Abstract While clothing issues of the Romans have been researched in recent years, the examination of facial hair has so far been rather unexplored. Therefore, little attention has been paid to the ceremonial first shave of young Romans (barbatoria), although beard growth, shaving and care provided information about hierarchies and identity, alleged sexual practices or periods of life cycle. The ritual of barbatoria was hence accompanied by assumptions about the character of a person.The article shows these dimensions of barbatoria using the examples of Octavian/Augustus, Caligula, Nero and Elagabalus. In doing so, it aims at pointing to the possibilities of distinction as well as transgression for staging the status as a young, wealthy Roman citizen that is becoming a ‘real man’.
{"title":"Barbatoriam facere. Distinktion und Transgression in der römischen Kaiserzeit","authors":"Christopher Degelmann","doi":"10.1515/mill-2021-0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/mill-2021-0002","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract While clothing issues of the Romans have been researched in recent years, the examination of facial hair has so far been rather unexplored. Therefore, little attention has been paid to the ceremonial first shave of young Romans (barbatoria), although beard growth, shaving and care provided information about hierarchies and identity, alleged sexual practices or periods of life cycle. The ritual of barbatoria was hence accompanied by assumptions about the character of a person.The article shows these dimensions of barbatoria using the examples of Octavian/Augustus, Caligula, Nero and Elagabalus. In doing so, it aims at pointing to the possibilities of distinction as well as transgression for staging the status as a young, wealthy Roman citizen that is becoming a ‘real man’.","PeriodicalId":36600,"journal":{"name":"Millennium DIPr","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88601550","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract There is a long tradition of considering the lesser Byzantine historical texts - those not written in the classicizing narrative style of Herodotus, Thucydides, and Procopius - as the products of a continuous development from Hellenistic and late antique chronicles. As a result, they are all still called chronicles in spite of the fact that the only characteristics they share with earlier chronicles and one another is their condensed and ‘universal’ approach to history. In reality, there were only a very few true Byzantine chronicles, while all the other so-called chronicles developed from other Hellenistic and Roman genres into six distinct groups of texts that are completely unrelated to chronicles, apart from some content. This analysis is founded primarily upon the structure of and use of chronology by these texts, which are all represented by lengthy quotations that readers can compare for themselves.
{"title":"The Origin and Evolution of Early Christian and Byzantine Universal Historiography","authors":"R. Burgess","doi":"10.1515/mill-2021-0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/mill-2021-0004","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract There is a long tradition of considering the lesser Byzantine historical texts - those not written in the classicizing narrative style of Herodotus, Thucydides, and Procopius - as the products of a continuous development from Hellenistic and late antique chronicles. As a result, they are all still called chronicles in spite of the fact that the only characteristics they share with earlier chronicles and one another is their condensed and ‘universal’ approach to history. In reality, there were only a very few true Byzantine chronicles, while all the other so-called chronicles developed from other Hellenistic and Roman genres into six distinct groups of texts that are completely unrelated to chronicles, apart from some content. This analysis is founded primarily upon the structure of and use of chronology by these texts, which are all represented by lengthy quotations that readers can compare for themselves.","PeriodicalId":36600,"journal":{"name":"Millennium DIPr","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82033925","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This paper examines the modes of imperial interactions with Church councils, focusing on the emperor’s participation in episcopal meetings and its representation in late antique sources, both literary and documentary. The author argues that the availability and strategic dissemination of conciliar records could affect, for better or worse, the understanding of the imperial religious policy and attitude towards Church institutions. This is most clearly illustrated by Marcian’s behaviour at Chalcedon, and by the active steps he took to produce an official and imperially endorsed edition of the conciliar acts. The significance of Marcian’s initiatives emerges more clearly when placed in the context of developing practices with respect to conciliar procedure (and the imperial role therein) and the circulation of conciliar information. After considering possible precedents in both these fields, the article reconstructs the early circulation and reception of the Chalcedonian acts, focusing particularly on the records of the sixth session, which was presided by the emperor himself. The author discusses the role played by the imperial initiative at the council and in its aftermath, and how it contributed to shape the reception of Marcian’s image as a Christian ruler.
