Numen 62 (2015) 169196brill.com/nu koninklijke brill nv, leiden,
215|doi 1.1163/15685276-12341362Religious Violence and Hagiography
inLate AntiquityMar MarcosUniversity of Cantabria, Departamento de
Ciencias Histricas,Edificio Interfacultativo, Cantabria, Santander
39005, [email protected] is in many ways
a social construct, and hence the profile of saints and the
prac-ticesthatqualifythemassuchchangewiththepassingoftime.Thedestructionof
temples and idols as a way to signal sanctity is a good example of
this. The subject came to form part of hagiography in the late
fourth century, reached its peak in the Theodosian period, and fell
off in the sixth century when Christianization was believed to be
com-plete.Hagiographymadeiconoclasmoneofthemostextraordinaryexpressionsof
divine power, adding it to the saints repertoire of miracles and
ascetic virtues. The aim of this article is to study the origins
and early development of this motif, which legiti-mated and subtly
encouraged the use of violence in the conversion process. It is
within apologetic and polemical contexts that the episodes of the
violent destruction of late antique paganism have to be
assessed.Keywordsreligious violence iconoclasm hagiography Late
AntiquityIn antiquity, both pagans and Christians believed in the
capacity of daimones to foresee the future, but they did not agree
on which ones truly possessed this ability. In De divinatione
daemonum (On the Divination of Demons), written at
*ThispaperhasbeenwrittenwiththefinancialsupportoftheSpanishMinisteriode
EconomayCompetitividad(MINECO,ResearchProjectHAR-HAR201235185Universidad
de Cantabria).170 MarcosNumen 62 (2015) 169196the height of the
campaign to suppress paganism in North Africa (ca. 406411),
AugustineofHipporecalledadebateonthatmatterthatheheldoneEaster
morning with a group of laypeople.1 The issue arose from the news
that the god Serapis, who was renowned for his prophetic powers,
had foretold the destruc-tion of his temple in Alexandria shortly
before it actually happened in 391/392.2
ThedestructionoftheSerapeum,regardedasoneofthegreatestwonders
oftheworld,3causedadeeppsychologicaleffectamongstbothpagansand
Christians, who regarded it as a symbol of traditional
religion.ThepeopleAugustinewasdebatingwithwonderedifprophesiesofthat
kind were not displeasing to God. Augustine responded that God
tolerates reli-gious practices that he dislikes. In fact, God
commands and permits the
demo-litionofthetemplesandtheprohibitionofpagansacrifices(Dediv.1.32.4).
The time had now come for the fulfillment of biblical prophecies
announcing
thattheGodofIsraelshallbeworshippedbyallnations,andthatfalsegods
will be ousted both from their shrines and from the hearts of their
worshippers (Isa 19.1; Zeph 2.11; Zech 13.2). Augustines conviction
about a dramatic end of paganism, as it had taken place in
Alexandria, was shared by other Christians
atthetime.CommentingontheBookofIsaiah(in408/409),Jeromealso
consideredthedestructionoftheEgyptiantemplestobethemanifestation
ofthefulfillmentofOldTestamentprophecies(Comm.inIsaiah7.23).The
Theodosian Age, in which Augustine and Jerome were writing, was
perceived by Christians as the start of a new era in the economy of
salvation, a providen-tial time in which destroying the idols
contributed to building the kingdom of 1Ed. G. Bardy, Beckaert, and
Boutet 1952:654693. Augustine deals with the theme of demons also
in the City of God, especially
810.2TheattackontheSerapeumwasheadedbyBishopTheophiluswholaterusedthefinely
carvedstonestobuildaChristianchurch(EunapiusVitaeSophistarum474).Themost
detailed description of its destruction is given by Rufinus
Historia Ecclesiastica 11.2223. See further information in Socrates
Scholasticus Historia Ecclesiastica 5.1617; Sozomen Historia
Ecclesiastica 7.15; and Theodoret Historia Ecclesiastica 5.22. A
law of 16 June 391, sent to the comes of Egypt and to the
praefectus augustalis, to be applied in all Egypt, forbade
sacrifices with punishments of large fines for offenders (Codex
Theodosianus 16.10.11). However, it does not contain any
instructions about the destruction of temples or other places of
worship. For the demolition of temples in Alexandria under the
leadership of Theophilus, see Trombley 1995, 1:129145. For the
history and archaeology of the Serapeum, see McKenzie, Gibson, and
Reyes 2004; Hahn
2008.3Ruf.HE11.23,assumesthateveryonehadheardaboutitandthatmanyhadvisitedit.To
Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestae 22.16.12, who visited Alexandria
before its destruction, the Serapeum was the most important
building in the Roman Empire after the Capitol. Cf. also Expositio
totius mundi et gentium 3436. 171 Religious Violence and
Hagiography in Late AntiquityNumen 62 (2015) 169196God.4
Thedemonsresistancetotheirevictionwouldjustifythesevereanti-pagan
legislation issued by the Emperor Theodosius and his sons,5 as well
as other forms of religious coercion, including physical
violence.AlthoughviolencewasnotanagreeablepracticeforGod,asAugustine
points out,6 the obstinacy of the demons and the blindness of their
worship-persmadeviolenceanecessarymeans.Anyonewhofacedthedangerous
taskofcombatingidolatryshowedhimselfasatrueholyman.Lateantique
Christianliterature,hagiographyinparticular,madeactsoficonoclasman
expression of divine will and power. The aim of this paper is to
study the ori-gins and early development of this hagiographical
motif, which legitimated and subtly encouraged the use of violence
in the conversion process.Sacred Violence: A Note on History and
HistoriographyThe Serapeum is a paradigmatic example of the ways in
which the Christians
werereadytocollaborateinfulfillingthedivineplan.Thedemolitionof
thetemplewasnotanisolatedevent,butformedpartofawidercampaign
against shrines in Alexandria. A tumult in the city gave the Bishop
Theophilus a pretext to intervene, sack the building and reveal the
tricks that, according to the Christians, the priests had devised
to make Serapis look like a true god. The adyta were profaned and
the gods statue was beheaded and burned in the amphitheater for
general ridicule. The temple was set on fire, the ornaments
andimagesofworshipwereconfiscated,andthebuildingwasfinallyturned
into a church.7 The disappointment of the pagans with the impotence
of their god led to the conversion of many, while the Christians
who died in the riots were acknowledged as martyrs (Sozomen,
Historia Ecclesiastica
8.15).Indeed,sacredviolencehadspiritualadvantagesforthosewhoheroically
carrieditout.ThisiswellillustratedbythecaseofthebishopMarcellusof
ApameainSyria.Adivinemanwithaburningspirit(Theodoret,Historia
Ecclesiastica 5.21.6), Marcellus was murdered (in 386) while he
supervised from 4Cf. Ruf. HE 11.19 and Theod. HE 5.21. See Thelamon
1993.5Anti-pagan legislation of Theodosius in Cod. Theod.
16.10.1012 (in the years 391 and 392); of Honorius and Arcadius in
Cod. Theod. 16.10.15, 16.10.16 and 16.10.18 (399), 16.10.19 (ca.
