Elizabeth DePalma Digeser
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801441813
- eISBN:
- 9780801463969
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801441813.003.0007
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This book traces the origins of the so-called Great Persecution, the Roman Empire's last and longest campaign compelling Christians to uphold traditional religious norms. Executed by the emperor ...
More
This book traces the origins of the so-called Great Persecution, the Roman Empire's last and longest campaign compelling Christians to uphold traditional religious norms. Executed by the emperor Diocletian in the year 303 and lasting until 313, the Great Persecution seemingly conforms to a stereotype of Romans as persecutors and Christians as victims before the emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 312. Yet this familiar image is not consistent with the presence of Christian courtiers in Diocletian's entourage. This book challenges the view held by most historians that the Great Persecution was inevitable, noting that Christians and Hellenes had lived, learned, and worked side by side for forty years before they became sharply divided by the turn of the century. It argues that Iamblichus of Chalcis played a key role in this shift, explaining how his dispute with Porphyry of Tyre laid the foundations that supported the Great Persecution.Less
This book traces the origins of the so-called Great Persecution, the Roman Empire's last and longest campaign compelling Christians to uphold traditional religious norms. Executed by the emperor Diocletian in the year 303 and lasting until 313, the Great Persecution seemingly conforms to a stereotype of Romans as persecutors and Christians as victims before the emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 312. Yet this familiar image is not consistent with the presence of Christian courtiers in Diocletian's entourage. This book challenges the view held by most historians that the Great Persecution was inevitable, noting that Christians and Hellenes had lived, learned, and worked side by side for forty years before they became sharply divided by the turn of the century. It argues that Iamblichus of Chalcis played a key role in this shift, explaining how his dispute with Porphyry of Tyre laid the foundations that supported the Great Persecution.
Elizabeth DePalma Digeser
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801441813
- eISBN:
- 9780801463969
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801441813.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This book has argued that the ideas and networks of a small group of philosophers such as Porphyry of Tyre, Origen, Ammonius Saccas, Plotinus, and Iamblichus of Chalcis strongly influenced the ...
More
This book has argued that the ideas and networks of a small group of philosophers such as Porphyry of Tyre, Origen, Ammonius Saccas, Plotinus, and Iamblichus of Chalcis strongly influenced the religious and political culture of the Roman Empire in the third and early fourth centuries and led indirectly to the Great Persecution. In this concluding chapter, Porphyry's fragmentary anti-Christian works and his purpose in writing them are examined. After discussing some of the problems complicating the analysis of Porphyry's writings against Christians, the chapter turns to some of his views, including those concerning divination and rituals. It argues that Porphyry's texts led Hellene readers, especially priests and officials close to Ammonian circles, to believe that Christians were a danger to the Roman community.Less
This book has argued that the ideas and networks of a small group of philosophers such as Porphyry of Tyre, Origen, Ammonius Saccas, Plotinus, and Iamblichus of Chalcis strongly influenced the religious and political culture of the Roman Empire in the third and early fourth centuries and led indirectly to the Great Persecution. In this concluding chapter, Porphyry's fragmentary anti-Christian works and his purpose in writing them are examined. After discussing some of the problems complicating the analysis of Porphyry's writings against Christians, the chapter turns to some of his views, including those concerning divination and rituals. It argues that Porphyry's texts led Hellene readers, especially priests and officials close to Ammonian circles, to believe that Christians were a danger to the Roman community.
Elizabeth DePalma Digeser
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801441813
- eISBN:
- 9780801463969
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801441813.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This book re-examines the origins of the Great Persecution (AD 303–313), the last eruption of pagan violence against Christians before Constantine enforced the toleration of Christianity within the ...
More
This book re-examines the origins of the Great Persecution (AD 303–313), the last eruption of pagan violence against Christians before Constantine enforced the toleration of Christianity within the Empire. Challenging the widely accepted view that the persecution enacted by Emperor Diocletian was largely inevitable, the book points out that in the forty years leading up to the Great Persecution Christians lived largely in peace with their fellow Roman citizens. Why, the book asks, did pagans and Christians, who had intermingled cordially and productively for decades, become so sharply divided by the turn of the century? Making use of evidence that has only recently been dated to this period, the book shows that a falling out between Neoplatonist philosophers, specifically Iamblichus of Chalcis and Porphyry of Tyre, lit the spark that fueled the Great Persecution. In the aftermath of this falling out, a group of influential pagan priests and philosophers began writing and speaking against Christians, urging them to forsake Jesus-worship and to rejoin traditional cults while Porphyry used his access to Diocletian to advocate persecution of Christians on the grounds that they were a source of impurity and impiety within the empire. This book revises our understanding of the late third century period by revealing the extent to which Platonists and Christian theologians came from a common educational tradition, often studying and teaching side by side in heterogeneous groups.Less
This book re-examines the origins of the Great Persecution (AD 303–313), the last eruption of pagan violence against Christians before Constantine enforced the toleration of Christianity within the Empire. Challenging the widely accepted view that the persecution enacted by Emperor Diocletian was largely inevitable, the book points out that in the forty years leading up to the Great Persecution Christians lived largely in peace with their fellow Roman citizens. Why, the book asks, did pagans and Christians, who had intermingled cordially and productively for decades, become so sharply divided by the turn of the century? Making use of evidence that has only recently been dated to this period, the book shows that a falling out between Neoplatonist philosophers, specifically Iamblichus of Chalcis and Porphyry of Tyre, lit the spark that fueled the Great Persecution. In the aftermath of this falling out, a group of influential pagan priests and philosophers began writing and speaking against Christians, urging them to forsake Jesus-worship and to rejoin traditional cults while Porphyry used his access to Diocletian to advocate persecution of Christians on the grounds that they were a source of impurity and impiety within the empire. This book revises our understanding of the late third century period by revealing the extent to which Platonists and Christian theologians came from a common educational tradition, often studying and teaching side by side in heterogeneous groups.
