Christianity and the Contest for Manhood in Late Antiquity: The Cappadocian Fathers and the Rhetoric of Masculinity by Nathan D. Howard (review)

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• Christianity and the Contest for Manhood in Late Antiquity: The Cappadocian Fathers and the Rhetoric of Masculinity by Nathan D. Howard
• Richard Flower

Nathan D. Howard Christianity and the Contest for Manhood in Late Antiquity: The Cappadocian Fathers and the Rhetoric of Masculinity Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023 Pp. xvi + 338. $120.00.

When the emperor Julian's relationship with Antioch soured during his stay there on his way to Persia, his response was characteristically idiosyncratic: he penned his Misopogon, or Beard Hater, and had it posted up publicly for all to see. In this incredibly sarcastic treatise, he issued a mock apology for his appearance, including his philosophical beard and shaggy chest-hair, contrasting it with the depilated bodies of the Antiochenes, which were "smoother than women" (346A). He similarly compared his own austere, bookish lifestyle with the city's love of luxury, with excessive eating, drinking, dancing, and theater-going. Moreover, Julian claimed that his devotion to paideia and "manliness" (ἀνδρεία) in resisting desires were instilled during his youth by his tutor Mardonius, who was both a Scythian barbarian and a eunuch. In a reversal of expectations, Mardonius understood proper masculinity much better than the so-called "men" of Antioch.

Nathan D. Howard's book examines the deployment of similar discourse by three of Julian's Christian contemporaries, the "Cappadocian Fathers" Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus. Despite being vehemently opposed to the pagan emperor, the trio enjoyed the same elite educational background as him and were keen to present themselves (and other figures they approved of) as pepaideumenoi, paradigmatic examples of cultured, aristocratic men who formed the ruling class of the later Roman empire. Howard therefore situates these bishops firmly within a classical tradition of constructing the ideal Greek man, while also demonstrating some distinctively Christian elements of their rhetoric, most notably in the celebration of asceticism, the incorporation of biblical exempla, and the deployment of these ideas for invective against enemies of Nicene theology, especially "Heterousian" heretics. The substantial Introduction establishes important context, exploring a wealth of different factors involved in the characterization of elite men during the preceding centuries. Howard focuses in particular on the agonistic culture of public oratory and performance during the "Second Sophistic," drawing on studies of the construction of masculinity and aretē ("excellence") in this period, especially the work of Maud Gleason and Erik Gunderson. The Introduction does, however, range much more widely, examining scholarship on an impressive array of topics, including civic euergetism, identity theory, Christian ideas of "transcendent masculinity," and approaches to letter collections and hagiography.

The first two chapters both employ the concept of the agōn ("contest") and its role in proving and displaying masculinity. Chapter One engages particularly closely with Second Sophistic ideas about the role of the agōn in displaying aretē, but argues that, in the letters of the Cappadocians, the focus was less on defeating and "emasculating" rivals and more on encouraging others to reach similar heights, with the three bishops acting "as arbiters of aretē by praising, rebuking, and evaluating performances" (67). As Howard demonstrates, these [End Page 594] authors shaped their rhetoric and exempla to suit particular contexts and correspondents, while also arguing for an alignment between traditional elite values and Christianity. Chapter Two continues to examine epistolary exchange and the notion of philia ("friendship") in creating a community of pepaideumenoi. It focuses in particular on letters conveying the presence of an absent person by analyzing references to the eyes, voice, and hands and demonstrating how they drew on classical, Jewish, and Christian ideas, while also considering epistolary communication as a form of gift exchange.

The book's second half concerns hagiography, with Chapter Three consisting of a set of close readings of the Gregories' portrayals of Caesarius, Basil, Gregory Thaumaturgus, Gorgonia, and Macrina. Howard explores the portrayal of "manliness and nobility" (158) in these texts, particularly the use of a combination of classical and biblical exempla for the agonistic tropes of athletics and warfare, and brings out clearly the distinctive aretē attributed to the saintly women. Chapter Four then considers how these authors presented Athanasius of Alexandria, Basil, and Macrina as "embodiments of sacred aret...