{"title":"The Emperor at the Council. Imperial Interventions in Late Antique Church Councils in Literary Sources and Documentary Records","authors":"Luisa Andriollo","doi":"10.1515/mill-2021-0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/mill-2021-0006","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper examines the modes of imperial interactions with Church councils, focusing on the emperor’s participation in episcopal meetings and its representation in late antique sources, both literary and documentary. The author argues that the availability and strategic dissemination of conciliar records could affect, for better or worse, the understanding of the imperial religious policy and attitude towards Church institutions. This is most clearly illustrated by Marcian’s behaviour at Chalcedon, and by the active steps he took to produce an official and imperially endorsed edition of the conciliar acts. The significance of Marcian’s initiatives emerges more clearly when placed in the context of developing practices with respect to conciliar procedure (and the imperial role therein) and the circulation of conciliar information. After considering possible precedents in both these fields, the article reconstructs the early circulation and reception of the Chalcedonian acts, focusing particularly on the records of the sixth session, which was presided by the emperor himself. The author discusses the role played by the imperial initiative at the council and in its aftermath, and how it contributed to shape the reception of Marcian’s image as a Christian ruler.","PeriodicalId":36600,"journal":{"name":"Millennium DIPr","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73947353","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This study explores the depictions of landscapes and emotions in the ninthcentury hagiographies associated with Liudger: the three vitae Liudgeri and Liudger’s own vita Gregorii. The Frisian missionary founded the monastery of Werden, situated near the Frankish-Saxon frontier. It will be argued that previous historiography on early medieval frontiers has predominantly focused on the military nature of frontiers. Here, more cultural or symbolic natures of the Frankish-Saxon frontier will be discussed. The hagiographical narratives will be examined in conjunction with the notion of a frontier as a ‘third space’. The vitae Liudgeri shaped a discourse that legitimated Liudger’s translation to Werden. This resulted in the creation of a new place of Christian worship in the competitive landscape of post-conquest Saxony, as part of the Christianization of the region. Monasteries like Werden were the places where new missionaries were educated who would continue this Christianization. Exemplary emotional behaviour of the saints, narrated in hagiographies, could help instruct this new generation. Altfrid and Liudger tried to dissuade emotions of anger, indicated by ira or furor, with their hagiographical narratives. These two perspectives offer a glimpse into the attempts of a local monastery to stand out in the Frankish-Saxon frontier.
{"title":"The Abbey of Werden on the Frankish-Saxon Frontier. The Depictions of Landscapes and Emotions in the vita Gregorii and the vitae Liudgeri","authors":"Bart Peters","doi":"10.1515/mill-2021-0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/mill-2021-0010","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study explores the depictions of landscapes and emotions in the ninthcentury hagiographies associated with Liudger: the three vitae Liudgeri and Liudger’s own vita Gregorii. The Frisian missionary founded the monastery of Werden, situated near the Frankish-Saxon frontier. It will be argued that previous historiography on early medieval frontiers has predominantly focused on the military nature of frontiers. Here, more cultural or symbolic natures of the Frankish-Saxon frontier will be discussed. The hagiographical narratives will be examined in conjunction with the notion of a frontier as a ‘third space’. The vitae Liudgeri shaped a discourse that legitimated Liudger’s translation to Werden. This resulted in the creation of a new place of Christian worship in the competitive landscape of post-conquest Saxony, as part of the Christianization of the region. Monasteries like Werden were the places where new missionaries were educated who would continue this Christianization. Exemplary emotional behaviour of the saints, narrated in hagiographies, could help instruct this new generation. Altfrid and Liudger tried to dissuade emotions of anger, indicated by ira or furor, with their hagiographical narratives. These two perspectives offer a glimpse into the attempts of a local monastery to stand out in the Frankish-Saxon frontier.","PeriodicalId":36600,"journal":{"name":"Millennium DIPr","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75729475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This review article presents a brief survey of the new critical edition, translation and commentary of the important tenth-century Byzantine imperial treatise known as the De cerimoniis aulae byzantinae (on the ceremonial of the Byzantine court), a title ascribed to the text only in the 16th century. The edition offers an up-to-date and highly accurate edition of the tenth century manuscripts through which the text has been transmitted and the detailed and rigorous commentary includes a complete historical and structural analysis of the two books into which the text is divided. In the course of their analysis, the editors arrive at a number of important new conclusions about the origins, intentions and structure of the text, the working methods of the emperor who commissioned it, and the aims and intentions of Basil the parakoimomenos, the person who commissioned the Leipzig manuscript, the chief surviving witness for the text. The 5 volumes of the publication represent a superb achievement by the team of French scholars under the original direction of Gilbert Dagron (†).
