The Mission and Expansion of Christianity in the First Three
Centuries
by Adolph (von) Harnack
translated and edited by James Moffatt
Second, enlarged and revised English edition;
London: Williams and Norgate / New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1908 (from
the 2nd German edition).
Theological Translation Library, volumes 19-20
From the German, Die Mission und Ausbreitung des Christentums in
den ersten drei Jahrhunderten (1902, revised 1906, 1915, and
finally 1924)
[experimental greek]
[[Book 4, Chapter 3, section 3, location 9 (page 182 = 2nd German ed p. 153) (scanned and proofed,
Elana Newberger 4/2004; subsections and some Greek scanned by Moises
Bassan
8/2004), edited RAK 5-9/2004, Frank Lameiro 4/2005; some ETs
still
needed, names and American spellings, French accents, German umlauts,
italics)]]
[[182]]
9. ASIA
MINOR (excluding Cilicia)1
CAPPADOCIA,
ARMENIA,
DIOSPONTUS, PAPHLAGONIA,
AND PONTUS
POLEMONIACUS,
BITHYNIA,
ASIA, LYDIA, MYSIA, CARIA,
PHRYGIA,
GALATIA,
PISIDIA, LYCAONIA,
LYCIA, PAMPHYLIA, ISAURIA
Asia Minor, and indeed the majority of the above-named provinces,
constituted the Christian
country κατ' ἐξοχήν
during the pre-Constantine era. This is a fact which is to be asserted
with all confidence. Even the reasons for it can be discovered,
although different considerations obtain with regard to the various
sections of Asia Minor as a whole. Here Hellenism had assumed a form
which rendered it peculiarly susceptible to Christianity. Here again
were other provinces which were barely touched by it, possessing but an
imperfect civilization, and therefore forming virgin soi1.2 Here,
in
many provinces, a numerous body of Jews were to be found, who, though
personally hostile to Christianity, had nevertheless prepared its
entrance into many a heart and head. Here singular mixtures of Judaism
and paganism were to be met with, in the realm of ideas (cp. the
worship of θεός ὕψιστος) as well as in
mythology; the population were open for a new syncretism. Here there
were no powerful and unifying national religions to offer such a
fanatical resistance to Christianity as in the case of the
Syro-Phoenician religion, although there were strong local sanctuaries
and several attractive cults throughout the country. The religious life
of the land was cleft by as serious a fissure as was the provincial and
national -- which must have been felt to be an anachronism in the new
order of things, above [[183]]
all, in the new order introduced by
Augustus. The older national memories had almost died out everywhere.
There was a total lack of any independent political life. Here3 the
imperial cultus established itself, therefore, with success. But while
the imperial cultus was an anticipation of universalism in religion, it
was a totally unworthy expression of that universalism, nor could it
permanently satisfy the religious natures of the age.4
Besides,
ambition, conceit, and servility clung to it. Civilization and manners
differed widely throughout these provinces, where, in the West, trade,
manufactures, and commerce flourished down to the beginning of the
third century. But so far as there was any civilization -- and in the
West
it was extremely high -- it was invariably Hellenic. Here, more than
[[184]] in any other
country, did Christianity amalgamate with
Hellenism, and the result was that an actual transition and fusion took
place, which, contrary to the development at Alexandria, affected, not
merely religious philosophy, but all departments of life. This is
evident from the Christian theology, the cultus, the mythology, and the
local legends of the saints. The proof of it comes out in the fourth,
and in fact at the end of the third century, in the way in which
paganism was overcome. Here paganism was absorbed. There were no fierce
struggles. Paganism simply disappeared, to emerge again, in proportion
to the measure of its disappearance, within the Christian church.
