Virgins of God; The Making of Asceticism in Late Antiquity

465 Pages·1996·60.99 MB·English

by  Susanna Elm

OXFORD CLASS ICAL MONOGRAPHS
Published under the supervision of a Committee of the
Faculty of literae Humaniores in the University of Oxford
•
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•
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PR E FACE
T HE following is a study about institutions, their genesis, their
function. the means by which they endure, but also the means
through which they regulate , control, and selec!. It originated in
a vcry different contex!. in an area of scudy seemingly remote: a
period that witnessed the complete breakdown of political and
social structures under a totalitarian regime. but also. at the same
time. the durability of certain institutional models. It is thus a
study deeply influenced by the knowledge that institutions are
also human beings. not just abstract entities. and that it therefore
behoves us, as human beings. to understand how institutions
think, how they remember and forgel.
One institutional model of great durability is the Catholic
Church. For example, in Germany between 1933 and 1945 it alone
through a series of moral compromises, was not gleichgesclwllel,
not incorporated as an institution into the National-socialist sys
tem. As a hierarchically organized institution, the Catholic Church
is one of the oldest. if not the oldest. extant multinational
institutions in the Western world. How did it accomplish this feat
of longevity under constantly changing external conditions? How
did an institution of such durability originate?
An attempt to answer these questions suggests a stcp back in
time, not only to the Middle Ages but further, to the fourth
century when Christianity became legitimate. When such a step is
made, it becomes evident that one of the factors instrumental in
the Church's durability is its adaptability. This adaptability seems
to have been facilitated. if not m<lde possible, by a constant
creation of subsystems, more agile and thus more responsive
to the intcrnal and external challenges at hand, and as a con
sequence also more capable of incorporating a great variety of
cuhuraL social, and economic diversity. Among the most suc
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cessful of these subs.v stems are monasticism and the rcli2ious
orders.
Asceticism and monasticism as phenomena are well known
in most cultures. In the Western tradition they have assumed a
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Vlll Preface
high degree of differentimed organization: monks belong to orders
and live in monasteries that are organized on the basis of specific
rules. These rules constitute a standard (,orthodoxy") according
10 which all religious orders can be classified. As a consequence.
whatever is not encompassed by these rules is regarded as
ephemeral. and is relegated to the miscellaneous category of
'other". The Benedictine rule in particular has defined the term
monasticism at least since the ninth century, and monastic reform
and innovation used to be judged according to what was con
sidered a correct interpretation of this norm. that is. the regulae
reetit/ufo. Similarly. throughout the high and lale Middle Ages
the rule of 51 Augustine. th:lt of the Templars. and the con
stitutions of the Dominicans became the blueprint for almost all
canonical. military. and mendicant orders. As a consequence.
forms of religious life that rejected these rules. or did not a priori
conform to their concepts. had to struggle for their right to exist
or were relegated to the precarious existence of the heretical.
This phcnomenon is observable not only in the periods <lfter
Benedict but cven during those prior to him. when the norm was
established by men considered to be his direct precursors. such as
Basil of Caesarea. Pachomius. and Antony. This phenomenon is
particularly relev<lnt for special subcategory of uscctics and
;1
monks: women .
.M y study is concerned with a group thus rele[<1ted to the mar
It has two tasks. The lesser one is to re-evaluate critically
~ns.
the historiographical conception that takes Benedictine Tl!onaSli
cisln as its point of reference. The second and larger task is to
reconstruct how the monastic norm did evolve and change. Here
the role of \\omen becomes crucial. It becomes clear that fourlii:""
century women ascetics adopted organizational patterns and
forged institutions via a complex process involving both the trans
formation of the given model of the family and a reaction against
that verv model. rvloreo\'er. women did so in concert with men.
An initial focus on female asceticism thus provides an ideal point
of leverage not only for prying apart the historiographical bound
aries erected in the wake of monasticism. but also for revealing
the great variety of organizational forms against which an 'ortho
dox' norm was created.
By the end of the third and thc bcginning of the fourth century
ascetic communities had developed in urban centres and
AD
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Preface
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gained an important voice in ecclesiastical decisions and doctrinal
disputes. These communities consisted of male and female ascetics
who cohabited. To put it differently, monasticism originated as
an urban phenomenon and consisted largely of men and women
living together. This symbiosis not only conforms to the structural
model of the household. which also men and women;
comrrisc~
it further represents a stringcnt interpretation of scriptural pre
cepts. If the ascetic life transforms humans into angels. if angels