{"title":"A New Edition of the De cerimoniis: No Longer a ‘geteiltes Dossier’?","authors":"J. Haldon","doi":"10.1515/mill-2021-0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/mill-2021-0011","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This review article presents a brief survey of the new critical edition, translation and commentary of the important tenth-century Byzantine imperial treatise known as the De cerimoniis aulae byzantinae (on the ceremonial of the Byzantine court), a title ascribed to the text only in the 16th century. The edition offers an up-to-date and highly accurate edition of the tenth century manuscripts through which the text has been transmitted and the detailed and rigorous commentary includes a complete historical and structural analysis of the two books into which the text is divided. In the course of their analysis, the editors arrive at a number of important new conclusions about the origins, intentions and structure of the text, the working methods of the emperor who commissioned it, and the aims and intentions of Basil the parakoimomenos, the person who commissioned the Leipzig manuscript, the chief surviving witness for the text. The 5 volumes of the publication represent a superb achievement by the team of French scholars under the original direction of Gilbert Dagron (†).","PeriodicalId":36600,"journal":{"name":"Millennium DIPr","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75379268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract The execution of the prophet Mani (c. 216-273) by the Sasanian king Bahram I (r. 271-274) received sharply different treatments in the historiography of three of the confessional groups of the Sasanian empire. Variously a persecuted prophet, a blasphemous lunatic or a sinister heresiarch the representations of this moment sought to establish its meaning in the context of communal narratives predicated on the claims of sacred history. Despite this, it is notable that Manichean, Christian and Perso-Arabic accounts clearly share features. This indicates not only that Mani’s death became a site of competition between the constituent groups of the Sasanian empire, but that the internal historiographies of these groups were in some sense entwined, or at least sensitive to the historical claims made by their opponents. This is particularly relevant in the case of the Perso-Arabic narrative. This version, which almost certainly descends from a priestly Zoroastrian source, presents a picture of a confident priesthood stiffening the spine of a wavering king. It is contended that the source of this story was composed as a counterstrike in a historical debate in which Christian and Manichean authors had successfully propagated an image of Bahram’s court as religiously tepid and his priests as slanderers or non-entities. That such an intervention was required signals a disjuncture between early and late forms of Sasanian ideology. Moreover, it presents more evidence in support of theories of a late and deliberate construction of Zoroastrian “orthodoxy”.
