| Paper 204-a | Domitian, the Fathers, and the Persecution of the Church
(Language: English)
Marcus Harmes, School of History, Philosophy, Religion & Classics, University of Queensland
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Hagiography, Religious Life |
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| Paper 204-d | Gregory the Great: Conversion through Healing
(Language: English)
Benjamin Pugno, Department of History, University of Houston, Texas
Index terms: Ecclesiastical History, Education, Medicine, Monasticism |
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| Abstract | Paper -a:
The portrayal of the Emperor Domitian in early Christian sources exemplifies the Church's willingness to re-shape history as it formulated its relations with Roman civil authority. Historians have seen Domitian as an example of a 'bad' emperor which indicated the obedience Christians would offer to emperors who did not persecute. But Patristic sources not only distinguished between good and bad emperors, but made good emperors out of bad, insisting on conversions and patronage as emanating from the imperial court. Using distinctive features of the Patristic records of the Domitianic persecution, including records of his victims, this paper reconstructs how Patristic writers undertook a mental journey to integrate Church and State, locating Christians at the very centre of imperial power.
Paper -b:
This paper will examine the influence of pagan travel literature (in particular the Aeneid) and Christian prose itineraria on the 9th poem of Prudentius' Peristephanon. In the poem, Prudentius is on his way to Rome when he discovers the tomb of St Cassian, and an account of the saint's passion follows. The framing narrative employs some of the conventions of pilgrimage literature, while the poem as a whole contains allusions to Vergil's Aeneid, and I will argue that through these allusions Prudentius models his journey to Rome on the travels of Aeneas. This can be seen as part of Prudentius' larger project to map Christian sites of interest onto the Roman empire.
Paper -c:
My report is dedicated to the analysis of structure, composition, and contents of Cassiodorus' De Anima (6th century). It is shown that it is possible to trace textual and semantic parallels between texts of Cassiodorus and the authors of Late Antiquity, among which is Augustine (4-5th centuries). The discrepancy in their key terms and also in some basic elements of their teaching on the soul is also demonstrated. For instance, ethical approach in Cassiodorus' teaching on the soul with a strong Christian element and their connection with antique ethics are considered. The conclusion is made that Cassiodorus accepted those aspects of Platonism that had been absorbed not only by Augustine but also by other 5th-century authors, both Christians (Claudianus Mamertus) and pagans (Calcidius). It is shown that Cassiodorus shaped the doctrine of soul in rhetorical form and made it a part of already established Christian intellectual tradition.
Paper -d:
Despite the vast amount of analysis that scholars have done concerning Gregory the Great's views on politics and theology, his views on healing and medical education are generally ignored. Through close scrutiny of Gregory's life experiences, his education, and the contents of his Letters and Pastoral Care, I argue that medical education played a significant role in the formation of Gregory's views on effective conversion and the establishment of monasteries. These factors also resulted in providing Gregory's missionaries the means to portray themselves as educated healers and thus use medicine as a conversion tool.
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