas= which I do not realize are influenced by Islam. However, my question is how far the 'classical' tradition was transmitted through Islam. Phil Snider University of Western Ontario ====================================================== Date: Sun, 4 Feb 1996 22:29:56 EST From: Michael Searcy To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ Normally I am a passive reader of this list, however I can't let this pass: >>John Servais sees the murder of Hypatia as sign of Christian hypocrisy >>Christianity is a religion of "love and brotherhood." 1)One could say >>the exception proves the rule - there is one pagan martyr, killed by a >>for reasons that seem to be murky at best. True that one murder (and o >>committed by those who claim to be Christian) should not have happened >>does that then mean that paganism is now equal to the moral stature of >>Christianity? Some Christian fanatics killed a pagan (which, of course > Stop. I did not suggest that paganism is now equal to ... Christianity > You are taking my remarks beyond what I said so you can follow with: > >should > >not have happened). Shall we then compare that with the hundreds and > >thousands of Christian martyrs sent to death, the mines, or torture, b > >responsible, civic-minded pagans, because of their belief in a crucifi A "single" pagan martyr? Paleeze!!!!!! I assume those 10,000+ invited to a "circus" and then killed on the order of a "Christian" emperor don't count. I suppose the thousands slain for refusing to give up their faith when Tuetonic tribes were "converted" ... at the point of the sword don't count. Christians were persecuted in the first three or four centuries, they made up for it in the next three or four. And their "christian" charity continued throughout the middle ages < burning witches, and the those pagans that managed to survive until the middle ages ). The devastation of the native religions of Europe by the cultural and literal terrorism of the christian religion and its soldiers is one of the greatest crimes agains humanity ever perpetuated. If you don't think this was a cultural terrorist attack, ask some of the non-christianized Native Americans.... ====================================================== Date: Sun, 4 Feb 1996 19:21:40 +0100 From: Serge Pahaut Subject: ltant: Hypatia To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ As for what latin Middle Age did receive through arab civilisation, a lot of publications are available. I suggest not to forget history of science. Also, the fate of islamic scholarship was not only to transmit to "Europe"; interactions with India and China are also important. Phil Snider, with good reasons, reminds of contacts Byzance->Italy. This being the easy way, the peculiar fact is, much came through other ways. I would not dare to imply, as he tries, we may circumscribe the arab contribution to mere transmission of some natural philosophy. The testimony of Synesius Cyrenensis is important of course, as the texts that are extant from him are a remarkable example of christian neo-platonism. I would not expect too much from him about Hypatia's death. As for his political correctness, he gave a strong expression to antisemitism. Serge PAHAUT Universite' Libre de Bruxelles (CP 231) ====================================================== Date: Mon, 5 Feb 1996 10:34:05 -0500 From: Richard Landes Subject: ltant: Re: Hypatia in flames To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ i was saying earlier that i think much we define too many lively remarks as flames, but i think this one qualifies. On Sun, 4 Feb 1996, Michael Searcy wrote: > Normally I am a passive reader of this list, however I can't let this > pass: > A "single" pagan martyr? Paleeze!!!!!! I assume those 10,000+ > invited to a "circus" and then killed on the order of a "Christian" > emperor don't count. source? > I suppose the thousands slain for refusing to > give up their faith when Tuetonic tribes were "converted" ... at the > point of the sword don't count. it is a bit later (just to stick with the context of the post to which you are replying). > Christians were persecuted in the first three or four > centuries, they made up for it in the next three or four. And > their "christian" charity continued throughout the middle ages > (burning witches, and the those pagans that managed to survive > until the middle ages). don't forget Jews and "heretics". > The devastation of the native religions of > Europe by the cultural and literal terrorism of the christian religion > and its soldiers is one of the greatest crimes agains humanity ever > perpetuated. If you don't think this was a cultural terrorist > attack, ask some of the non-christianized Native Americans.... there has to be a better way to frame your point. obviously "Christians", as Augustine wd say, includes a rather wide-ranging *corpus permixtum*. so how do we deal with the actions and the arguments of those claiming to speak in the name of, and through the institutions of, Christians, without stump speeches in favor of (implicitly romanticized) victims. after all, the only reason