407/408) and 16.10.25
(435).6Dediv.2.4.Cf.alsoAugustineSermon62.11.17;302.23.21.Augustinesattitudetotheuseof
coercion is ambiguous and changes with the circumstances. He
appears to be more in favor of it when it refers to heretics. See
Brown 1964; Marcos 2013.7See n. 2 above.172 MarcosNumen 62 (2015)
169196a distance for he was afflicted with gout and was therefore
unable to fight
thedestructionofthetemplesinhiscity,whichhehadordered,suspect-ingthatitwouldnotbeeasyotherwiseforthem[i.e.,theheathens]tobe
convertedfromtheirformerreligion(Sozomen,HistoriaEcclesiastica7.15).8
WhenMarcellussonswantedtoavengehisdeath,thecounciloftheprov-ince
prohibited them from doing so with the argument that they rather
should give thanks to God for having considered Marcellus worthy of
dying for such a cause (Sozomen, Historia Ecclesiastica 7.15; cf.
Theodoret, Historia Ecclesiastica
5.21).TempledestructionalsohadmaterialadvantagesfortheChurch.The
places snatched from the demons were Christianized and occupied,
both sym-bolically by purifying them, and materially by turning
them into
churches.Variouscasesareknownofthedemolitionoftemplesandstatuesinthe
last decades of the fourth century and the early fifth century (the
crucial time in the anti-pagan offensive), and much scholarship has
dealt with the topic in
recentdecades.9However,asahistoricalphenomenon,sacredviolence
shouldnotbeoverestimated.Withoutdenyingthefactthatseveralformsof
coerciondidformpartoflateantiquereligiousconfrontation,recenthisto-riographyhasreassessedChristiannarrativesonviolence,lookingintotheir
rhetoricaldimensionsandtheimpacttheirauthorswantedtoachievewith
them (Saradi 2008), concluding that there was not a systematic
policy of
coer-civeeradicationofpaganismeitherbytheChurchorbythestate,andthat
physicalviolencewasmorelimitedthanwhatChristiansourceswouldhave us
believe (Sotinel 2004; Salzman 2006). Other aspects, such as the
decline of
paganpiety,disaffection,andabandonmentmayhaveplayedamoreimpor-tant
role in the end of paganism than coercion and
violence.10IficonoclastactionsdonotformanintrinsicpartoftheChristianization
process,thenwemaystillwonderwhyChristianliteratureemphasizesthese
episodesandthefunctiontheyplayintheeconomyoftheaccounts(see
Fowden1978;Marcos1998).Whereas,officially,theChurchprohibitedthe
destructionofidols,Christianintellectualsdefendedpersuasioninsteadof
8Trans. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, vol. II.9The destruction of
pagan temples and their conversion into churches has been
thoroughly
studied.SeeDeichmann1939;Spieser1976;Fowden1978;Hanson1978;Trombley1985,
1995;Saradi-Mendelovici1990;Marcos1998,2002;Grossmann1994;Klein1995;Beatrice
1996;BuenacasaPrez1997;Foschia2000;Bayliss2004;Caseau2001,2004;Sotinel2000,
2004;Ward-Perkins2003;Gaddis2005;Zimmermann2006;Drake2006;Hahn,Emmel,
andGotter2008;Hahn2008;Shaw2011;LavanandMulryan2011;Busine2013.Arecent
issue of the Journal of Late Antiquity (vol. 6.2, 2013) dedicates a
dossier to the topic.10Caseau 2001; Sotinel 2004. This was, for
instance, the case with the end of ancient Egyptian cults, as has
been demonstrated by Dijkstra 2008. 173 Religious Violence and
Hagiography in Late AntiquityNumen 62 (2015) 169196coercion, and
imperial legislation tried to avoid vandalism (Kunderewicz 1971;
Lepelley 1994), hagiography makes iconoclasm one of the most
extraordinary expressions of divine power, adding it to the saints
repertoire of miracles and ascetic virtues. It is within this
apologetic and polemical context that episodes of the violent
destruction of late antique paganism have to be assessed.Dominating
the Demons: The Fantastic Deeds of Gregory
ThaumaturgusThemotifofthesaintwhoheroicallycombatsthe(pagan)demonsappears
for the first time with all its symbolic, evocative potential in
Gregory of Nyssas Life of Gregory Thaumaturgus (ca. 380).11 The
extant text is a development of an oration, probably given in the
Church of Neocaesarea in Pontus (Asia Minor), whereGregory
Thaumaturgushadbeenbishoponecenturyearlier(ca.240270). In the
opening words, Gregory of Nyssa explains its aim (skopos):Both my
speech and the congregation gathered here have one purpose,
toreflectuponthegreatGregory.AsfarasIamconcerned,Ithinkitis
besttodescribethestrengthofhisvirtueandhiswonderfuldeedsand to ask
for his help, so that such a sublime example may help us to know
how to lead our lives...Listening to this speech is like having a
torch to guide lost sailors over the dark sea, a torch that lights
our souls through his memory and which offers upright men a way
towards good. We want
everyonetowishtoachievesuchlaudableandhonourablebehavior. (PG
46.893)AmongthemiraculousdeedsattributedtoGregory,whowasconvertedto
ChristianityfromphilosophyafterhearingtheteachingsofOrigen,Gregory
ofNyssarecallsthepurificationofatemplethatwasfamousforitsoracles.
Significantly,thiswasGregorysfirstthaumaturgicalaction.Accordingtohis
panegyrist, the motive which led him to Neocaesarea was in fact to
rid the city and its region of temples and idols, for which he
trained like an athlete ready to fight in combat (PG 46.913). The
biography gives a detailed account of the episode, which is similar
to many others in later hagiographical texts. Gregory arrived in
the city in the evening and a heavy storm made him seek shelter in
atemple,onewhosedaimoneshadoracularpowers.Whenheenteredwith 11Vita
Gregorii Thaumaturgi in PG 46.893957. For the limited historical
value of Gregory of Nyssas account, see Van Dam 1982.174
MarcosNumen 62 (2015)
169196somecompanions,thedemonwasbroughttoahaltonhearingthename
ofChrist.Gregorypurifiedtheairbymakingthesignofthecrossandspent
thenightprayingandsinginghymns,andthusthetemplewasturnedintoa place
of prayer. At sunrise, when the custodian came to make the usual
rites, hecouldnotgoonbecauseGregoryhadblockedtheway.Hetriedtocall
the gods to the temple but they did not respond. The custodian then
began to insult Gregory, tried to hit him, and threatened to take
him before the authori-ties for profaning the place. Gregory
confronted him, and in the end, the guard-ian was convinced of his
divine power, which he recognized as superior to that
ofthedemons,andheconvertedtoChristianity.12Gregoryperformedsome
other miracles (such as moving and carrying some huge stones),
which made the custodian of another temple convert, too, together
with all his family, his friends, the temple priests, and all their
assistants (PG 46.915920). Gregory of Nyssa concludes the story of
Gregorys iconoclast miracles by adding:Thus this great man overcame
the power of the daimones and exhibited
thetempleguardianlikethetrophyofavictory.Withfaithandcour-ageheenteredtriumphantlyinthecity,notwithchariotsandhorses,
withtheostentationofalargenumberoffollowers,butenvelopedby his
numerous virtues. The whole city came to know more about the new
prodigy and they all wanted to see the man called Gregory. They
regarded him as a god, full of authority and capable of doing all
he wanted against the daimones to dominate them. Having submitted
their patron (the god) to his authority and appropriating the
honour that had previously been
attributedtohim,Gregorychangedthewayoflife(ofthepagans)and
everything that involved. (PG
46.920)Thestorycontinueswiththemassiveconversionofthepopulationof
Neocaesarea and its region to the God of Gregory.Like most of
Gregory of Nyssas narrative in the Life, these episodes of
exor-cism are fiction. Gregory Thaumaturgus could hardly have
carried out such a deed, which is unimaginable in the third
century. His panegyrist was project-ing anachronistically an
attitude that was acceptable and praiseworthy by the last decades
of the fourth century.12The episode of Gregorys aristeia against
the demons is narrated in the Latin, Syriac, and Armenian Lives as
well. It is also mentioned by Rufinus, who added it to his
translation of Eusebius Church History (Ruf. HE 6.30). Basil of
Caesarea De Sancto Spiritu 74 says that Gregory had tremendous
power over the demons. For the several accounts of Gregorys life
and miracles, see Mitchell 1999; Clausi and Milazzo 2007. 175
Religious Violence and Hagiography in Late AntiquityNumen 62 (2015)
169196Between Legality and Autonomy: The Iconoclast Actions of
Martin of Tours and Porphyry of
GazaTwobiographies,TheLifeofMartinofTours(V.Mart.)writtenbySulpicius
Severusaround397400and TheLifeofPorphyryofGaza(V.Porph.)written
byMarktheDeaconsoonafterPorphyrysdeathin420,depicttheenthu-siasmforiconoclasmoftwoholymenwhowereatonetimeasceticsand
bishops.However,theydifferedintheirmethods. WhileMartinactedonhis
ownaccordinapersonalcrusadeonthefringesofthelaw,Porphyrymoved
withintheboundsoflegalitybyobtainingedictsfromtheimperialcourtin
Constantinople. The comparative study of the two cases can
reconstruct a pic-ture of the difficult balance between legality
and autonomy in the campaign to eradicate paganism in the
Theodosian age.After a variety of ascetic experiences, Martin
became bishop of Tours in 371, acclaimed by the people.13 As a
bishop, he continued to follow his old ascetic habits and settled
in a monastery outside the city in an isolated and wild loca-tion
at Marmoutier. Although life at the monastery was devoted to prayer
and manual labor, Martin sometimes went out for missionary purposes
accompa-nied by some of his monks. These were occasions for him to
perform numerous
miracles,themostspectacularofthemassociatedwithcombattingidolatry.
