Betrayal, Memory and Oblivion. Imperial Policy and History in African Christendom (3rd-5th centuries)
Keywords:
Christianity, Persecutions, Roman Empire, Martyrdom, Donatism
Abstract
The aim of this paper will be to analyze some of the effects of the Roman policies over the churches of North Africa between the 3rd and 5th centuries. The outcomes of repressive actions, as well as the consequences that the state intervention had on Christian communities and on their power structures will be especially examined, considering the actions taken during the periods of persecutions led by Decius, Diocletian and Constantine (even though this last emperor had promoted an edict of religious freedom shortly before his rise to power). In the case of North Africa, the consequences that for the Christian community had its change from being a persecuted group to an ally of the state were particularly significant, as well as the emperor´s intervention in its internal disputes that led to the Donatist schism. Particularly, we will study the power conflicts resulting from the emergence of groups that competed to control the ecclesiastical institution, as well as the persistence of a collective memory and the discursive practices that sustained it.Downloads
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References
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Drake, H. A. (2000). Constantine and the Bishops: The Politics of Intolerance. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
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Frend, W. H. C. (1952). The Donatist Church. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Frend, W. H. C. (1965). Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Frend, W. H. C. (2008). Persecutions: Genesis and Legacy. En M. M. Mitchell y F. M. Young (Eds.), The Cambridge History of Christianity (503-523). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
García Mac Gaw, C. (2001). Poder eclesiástico y palabra escrita. Cartago, 250 d. C. Anales de Historia Antigua, Medieval y Moderna, 34, 35-54.
García Mac Gaw, C. (2008). Le problème du baptême dans le schisme donatiste. Burdeos: Ausonius.
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García Mac Gaw, C. (2018). Violencia religiosa en el norte africano: suicidio, persecución y martirio en el Contra Gaudentium de Agustín de Hipona. Studi e Materiali di Storia della Religioni, 84(2), 635-652.
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Keresztes, P. (1979). The Imperial Roman Government and the Christian Church, ANRW, II. 23(1), 247-384.
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Lane Fox, R. (1997 [1986]). Païens et chrétiens. La religion et la vie religieuse dans l’Empire Romain de la morte de Commode au Concile de Nicée. Toulouse: Presses universitaires du Mirail.
Leadbetter, B. (2002). Constantine and the Bishop: The Roman Church in the Early Fourth Century. The Journal of Religious History, 26(1), 1-14.
Maier, J.-L. (Trad.). (1987). Le dossier du donatisme, vol. I. Berlín: Akademie.
Markus, R. A. (1972). Christianity and Dissent in Roman North Africa: Changing Perspectives in Recent Work. En D. Baker (ed.), Schism, Heresy and Religious Protest. Studies in Church History 9 (21-36). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mayeur, J.-M., Pietri, Ch., Pietri, L., Vauchez, A. y Venard, M. (Dirs.). (1995). Histoire du christianisme, II. París: Desclée.
Middleton, P. (2013). Early Christian Voluntary Martyrdom: A Statement for the Defence. The Journal of Theological Studies, 64(2), 556–573.
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Moss, C. R. (2012). The Discourse of Voluntary Martyrdom: Ancient and Modern. Church History, 81.3, 531–551.
Odahl, Ch. (1995). God and Constantine: Divine Sanction for Imperial Rule in the First Christian Emperor′s Early Letters and Art. The Catholic Historical Review, 81(3), 327-352.
Olick, J. K. y Robbins, J. (1998). Social Memory Studies: From “Collective Memory” to the Historical Sociology of Mnemonic Practices. Annual Review of Sociology, 24, 105-140.
Patout Burns Jr, J. y Jensen, R. (2014). Christianity in Roman Africa. Michigan-Cambridge: Eerdmans
Mandouze, A. (1982). Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire, 1. Prososopographie de l’Afrique chrétienne (303-533). París: Éditions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. [= PCBE]
Perkins, J. (2002 [1995]). The Suffering Self. Londres-Nueva York: Routledge.