neither marry nor are given in marriage (Matt. 22: 30), and if
there is neither male nor female in Jesus Christ, then the sym·
biosis of male and female ascetics represents the highest form of
ascetic perfection. If through asceticism a woman achieves ·male·
virtue (arete), and is thereby transformed into a ·manly woman',
then she has not only achieved true equality with her male coun·
terparts, but has been transformed into an ideal, complete human
being.
On examining the early history of asceticism in two regions of
the Roman Empire. Asia Minor and Egypt, it becomes evident
that Basil of Caesarea, Pachomius, Athanasius of Alexandria,
and other ascetic and monastic ·innovators· were much less in
novators than reformers. As reformers they replaced already
existing organizational models of ascetic life with others, better
suited 10 the demands of contemporary society. One aspect of
this adaptation was the attempt to segregate the sexes. In thcory.
men and women as ascetics were equal. However, this equality
was increasingly projected inwards: only the soul of an ascetic
woman may 'become male·, and none of these male qualities may
find an external expression. Poverty bceame a personal matter
rather than an absolute goal to be pursued by the ascetic com
munity as such. And withdrawal from the world was to be ef
fected by a move to the countryside (the deserlllm) , by a removal
from the urban scene of politics, rather than solely as a personal
choice of life-style. In Egypt the dialectical interaction between
norms which increasingly stress the advantages of ascetic life in
the desert and an urban ascetic audicnce becomes even more
evident, as highlighted by the tensions between Alexandria and
the koine.
Throughout all these processes concepts of orthodoxy and
heresy. as well as the doctrinal struggles to define the notion of
the Trinity, were fundamental to thc creation and seleclion of
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Preface
ascetic models. After Theodosius' accession in the year 379.
in a clear reversal of historic development. existing ascetic com
munities of long standing found themselves branded as 'heretical
innovations'. while newly developed notions of ascetic life in
common were heralded as traditional and 'orthodox', In this
process thc relation between the true import. thc actual practical
value of an organizational concept. and the merely fortuitous
doctrinal alliances of ascetic leaders perforce remains Uncle<lL
My study focuses on female asceticism and its organization to
demonstrate that the conventional picture of asceticism and of its
making in the fourth century needs to be revised. This revision
entails a new attention to the dynamic process by which the past
is shaped into a 'tradition'. reaching the present only refashioned
according to contemporary norms.
A project of this duration necessarily incurs many debts of grati·
tude. Dumbarton Oaks. the National Humanities Center. and the
National Endowment for the Humanities provided me with the
funds and leisure without which the completion of this book
would have been very difficul! indeed, To them. and that means
in particular to the staff at both Dumbarton Oaks and the
National Humanities Center, I remain deeply indebted. Special
thanks are also due to Robin Lane Fox. who sparked the idea of
·virgins·. and to John Matthews. who guided me throughout
all stages of the dissertation from which this study developed;
I can only say that he was the best supen'isor I could havc hoped
for. I should further like to thank my colleagues in the History
Department at Berkeley. who have contributed much not only in
the way of intellectual stimulation. but perhaps more importantly
by making me feel at home in California, I am especially grateful
to William Bouwsma. Robert Brentano. Gerard Caspary. Robin
Einhorn. Carla Hesse. Geoffrey Koziol. Thomas Laqueur. and
Peter Sahlins. Thomas Brady and Erich Gruen were true mentors.
offering advice in many matters. both small and not so small.
Their insights and guidance extended well beyond the substantial
portions of the manuscript they have read.
Over thc years many friends have given me ideas. insights. and
encouragement. in con\'ersations and throu!!h their work. amon!C
,
"
them Joseph Alchermcs. Peter Brown. Alessandra Casella.
Elizabeth Clark. Kaspar Elm. Marcella Forlin Patrucco. Hartmut
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Preface "
Galslcrer, Elena Giannarelli, Linda Gregerson, Robert Gregg,
Joan Gruen, George Lawless, Barb<lra Levick, Stephan zur
Lippe, Rita Lizzi, Rebecca Lyman, Johann Michael Moller,
Steven Mullaney, Jeffrey Schnapp, Eve Sedgwick, Ramon Teja,
and Simon Wallis, Lennard Sunde lin helped me a great deal with
the footnotes in Part I, and I am very grateful to Willi<lm North
not only for compiling the index, but, more importantly, for all
his comments, corrections, and ideas, Linda Morgan and Karen
Carroll accomplished feals on the keyboard and prevented many
typing error. My very special thanks are due Lucy Gasson
<I 10
and Hilary O'Shea, my editors at Oxford University Press. and to
copy-editor Julian Ward. All errors remaining after the cumulative
effort of all these friends are exclusively my own.
Finally, J wish to give special thanks to Theodore Correl, who
made me happy. and. above all. to my parents. Over the yC<lrs.
they have given me support. courage. opportunities for many a
lively discussion, and a constant sense of belonging. This book.
however. is dedicated the memory of my mother. to her
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strength and courage in the face of the inevitable.
University of California at Berkeley S.E.
September 1992