Symeon Stylites the Younger and Late Antique Antioch
Symeon Stylites the Younger and Late Antique Antioch

Author: Lucy Parker

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2022-06-23

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 0192688790

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Symeon Stylites the Younger and Late Antique Antioch: From Hagiography to History is a study of the authority of the holy man and its limits in times of crisis. Lucy Parker investigates the tensions that emerged when increasingly ambitious claims about the powers of holy men came into conflict with undeniable evidence of their failures, and explores how holy men and their supporters responded to this. The work takes as its central figure Symeon Stylites the Younger (c.521-592), who, from his vantage point on a column on a mountain close to Antioch, witnessed a period of exceptional turbulence in the local area, which, in the sixth century, experienced plague, earthquakes, and Persian invasion. Through an examination of Symeon's own writings, as well as his hagiographic biography, it reveals that the stylite was a divisive figure who played upon social tensions and upon culturally sensitive areas such as paganism to carve out a role for himself as prophet and spiritual authority in the face of considerable opposition. It sets Symeon's life and cult in the context of Antioch and eastern Roman society, offering a new perspective on the state of the empire in the period before the rise of Islam. It argues that hagiography is an exceptionally rich source for the historian, offering insights into debates and tensions which reached to the heart of Christianity.

Symeon Stylites the Younger and Late Antique Antioch
Symeon Stylites the Younger and Late Antique Antioch

Author: Lucy Parker

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2022-07-07

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 019286517X

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Symeon Stylites the Younger and Late Antique Antioch: From Hagiography to History is a study of the authority of the holy man and its limits in times of crisis. Lucy Parker investigates the tensions that emerged when increasingly ambitious claims about the powers of holy men came into conflict with undeniable evidence of their failures, and explores how holy men and their supporters responded to this. The work takes as its central figure Symeon Stylites the Younger (c.521-592), who, from his vantage point on a column on a mountain close to Antioch, witnessed a period of exceptional turbulence in the local area, which, in the sixth century, experienced plague, earthquakes, and Persian invasion. Through an examination of Symeon's own writings, as well as his hagiographic biography, it reveals that the stylite was a divisive figure who played upon social tensions and upon culturally sensitive areas such as paganism to carve out a role for himself as prophet and spiritual authority in the face of considerable opposition. It sets Symeon's life and cult in the context of Antioch and eastern Roman society, offering a new perspective on the state of the empire in the period before the rise of Islam. It argues that hagiography is an exceptionally rich source for the historian, offering insights into debates and tensions which reached to the heart of Christianity.

Symeon Stylites the Younger and Late Antique Antioch
Symeon Stylites the Younger and Late Antique Antioch

Author: Lucy Parker

Publisher:

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780191955662

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Symeon Stylites the Younger and Late Antique Antioch explores the authority of a holy man and its limitations in times of crisis, with a particular focus on the little-studied Antiochene stylite Symeon the Younger. Symeon the Younger (c.521-92) lived through a period of repeated disasters in the region of Antioch, including earthquakes, plagues, and Persian invasions. The book explores how Symeon and his supporters reacted to these crises, which posed a powerful challenge to the claims of holy men to be able to protect their supplicants. It argues that crisis laid bare theological and emotional tensions that had always existed around the role of a holy man as intercessor between God and his supplicants. It considers various texts associated with the stylite, including his sermon collection, his hagiographic Life, and the Life of his mother, Martha, setting these in the broader context of society and culture in the late Roman empire and of developments in hagiography over time. The sermon collection and the Life of Symeon show that the stylite was a divisive figure who played on social tensions and scapegoated the wealthy notables of Antioch for disaster. The Life of Martha reflects a reorientation of priorities for the cult, offering an original vision of holiness based on participation in liturgy and the sacraments. The tensions evinced in these texts are reflected in other hagiographies from the period, offering a new perspective on the state of the Roman empire in the sixth and seventh centuries.

A History of the Later Roman Empire, AD 284-700
A History of the Later Roman Empire, AD 284-700

Author: Stephen Mitchell

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2023-07-05

Total Pages: 630

ISBN-13: 1119768551

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A sweeping historical account of the Later Roman Empire incorporating the latest scholarly research In the newly revised 3rd edition of A History of the Later Roman Empire, 284-700, distinguished historians Geoffrey Greatrex and Stephen Mitchell deliver a thoroughly up-to-date discussion of the Later Roman Empire. It includes tables of information, numerous illustrations, maps, and chronological overviews. As the only single volume covering Late Antiquity and the early Islamic period, the book is designed as a comprehensive historical handbook covering the entire span between the Roman Empire to the Islamic conquests. The third edition is a significant expansion of the second edition—published in 2015—and includes two new chapters covering the seventh century. The rest of the work has been updated and revised, providing readers with a sweeping historical survey of the struggles, triumphs, and disasters of the Roman Empire, from the accession of the emperor Diocletian in AD 284 to the closing years of the seventh century. It also offers: A thorough description of the massive political and military transformations in Rome’s western and eastern empires Comprehensive explorations of the latest research on the Later Roman Empire Practical discussions of the tumultuous period ushered in by the Arab conquests Extensive updates, revisions, and corrections of the second edition Perfect for undergraduate and postgraduate students of ancient, medieval, early European, and Near Eastern history, A History of the Later Roman Empire, 284-700 will also benefit lay readers with an interest in the relevant historical period and students taking a survey course involving the late Roman Empire.

Children and Everyday Life in the Roman and Late Antique World
Children and Everyday Life in the Roman and Late Antique World

Author: Christian Laes

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-11-10

Total Pages: 435

ISBN-13: 1317175506

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Children and Everyday Life in the Roman and Late Antique World explores what it meant to be a child in the Roman world - what were children’s concerns, interests and beliefs - and whether we can find traces of children’s own cultures. By combining different theoretical approaches and source materials, the contributors explore the environments in which children lived, their experience of everyday life, and what the limits were for their agency. The volume brings together scholars of archaeology and material culture, classicists, ancient historians, theologians, and scholars of early Christianity and Judaism, all of whom have long been involved in the study of the social and cultural history of children. The topics discussed include children's living environments; clothing; childhood care; social relations; leisure and play; health and disability; upbringing and schooling; and children's experiences of death. While the main focus of the volume is on Late Antiquity its coverage begins with the early Roman Empire, and extends to the early ninth century CE. The result is the first book-length scrutiny of the agency and experience of pre-modern children.