Nowhere else did the conquest and "extirpation" of paganism occasion so
little trouble. The fact is, it was not extirpation at all. It was
transformation.5
Asia Minor, in the fourth century, was the first
purely Christian country, apart from some outlying districts and one or
two prominent sanctuaries which managed to survive. The Greek church of
to-day is the church of Constantinople and Asia Minor, or rather of
Asia Minor. Constantinople itself derived its power from Asia Minor in
the first instance, and from Antioch only in the second. The apostle
Paul was drawn to Asia Minor. Ephesus became the second fulcrum of
Christianity, after Antioch. That great unknown figure, John, resided
here, and here it was that the deepest things which could be said of
Jesus were composed. Besides John, other apostles and personal
disciples of Jesus,6
among then Philip the evangelist, and certainly
his daughters (who were prophetesses), all came to Phrygia. Nearly all
the great developments of the Christian religion during the second
century originated in Asia, and it was in Asia that all the great
controversies were mainly fought out -- the conflict between the
itinerant
and the local organizations (cp. 3 John, etc.), the gnostic struggle,
the Christological controversy (Praxeas, [[185]] Theodotus, and
Epigonus all came from Asia), the Montanist controversy, which here and
here alone assumed a popular form, etc. Here, too, the synodal and
metropolitan constitution of the church was initiated.7 The
worship
of relics also received its initial impetus in Asia Minor.
1 Cp. Map
6 -- Mommsen's Röm. Gesch. 5,
pp. 295 f. (Eng. trans. 1, pp. 320 f.), and the copious
instructive
article on "Asia Minor" by Joh. Weiss in the Prot: Real.-Encykl.3,
vol. 10. The collocation of districts so heterogeneous as the above can
only be justified on the ground that the results of Christian
propaganda were fairly uniform. The collocation is thus at best
provisional.
2 One must
also notice at how late a
period the whole eastern section of the province became really
Romanized. Avowedly by 100 B.C.E., but actually not for two centuries
later, did the Romans win practical and entire possession of Cilicia.
Cappadocia was not secured till the reign of Tiberius; Western Pontus
was added under Nero, Commagene and Armenia Minor under Vespasian, etc.
3 Above
all, in Asia proper, which had
every reason to hail Augustus with real gratitude. Perhaps the most
brilliant achievement of the imperial policy during the first century
was the pacification and prosperity of Asia Minor; it was partly a
renaissance, partly quite a new creation.
4 Thanks
to the newly discovered
inscriptions, we now know better than ever the character, the
consolidation, the provincial organization (with the Ἀσιάρχης and an
ἀρχιερεύς under
him in every leading temple of the towns), the language, and the
influence of the imperial cultus in Asia. How much we can gather from
the history of the church, from inscriptions such as those of Priene
(Mitteil. D. Kais. Deutschen Archäol.
Instit., Athen. Abteil. 23.3.
pp. 275 f., and my Reden u. Aufs.
1, pp. 301 f.), or from Hadrian's
title of " Ὀλύμπιος σωτὴρ καὶ κτίστης"! Lübeck
(pp. 17 f., on the imperial cultus and the hierarchy of the church)
rightly perceives that "in the end the Christian organization (in Asia)
was obliged to resemble that of the imperial cultus in several, though
not in many, respects: apparently it leant on the cultus, though it was
quite unconscious of any such deliberate purpose[?]." Still, it cannot
be proved that the seven churches addressed in John's Apocalypse were
selected by John on account of their position and relation to the
cultus of the ruling power and the emperor (so Lübeck pp. 26 f.).
Ramsay has put forward a fresh and independent view of this choice
("The Seven Churches of Asia," in Expositor
9, pp. 20 f.), and
in his large work on The Letters to
the Seven Churches of Asia, 1904,
pp. 171 f.). He regards each church as the representative of a group of
adjoining churches, as in fact a sort of metropolitan church. This was
not the original grouping of John, however; these seven churches must
have been already recognized as "the seven churches of Asia." "The
gradual selection of several representative churches in the province
was in some way connected with the principal road-circuit of the
province……They were the best points on that circuit to serve as centres
of communication with seven districts: Pergamum for the north (Troas,
Adramyttium, probably Cyzicus, etc.); Thyatira for an inland district
on the north-east and east; Philadelphia for Upper Lydia, to which it
was the door (3.8); Laodicea for the Lycus valley and for central
Phrygia; Ephesus for the Cayster and lower Mæander valleys and coasts;
Smyrna for the lower Hermas valley and the North Ionian coast, perhaps
with Mitylene and Chios."
5 A good
deal is to be learnt from
Strzygowski's Kleinasien ein Neuland
der Kuntgeschichte (1903) about
the pre-Constantine church history of Asia.
6 Cp.
Zahn's "Apostel u. Apostelschüler
in der Provinz Asien" (Forschungen
6, 1900), which is not free from
exaggerations and doubtful assertions. "The Asiatic presbyters who had
seen the apostles" (so Papias, followed by Irenæus and the Muratorian
canon) form a group which we can no longer make out clearly. Cp. my
Chronologie 1, 320-381.