Threechaptersofthetwenty-fourintheLifearedevotedtodescribingthese
heroic deeds that the hagiographer places among the excellences
that Martin displayed as a bishop (V. Mart. 1315). In all of the
episodes, the saint risks his life and then saves it at the last
moment, proving his divine favor once again. He started by
destroying an ancient temple in a village without encountering
anyopposition.However,whenheattemptedtofellasacredpinenearthe
shrine, the priest and heathens tried to stop him, challenging him
to hold it up when they cut it down themselves, which Martin did.
Astonished at the mir-acle, nearly everyone there converted. Thanks
to Martins miracles the region
wasChristianized,becausewherehehaddemolishedtemples,heimmedi-ately
built there churches and monasteries (V. Mart.
13).Othericonoclastmiraclesfollowedthis.Inavillage,Martinhadsetfireto
apopularancientshrine,andtheflamesbegantospreadtowardsanearby
house;heclimbedontotheroofandstoppedthefire(V.Mart.14.12).Ina place
called Leprosum (Lvroux), when Martin tried to pull down an opulent
temple,acrowdofpagansprotestedandtheirviolencemadehimceasehis 13For
Martins biography, see Stancliffe 1983, as well as the extensive
introduction and notes to Sulpicius Severus Life of Martin by
Fontaine 1967.176 MarcosNumen 62 (2015)
169196attempt.14Forthreedays,hefastedandprayed,imploringGodtodemolish
the temple. Comforted by two armed angels who offered to help him,
Martin returned to the place, pulled down the temple to its
foundations, and smashed
thealtarsandimages.Asaresult,mostofthewitnessesacclaimedthesaint
andabandonedtheidols,whoappearedunabletohelpthemselves(V.Mart.
14.37).Finally,inthelandoftheAedui,afuriouscrowdthrewthemselves
uponMartinwhenhewasdemolishingatemple.Oneofthemattackedhim with a
sword, and when Martin was about to be stricken, the attacker fell
back-wards onto the ground and began to ask for pardon (V. Mart.
15.12). Similarly,
whenMartinwasdestroyingsomeidols,someonewantedtowoundhim with a
knife; as he did so the weapon slipped from his hands and
disappeared (V. Mart.
15.3).InthethirdoftheDialogues(datedto403/404),SulpiciusSeverusmen-tionstwomoreofMartinsiconoclastattacks.InthevillageofAmboise,an
old fortress occupied by numerous monks, there was a splendid pagan
temple endowed with many treasures. Martin had asked the local
priest, Marcellus, to destroy it several times, but he had not done
so, claiming that such a massive building could not be pulled down,
not even by soldiers and the villagers, and that it was an
impossible task for harmless clergymen and feeble monks. Thus,
Martinresortedtodivinehelp.Hespentthewholenightinprayerandthe next
morning a storm destroyed the temple. Sulpicius cites Marcellus
himself
asawitnesstothis(Dial.3.8.47).Onanotheroccasion,Martintriedtopull
down a large column with an idol at the top. Since he himself did
not achieve this, he turned to his habit of prayer. A large column
fell from the sky over the first one and smashed it to pieces. Here
Sulpicius mentions another eyewitness (Dial. 3.9.12).However,
despite Martins numerous acts of iconoclast violence, propitiated
by divine support, Sulpicius recalls that the holy bishop always
preferred per-suasion to violence: Often, when peasants opposed him
and asked him not to destroy their shrine, he appeased their pagan
spirit with his holy preaching, so that by showing them the light
of truth, they pulled down their temples them-selves (V. Mart.
15.4).Thehistoricalvalueofthesenarrativeshasbeenquestioned,15andithas
beennotedthatMartinsviolentattacksagainstpaganismshouldnotbe 14This
was probably the most important shrine of the Bituriges, located
about eighty kilo-meters southeast of Tours. The importance of the
temple explains Sulpicius precision in locating it.15See, most
recently, Barnes 2010:233, who denies that Martin was ever a
soldier as Sulpicius states, and consequently wonders if the rest
of the Life is not equally fictitious. 177 Religious Violence and
Hagiography in Late AntiquityNumen 62 (2015) 169196
overestimated.Includingtheepisodewhenhestoppedafunerarycortege
bymistake,thinkingthatitwasapaganprocession(V.Mart.12),therewere
only a total of nine incidents during the twenty-six years of his
episcopate and none of them involved physical violence against
people. It has also been high-lighted that, as his biographer
states, Martin preferred persuasion to coercion (Salzman
2006:281282). However, there is nothing to make us believe that his
iconoclast acts did not really take place. On the contrary, the
Life was written soon after Martins death when witnesses to the
events were still alive, which strengthens the hypothesis of its
veracity.Whether nine episodes of violence in twenty-six years of
his episcopate is a small or large number, taking into account that
there could have been more,16
isamatterofopinion.However,therecanbenodoubtaboutMartinsvio-lent
and provocative attitude towards paganism at a time when
legislation did not authorize the destruction of temples. Martins
status as ex-soldier and the numerous violent situations mentioned
in the Life (bandit attacks, robberies, physical threats) might
help to put his iconoclast actions into context. In any case, what
counts for our purpose here is that the hagiographer considers
icon-oclasm as one of Martins most relevant virtuous actions,
worthy of admiration and of being emulated. As we shall see below,
Martins example spread in Gaul, where he had a large number of
imitators.17ThecontemporaryexperienceofPorphyry,bishopofGazabetween395420,isanexceptionalexampleofthemethods,difficulties,andprogressof
personalcrusadesagainstpaganism.HisLife,afirstdraftofwhichwaswrit-tenshortlyafterhisdeathbythedeaconMark,aneyewitnesstotheevents,
provides a great deal of historical information, with unusual
precision for this literary genre. The oldest version that has
reached us is not the original, but the work of a later writer who
nonetheless preserved the genuine core.18 This later
16SulpiciusmentionsingeneraltermsthatMartinbuiltchurchesandmonasterieswher-ever
he destroyed temples, without specifying which; V. Mart.