{"title":"The Death of Mani in Retrospect","authors":"M. O’Farrell","doi":"10.1515/mill-2021-0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/mill-2021-0003","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The execution of the prophet Mani (c. 216-273) by the Sasanian king Bahram I (r. 271-274) received sharply different treatments in the historiography of three of the confessional groups of the Sasanian empire. Variously a persecuted prophet, a blasphemous lunatic or a sinister heresiarch the representations of this moment sought to establish its meaning in the context of communal narratives predicated on the claims of sacred history. Despite this, it is notable that Manichean, Christian and Perso-Arabic accounts clearly share features. This indicates not only that Mani’s death became a site of competition between the constituent groups of the Sasanian empire, but that the internal historiographies of these groups were in some sense entwined, or at least sensitive to the historical claims made by their opponents. This is particularly relevant in the case of the Perso-Arabic narrative. This version, which almost certainly descends from a priestly Zoroastrian source, presents a picture of a confident priesthood stiffening the spine of a wavering king. It is contended that the source of this story was composed as a counterstrike in a historical debate in which Christian and Manichean authors had successfully propagated an image of Bahram’s court as religiously tepid and his priests as slanderers or non-entities. That such an intervention was required signals a disjuncture between early and late forms of Sasanian ideology. Moreover, it presents more evidence in support of theories of a late and deliberate construction of Zoroastrian “orthodoxy”.","PeriodicalId":36600,"journal":{"name":"Millennium DIPr","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81676554","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This paper examines reports of Eremya Çelebi Kömürcüyan (1637 – 1695) and Luigi Fernando Marsili (1679/80 in İstanbul) on three churches still existing in the late seventeenth century. Their topographical informations are compared with early pictorial representations of Constantinople/İstanbul (Hartmann Schedel, 1493; Giovanni Andrea Vavassore, c. 1530/50; Onufrio Panvinio, 1600; Pîrî Reis, 16th century; Franceso Scarella, c. 1686) in order to check whether the churches can be identified with those depicted here. The church of Aya Yani (St John) mentioned by Eremya Çelebi must have been located south of the Stable Gate (Ahırkapı). Marsili describes a church near the Sultan’s stables and a further one inside the Seraglio Garden. The location of the stables can be determined using the İstanbul-view from Matrakçı Nasuh (1537). The church of Aya Yani and „the church near the stables“ must therefore be identical. In Schedel’s illustration, the church in the Seraglio is erroneously designated as S. Grovus, whereas on the Düsseldorf copy after Buondelmonti’s Liber insularum Archipelagi (1485/90) it is labelled s. Maria. The building can be identified with the church of the Theotokos of the Hodegoi Monastery. Regarding the church depicted on the vedute of Vavassore and Panvinio in the former area of the imperial palace, the thesis already established by Cyril Mango is maintained, according to which the remains of the Nea Ekklesia can be seen here. Little is known about the original form of the Nea Ekklesia, but there is evidence from written sources that it was erected above substructures with underground spaces that were open to the public. If the church that Eremya Çelebi saw south of the Stable Gate, while Marsili located it near the Sultan’s stables, can be identified with the Nea Ekklesia, as suggested in this essay, then considerable remains of the building must have been still present at the end of the seventeenth century.