7 Plainly
this organization had not yet
become naturalized in Northern Africa, or at least only in the local
Montanist church, when Tertullian wrote (in de Jejunio13):
"Aguntur praeterea per Graecias [under which we must include Asia] illa
certis in locis concilia ex universis ecclesiis, per quae et altiora
quaeque in commune tractantur, et ipsa representatio totius nominis
Christiani magna veneratione celebratur" ("Besides, in definite
localities throughout Greece there are held those councils of all the
churches, by means of which deeper questions are treated for the
church's common good, and the entire name of Christ is represented and
celebrated with entire reverence"). In Asia the synods were framed on
the pattern of the local diets, which were a special feature of Asiatic
life (cp. Lübeck, pp. 32 f.). Their significance for the growth and
strength of the Christian cause is brought out by the Licinian
legislation, which prohibited them (Vita
Constant. 1, 51: μηδαμῶς ἀλλήλοις ἐπικοινωνεῖν τοὺς
ἐπισκόπους, μηδ’ ἐπιδημεῖν αὐτῶν ἐξεῖναί τινι τῇ τοῦ
πέλας ἐκκλησίᾳ, μηδέ γε συνόδους μηδὲ βουλὰς καὶ διασκέψεις περὶ τῶν
λυσιτελῶν ποιεῖσθαι = "
Bishops were never to hold the slightest intercourse with one another,
nor were they permitted to be absent on a visit to some neighbouring
church, nor were synods, councils, or conferences on economic questions
to be held").
Even before Trajan's reign we come across Christian communities at
Perge (Pamphylia), Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Derbe, and Lystra (Acts
13, 14), as well as at unnamed localities in Galatia, Cappadocia,
and Bithynia, at Ephesus, Colossæ, Laodicea, Phrygian Hierapolis
(Paul's epistles), Smyrna, Pergamum, Sardis, Philadelphia, Thyatira
(Apoc. John), and Troas (Acts, Paul, and Ignat., ad Phil. 11).8 The
churches at Magnesia on the Mæander and at Tralles are also earlier
than Trajan's reign, undoubtedly (see Ignatius). Nor does this exhaust
the number of towns where Christian communities were to be found at
that period.9
The vigour and the variety of the forms already assumed
by Christianity in these quarters are shown by the seven epistles to
the churches in the Johannine Apocalypse, by the whole tenor of the
book, and by [[186]] the
Ignatian writings. The epistle to Laodicea
(Apoc. 3.17) sets before us a church which had already compromised
with the world, and which felt itself to be rich and satisfied. For the
John of the Apocalypse, for Ignatius, and for the unknown editor who
called Paul's circular letter by the name of "Ephesians," Ephesus stood
out pre-eminent among the churches of Asia. Ignatius mentions its
populous character (πολυπληθία, Ephes.
1.3).
He only speaks of πλῆθος in connection with the
others. Smyrna was originally a small church,10
oppressed by a
powerful Jewish society, and so on. But by the time of Domitian the
number of the Asiatic Christians was large. Thus the author of the
Apocalypse depicts an ὄχλος πολύς, ὃν ἀριθμῆσαι αὐτὸν οὐδεὶς ἐδύνατο (7.9)
standing before the throne of the Lamb. A
generation earlier, Paul had written an epistle (the so-called
"Ephesians") to Asia, whose historical outlook implies the glorious
experience of Christ's power to unify mankind, and of that peace among
men which the Saviour came to bring. Christ, not Augustus, is our
peace. He it is who made out of twain one, and hath broken down the
wall of partition. The language of imperial adoration is applied here
to the Redeemer (Ephes. 2.14).
8 For the
history of the founding of
these churches, cp. especially the studies of Ramsay.
9 For the
Apocalypse of John never
mentions Tralles, Magnesia, or Colossæ. Consequently, it must have also
omitted other cities, even although these had churches of their own.
Ignatius, too, merely gives a selection. Both he (Trall. 12, Polyc. 8) and the address of 1
Peter point to the existence of other
churches in Asia.
10 Paul
did not found this church; it
arose after several of the other Asiatic Christian communities (Polyc.,
Ep. 11.3).
