| "Students
of the Roman Empire no less than those who are interested in early
Christianity will find Francis's study requisite for comprehending
the evolution of the pagan and Christian ascetic movements of late
antiquity."—Paul B. Harvey, Jr., Penn State University
Much attention has been devoted in recent years to Christian asceticism
in Late Antiquity. But Christianity did not introduce asceticism
to the ancient world. An underlying theme of this fascinating study
of pagan asceticism is that much of the work on Christian "holy
men" has ignored earlier manifestations of asceticism in Antiquity
and the way Roman society confronted it. Accordingly, James Francis
turns to the second century, the "balmy late afternoon of Rome's
classical empire," when the conflict between asceticism and authority
reached a turning point.
Francis begins with the emperor Marcus Aurelius (121-180), who
warned in his Meditations against "display[ing] oneself as a man
keen to impress others with a reputation for asceticism or beneficence."
The Stoic Aurelius saw ascetic self-discipline as a virtue, but
one to be exercised in moderation. Like other Roman aristocrats
of his day, he perceived practitioners of ostentatious physical
asceticism as a threat to prevailing norms and the established order.
Prophecy, sorcery, miracle working, charismatic leadership, expressions
of social discontent, and advocacy of alternative values regarding
wealth, property, marriage, and sexuality were the issues provoking
the controversy.
If Aurelius defined the acceptable limits of ascetical practice,
then the poet Lucian depicted the threat ascetics were perceived
to pose to the social status quo through his biting satire. In an
eye-opening analysis of Philostratus's Life of Apollonius of
Tyana, Francis shows how Roman society reined in its deviant
ascetics by "rehabilitating" them into pillars of traditional values.
Celsus's True Doctrine shows how the views pagans held of
their own ascetics influenced their negative view of Christianity.
Finally, Francis points out striking parallels between the conflict
over pagan asceticism and its Christian counterpart. By treating
pagan asceticism seriously in its own right, Francis establishes
the context necessary for understanding the great flowering of asceticism
in Late Antiquity. |
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