本文考察了Eremya Çelebi Kömürcüyan(1637 - 1695)和Luigi Fernando Marsili (1679/80 İstanbul)关于17世纪末仍存在的三座教堂的报道。将它们的地形信息与君士坦丁堡的早期图像表示进行比较/İstanbul (Hartmann Schedel, 1493;Giovanni Andrea Vavassore，约1530/ 1550;Onufrio Panvinio, 1600;Pîrî Reis, 16世纪;Franceso Scarella，约1686年)，以检查这些教堂是否可以与这里所描绘的教堂相一致。Eremya Çelebi提到的阿亚亚尼(圣约翰)教堂一定位于马厩门以南(Ahırkapı)。马西利描述了苏丹马厩附近的一座教堂，以及塞拉格利奥花园内的一座教堂。马厩的位置可以使用来自matraknasuh(1537)的İstanbul-view来确定。因此，亚亚尼教堂和“马厩附近的教堂”一定是相同的。在Schedel的插图中，Seraglio中的教堂被错误地指定为s. Grovus，而在Buondelmonti的Liber insularum archipelago(1485/90)之后的d sseldorf副本中，它被标记为s. Maria。该建筑可以与Hodegoi修道院的Theotokos教堂相识别。关于在皇宫前区Vavassore和Panvinio的vedute上描绘的教堂，Cyril Mango已经建立的论点得到了维护，根据这个论点，在这里可以看到Nea Ekklesia的遗迹。人们对Nea Ekklesia的原始形式知之甚少，但有书面证据表明，它建在地下空间向公众开放的下层结构之上。如果Eremya Çelebi在马厩门以南看到的教堂，而Marsili将其定位在苏丹的马厩附近，可以与Nea Ekklesia相识别，正如本文所建议的那样，那么该建筑的相当大的遗迹在17世纪末仍然存在。
{"title":"S. Grovus und Aya Yani – Zwei verschwundene Konstantinopeler Kirchen","authors":"A. Effenberger","doi":"10.1515/mill-2020-0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/mill-2020-0011","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper examines reports of Eremya Çelebi Kömürcüyan (1637 – 1695) and Luigi Fernando Marsili (1679/80 in İstanbul) on three churches still existing in the late seventeenth century. Their topographical informations are compared with early pictorial representations of Constantinople/İstanbul (Hartmann Schedel, 1493; Giovanni Andrea Vavassore, c. 1530/50; Onufrio Panvinio, 1600; Pîrî Reis, 16th century; Franceso Scarella, c. 1686) in order to check whether the churches can be identified with those depicted here. The church of Aya Yani (St John) mentioned by Eremya Çelebi must have been located south of the Stable Gate (Ahırkapı). Marsili describes a church near the Sultan’s stables and a further one inside the Seraglio Garden. The location of the stables can be determined using the İstanbul-view from Matrakçı Nasuh (1537). The church of Aya Yani and „the church near the stables“ must therefore be identical. In Schedel’s illustration, the church in the Seraglio is erroneously designated as S. Grovus, whereas on the Düsseldorf copy after Buondelmonti’s Liber insularum Archipelagi (1485/90) it is labelled s. Maria. The building can be identified with the church of the Theotokos of the Hodegoi Monastery. Regarding the church depicted on the vedute of Vavassore and Panvinio in the former area of the imperial palace, the thesis already established by Cyril Mango is maintained, according to which the remains of the Nea Ekklesia can be seen here. Little is known about the original form of the Nea Ekklesia, but there is evidence from written sources that it was erected above substructures with underground spaces that were open to the public. If the church that Eremya Çelebi saw south of the Stable Gate, while Marsili located it near the Sultan’s stables, can be identified with the Nea Ekklesia, as suggested in this essay, then considerable remains of the building must have been still present at the end of the seventeenth century.","PeriodicalId":36600,"journal":{"name":"Millennium DIPr","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77591544","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Both in the fourth book of Cicero’s De signis (Verr. 2,4) and in the fourteenth book of Silius Italicus’ Punica, there are descriptions of the city of Syracuse at important points of the texts. In this paper, both descriptions are combined and for the first time thoroughly related. I discuss form and content of the accounts, show their functions in their oratorical and epic contexts and consider their similarities. The most important facets, where the descriptions coincide in, seem to be their link to Marcellus’ conquest in the Second Punic War, the resulting precarious beauty of the city and the specifically Roman perspective on which these ekphraseis are based.
