Ethnicity and Argument in Eusebius' Praeparatio Evangelica PDF
Preview Ethnicity and Argument in Eusebius' Praeparatio Evangelica
OXFORD EARLY CHRISTIAN STUDIES General Editors Gillian Clark Andrew Louth THEOXFORDEARLYCHRISTIANSTUDIESseriesincludesscholarlyvol- umesonthethoughtandhistoryoftheearlyChristiancenturies.Coveringa widerangeofGreek,Latin,andOrientalsources,thebooksareofinterestto theologians,ancienthistorians,andspecialistsintheclassicalandJewishworlds. Titlesintheseriesinclude: EvagriusofPontus:TheGreekAsceticCorpus Translation,Introduction,andCommentary RobertE.Sinkewicz(2003) GregoryofNyssaandtheGraspofFaith Union,Knowledge,andtheDivinePresence MartinLaird(2004) TheSuVeringoftheImpassibleGod TheDialecticsofPatristicThought PaulL.Gavrilyuk(2004) CyrilofAlexandriaandtheNestorianControversy TheMakingofaSaintandofaHeretic SusanWessel(2004) TheByzantineChrist Person,Nature,andWillintheChristologyofStMaximustheConfessor DemetriosBathrellos(2004) TheDoctrineofDeiWcationintheGreekPatristicTradition NormanRussell(2004) TheBodyinStMaximustheConfessor HolyFlesh,WhollyDeiWed AdamG.Cooper(2005) TheAsketikonofStBasiltheGreat AnnaM.Silvas(2005) MariusVictorinus’CommentaryonGalatians StephenAndrewCooper(2005) AsceticismandChristologicalControversyinFifth-CenturyPalestine TheCareerofPetertheIberian CorneliaB.Horn(2006) MarcellusofAncyraandtheLostYearsoftheArianControversy325–345 SaraParvis(2006) TheIrrationalAugustine CatherineConybeare(2006) ClementofAlexandriaandtheBeginningsofChristianApophaticism HennyFiska˚ Ha¨gg(2006) TheChristologyofTheodoretofCyrus AntiocheneChristologyfromtheCouncilofEphesus(431) totheCouncilofChalcedon(451) PaulB.Clayton,Jr.(2006) Ethnicity and Argument in Eusebius’ Praeparatio Evangelica AARON P. JOHNSON 1 3 GreatClarendonStreet,OxfordOX26DP OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwidein OxfordNewYork Auckland CapeTown DaresSalaam HongKong Karachi KualaLumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Nairobi NewDelhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto WithoYcesin Argentina Austria Brazil Chile CzechRepublic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore SouthKorea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam OxfordisaregisteredtrademarkofOxfordUniversityPress intheUKandincertainothercountries PublishedintheUnitedStates byOxfordUniversityPressInc.,NewYork (cid:1)AaronP.Johnson2006 Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted DatabaserightOxfordUniversityPress(maker) Firstpublished2006 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced, storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans, withoutthepriorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress, orasexpresslypermittedbylaw,orundertermsagreedwiththeappropriate reprographicsrightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproduction outsidethescopeoftheaboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment, OxfordUniversityPress,attheaddressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisbookinanyotherbindingorcover andyoumustimposethesameconditiononanyacquirer BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Dataavailable TypesetbySPIPublisherServices,Pondicherry,India PrintedinGreatBritain onacid-freepaperby BiddlesLtd.,King’sLynn,Norfolk ISBN0–19–929613–8 978–0–19–929613–2 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 For Heidi This page intentionally left blank Preface WhetherreadingHerodotusonthetiesthatboundtheGreekstogether, IsocratesonthesuperiorityofGreekpaideia,Lucian’squibblesoverthe AtticpurityofcertainGreekwords,orJuliantheApostate’sdeclarations on the Greekness of pagan sacriWcial practice, the modern reader is persistently struck by the Greeks’ pervasive sense that they possessed a highlydistinctiveidentityandhadcarvedoutforthemselvesaparticular nichein aworldof nations(ethne¯). The concernto fortify, manipulate and reconWgure ethnic identities persisted among Greek authors from theclassicaltotheearlyByzantineperiods.WhatwasdistinctivelyGreek about the Greeks, and what marked oV non-Greeks—whether Scythians, Persians or Egyptians—from Greek identity, were topics brimming with signiWcance and deserving of a great deal of literary industry and ingenuity. The apologetic literature produced by Jews andChristiansjoinedtheoftenheatedconversationoverethnicidentity and frequently developed its arguments within this ongoing Greek discourseonethnicity.Eusebius’PraeparatioEvangelica(writtenbetwe- en ad 313 and 324) stands as the most sustained and