Early Christian Attitudes to War, Violence and Military Service

402 Pages·2013·2.368 MB·English

by  Despina Iosif

Early Christian Attitudes to War,
Violence and Military Service
Gorgias Studies in Classical and Late Antiquity
1
Gorgias Studies in Classical and Late Antiquity contains
monographs and edited volumes on the Greco-Roman world and
its transition into Late Antiquity, encompassing political and social
structures, knowledge and educational ideals, art, architecture and
literature.
Early Christian Attitudes to War,
Violence and Military Service
Despina Iosif
9
34
2013
Gorgias Press LLC, 954 River Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
www.gorgiaspress.com
Copyright © 2 0 1 3 by Gorgias Press LLC
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright
Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the
prior written permission of Gorgias Press LLC.
2013 ܐ 9
ISBN 978-1-61143-486-6
Front cover image designed by Dimitris Koumaniotis
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication
Data
A Cataloging-in-Publication Record is Available
from the Library of Congress.
Printed in the United States of America
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents ..................................................................................... v
Acknowledgements ................................................................................. ix
1. Introduction .......................................................................................... 1
2. Jesus and the Evangelists or Love Your Enemies ............................. 19
3. Positive Sources .................................................................................. 61
4. The Silent Sources. From Him Come the Kings and the Rulers
and the Governors ............................................................................ 145
5. Dilemmas for Those Who Strive for Perfection
or To Serve or Not to Serve? or Break Off the Ties That Bind and
Entangle You in This World ........................................................... 187
6. Negative Sources .............................................................................. 213
7. Councils or Those Who Throw Away Their Arms in Times
of Peace Should Be Kept from Communion ....................................... 287
8. Epilogue ............................................................................................. 305
9. Bibliography ...................................................................................... 309
10. Appendix A. Other Possible Epigraphical Evidence ............... 357
11. Appendix B. A Selection of the Sources Discussed ................. 363
Index ....................................................................................................... 387

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To my husband Georgios Mavrikas
and our baby daughter Zoe Andreas Mavrika.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am particularly grateful to John A. North who has been a most
inspiring supervisor during my UCL years, to Richard Alston who
was always eager to read numerous versions of this manuscript and
to provide invaluable erudite advice, to Dimitris J. Kyrtatas for
introducing me in a magical way to the fascinating world of late
antiquity and to Dimitris Koumaniotis for his constant kind
support. Thanks are also due to Baggelis Balomenos, Brian
Campbell, Gillian Clark, Michael Crawford, David L. d’Avray,
Charalambos Dendrinos, Catherine Hall, Guy Halsall, Jonathan
Harris, Ian Kelso, Felicitas Kohen, Katerina Panagopoulou, Alina
Poulaki, Jonathan Prag, Charlotte Roueché, Cornelia Römer, Benet
Salway, Stavros Perentidis, Isabella Sandwell and Maria Ypsilanti
who offered many learned suggestions of the greatest value and to
the staff of the Institute of Classical Studies Library in London for
being so helpful and friendly.

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