13.17MartinsiconoclasticactionsarethebestdocumentedonesintheWestforhistime.
However,othersimilaractsmayhaveoccurred,evenearlierintime.GregoryofTours
Gloriaconfessorum77mentionsthecaseofSimplicius,namedbishopofAutunin364.
When he saw a procession of the goddess Berecynta (another name for
Cybele) in which the idol was transported by oxen and cart with a
large number of followers he prayed to God for Him to knock the
statue down. That is what happened and caused the conversion of
four hundred people.18The date of the Life of Porphyry has been
extensively discussed. A Greek and a Georgian ver-sion exist, the
latter of which is based on a shorter Syrian text. There is general
agreement that the Greek version is the original, although the one
that is extant is a later text. The historical value of the Life
has also been questioned, although there is also agreement that,
178 MarcosNumen 62 (2015) 169196author was very selective in the
events he chose to relate: most of the extant
Life(eighty-nineoftheonehundredandthreechapters)isaboutPorphyrys
deeds as a bishop, focusing on a few years at the start of his
episcopate when he succeeded in obtaining the recognition of the
inhabitants of Gaza, an emi-nently pagan city; this was thanks to
his ability to do miracles and, above all, to his obstinacy and
efficiency in fighting the gods and temples.In the prologue, which
was added by the later author, it is made clear that
itwasPorphyrysardentloveofChrist,asexpressedinhisobsessivefight
against idols, which made him a man of extraordinary sanctity, a
new apostle worthy of remembrance:What punishment shall I not
justly suffer, if I commit not to writing the life of a man, so
beloved of God, that may teach us to love wisdom through him, who
strove zealously after the heavenly life? We shall tell the history
of his wars and his standing up not only against the leaders and
champi-ons of the madness of idols, but even against a whole people
filled full of all madness. For he remembered the words of the
blessed apostle, hereby he saith: Take up the whole armour of God,
that ye may be able to
with-standintheterribleday,andhavingovercomealltostand[Eph.6.13],
having put on this whole armour the said apostle went in unto the
fight; but Porphyry also, having like adversaries, and as mighty,
and being set to a conflict like unto the apostles, was crowned
with an equal victory, and did raise up a trophy in the midst of
the city of the Gazaeans, even that holy church of Christ which he
did found. But that which gave him the victory was not his human
nature, but his purpose, which drew unto itself
thedivinegrace:fortheloveofChristbeingexceedinghotwithinhim, he had
power to suffer and to do all things. How many warlike onslaughts
didthismanabideatthehandsofhisadversaries;howmanyplottings and
mockings did he endure! (V. Porph., prol. 2)19despite containing
some inaccuracies, it provides reliable data. See Grgoire and
Kugener
1930;Trombley1995,1.188282;Teja2008;Sfameni-Gasparro2009:210221;Barnes2010.
Surprisingly,PorphyryisnotsubjectmatterinthemostrecentbookonChristianGaza
inLateAntiquity,acollectionofessayseditedbyBitton-AshkelonyandKofsky2004,in
which the discussion about Porphyrys Life and mission is confined
to a footnote (p. 7 n. 12).19Trans. Hill 1913. The prologue was
borrowed from Theodorets Religious History, which was published in
444445. 179 Religious Violence and Hagiography in Late
AntiquityNumen 62 (2015)
169196Porphyrysiconoclastvocationmanifesteditselfearlierinhisasceticcareer.
Coming from a noble family in Thessalonica, he felt the attraction
of a monastic life in his youth. He traveled to Egypt first and,
around 377, he went to Palestine, where he met Mark. In the Church
of the Anastasis in Jerusalem, Porphyry had
avisionthatrevealedhismissionofbecomingacombatantagainstidolatry.
HesawChristonthecross,tellinghim,Takethiswoodandkeepitforme.
WhentheBishopofJerusalemmadehimapriestandgavehimthedutyof looking
after the relic of the cross, Porphyry understood the reach of this
mis-sion (V. Porph. 10). An additional sign strengthened this call:
the Bishop of Gaza had died and the Gazaeans, who disagreed about
his successor, had asked the metropolitan of Caesarea to give them
a priest who should be able by deeds and by speech to withstand the
idolaters; the metropolitan had a vision that that man would be
Porphyry (V. Porph.
12).PorphyrysjourneytoGazawasfullofobstaclesandhumiliations.The
pagans in the villages near the city filled the path with thorns,
spread rubbish, and burned smelly substances that were dangerous to
the eyesight (V. Porph. 17). Once in Gaza, he had his first tour de
force with the god Zeus-Marnas, whose
temple,theMarneion,wasoneofthemostmagnificentintheEast.During
adrought,whileMarnaswasunabletoproviderain,Porphyrymanagedto
dosoeasilyinthecourseofanostentatiousprocession.Thisbroughtasa
resultthefirstofseveralmassiveconversions(V.Porph.1921).Afterendur-ing
abuse and attacks from the pagans, Porphyry decided to send Mark to
the
courtinConstantinople(ca.398)toasktheEmperorArcadiusforthetem-ples
to be destroyed. What Mark got was a decree to close them. An
assistant
ofthemagisterofficiorum(masterofoffices),Hilarius,wasputinchargeof
enforcing this order (V. Porph. 2627). Mark arrived in Gaza
accompanied by
twocommentarienses(officialsresponsibleforpolicingandlegalfunctions),
whowereattheserviceofthegovernorofPalestinewithnumerousassis-tants
and officials from other cities in the province. Hilarius informed
the city
notablesabouttheorderandheoverturnedalltheidolsinthemandshut them
up,20 although he allowed the Marneion to remain standing after a
bribe (V. Porph. 27). Impotent against the idolaters, who continued
abusing Christians
andstoppedthemfromcarryingoutpublicduties,Porphyry,withthemet-ropolitan
of Palestine, went to Constantinople to ask the emperors with the
approval of the King of Heaven, for the destruction of the temples
of the idols 20This statement is rhetorical, since the next
chapters say that later the temples remained standing. This is, in
any case, what might be expected as the imperial orders referred to
closing the temples, not to demolishing them.180 MarcosNumen 62
(2015) 169196(V. Porph. 32). After numerous contacts at the Court,
they obtained the order to demolish all of them to their
foundations and put them to the fire (V. Porph. 51). Meanwhile, the
Empress Eudoxia made a large donation to build a church and a
hostelry in the midst of the city (V. Porph. 53).The iconoclast
offensive began as soon as Porphyry arrived in Gaza. A mar-ble
statue of a naked Aphrodite, placed in one of the citys entrances,
was
exor-cizedwiththecrossand,oncethedemonhadrunaway,pulleddown.Itfell
upontwopagans,breakingtheheadofoneofthemandthebackandhand
ofanother(V.Porph.5962).Aftertendays,theimperialenvoy,headedby
Cynegius, who had been chosen because of his Christian zeal,
arrived in Gaza with the army and some civil officials. The city
counted eight public temples and many more shrines in houses and in
the nearby villages (V. Porph. 64). The soldiers began with the
Marneion, but the priests, who were ensconced inside, obstructed
their path. They then attacked other temples, pulling them down,
settingfiretothem,andtakingthesacredobjects.Porphyryhadforbidden
theChristianstotakeanysacredobjects,21andtheyabstainedfromdoing so.