Pietri, Ch. (1976). Roma christiana. Roma: École Française de Rome.
Rives, J. B. (1999). The Decree of Decius and the Religion of the Empire. Journal of Roman Studies, 89, 135-154.
Sage, M. M. (1975). Cyprian. Cambridge: The Philadelphia Patristic Foundation.
Sardella, T. (2013). Il corpo come linguaggio: tra teorie, pratica e retorica (età martiriale e postmartiriale). En J. Torres (Ed.), Officia Oratoris. Estrategias de persuasión en la literatura polémica cristiana. Ilu, Revista de Ciencias de las Religiones, Anejo XXIV. Serie de Monografías (35-57). Madrid: Universidad Complutense.
Saumagne, Ch. (1962). La persécution de Dèce en Afrique d′après la correspondance de S. Cyprien. Byzantion, 32, 1-29.
Saxer, V. (1980). Morts, martyrs, reliques en afrique chrétienne aux premiers siècles. Les témoignages de Tertullien, Cyprien et Augustin à la lumière de l’archéologie africaine. París: Beauchesne.
Shaw, B. D. (1993). The Passion of Perpetua. Past & Present, 139, 3-45.
Shaw, B. D. (2009). State Intervention and Holy Violence: Timgad/Paleostrovsk/Waco. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 77(4) , 853-894.
Shaw, B. D. (2011). Sacred Violence. African Christians and Sectarian Hatred in the Age of Augustine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sordi, M. (1979). I rapporti fra il Cristianesimo e l′impero dai Severi a Gallieno. ANRW, II.23 (1), 340-374.
Sordi, M. (1983). The Christians and the Roman Empire. Londres-Sydney: Routledge.
Ste. Croix, G. de (1963). Why Were the Early Christians Persecuted? Past and Present, 26(1), 6-38.
Ste. Croix, G. de (2006). Voluntary Martyrdom in the Early Church. En G. de Ste. Croix, M. Whitby y J. Streeter (Eds.), Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy (153-200). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Tilley, M. A. (1996). Donatist Martyr Stories. The Church in Conflict in Roman North Africa. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
Wipszycka, E. (2000). Storia della Chiesa nella tarda antichità. Milán: Mondadori.
Young, R. D. (2007). In Procession before the World. Martyrdom as Public Liturgy in Early Christianity. Milwakee: Marquette University Press.
Zeiller, J. (1935-1938). Les grandes persécutions du milieu du IIIe siècle et la période de paix religieuse de 260 à 302. En A. Fliche, y E. Martin (Eds.). Histoire de l′Église. París: Bloud & Gay.
Barnes, T. D. (1981). Constantine and Eusebius. Cambridge (Mass.)-London: Harvard University Press.
Bayard, C. (Ed. y Trad.) (1925-1961). Cyprien. Correspondance. París : Les Belles Lettres.
Bowersock, G. W. (2002 [1995]). Rome et le martyre. París: Flammarion.
Brent, A. (2010). Cyprian and Roman Carthage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Brisson, P. (1958). Autonomisme et christianisme dans l’Afrique romaine de Septime-Sévère à l′invasion vandale. París: Boccard.
Brown, P. R. L. (1982). Society and the Holy in Late Antiquity. Berkeley-Los Angeles: University of Californa Press.
Brown, P. R. L. (1992). Authority and the Sacred. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cameron, A. (2008). The Reign of Constantine, a.D. 306-337. En Cambridge Ancient History (2nd Ed.), XII (90-109). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Castelli, E. (2004). Martyrdom and Memory. Early Christian Culture Making. New York: Columbia University Press.
Clarke, G. (2008). Third-century Christianity. En Cambridge Ancient History (2nd Ed.), XII (589-671). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Courtine, J.-J. (1994). Le tissu de la mémoire: quelques perspectives de travail historique dans les sciences du langage. Langages, 114, 5-12.
