Monastic Formation, Episcopal Authority, and Conceptions of Justice in Late Antiquity by Maria ...

376 Pages·2013·1.96 MB·English

by  Maria Doerfler

Law and Order:
Monastic Formation, Episcopal Authority, and Conceptions of Justice in Late Antiquity

by
Maria Edith Doerfler
Graduate Program of Religion
Duke University

Date:_______________________
Approved:

___________________________
Elizabeth A. Clark, Supervisor

___________________________
J. Warren Smith

___________________________
J. Clare Woods

___________________________
Joel Marcus

___________________________
Zlatko Plese

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate Program of
Religion in the Graduate School
of Duke University

2013

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v
ABSTRACT

Law and Order:
Monastic Formation, Episcopal Authority, and Conceptions of Justice in Late Antiquity
by
Maria Edith Doerfler
Graduate Program of Religion
Duke University

Date:_______________________
Approved:

___________________________
Elizabeth A. Clark, Supervisor

___________________________
J. Warren Smith

___________________________
J. Clare Woods

___________________________
Joel Marcus

___________________________
Zlatko Plese

An abstract of a Dissertation submitted in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate Program of Religion
in the Graduate School
of Duke University

2013
Copyright by
Maria Edith Doerfler
2013
Abstract
Among the numerous commitments late ancient Christians throughout the Roman
Empire shared with their non-Christian neighbors was a preoccupation with justice. Not
only was the latter one of the celebrated characteristics of God, the New Testament had
charged Christians, particularly those who served as bishops or elders, with ensuring and
maintaining justice in their communities from the tradition's very origins. In the early
fourth century, this aspect of episcopal responsibilities had received an unexpected boost
when the Emperor Constantine not only recognized bishops' role in intra-Christian
conflict resolution, but expanded their judicial capacity to include even outsiders in the
so-called audientia episcopalis, the bishop's court.
Christians had, of course, never resolved the question of what constituted justice
in a vacuum. Yet bishops' increasing integration into the sprawling and frequently
amorphous apparatus of the Roman legal system introduced new pressures as well as new
opportunities into Christian judicial discourse. Roman law could become an ally in a
minister's exegetical or homiletical efforts. Yet it also came to intrude into spheres that
had previously regarded themselves as set apart from Roman society, including especially
monastic and clerical communities. The latter proved to be particularly permeable to
different shades of legal discourse, inasmuch as they served as privileged feeders for
episcopal sees. Their members were part of the Christian elites, whose judicial formation
promised to bear disproportionate fruit among the laity under their actual or eventual
care. This dissertation's task is the examination of the ways in which Christians in these

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environments throughout the Latin West at the turn of the fifth century thought and wrote
about justice. I contend that no single influence proved dominant, but that three strands
of judicial discourse emerge as significant throughout these sources: that of popular
philosophical thought; that of biblical exegesis; and that of reasoning from Roman legal
precept and practice. Late ancient Christian rhetoric consciously and selectively
deployed these threads to craft visions of justice, both divine and human, that could be
treated as distinctively Christian while remaining intelligible in the broader context of the
Roman Empire.
.

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Dedication

Accedit illud quod ingratus divinitati esse non possum: laetandum est enim magis quod
talem fratrem habuerim, quam dolendum quod fratrem amiserim; illud enim munus, hoc
debitum est. Itaque perfunctus sum, quamdiu licuit, commisso mihi fenore: qui deposuit
pignus, recepit.

- De Excessu Fratris 1.3

To the memory of my brother, Andreas.

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Contents
Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iv

Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ xi

1.
  Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1

1.1
  Outline of the Project ........................................................................................... 8

2.
  Leading the Church, Judging the World .................................................................... 13

2.1
  Episcopal Selection at the Turn of the Fifth Century. ....................................... 19

2.2
  Making (Monk-)Bishops .................................................................................... 29

2.3
  Bishops at Work: Between Law and Scripture. ................................................ 36

2.3.1
  Tying and Loosing: Slaves, Orphans, and Bishops. .................................... 36

2.3.2
  Tending and Defending: Bishops’ Care of Prisoners. .................................. 43

2.3.3 Family Affairs: Episcopal Advocacy for Slaves and Women. ....................... 46

2.4
  Conclusion: The Public Bishop. ........................................................................ 49

3.
  Iudex, Arbiter, Episcopus : Mapping the audientia episcopalis in late ancient judicial
practice .............................................................................................................................. 55

3.1
  Introduction ........................................................................................................ 55

3.2
  Roman Courts: Giving Judgment from Republic to Dominate ......................... 60

3.2.1
  Judicial Action in the Early Republic: Legis Actio. ...................................... 60

3.2.2
  From Late Republic to the Principate: Judicial Action by formula. ............. 63

3.2.3
  The Empire and the Age of the Codices: Cognitio extra ordinem. ............... 65

3.3
  One Case, Different Paths to Resolution ........................................................... 69

3.3.1
  Before the Iudex: Magisterial Courts in Late Antiquity ............................... 69

3.3.2
  Alternative Dispute Resolution: Arbitration, Negotiation & Co. ................. 76

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3.4
  The Episcopalis Audientia ................................................................................. 80