The campaign lasted ten days. After some uncertainty about how to
destroy
theMarneion(somesaiditshouldbedemolished,othersthatitbeburned, and
yet others that it should be purified and turned into a church), a
clairvoy-antchildannouncedthatthetempleshouldbesetonfirefrominside,and
he even gave details of the flammable material that should be used.
After this fire, the temple was to be purified and turned into a
church. The temple was destroyed in accordance with the childs
instructions (V. Porph. 6670). Then, the houses were inspected in
search of idols, which when found were burned or thrown in the mud;
books with magic formulae were also confiscated and burned. Many
pagans converted, some from fear and others out of repentance
fortheirpreviouslife(V.Porph.7172).SomeChristiansthoughtthatthey
should not accept people who converted through coercion, but
Porphyry justi-fied this practice by arguing
that:Therebealsovirtueswhichcomebychanceuntomenfromcircum-stances.
For even as a man who hath gotten a froward servant first
admon-isheth him by all means to behave himself wisely and to serve
him with a simple heart, but when he findeth him nowise obedient
unto his
admo-nition,thenthereafterofnecessityhelayethuponhimfearandblows
and bonds and other such things, desiring not to destroy him but
that he 21Several constitutions issued by this time establish the
prohibition of temple pillage: Cod. Theod. 16.10.12 (8 Nov. 392);
10.18 (20 Aug. 399); 10.20 (30 Aug. 415). See n. 5 above. 181
Religious Violence and Hagiography in Late AntiquityNumen 62 (2015)
169196shouldbesavedandacknowledgethatwhichbehovethhim;evensuch may
ye suppose God to be, enduring our frowardness with long suffering,
and oftentimes persuading us for our profit both through the
scriptures and through other holy men; but when we are not
persuaded, desiring in all things like a good and merciful master
to keep us and not to thrust us away, he layeth upon us his fear
and his teaching, calling us of necessity
toacknowledgethatwhichbehovethus. Thereforethedivinescripture
saith: When he slew them, then they sought him, and they returned
and
inquiredearlyafterGod[Ps78.34(77.34)].Andagainitsaithconcern-ing
them who behave themselves unruly and stiffen their necks against
God: With muzzle and bridle ye shall hold in their jaws lest they
come nigh thee [Ps 32.9 (31.9)]. It is needful therefore, my
children, that man-kind be admonished by fear and threats and
discipline. Therefore again it saith: It is good for me that thou
hast humbled me, that I may learn thy statutes [Ps 99.71 (98.71)].
These things have I said because of those who desire to come unto
our holy faith. For even if they come doubting, time is able to
soften their hearts, if Christ consent. But, that I may tell you
yet another thing, even though they be not seen to be worthy if the
faith, hav-ing been already in a state of evil, they that are born
of them can be saved, by having converse with the good. (V. Porph.
73)In place of the Marneion, a church was built with the money
donated by the Empress, in a cross shape which she had designed.
When the area of the tem-ple was cleared, marble plates that had
belonged to it were reused to pave the square, so that they could
be walked upon not only by men, but also by women,
dogs,pigs,andwildanimals.Thisgreatlyoffendedthepagans,especially
thewomenwhoneversetfootagainuponthosemarbles(V.Porph.7576).
ThestoryintheLifepracticallyendswiththeconsecrationofthechurch,
whichwasgiventhenameofEudoxiana,in407.Suchasuddenend(itcon-cludesaround410,tenyearsbeforePorphyrysdeath)suggeststhatthelater
authorremovedpartoftheoriginaltext.Theparthewantedtohighlight
wasthetimeofthecrusadeagainsttheidols,whenPorphyrywonhispres-tigeasaholybishop.Thefinalchapter,describingthesaintsdeath,thus
concludes:(hedied)havingheldhisbishopricfourandtwentyyearsandeleven
monthsandeightdays,andfoughtthegoodfightuntotheendagainst the
idolmadmen until the day of his falling asleep. And now he is in
the Paradise of delight...(V. Porph. 103)182 MarcosNumen 62 (2015)
169196Iconoclasm as Hagiographical Leitmotiv: East and
WestThedestructionofidolsbecamealeitmotivofhagiographicliteratureinthe
first half of the fifth century and declined later, when paganism
was in decline
andmosttempleshadbeenabandoned.Inthoseareasinwhichtheconver-sionprocesshadnotbeenaccomplished,iconoclasmappearsinChristian
rhetoricasanefficientinstrumentinthesuppressionofpaganism.Thisis
particularly well attested in Egypt (see Frankfurter 2000, 2008).
The iconoclast saint already appears in the Historia Monachorum in
Aegypto (Hist. Monach.),
writteninGreekaround395,andsoontranslatedintoLatinbyRufinus
ofAquileia(seeFestugire1961).Afterlivinginsolitudeforfortyyears,
Apollonius of Hermopolis received divine instructions to leave the
desert and move to populated places to combat pagan philosophy and
idols. On one occa-sion, together with a group of monks from the
monastery that he had founded, Apollonius interfered with a pagan
procession. While he kneeled and prayed, he kept numerous
participants and the priests carrying the wooden statue of the idol
from being able to move, only letting them go later.22 This
resulted in the conversion of many worshippers, who proceeded to
burn the statue them-selves. A large number of the converts went
with Apollonius to his monastery. His fame and influence was so
great that no pagans were left in the region, the hagiographer
concludes (Hist. Monach. 7).Iconoclast miracles have an important
place in the biographies of the Coptic
saints,beginningwiththeLifeofShenoute(V.Shenut.).TheLifeofShenoute
of Atripe (ca. 350465), the archimandrite of the White Monastery
(from 385
untilhisdeath),hasbeenattributedtohisdiscipleandsuccessorasheadof
themonastery,Besa.23Shenoute,thenephewofthefounderofamonastery the
impressive remains of which can still be found in the proximity of
modern Akhmim, was a man of outstanding culture and evangelizing
zeal, who guided
themonasterytoitsgreatestsplendorandwealth.Shenoutesauthoritarian
character and strong Christian convictions drove him to start a
violent offen-sive against heresy and paganism.24 An extensive
corpus of Shenoutes writings survive in fragmentary copies, which
include sermons against the pagans in an aggressive language, and
record several of his anti-pagan actions in Atripe and 22The
episode is very similar to Martin of Tours encounter with the
funeral procession; see V. Mart. 12. See this episode
above.23FortheLife,whichsurvivesinCopticaswellasinSyriac,Arabic,andEthiopic,see
Lubomierski 2007.24For Shenoutes anti-pagan offensive, see Emmel
2008. 183 Religious Violence and Hagiography in Late AntiquityNumen
62 (2015)
169196thesurroundingareas,thatShenoutedeemstohavebeencarriedoutinan
orderly fashion:For I have done nothing in a disorderly fashion:
neither the time we burned
thepagantempleinAtripe;northetimewewentwiththeChristians who were
taken before the judge in Hermopolis and Antinoopolis when the
priests lodged a complaint against them because of the other (?)
tem-ple that they had destroyed in their own village. Or again: how
many men besides seven monks did I take with me the day I removed
the idols from that mans private chamber.25The Life raises
Shenoutes violent actions to the rank of encomiastic deeds. It
describes Shenoutes visit to the village of Pnueit with the purpose
of casting down the idols there. When the pagans heard about this,
they tried to stop him
byburyingsomemagicspellsintheroadtothevillage.Thesaint,however,
detected these spells since the mule he was riding stopped each
time he had to pass over one of them. In Pnueit, Shenoute went into
the temple, piled up the idols, and smashed them (V. Shenut. 8384).