Dearn, A. (2004). The Abitinian Martyrs and the Outbreak of the Donatist Schism. Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 55, 1-18.
Drake, H. A. (2000). Constantine and the Bishops: The Politics of Intolerance. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Duquenne, J. (1972). Chronologie des lettres de S. Cyprien, Le dossier de la persécution de Dèce. Bruselas: Société des Bollandistes. (Subsidia Hagiographica 54).
Fernández Ubiña, J. (2013). The Donatist Conflict as Seen by Constantine and the Bishops. En A. Fear, J. Fernández Ubiña y M. Marcos (Eds.), The Role of the Bishop in Late Antiquity. Conflict and Compromise (31-46). Londres-Nueva York: Bloomsbury.
Frend, W. H. C. (1952). The Donatist Church. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Frend, W. H. C. (1965). Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Frend, W. H. C. (2008). Persecutions: Genesis and Legacy. En M. M. Mitchell y F. M. Young (Eds.), The Cambridge History of Christianity (503-523). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
García Mac Gaw, C. (2001). Poder eclesiástico y palabra escrita. Cartago, 250 d. C. Anales de Historia Antigua, Medieval y Moderna, 34, 35-54.
García Mac Gaw, C. (2008). Le problème du baptême dans le schisme donatiste. Burdeos: Ausonius.
García Mac Gaw, C. (2013). Política y religión en los orígenes del cisma donatista. En C. Ames y M. Sagristani (Comps.), Estudios Interdisciplinarios de Historia Antigua, IV (124-133). Córdoba: Universidad Nacional de Córdoba.
García Mac Gaw, C. (2018). Violencia religiosa en el norte africano: suicidio, persecución y martirio en el Contra Gaudentium de Agustín de Hipona. Studi e Materiali di Storia della Religioni, 84(2), 635-652.
García, R. R. (1989). Mártires y martirio en el donatismo. Estudio literario, histórico y doctrinal. Roma: Leberit.
Kaufman, P. I. (2009). Donatism Revisited: Moderates and Militants in Late Antique North Africa. Journal of Late Antiquity, 2(1), 131-142.
Keresztes, P. (1979). The Imperial Roman Government and the Christian Church, ANRW, II. 23(1), 247-384.
Labrousse, M. (Trad.) (1995). Optat de Milève, Traité contre les Donatistes. París: CERF.
Lamirande, É. (1965). OEuvres de Saint Augustin: Traités anti-donatistes, vol. 5. París: Desclée de Brouwer.
Lancel, S. (Trad.). (1972-1975). Actes de la conférence de Carthage en 411 (Gesta conlationis Carthaginiensis [GCC]), 3 vols. París: CERF. [= GCC]
Lane Fox, R. (1997 [1986]). Païens et chrétiens. La religion et la vie religieuse dans l’Empire Romain de la morte de Commode au Concile de Nicée. Toulouse: Presses universitaires du Mirail.
Leadbetter, B. (2002). Constantine and the Bishop: The Roman Church in the Early Fourth Century. The Journal of Religious History, 26(1), 1-14.
Maier, J.-L. (Trad.). (1987). Le dossier du donatisme, vol. I. Berlín: Akademie.
Markus, R. A. (1972). Christianity and Dissent in Roman North Africa: Changing Perspectives in Recent Work. En D. Baker (ed.), Schism, Heresy and Religious Protest. Studies in Church History 9 (21-36). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mayeur, J.-M., Pietri, Ch., Pietri, L., Vauchez, A. y Venard, M. (Dirs.). (1995). Histoire du christianisme, II. París: Desclée.
Middleton, P. (2013). Early Christian Voluntary Martyrdom: A Statement for the Defence. The Journal of Theological Studies, 64(2), 556–573.
Monceaux, P. (1902). Histoire littéraire de l′Afrique chrétienne, vol. II. París: Ernest Leroux.
Monceaux, P. (1912). Histoire littéraire de l′Afrique chrétienne, vol. IV. París: Ernest Leroux.