3.4.1.
  The bishop and the laws: Roman legal support for the episcopalis audientia.
83

3.4.1.1 Theodosian Code 1.27.1 .......................................................................... 87

3.4.1.2 Sirmondian Constitution 1 ....................................................................... 91

3.4.1.3 Justinianic Code 1.4.7 .............................................................................. 97

3.4.1.4 Theodosian Code 1.27.2 / Justinianic Code 1.4.8 .................................. 100

3.4.2 Status Quaestionis: Some Tentative Conclusions. ....................................... 101

3.4.3
  Conclusion: The Return of Licinius. ........................................................... 106

4.
  A Few Good Men: Philosophical Discourse and the Construction of Justice. ........ 116

4.1
  Introduction: The Niece’s Betrothal and the Church’s Two Dowries. ............ 116

4.2
  Plato’s Heirs: The Just Community. ................................................................ 125

4.2.1
  Stoic and Neoplatonic Approaches to Community and Society ................. 125

4.2.1.1
  Good Men and Philosopher-Kings: Neoplatonic approaches to
community and justice. ....................................................................................... 127

4.2.1.2
  The Sage and the Statesman: Stoic Visions of Government. .............. 134

4.3
  Philosophical Schools and Monastic Communities ......................................... 143

4.3.1
  Catechumens and the Philosophical Life: Augustine at Cassiciacum ....... 143

4.3.2
  The Communal Foundations of Justice: Cassiciacum and Hippo ............... 153

4.3.3
  Ambrose’s De Officiis: Crafting Clergy in Northern Italy ......................... 161

4.3.3.1
  Iustitia and Beneficentia in Cicero and Ambrose ................................ 166

4.3.3.2
  Ambrose’s Justice: Personal, Ecclesial, Communal. .......................... 176

4.4 Conclusion: Paternus’ Problem. .......................................................................... 180

5.
  The Wheat and the Chaff: Judging like God .......................................................... 188

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5.1
  Introduction: The Feuding Siblings. ............................................................... 188

5.2
  Justice and Christian Communities: First Century Origins ............................. 195

5.2.1 Paul vs. the Courts of Corinth (1 Corinthians 6:1-6) .................................... 197

5.2.2
  The Judging Community (Matthew 18:15-20) ........................................... 201

5.2.3
  The “Apostles” Speak: The Didache ......................................................... 203

5.3
  Heirs of the Apostles: Afterlife of Texts? ....................................................... 208

5.3.1
  The Second and Third Centuries ................................................................. 208

5.3.2
  The Didascalia Apostolorum ...................................................................... 210

5.3.3
  The Fourth Century: The Apostles’ Monastic Heirs .................................. 217

5.4 Quis custodiet ipsos custodes: Judging the Saints ............................................ 221

5.4.1 Keeping it in the Family: The Bishop as Paterfamilias ............................... 222

5.4.2
  Eschatological Dimension: The Bishop as Mediator ................................. 230

5.4.3 Like Judges Like ............................................................................................ 239

5.5
  Conclusion: The Successful (?) Plaintiff. ........................................................ 249

6.
  The Law and the laws: Roman and Christian Justice .............................................. 253

6.1
  Introduction: The Monastic Convict. .............................................................. 253

6.2
  The Public Law. ............................................................................................... 257

6.3 Songs of Ascent: Divine Justice from Earthly Exemplars. ................................. 261

6.3.1 Awaiting Trial. ............................................................................................... 265

6.3.2
  The Quaestio: Truth-Telling and Torture. ................................................. 269

6.3.3
  Punishment and Pardon. .............................................................................. 276

6.4 Descent: Roman Law in Christian Dress. .......................................................... 283

6.4.1.
  Heavenly Exemplars and Earthly Judges ................................................... 284

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6.4.2
  Roman Law and Late Ancient Monasticism ............................................... 292

6.4.2.1
  Boundary Negotiations I: The Monasterium’s vulnerable Fringes ...... 296

6.4.2.2 Boundary Negotiations II: Treasures on Earth and in Heaven. .............. 303

6.4.2.3 Boundary Negotiations III: Roman Law in the Heart of the Monastery 308

7.
  Conclusion: Judicial Discourse as Optical Illusion. ............................................... 321

8.
  Appendix: Ambrose on the Virtues ......................................................................... 328

8.1
  The Political Virtue: Justice and the Unity of the Virtues .............................. 329

8.2
  The Divine Virtue: Justice and Mercy ............................................................ 333

8.3
  The Ubiquitous Virtue: Ambrose as Bricoleur. .............................................. 336

Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 339

I.
  Primary Sources .................................................................................................. 339

II.
  Secondary Sources ............................................................................................ 346

Biography ........................................................................................................................ 363

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