This sketch may be rounded off by a piece of non-Christian evidence
which, however familiar, cannot be valued too highly. It refers to
Bithynia and Pontus, two provinces of Asia Minor, where (as the opening
words of 1 Peter11
already inform us) Christians were to be found at
an early period, though no further details can be gathered on this
point from the New Testament itself12
Pliny's account of them,
however (for it is Pliny to whom I allude), certainly relates to the
provinces of [[187]] Asia
and Phrygia alike. He informs the emperor
Trajan (Ep. 96, c. 111-113
C.E.) that persons of all ages and ranks
(even including Roman citizens) are implicated in the proceedings taken
against the Christians, while several apostates had explained they had
been Christians for many years, but were no longer so. One of them
affirmed that he had been converted over twenty years ago. Pliny then
goes on to say "Dilata cognitione ad consulendum te decucurri. Visa est
enim mihi res digna consultatione, maxime propter periclitantium
numerum. Multi enim omnis aetatis, omnis ordinis, utriusque sexus
etiam, vocantur in periculum et vocabuntur. Neque civitates tantum sed vicos etiam
atque agros superstitionis istius contagio pervagata est; quae
videtur sisti et corrigi posse. Certe satin constat prope iam desolata templa coepisse
celebrari et sacra sollemnia diu
intermissa repeti pastumque venire victimarum, cuius adhuc rarissimus emptor inveniebatur.
Ex quo facile est opinari quae turba hominum emendari possit, si sit
paenitentiae locus" (cp. above, p. 3).
11 This
epistle shows unquestionably
that Christianity had spread to some extent throughout these provinces.
The counsels of the author definitely presuppose certain relations
between the Christian and the non-Christian population. Not so the
Pauline epistles. The local Christians have obviously excited a
disagreeable interest in their affairs; they are exposed to the
hostility of the provincials, although the authorities still refrain
from any action. The epistle may belong to the earlier years of
Domitian.
12 In an
ancient preface to John's Gospel (cp. the old manuscript of
Toledo) we hear of brethren from Pontus. The preface is not entirely
valueless. -- Ramsay is probably right in holding that Bithynia was
hardly
reached by Christianity by land. Similarly, the Pontic towns on the
Black Sea had Christian communities at an early date, whilst the
interior of Pontus still remained pagan throughout.
There were reasons why Pliny13 should
represent the spread of the
movement in as strong terms as possible;14 but,
even after allowance
has been made for this, his testimony remains sufficiently remarkable.
He cannot have invented the spread of the Christian religion in the
lowlands, or the grip which it had taken of all classes in the
population. But who the missionaries were by whose efforts this had
been accomplished, we cannot tell. How well prepared, too, must have
been the soil, if the Christian crop sprang up so luxuriantly! In
short, we may claim this letter of Pliny as the most outstanding piece
of evidence for the advance of Christian missions along the whole of
the western coast.
13 This
letter to Trajan was probably
written in the east of Bithynia-Pontus, as the letters near it in the
collection are dated from this district (Amastris? Amasia?).
14 He
wanted the emperor to approve of
his comparatively lenient treatment of the Christians.
Pliny does not name any city or locality; evidently he would [[188]]
have had to mention too many. And the Christian writers are so reticent
that these gaps in our knowledge remain unfilled. Amisus in Pontus is
the only place at which we can prove from Christian sources, with some
show of probability, that Christians existed about 100 C.E. (cp.
Ramsay's The Church in the Roman
Empire, 1893, pp. 211, 225).
Between Trajan and the death of Marcus Aurelius,15 our
sources
supply fourteen fresh names of Asiatic towns containing Christian
communities, in addition to the seventeen already noted -- an
infinitesimally small number in view of the numerous new churches which
must have been planted throughout Asia Minor during these eighty years.