that people get incensed about "Christian" behavior that is more or less the norm for dominant groups is that Christians profess something (much) higher. in context, this is hardly among "the greatest crimes against humanity ever perpetrated", but one of many forms of domination, a bizarre and paradoxical one, full of peculiar consequences, filled with a kind of "good will" rarely evinced by conquerors, well worth study. we get nowhere either by engaging in rhetorical overkill, or in polite discretion. some questions: how do we treat the obvious contradictions btw Christian ethics and Christian political behavior once the empire "converts"? what modern historian and what contemporary sources handle these issues best in the opinion of those on the list? what value can our treatment of these matters offer us in reconstructing the period in question? rlandes ====================================================== Date: Mon, 5 Feb 1996 17:44:26 -0500 From: "Timothy M. Teeter" Subject: ltant: Re: Hypatia in flames To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ For a dispassionate look at the evidence for a Christian makeover of society (or lack thereof), see Ramsay MacMullen's article, "What difference did Christianity make?" in Historia 35 (sorry, I don't have the year or page numbers handy). I believe it may have been anthologized somewhere as well. From what I can recall of the article, I'm not sure I agree with MacMullen, but it should add some depth to the discussion currently underway on this subject. Tim Teeter ====================================================== Date: Mon, 5 Feb 1996 17:28:43 MET From: Yves Caseau Subject: ltant: Re: Hypatia in flames To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ A good read on this question is Peter Brown's lecture delivered at Cambridge in 1993: "The Limits of Intolerance", in Authority and the Sacred, Aspects of the Christianization of the Roman World, Cambride University Press, 1995, pp.29-54. He shows how easy it is to be taken in by the narrative of Late Antique historians and authors on intolerance and violence... Beatrice Caseau Paris IV/ Institut Catholique de Paris ====================================================== Date: Tue, 6 Feb 1996 10:30:09 CST From: "bachr001@maroon.tc.umn.edu" Subject: ltant: Re: Hypatia in flames To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ It seems that some people just are not satisfied with the cliche that the winners write history. Some may even want us to consider Charlemagne a religious persecutor on the basis of his Saxon policy. We may even reach the point of making Augustine the kind of man who pressed for the religious persecution of Donatists and Pelagians. One might even ask in class what did Diocletion, Augustine, and Charlemagne have in common? Discuss. Boy Alexander starts to look good in perspective on this issue just as 19th century 'racist' historians used to claim. Oh the study of history is so confusing how can we have any heroes? B.Bachrach ====================================================== Date: Tue, 6 Feb 1996 18:06:39 -0500 From: Greg Rose Subject: ltant: Hypatia in flames To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ Michael Searcy writes: >...The devastation of the native religions of >Europe by the cultural and literal terrorism of the christian religion >and its soldiers is one of the greatest crimes agains humanity ever >perpetuated. If you don't think this was a cultural terrorist >attack, ask some of the non-christianized Native Americans.... I frankly think this sort of comment trivializes the matters under discussion. I don't particularly think that the place of history is to create heroes or villains. It is rather the purposes of history to try to understand events as close to in situ as possible. From such a viewpoint the suggestion that executions of pagans among the Germanic people by Christians was part of a policy of forced conversion simpliciter is simply nonsense. A example drawn, perhaps, from an area a bit removed from this list's central focus is Charlemagne's policy toward the Saxons, to which Mr. Searcy alludes. The "conversion" of the Saxons has to be contextualized in Carolingian politics. Among the first two initiatives of the sons of Charles Martel was reestablishment of Frankish hegemony over parts of the Merovingian kingdom which had slipped away under the latter Merovingians: Aquitania and Bavaria. It was in connection with operations against their brother, Grifo, Dux of the Bavarians, that the first campaigns into Saxony were launched in 743, 744, and 747 (note that Grifo took refuge among the Saxons under pressure from Pippin and Carloman and there are hints of diplomatic and, perhaps, military machinations between the Bavarians and the Saxons -- although all of this comes from Frankish sources, so obvious biases may be present). Campaigns were continued by Pippin in 753 and 758, probably mopping up resistance along the border. Second, as Tim Reuter ably pointed out in his article in the *Charlemagne's Heir* volume and his TRHS piece, the Carolingian political economy