On another occasion, he went
toPanopolisforthepurposeoftakingawaytheidolsthatthecrypto-pagan
landowner and ex-governor Gesios was hiding in his house.
Accompanied by two monks, he left the monastery and crossed the
river at night without need-ing a boat. When they arrived, the
doors of the house opened up and the way
towardstheplacewiththeidolswasleftclear.Shenoutegatheredthemup with
the assistance of his companions, took them to the river, broke
them into pieces,andthrewthemin.
Theythenreturnedtotheothersideoftheriver, once again without the
need of a boat (V. Shenut.
125127).OtherlaterCopticLivesincludeepisodesofasimilarkindtothese.The
Panegyric on Macarius, Bishop of Tkow (Paneg. Mac.), attributed to
Dioscuros
ofAlexandria(444451),26tellshowthesaintdesiredtoendtheworshipof
anidolcalledKothos,sohewenttothetempleontheoutskirtsofavillage,
accompanied by some Christian notables. When they arrived, the
worshippers of the idol captured him, and Besa, Shenoutes disciple,
and a group of monks
whofreedhimthensetfiretothetemple.Thetemplepriestwasburnedto death,
along with the idols. As a consequence of this, many pagans
converted, 25Quoted in Emmel 2008:162163. The list may be not
complete, as the manuscript breaks off here. Shenoute remembers his
anti-pagan activities in other works of his, compiled in Emmel
2008:182197.26Although the extant text is dated to the fifth or the
sixth century, it contains an older core; Johnson 1980 (ed. and
trans.).184 MarcosNumen 62 (2015) 169196and three hundred and six
idols were thrown into the fire (Paneg. Mac. 5.111).
TheLifeofMoses(ca.465550),BishopofAbydos,writtenshortlyafterhis
death, attributed several deeds of this kind to its hero: the
destruction of a tem-ple of Apollo and four other temples, the
death of thirty priests together with their children, and the
conversion of many. He is also attributed with putting an end to
the oracular worship of Bes. The Life ends when Moses encourages
hismonkstogoinsidethetemple(seeDijkstra2005:87).TheLifeofAaron
containsrichinformationaboutthemonasticoccupationoftheislandof
Philae and its first bishops, with many details about the
destruction of its temples (ca.
535537).27ActionstakenagainstpaganworshiparedescribedinseveralotherGreek
hagiographicalworks.Hypatius,thefirsthegoumenosintheMonasteryof
Rufinianae near Chalcedon (ca. 406446),28 was, according to his
biographer, obsessed with
idols.DrivenbyhiszealforGod,hecleansedmanyplacesintheBithynian
region of the mistaken worship of idols. As soon as he heard that a
tree oranyothersimilarobject wasworshippedsomewhere,hewenttothe
placeimmediately.Hetookthemonkswithhim,hisdisciples,hecutit
downandsetfiretoit.Inthisway,(thesepeople)weregraduallymade
Christian. In fact, saint Jonas, who had been his spiritual father,
had civi-lized Thrace in this way and had made it Christian. (V.
Hypat. 30)29The offensive against pagan worship seems to have been
a part of the teachings and ascetic practice at Rufinianae. For a
time, one of the most popular and con-troversial ascetics of the
time, Alexander Akimetes (the sleepless one), stayed
there.30FromanislandintheAegean,Alexanderhadfollowedasceticprac-tices
first in Syria and later in Mesopotamia, where he founded a
monastery on 27See Dijkstra 2008: 225270, with a discussion about
the Life of Aaron as a historical
source.28TheMonasteryofRufinianaehadbeenfoundedin393byFlaviusRufinus,Praetorian
Prefect of the East, on his land on the Asian side of the
Bosphorus. Monks were brought from Egypt to establish this first
foundation. After Rufinus death, by order of the Emperor Arcadius,
it was ruled by Hypatius, a monk from Phrygia, who made the
monastery a cen-ter of attraction for ascetics; there were fifty in
Hypatius lifetime. The Life of Hypatius, by his disciple
Callinicus, must have been written shortly after the saints death;
see Bartelink 1971:912.29The translation is my own from Bartelinks
edition. As far as I know, there is no English translation of the
Life.30Alexanders Life is translated in Caner 2002:249280. 185
Religious Violence and Hagiography in Late AntiquityNumen 62 (2015)
169196thebanksoftheEuphratesthatwelcomedmonksofvariouscultures.Itwas
said that four languages were spoken in the monastery: Syrian,
Coptic, Greek, and Latin. The founder achieved great fame for his
ascetic rigor, his devotion to prayer, and his missionary zeal. The
monks under his supervision, who were able to move around in groups
of over a hundred (perhaps the figure is exag-gerated), were feared
in the cities around the monastery because of the
distur-bancesandviolencetheycaused;aformofapostolatethat,accordingtothe
Life, succeeded in converting several Arab tribes. Alexander was
once arrested as an agitator, but he managed to escape and fled to
Constantinople where he founded a monastery some fifteen miles from
Rufinianae, which soon gathered
aboutthreehundredmonks.Whentheywereaccusedofheresyandperse-cuted,
Alexander and some of his disciples sought refuge in Rufinianae,
from where they undertook the foundation of other monasteries. The
most famous
ofthese,knownasthemonasteryoftheAcoemetae,becameanimportant
centerofspiritualityandcultureintheConstantinopolitanareathroughthe
work of his disciple, Marcellus (see Marcos 2003: 664666).Syrian
monasticism, which was so rich and varied in its forms, also
provides
someexamplesoficonoclastsaints.Theirmissionarymethodsrangedfrom
theeradicationofidolatrybysymbolicviolence(thesaintshowshispower
bydefeatingthedemonsinaspiritualcombat,oustingthemfromtheir
abodeandoccupyingithimself)tophysicalattacks,demolitions,andfires.
AgoodillustrationofthefirstmethodistheexperienceofThalelaeus,told
by TheodoretofCyrrhus(ca.444445)inhisPhilotheosHistoria,whoclaims
tohaveseentheprodigiousspectaclewithhisowneyes(28.1).Thalelaeus
settled down by a temple near the village of Gabala, where
worshippers made
numerousofferingstoplacatethecrueldemonsbywhomthepopulation
wasbeingterrorized.Thalelaeusbuiltasmallhutthere.Thedemonstried
tofrightenhimawaybyblowinggales(overfivehundredtreeswereblown down
by a single gust) and also by making night-time noises and lights.