comprehensive workinthistradition,amonumenttotheliterarybattlesfoughtoverthe contestedWeldofidentityinGreekantiquity. Often misconstrued as nothing more than a repository of otherwise lost authors, the Praeparatio may yield more than just the verbatim quotations of missing works. The present discussion seeks to take seriously the representations of ethnicity in Eusebius’massive 15-book defence of Christianity. The role of ethnic identity in the argument against the Greeks and other nations has often been overlooked in attemptstodelineateEusebius’methodology,dueinnosmallparttoa focus on Christianity and its others as merely religious positions, extracted from their embodiment within the communalwaysof life of particularpeoples.Iarguethatafullerappreciationoftheargumentof the Praeparatio is obtained by close analysis of the ethnic identities constructedbyEusebiuswithinthetext. I refer to Eusebius’ method as ‘ethnic argumentation’—that is, the concern to strategically formulate ethnic identities as the basis for an apologeticargument.Assumingadiscursiveapproachtoethnicity(one that recognizes the constructedness of such identities as a matter of viii Preface boundaryformation),IexamineEusebius’retellingoftwonarrativesof descent:thatoftheGreeksandtheHebrews(asdistinguishedfromthe ‘Jews’, a later Egyptianized form of Hebrew identity). The former are representedaslatecomerstohistoryanddependentuponothernations for their waysof thinkingandliving (which areshown tobe irrational and impious); the latter are shown to be the most ancient ‘friends of God’, whose way of life embodied piety and wisdom. By portraying ChristiansasarestorationoftheancientHebrews,Eusebiuslegitimizes Christianity as rooted in antiquity and superior to other ethnic iden- tities. Christians are a nation drawn from other nations (or, a ‘Church outofthenations’).Eusebiusthusblendsuniversalism(peoplefromany nation may join this restored Hebrew nation) and particularism (con- versioninvolvesthetotalrejectionofone’sancestralethniccustomsfora newwayoflife)inhisconceptionofChristianidentity. Throughout the course of my work on Eusebius, I have been con- tinually surprised at the interest taken in my project and the kindness shown by a great number of people. I am grateful to members of the ClassicscommunityattheUniversityofColoradoatBoulder,wherethis book had its beginnings as a doctoral thesis. Eckardt Schutrumpf, Christopher Shields, Susan Prince, Mark Benassi, John Gibert, and Peter Hunt, provided helpful suggestions, guidance and encourage- ment—whether as readers or as friends; Hal Drake, as a guest on my committee,oVeredagreatdealofhistimeandgoodhumourthrough- outeverystageofitswriting;NoelLenskiprovedaninsuperableadviser andfriend,whoseunstintingcareandkindnessIammostfortunateto have received. The dissertation was completed while I held a Junior Fellowship at Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies. I am gratefulfortheWnancialandacademicsupportgrantedbytheTrustees ofHarvardUniversity,andespeciallytoAlice-MaryTalbot,whocreated an ideal environment inwhich myworkcould progress. While there,I receivedmuchhelpfuladvicefromitscommunityofscholarsandothers whom I met during that year, including Scott Johnson, Kate Cooper, KevinOsterloh, EvangelosChrysos,ManolisPapoutsakis,andChristo- pher Jones. I also received warm hospitality from Greg Smith and MichaelMcCormickwhileavisitingfellowinCambridge.Iamindebted to the following for having read either a part or the whole of the manuscript as Iwas revising it for publication: Averil Cameron, David Olster, Andrew Jacobs, Peter Van NuVelen, Kevin Van Bladel, and Michael Maas. Their suggestions and criticisms were invaluable; they certainlybearnoburdenforerrorsthatremain.Myfamilyhasprovided Preface ix the support without which I could not have Wnished. My children, Albian and Asher, have shown a great deal of patience and helped me to tell better the story of Eusebius, his library, and the ancient Greeks towardswhom he focused his attention. My wife has shown unlimited goodwill, encouragement, and self-sacriWce. She provided the initial impetustoworkonethnicity inEusebius.Heidihasbeenatruefriend and faithful companion both intellectually and spiritually; it is to her thatIdedicatethisbook.Finally,inadditiontothosehumanswhohave givenmesomuch,Ishouldremarkthatthisprojecthasbeensustained bythegraceofapersistentlycaringGod.Iamgratefulfortherelentless careoftheOnewhohascarriedmethroughtheselabours.
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