{"title":"„Die schönste griechische Stadt“. Syrakus bei Cicero und Silius Italicus","authors":"Christoph Schwameis","doi":"10.1515/mill-2020-0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/mill-2020-0003","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Both in the fourth book of Cicero’s De signis (Verr. 2,4) and in the fourteenth book of Silius Italicus’ Punica, there are descriptions of the city of Syracuse at important points of the texts. In this paper, both descriptions are combined and for the first time thoroughly related. I discuss form and content of the accounts, show their functions in their oratorical and epic contexts and consider their similarities. The most important facets, where the descriptions coincide in, seem to be their link to Marcellus’ conquest in the Second Punic War, the resulting precarious beauty of the city and the specifically Roman perspective on which these ekphraseis are based.","PeriodicalId":36600,"journal":{"name":"Millennium DIPr","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82860796","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract The article tries to contribute to a more concrete embedding of early Islam into the context of late antique, in particular late Roman history. It takes its starting point in a description of the phenomenon of liturgification as an overarching process of religious permeation and internalization that swept across Eastern Roman society since the second half of the sixth century and saved society from collapse. During the early seventh century, when the Romans suffered from immense territorial losses to the Persians, liturgification contributed to the survival of the Empire as well. Liturgification, however, radiated out into the territory of the immediate neighbors of the Romans, and thus also reached Arabia by various ways, not least via trade and military contacts, but probably above all through the mediation of the Ǧafnids, who energetically supported Christianization in their area of influence, which extended deep into the Arabian Peninsula. In this way, liturgification itself created the enabling space in which Islam could come into being. The restitutio crucis by Heraclius in Jerusalem, March 21, 630, then lent these developments concrete reference points and impetus. It should be viewed as the culmination of a process that was driven in turn by liturgification and characterized especially by the grave threats that the Eastern Roman-Byzantine Empire faced in its war against the Persians in the early decades of the seventh century. It led to a reconceptualization of the imperial monarchy, which now attributed a messianic quality to the emperor in a highly eschatologically charged context. The emperor, in turn, first effectively tapped the representational potential of this quality in the act of restoring the relics of the True Cross in Jerusalem in 630. This brought about a situation of messianic rivalry, since the rise of the Prophet Muhammad – which was made possible in turn by the penetration of liturgification into Arabian territory – was based on claims similar to those that Heraclius had claimed for himself. The first attacks on Byzantine outposts in the years 629/30 may have been a direct response to the emperor’s self-representation in Jerusalem. They were the beginning of the Muslim armies’ excursions beyond the Arabian Peninsula and thus the beginning of the great Muslim-Arabian Empire that would come into being in the ensuing century. Against this background, the restitutio crucis proves to be vitally important as a turning point in developments both within the Byzantine Empire and beyond its borders.
{"title":"The Roman Context of Early Islam","authors":"M. Meier","doi":"10.1515/mill-2020-0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/mill-2020-0009","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The article tries to contribute to a more concrete embedding of early Islam into the context of late antique, in particular late Roman history. It takes its starting point in a description of the phenomenon of liturgification as an overarching process of religious permeation and internalization that swept across Eastern Roman society since the second half of the sixth century and saved society from collapse. During the early seventh century, when the Romans suffered from immense territorial losses to the Persians, liturgification contributed to the survival of the Empire as well. Liturgification, however, radiated out into the territory of the immediate neighbors of the Romans, and thus also reached Arabia by various ways, not least via trade and military contacts, but probably above all through the mediation of the Ǧafnids, who energetically supported Christianization in their area of influence, which extended deep into the Arabian Peninsula. In this way, liturgification itself created the enabling space in which Islam could come into being. The restitutio crucis by Heraclius in Jerusalem, March 21, 630, then lent these developments concrete reference points and impetus. It should be viewed as the culmination of a process that was driven in turn by liturgification and characterized especially by the grave threats that the Eastern Roman-Byzantine Empire faced in its war against the Persians in the early decades of the seventh century. It led to a reconceptualization of the imperial monarchy, which now attributed a messianic quality to the emperor in a highly eschatologically charged context. The emperor, in turn, first effectively tapped the representational potential of this quality in the act of restoring the relics of the True Cross in Jerusalem in 630. This brought about a situation of messianic rivalry, since the rise of the Prophet Muhammad – which was made possible in turn by the penetration of liturgification into Arabian territory – was based on claims similar to those that Heraclius had claimed for himself. The first attacks on Byzantine outposts in the years 629/30 may have been a direct response to the emperor’s self-representation in Jerusalem. They were the beginning of the Muslim armies’ excursions beyond the Arabian Peninsula and thus the beginning of the great Muslim-Arabian Empire that would come into being in the ensuing century. Against this background, the restitutio crucis proves to be vitally important as a turning point in developments both within the Byzantine Empire and beyond its borders.","PeriodicalId":36600,"journal":{"name":"Millennium DIPr","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82207818","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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