When these had no effect on Thalelaeus, they finally left him
alone. Theodoret visited Thalelaeus some years later, when he was
living in a small cylinder hung in the air, where, because of the
saints large size, he always had to remain seated with
hisheadbetweenhisknees.Thalelaeusasceticrigorandhismiraclesmade
himacelebrityamongthepeopleinthearea.Theodoretfinisheshishagio-graphic
portrait:With their (the newly converted) assistance he has
demolished the
pre-cinctofdemonsanderectedagreatshrinetothetriumphantmartyrs,
opposingtothosefalselycalledgodsthegodlydead.Mayitbethatby their
intercession this man too may with the same victory reach the goal
186 MarcosNumen 62 (2015) 169196of the contests (agones), and that
we, aided by both them and him, may become fervent lovers of the
contests of philosophy. (Hist. Phil. 28.5)31Among the several
iconoclast monks in the Syrian region, the most outstand-ing is
Barsauma (or Bar Sauma), of whom a biography written by Samuel, one
of his first disciples, is extant.32 Although novel-like in many
ways, the Life con-tains a reliable historical core in regards to
the numerous episodes of violence against pagans and Jews (Acerbi
2007:278279, 284). Barsauma and his monks
alternatedtheiranchoriticorsemi-anchoriticlifeintheTaurusMountains
with evangelizing expeditions to the Holy Land, undertaken outside
any
con-trolbycivilorecclesiasticalauthorities.Around420,hewenttoJerusalem,
accompanied by forty followers behaving like a ravaging militia. On
the march towards Jerusalem, Barsaumaentered the land of the
Phoenicians, the Arabs and the Palestinians. He
begantosubverttheJewishsynagogues,destroythemeetingplacesof
theSamaritans,andburnthetemplesofpaganidols.Afterprayingin
Jerusalem and going to the mountains of Sinai, he walked along the
des-ert road. At that time, the pagans were still powerful in those
places; they weretheownersofthelandandthecitiesintheregion.
Thecitygates closed on his arrival. Sometimes they passed by, other
times they insisted and forced open the city gates and entered. On
one occasion they reached
alargecityinthatlandcalledRequemdeGaa(Petra),whichclosedits gates.
(Barsauma) was surprised by the citizens fear, as there were only
forty men with him. He threatened to declare war on them and burn
the city down if they did not let him enter. He entered. It had not
rained for four years and he announced rain for them. So much rain
fell that the city walls collapsed. The priests of the idols
converted.3331Trans.Price1985.Nothingisleftofthismartyrium.Theodoretmentionsothercasesof
supplanting similar cults of Maron in Cyrrhestique (Hist. Phil.
16.1) and of Abraham in a Lebanese village (Hist. Phil.
17.2).32TheversionoftheLifeofBarsaumathathasreachedus,inSyriac,datesfromthesixth
century. It has been partially edited and translated into French by
F. Nau in several issues
oftheRevuedelOrientchrtien:(1913),18:272276,379389;(1914),19:113114,278279,
414440; (19151917), 20:332. Although the figure of Barsauma has
been studied, as far as I know, his biography has not been written.
The best account of his activities, both against paganism and in
ecclesiastical politics, always marked by his extremist and violent
tem-perament, is in Acerbi 2007.33Based on a translation in Acerbi
2007:283. 187 Religious Violence and Hagiography in Late
AntiquityNumen 62 (2015) 169196From Petra, they walked on towards
the Port of Maan along the Roman road to the east of the Dead Sea,
burning down synagogues and destroying temples as they went.
Accompanied by a hundred men, Barsauma undertook another journey to
the Holy Land, where he met the Empress Eudocia, Theodosius IIs
wife,whohadexiledherselfinBethlehem.TheEmpresswasfascinatedby
Barsaumasdeedsandaskedtoseehimandtookhimunderherprotection. In a
new expedition to the Holy Land in 438, Barsauma went to the temple
of Jerusalem,wherenumerousJewshadgatheredbecauseoftheimperialoffer
ofre-establishingit,andhestartedagreatriot.
TheLifedoubtlesslyexagger-ates the figures: over a hundred thousand
Jews were gathered for the feast of Sukkoth; they began to stone
Barsauma and his monks who, despite being out-numbered,wontheday.
Thereweresomedeaths,andthemonksweretried
bytheRomangovernorandfoundguilty.Anearthquakeoccurredduring their
arrest, and Barsauma succeeded in persuading the governor, by this
and other miracles, that the Jews deaths were due to divine will.
This earned him a redoubled reputation as a holy man. He was
invited by Emperor Theodosius II
totakepartintheSecondCouncilofEphesusin449,whereherepresented
Eastern monasticism against the Nestorians and played a prominent
and vio-lent part. But his luck changed at the Council of Chalcedon
in 451, and he was
condemnedafterbeingaccusedofkillingBishopFlavianofConstantinople,
whohaddiedasaresultofphysicalviolenceattheCouncilofEphesus.
Barsauma was then dispossessed of his post as archimandrite,
although he was
laterrehabilitatedandallowedtoreturntohismonastery,wherehelivedat
least until 457 (Acerbi
2001).ThemotifoftheiconoclastsaintenduredinlaterByzantinehagiography.
Although it goes beyond the chronological limits of this paper, it
is worth tak-ing a brief look at the figure of John, monophysite
Bishop of Ephesus, who was
knownforhisevangelizationcrusadeintheruralareasofthewesternprov-inces
of Asia Minor in the mid-sixth century (Trombley 1985). The
progress of his campaign is described by himself in his Church
History:Intheyear542,thekindnessofGodvisitedAsia,Caria,Lydia,and
Phrygia,thankstothezealofthevictoriousJustinianandbytheactiv-ity of
his humble servant (John of Asia)...When God opened the minds (of
the pagans) and made them know the truth, he aided us in
destroy-ingtheirtemples,inoverturningtheidols,ineradicatingthesacrifices
whichwereofferedeverywhere,insmashingtheiraltarsdefiledbythe blood
of sacrifices offered to pagan gods, and in cutting down the
numer-ous trees which they worshiped, and so they became estranged
from all 188 MarcosNumen 62 (2015) 169196the errors of their
forefathers. The saving sign of the cross was implanted
everywhereamongstthem,andthechurchesofGodwerefoundedin every place.
(see in Trombley 1985:333)John claims to have saved many thousands
of people of the error of idolatry in the mountains of Caria, near
the city of Tralles, an area that he says was
com-pletelypagan.AtempletherewasconsecratedtothegoddessDareira(prob-ablythetempleofthegoddessMotherIsodromia,mentionedbyStraboin
Geography 9.5.19), on which fifteen hundred smaller temples
depended. With the approval of the civil authorities, John ordered
the destruction of the temple
andtheconstructionofamonasteryinitsplace,whichreceivedlargedona-tionsfromtheEmperorJustinian.TheDareiramonasteryheldjurisdiction
overfourteenchurchesandsevenmonasteriesinJohnslifetime.Inanother
ofhisworks,TheLivesoftheEasternSaints,adossierwithbriefbiographies
of Johns collaborators in Asia, he gives some figures about their
evangelizing achievements: eighty thousand conversions,
ninety-eight churches, and twelve monasteries built between
536566.34 John benefitted from the collaboration
ofseveralmonophysitebishops,priests,andmonks,whocomplainedabout the
hardship of their mission, for which they had to climb mountains
and enter
ruggedruralareas.Theirmissionwaslargelyfundedbyimperialresources,
privatedonations,andataxpaidbyChristians.AllJohnscollaboratorshad
been monks, in the present or in the past; and most of them were
Syrians apart
fromsomeArmeniansandPersianArameans.Similarevangelizingactions
inAsiaMinorareattestedintheLifeofNicholasofSion,hegumenofHagia Sion
monastery in Lycia (sixth century),35 and of the Life of Theodoret
of Sykeon
inGalacia(seventhcentury).36Despitealltherhetoriconmassiveconver-sions
associated with these campaigns, paganism survived in the East
until the Arab conquest.Western hagiographic tradition is less rich
in recounting iconoclast deeds, with the notable exception of Gaul,
where the historical and hagiographic pro-file of Martin was very
influential (Caseau 2001:8384). In Merovingian Gaul, the best
example of an emulator of Martin in the physical combat against
idols is Vulfilaic,aradicalasceticwhoreceivedGregoryof
Toursinhismonastery
forashorttime(ca.585).ItisGregorywhonarratesthestoryinhisHistoria
Francorum,whichhewastolddirectlybyVulfilaicaspartoftheaccountof
hisasceticconversion(8.15).VulfilaicfeltdevotiontoMartinwhenhewasa
34Figures that Trombley 1985:330331 considers realistic.35Ed. and
trans. Sevcenko and Sevcenko 1984.36There is a partial translation
in Dawes and Baynes 1977:88192. 189 Religious Violence and
Hagiography in Late AntiquityNumen 62 (2015)
169196boyfromonlyhearinghisnameandwithoutknowinganymoreabouthim.