Monceaux, P. (1920). Histoire littéraire de l′Afrique chrétienne, vol. V. París: Ernest Leroux.
Moss, C. R. (2012). The Discourse of Voluntary Martyrdom: Ancient and Modern. Church History, 81.3, 531–551.
Odahl, Ch. (1995). God and Constantine: Divine Sanction for Imperial Rule in the First Christian Emperor′s Early Letters and Art. The Catholic Historical Review, 81(3), 327-352.
Olick, J. K. y Robbins, J. (1998). Social Memory Studies: From “Collective Memory” to the Historical Sociology of Mnemonic Practices. Annual Review of Sociology, 24, 105-140.
Patout Burns Jr, J. y Jensen, R. (2014). Christianity in Roman Africa. Michigan-Cambridge: Eerdmans
Mandouze, A. (1982). Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire, 1. Prososopographie de l’Afrique chrétienne (303-533). París: Éditions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. [= PCBE]
Perkins, J. (2002 [1995]). The Suffering Self. Londres-Nueva York: Routledge.
Pietri, Ch. (1976). Roma christiana. Roma: École Française de Rome.
Rives, J. B. (1999). The Decree of Decius and the Religion of the Empire. Journal of Roman Studies, 89, 135-154.
Sage, M. M. (1975). Cyprian. Cambridge: The Philadelphia Patristic Foundation.
Sardella, T. (2013). Il corpo come linguaggio: tra teorie, pratica e retorica (età martiriale e postmartiriale). En J. Torres (Ed.), Officia Oratoris. Estrategias de persuasión en la literatura polémica cristiana. Ilu, Revista de Ciencias de las Religiones, Anejo XXIV. Serie de Monografías (35-57). Madrid: Universidad Complutense.
Saumagne, Ch. (1962). La persécution de Dèce en Afrique d′après la correspondance de S. Cyprien. Byzantion, 32, 1-29.
Saxer, V. (1980). Morts, martyrs, reliques en afrique chrétienne aux premiers siècles. Les témoignages de Tertullien, Cyprien et Augustin à la lumière de l’archéologie africaine. París: Beauchesne.
Shaw, B. D. (1993). The Passion of Perpetua. Past & Present, 139, 3-45.
Shaw, B. D. (2009). State Intervention and Holy Violence: Timgad/Paleostrovsk/Waco. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 77(4) , 853-894.
Shaw, B. D. (2011). Sacred Violence. African Christians and Sectarian Hatred in the Age of Augustine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sordi, M. (1979). I rapporti fra il Cristianesimo e l′impero dai Severi a Gallieno. ANRW, II.23 (1), 340-374.
Sordi, M. (1983). The Christians and the Roman Empire. Londres-Sydney: Routledge.
Ste. Croix, G. de (1963). Why Were the Early Christians Persecuted? Past and Present, 26(1), 6-38.
Ste. Croix, G. de (2006). Voluntary Martyrdom in the Early Church. En G. de Ste. Croix, M. Whitby y J. Streeter (Eds.), Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy (153-200). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Tilley, M. A. (1996). Donatist Martyr Stories. The Church in Conflict in Roman North Africa. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
Wipszycka, E. (2000). Storia della Chiesa nella tarda antichità. Milán: Mondadori.
Young, R. D. (2007). In Procession before the World. Martyrdom as Public Liturgy in Early Christianity. Milwakee: Marquette University Press.
Zeiller, J. (1935-1938). Les grandes persécutions du milieu du IIIe siècle et la période de paix religieuse de 260 à 302. En A. Fliche, y E. Martin (Eds.). Histoire de l′Église. París: Bloud & Gay.
Published
2022-08-01
How to Cite
García Mac Gaw, C. (2022). Betrayal, Memory and Oblivion. Imperial Policy and History in African Christendom (3rd-5th centuries). Anales De Historia Antigua, Medieval Y Moderna, 56(1). https://doi.org/10.34096/ahamm.v56.1.11681
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