Religious Violence in the Ancient World: From Classical Athens to Late Antiquity

Cover
Half-title
Title page
Copyright information
Contents
Acknowledgements
List of Contributors
A Note on Abbreviations
General Introduction
Situation in Current Research and Themes of the Volume
Overview of Contributions to the Volume
Part I Methodology
Chapter 1 Sacred Prefigurations of Violence: Religious Communities in Situations of Conflict
Introduction: A Causal Relationship between Religion and Violence?
A Contemporary Case of the Link between Religious Communities and Violence: The 9/11 Attack as a Ghazwa of Muhammad
An Ancient Case of the Link between Religious Communities and Violence: The Violent Zeal of Phinehas for the Observation of God's Covenant with Israel
The Thomas Theorem
Jewish and Muslim Definitions of the Middle East Conflict
Conclusion: Methodological Rules for the Investigation of the Relationship between Religious Communities and Acts of Violence
Chapter 2 Priestesses, Pogroms and Persecutions: Religious Violence in Antiquity in a Diachronic Perspective
Introduction
Socrates and Phryne
The 'Pogrom' of Alexandria in ad 38
The Roman Persecutions
Christian Cultural Violence: The Case of Gaza
Conclusion
Part II Religious Violence in the Graeco-Roman World
Chapter 3 Ancient Greek Binding Spells and (Political) Violence
Introduction: Cultures of Terror
Current Approaches
A Body in Parts
A Political Discourse
Subjectivation
Conclusion: Bodies Politic
Chapter 4 The Expulsion of Isis Worshippers and Astrologers from Rome in the Late Republic and Early Empire
Introduction
The Cults of Isis and Sarapis
Astrology
Conclusion
Chapter 5 Religious Violence? Two Massacres on a Sabbath in 66 ce: Jerusalem and Caesarea
Introduction
Context, Method and Possible Stakes
Two Massacres: Josephus' War
Narrative and Real Life - Generally and in Caesarea
Conflict in Jerusalem - and Massacre
Conclusions: Life vs. Narrative, Judaeans vs. Romans, Religious vs. Other Violence
Chapter 6 Religion, Violence and the Diasporic Experience: The Jewish Diaspora in Flavian Rome and Puteoli
Introduction: Violence and Religion before Later Antiquity
Enlightened Polytheists and Monotheistic Zealots, or: Why Religion and Violence Must Be Disaggregated
Different Manifestations of Violence
Cultural Violence and Religion: IVDAEA CAPTA
Victims of Violence
The Promotion of Particularism and the Permanence of Structural Violence
Gods as Foreigners
Conclusion
Chapter 7 Animal Sacrifice and the Roman Persecution of Christians (Second to Third Century)
Introduction
The Role of Animal Sacrifice in Trials of Christians Prior to Decius
Animal Sacrifice in the Decree of Decius
The Christian Rejection of Animal Sacrifice
Christian Responses to the Decree of Decius
Conclusion
Chapter 8 The Great Persecution and Imperial Ideology: Patterns of Communication on Tetrarchic Coinage
Explaining the Outbreak of the Great Persecution
Tetrarchic Coinage: The General Picture
Tetrarchic Coinage: Religious Representation
Coins and the Great Persecution
Appendix 1 Messages Propagated on the Coin Types of Severus, Gallienus, Diocletian and Galerius
Appendix 2 Messages on the Coin Types of the Tetrarchs, 284-313
Chapter 9 The Violent Legacy of Constantine's Militant Piety
Introduction
Images of Christians and Emperors
Lactantius' Portrayal of Constantine
Constantine and the Gauls
Conclusion
Part III Religious Violence in Late Antiquity
Chapter 10 Religious Violence in Late Antiquity: Current Approaches, Trends and Issues
Introduction
Religious Violence as a Category
Rhetoric and Reality
Making Sense of Religious Violence
Chapter 11 Coercion in Late Antiquity: A Brief Intellectual History
Introduction
A Late Ancient Concept of Coercion
A Brief Intellectual History
Augustine on Coercion by the State
Conclusions
Chapter 12 Crowd Behaviour and the Destruction of the Serapeum at Alexandria in 391/392 ce
Introduction
Crowd Behaviour and Social Psychological Models
Previous Scholarship on the Serapeum Incident
Crowd Behaviour and the Serapeum Incident
Conclusion
Chapter 13 Violence and Monks: From a Mystical Concept to an Intolerant Practice (Fourth to Fifth Century)
Ancient Monasticism and Factual Violence
Theoretical Issues
Ancient Monasticism and Ascetic Violence
Monastic Exegesis of Matthew 11:12
Conclusion
Chapter 14 The Discipline of Domination: Asceticism, Violence and Monastic Curses in Theodoret's Historia Religiosa
Introduction
Asceticism and/as Dominance: Theodoret's Ascetic Discourse and the Violence of the Self
The Monastic Curse: A Violent Asceticisation of the Other
The Death Curse: The Zenith of Ascetic Dominance and Radical Anti-Asceticism
Conclusion
Chapter 15 Suffering Saints: Shaping Narratives of Violence after Chalcedon
Introduction
Victims of Violence: Early Anti-Chalcedonian Narratives of Imperial Persecution
Witnesses for Christ: Expanding the Scope of Meaningful Suffering
John of Ephesus: Violence in Anti-Chalcedonian Rhetoric after Justinian
Conclusion
Chapter 16 Fighting for Chalcedon: Vitalian's Rebellion against Anastasius
Introduction
The Religious Background to Vitalian's Revolt
Late Antique Generals and Religious Politics
The Sources for Vitalian's Revolt
Vitalian's Revolt
Reframing the Historical Record
Conclusion
Chapter 17 The Emperor, the People and Urban Violence in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries
Introduction
Urban Violence, the Factions and the Church: Recent Research
The Causes of the Weakening of the Emperor's Position
The Consequences of the Weakening of the Emperor's Position
Conclusion
Index of Sources
General Index