When he was an adult, being instructed by Abbot Avidius, he visited
Martins tomb in Tours, from where he took a little earth. This was
the cause of a mira-cle which made Vulfilaic become faithfully
devoted to the saints memory. He moved to Trier and built a
monastery there with his own hands and a church which became famous
for its relics of Martin as well as other saints. Vulfilaic
achievedhisprestigeasanasceticwiththedestructionofastatueofDiana
thatnooneelsehadbeenabletopulldownbefore.Hewentupacolumn
nexttothestatueandstayedthereandprayedrepeatedlyuntilheobtained
fromGodthestrengthtooverturnit.Whenitwasontheground,hebroke
thestatueintopieceswithahammer.Thedemoninsideittookrevengeby
fillingVulfilaicsbodywithboils,whichhecuredwithholyoilbroughtfrom
St. Martins church. The local bishops finally managed to persuade
Vulfilaic to
stopemulatingSimeonStylites,toleavehiscolumn,andtogolivewiththe
monksinhismonastery.Thisepisode,fullofpicturesquedetails,isreminis-centofthestorythatSulpiciustellsofMartinsfightagainstthestatueona
column (Dial.
3.9.12).TheLifeofSt.GallbyGregoryofToursalsocontainsanepisodeoficon-oclasm.WhenGallwastravellingwithKingTheodorictoCologne,hesawa
templefullofreligiousobjects,whereitwassaidthatthebarbarianscarried
out their rites and orgiastic banquets and left votive offerings to
acknowledge the healings performed by the god. Gall went with a
companion and set fire to the temple, while no devotees were
inside. When the heathens saw the smoke,
theychasedGallwiththeirswords.ThekingcalmedthemdownandGalls
lifewassaved.Hishagiographerconcludes,(Gall)wouldoftenshedtears
when he told this story and say, Oh, how wretched I am for not
losing my life then (Vitae Patrum 6.2). Other Merovingian saints,
like Queen Radegund, the founder of a monastery in Poitiers,
included the destruction of idols amongst their evangelization
work.37TheevocativepowerofMartinsiconoclastmiraclesreachedwellintothe
MiddleAges.ARomanesquecapitalintheAbbeyofSt.MaryMagdalenein Vzelay,
a major pilgrimage center in the Middle Ages, shows the saint in
the act of cutting down the pine tree. The Romanesque artist,
however, turned the pine tree into a palm tree. The fact that the
image of Martin is part of a series of 37Radegund, the founder of a
womens monastery in Poitiers in 544, who died in 587, was
praisedintwoLives.Onewaswrittenbyherfriendandprotg,thepoetVenantius
Fortunatus shortly after her death (Vita Radegundis I; see Krusch
1888) and the other is a continuation of the first, by an abbess at
her monastery, Baudovinia, written in the early seventh century
(Vita Radegundis II).190 MarcosNumen 62 (2015)
169196hagiographiccapitals,whichrepresentAnthonyandPaulthehermit,among
others, must have confused the artist, who placed Martin in scenery
reminis-cent of the Egyptian
desert.ConclusionSanctityisinmanywaysasocialconstruct,andhencetheprofileofsaints
and the practices that qualify them as such change with the passing
of time.
Thedestructionoftemplesandidolsasawayandsignofsanctityisagood
example of this. The subject came to form part of the hagiography
in the late fourth century, reached its peak in the Theodosian
period (late fourth through early fifth centuries), the time of an
increase in the legislation and fight against
paganworship,andfelloffinthesixthcenturywhenChristianizationwas
believedtobecomplete.Evenso,lateraccountsdescribeholyactsoficono-clasminruralareas,whichweremorevulnerabletoabuse.Thedestruction
ofidols,whichiscategorizedwithineitherthevirtuesorthemiraclesofthe
saints, fulfills several functions in the Lives. It is a form of
sanctification and an ascetic exercise, a way to court martyrdom,
and a manifestation of divine will and omnipotence. All this is
given a triumphal touch to show Gods superiority over polytheistic
gods, now reduced to the category of demons, and encourage
conversions.Each story of the destruction of a pagan holy place is
followed by an episode of conversion en masse. As an instrument of
conversion, the smashing of idols
had,however,onlylimitedsuccess.Whereitispossibletomakeastatistical
study of the results of these miracles of conversion, as it is in
the case of the Life of Porphyry, the figures are poor. However,
the figures are not what count in sanctity, nor even the absolute
accuracy of the stories. In fact, many of the Lives we have
examined here are far from being completely reliable from a
historical point of view. What counts is their function as examples
to be followed, as it is invariably read in the prologues; that is
what makes them relevant for Late Antique history.Hagiography
provided role models and acted as a guide for the construction
ofChristianidentity. Thedestructionofsacredplaceswasoneofthevirtues
worthy of being admired and emulated. The iconoclast saint, in
single combat against the demons, exemplified the victory of true
religion over the falsity of
polytheismandshowedGodspoweroverthedaimones.Oncethelatterhad
beenturnedintodemons,theencounterbecameafightbetweenGodand
thedevil.Theviolenceisthusjustifiedasanecessarymeansbecauseofthe
191 Religious Violence and Hagiography in Late AntiquityNumen 62
(2015) 169196resistance of the gods to being removed from their
abodes, and as manifesta-tion of the struggle against the
demon.Hagiographyreachedanextensiveaudience,includingtheilliterate,as
thesetextswerereadinchurchesonthesaintsanniversaries.Furthermore,
theywerefrequentlytranslated,makingitaninternationalliterarygenre
that contributed towards shaping the behavior of Christians in very
different cultural traditions. During the crucial years of the
offensive against paganism,
hagiographywasavehicleforthecallofecclesiasticalhierarchytodemolish
and desacralize the temples and reuse them as
churches.Finally,althoughthefunctionofhagiographywasnottoconstructahis-toricalaccountbuttoevoketheactionsthatledtosainthoodanditsmani-festations
so that they might be imitated, a historical reality lies behind
these narratives. Hagiography thus comprises the richest source
about the destruc-tion of idols and the Christianization of pagan
sacred places. Therefore, from two viewpoints, symbolic and
historical, hagiography is relevant for the study
ofreligiousviolenceinLateAntiquity.Itprovidesdatawhichshouldbe
assessedwithintheconventionsofthegenre,andinformsusaboutamodel of
religious behavior that, traveling in the popular vehicle of
hagiography, sub-tly invited violence into a society prone to
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