appears to have been significantly based on accumulation of wealth by military expansion abroad and redistribution of this wealth by the Carolingians to their followers. It was probably in this context that Charlemagne launched his first campaign into Saxony to raid, and raze, the pagan shrine at Irminsul in 772. The ARF comments on the particularly rich booty this operation netted. It is likely that the Saxon incursions into Francia in 773 were a response, but they occurred while Charlemagne was campaigning against the Lombards in Italy and forced a major redeployment of his army in the following year. The results were inconclusive. In 775 Charlemagne resolved to crush the Saxons, but was almost immediately distracted by a Lombard rebellion. Again, Charlemagne was forced to redeploy to Italy, and upon reaching Italy was greeted with another Saxon rebellion. It is this dynamic which we see time and time again -- Saxon military threats whenever the Carolingian army is campaigning elsewhere, forcing costly and difficult redeployments -- which accounts for some of intensity of the Frankish response to the Saxons. By 776 Charlemagne had forced a submission of the main Saxon forces and had taken hostages, oaths of fidelity, promises to convert, etc. Then as soon as he began a campaign in Spain, the Saxons rebelled in 778, forcing yet again another campaign in Saxony in 779. The Frankish sources portray the relationship as Frankish acceptance of Saxon pledges followed by Saxon perfidy -- they certainly suggest a rather high level of frustration among the Franks at the inability to put the Saxon affair to a definitive end. In 782, while he prepared a campaign against the Slavs, Charlemagne was against faced with a Saxon rebellion. The disasterous defeat of the missi Adalgis and Gailo at the Suentel Mountains prompted Charlemagne's direct intervention. The ARF's account of the execution of 4,500 rebels comes in the aftermath of this intervention. I think this account has to be further contextualized by three factors: (1) the number of executions is likely to be exaggerated -- round numbers of this sort more commonly in the Annals mean "a lot of them"; (2) the Slav menace to the eastern Frankish border was a growing concern (particularly in light of deteriorating relations with the Eastern Empire) and the possibility of Slav/Saxon cooperation was a serious threat, and (3) Tassilo and his followers had been mooting rebellion since 780 -- a fullscale Bavarian rebellion in concert with the Saxons would have utterly destabilized the Frankish eastern frontier. The principal evidence for a "massacre" of Saxons (as opposed to large numbers of Saxons killed in battle) locates the event in the context of (1) revenge for the deaths of a large number of Frankish nobles (the ARF truly cringes at the losses) at Suentel Mountains, (2) repeated Saxon refusal to abide by Frankish-imposed peace terms, (3) a history of the Saxons taking advantage of Frankish attentions elsewhere on the their borders to make considerable trouble for the Frank, and (4) genuine foreign perils which could easily take advantage of Francia's Saxon troubles. In this circumstance I think that religion played some role, but by no means the primary role in the brutality of Frankish repression of the Saxon rebellions. The difficulty of juxtaposing the ARF account with the Capitulatio de Partibus Saxoniae, and it is only that juxtaposition which leads to an impression of severe, brutal conversion of the Saxons, is our inability to date the capitulary's issue more precisely than 775-790. I'm inclined to date it around 780 (possibly at the assembly at the confluence of the Ohre and Elbe where Charlemagne is said to have "set Saxon affairs aright"), but that is highly speculative. It seems to me to be a document redolent with frustration at the inability of the Franks to permanently impose their hegemony over the Saxons. Even at that, the document isn't entirely, nor even primarily, religious in its concerns with the Saxons. C.1 does begin with the resolution "of all in order that the churches of Christ, which now are being erected in Saxony and consecrated to God, might have not less honor, but more and superior honor than the emptiness of idols." C.2 reas- serts the right of sanctuary and doesn't seeem particularly Saxon-related. C.3 proscribes the violent despoiling or burning of a church as a capital crime. C.4 proclaims contumacious disregard for the Lenten fast to be a capital crime, but allows dispensation by a priest for necessity as an excuse. C.5 makes the murder of a bishop, priest or deacon a capital offense. C.6 prohibits pagan burnt sacrifice under pain of death (although, as we shall see, other pagan rituals are less drastically dealt with). C.7 prohibits cremation of the dead. C.8 makes it a capital crime for anyone who refuses to be baptized to conceal himself among the Saxon people. C.9 prohibits human sacrifice as a capital crime. C.10 makes conspiracy with pagans against the Christian people or conspiracy against the king a capital offense. C.11 reasserts that manifest infidelity against the king is a captial crime. C.12 prescribes the death penalty for anyone kidnapping the son of his lord. C.13 does likewise for anyone who kills his lord (domnus vel domina). C.14 amnesties anyone guilty under the previously-described capitularies who presents himself to a priest, confesses and accepts penance, the testimony of the priest excusing the penitent from any capital penalty. C.15-17 establishes church endowments and enforces tithing on royal income from Saxon lands and courts and imposes it on all inhabitants of Saxony. C.18 orders observation of the sabbath and holy days. C19. prescribes fines for refusing to allow a child to be baptized (120 solidi for nobles, 60 for freemen, and 30 for others). C.20 imposes fines for contracting a prohibited marriage (60 solidi for nobles, 30 for freemen, and 15 for others). C.21 imposes fines for making offerings to springs, woods or groves at the same tripartite rates as C.20. C.22 orders burial in cemeteries rather than tumuli. C.23 cryptically announces that "we have resolved to give diviners and soothsayers to the church and priests." C.24-34 are mainly administrative, largely concerned with establishing comital government over Saxon territory. Note that the death penalty is not imposed in the Capitulatio de Partibus Saxoniae for any offense which had not long been condemned in strikingly similar terms by Church councils. Furthermore, the concern is at least as much for prohibition of offenses against the crown and lordship -- the heart and soul of rebellion -- as for proscription of pagan practices. In short, it looks to me like forced conversion was a policy of last resort after other measures had repeatedly failed and that the implied brutality had more to do with frustration at the repeated failures than any intrinsically "Christian" brutality to pagans. It also seems reasonable to me that, if such a policy had been followed in detail against the Saxons, we would not have seen recurrent Saxon rebellions in 784, 793, 795 and 798. These suggest that the Frankish I think that the imposition of Frankish rule in Saxony was a long, sometimes intensely bloody process, a process in which religion played a significant role, but not to the exclusion of economic, political, military, and emotive factors (e.g., revenge and retribution). It is clear that it was not a matter simply of Christian Franks against pagan Saxons, because there is clearly evidence of Frankish success in playing factions of the Saxons off against each other. Furthermore, there is good evidence that Frankish kings reacted to rebellion with savage brutality (e.g., against Hardrad in 795, against Pippin the Hunchback in 792, against Bernard of Italy in 817). Louis the Pious's reputation for piety rests in part on his repentance of the brutality against Bernard and his readiness to forgive those who rebelled against him (I rather suspect that Lothar would have enjoyed Pepin the Hunchback's fate if he had been Charlemagne's son, but that is purely speculation) -- his restraint was *exceptional* in Frankish eyes. I'm not certain how much we should attribute to strictly religious causes when the Frankish response to rebellion was intrinsically brutal. Greg Rose Ole Miss ====================================================== Date: Thu, 8 Feb 1996 16:26:57 -0500 From: "Timothy M. Teeter" Subject: ltant: Re: Martyrs, again To: Multiple recipients of list LT-ANTIQ >Can you call racism and bigotry...the refusal to accept anything that >deviates from the "norm" ...mere "judicious rejection"? No? I suppose I >must be dealing with "prejudiced hate" then. >Chantelle Warner >Ball State University I am sorry, but you only add to the confusion. I was under the impression that this discussion was *not* about refusing to accept *anything* that deviates from the "norm," but the refusal to accept people with whom one differs on matters of religion, itself something about which it is not always so easy to determine a "norm." That such a refusal can be a matter of prejudice I certainly understand, and that it can be an excuse or cover for various forms of hate (racist or otherwise) no one can deny, but it does not follow that all the instances of martyrdom alluded to in the course of this discussion are entirely motivated by such hate. I consider it perfectly possible for a Roman to have had a fairly sophisticated understanding of Christianity and to either order or applaud the execution of Christians on perfectly rational grounds, even if the opportunity for doing so is only offered by mob actions. His actions would not be those of "prejudiced hate" at all. Equally, Christians have been (sadly) capable of rationalizing violence; if Cyril did approve the mob's murder of Hypatia, it was surely not for any lack of understanding of neo-Platonism. On the contrary, it was because he did understand what Hypatia represented that he approved of her death. Tim Teeter ==================================================================== -30- Late Antiquity Newsletter 1.1 (1996) ====================================================================