Those named are Sinope on the Black Sea (the home of Marcion, whose
father is said to have been the local bishop; Hippol., in Epiph., Hœr. 42.1); Philomelium in Pisidia
(cp. the epistle. of the Smyrniote
church upon Polycarp's death), Parium in Mysia (for in this connection
we may trust the Acta Onesiphori),16
Nicomedia (cp. the epistle of
bishop Dionysius of Corinth to the local church in Eus., H.E. 4.23),
Amastris "and the other churches in Pontus" (the epistle of Dionysius
to them, loc. cit.; here the
metropolitan organization was in working
order by the reign of M. Aurelius), and Hieropolis in Phrygia (however
one may view the famous inscription of Abercius, we may infer from it
that Christianity had by that time reached Hieropolis).17 The
other
eight towns are known to us from sources connected with the Montanist
movement, viz., Ancyra in Galatia (Eus., 5.16), Otrus, Pepuza, Tymion
[=Dumanli?], (Ardabau) [ἐν τῇ κατὰ τὴν Φρυγίαν Μυσίᾳ
= Kardaba?],18
Apamea (Kibotos), Cumane, and Eumenea, all
in Phrygia (cp. Eus., H.E.,
5.16. 18). So far as we know, the first
synods in connection with the [[189]]
Montanist controversy were held
in Asia Minor, although they did not confine themselves strictly to one
province.
15 In this
connection one must also
recall the rescript of Hadrian to Minucius Fundanus and the
interpolated rescript of Pius to the diet of Asia (Texte u. Unters. 13.4), both of
which presuppose no inconsiderable extension of
Christianity in Asia. The local diet has already to deal with
Christians. On the other hand, no weight is to be attached to the story
told by Lampridius in his Vita Alex.
Severi, 43, about Hadrian and
Christianity.
16 Cp.
also Acta SS. Fbr. 2, p. 42.
17 The Acta Pauli probably testify also
to the existence of a church at Myrrha in Lycia, during the second
century.
18 Cp.
Ramsay's Phrygia, p. 573.
Before entering into the evidence available for the several
provinces of Asia Minor, I shall briefly put together some data which
prove the wide diffusion of Christianity by the close of our epoch,
circa 325 C.E.
(1) The edicts of Maximus Daza against Christians, with their
declarations that almost all "men" have gone over to Christianity
(Eus., H.E. 9.9),19 refer
mainly to the situation in Asia Minor
(and Syria). From the servile petitions of the cities, even of
Nicomedia (loc. cit., and 9.2
f.), asking the emperor to issue a
command that no Christian should reside within their bounds or even in
their surroundings, we must not conclude that the local Christians
were, relatively speaking, a small body. As for Bithynia in particular,
this edict of Daza implies the existence of a particularly large number
of Christians. The petition sent up by the cities had simply the effect
of prohibiting public worship within the city walls. Perhaps it was not
meant to be serious at all; the idea of such petitions was to curry
favour with the emperor.20
19 ἡνίκα συνεῖδον σχεδὸν
ἅπαντας
ἀνθρώπους καταλειφθείσης τῆς τῶν θεῶν θρῃσκείας τῷ ἔθνει τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἑαυτοὺς συμμεμιχότας
(cp. vol. 1, pp.
271, 495 f.); also the edict in 9.7.9: σχεδὸν εἰπεῖν τὰ πανταχοῦ τῆς οἰκουμένης αἰσχύναις ἐπίεζεν
("Christianity,
it may almost be said, crushed the whole world with its shame"). The
designation of Christians as τὸ ἔθνος τῶν Χριστιανῶν
occurs pretty frequently in the imperial rescripts of that
period.
20
Even if one assumes that the
petitions were really meant to be taken seriously, with their demand
for the formal ejection of all Christians, no light is yet thrown upon
the number of Christians. We must remember, by way of comparison, how
strong the Huguenots were in France, when the general policy was to
root them out. One always reckons in such cases upon the majority
abandoning their faith.
(2) In the speech already quoted (p. 16), which was delivered in
Nicomedia, Lucian of Antioch declares that "pars paene mundi iam maior
huic veritati adstipulatur, urbes
integrae; aut si in his aliquid
suspectum videtur, contestatur de his etiam agrestis manus, ignara
figmenti."
(3) The expression, "urbes integrae," is corroborated, so far as
regards Phrygia, by Eus., H.E.
8.11.1, where we read how an
entire town (Ramsay, Letters to
Seven Churches of Asia, [[190]]
pp. 426
f., thinks of Eumenea) in this province, which was Christian, was burnt
during Diocletian's persecution ( Ἤδη
γοῦν ὅλην Χριστιανῶν πολίχνην αὔτανδρον ἀμφὶ τὴν Φρυγίαν ἐν κύκλῳ
περιβαλόντες ὁπλῖται πῦρ τε ὑφάψαντες κατέφλεξαν αὐτοῖς ἅμα νηπίοις καὶ
γυναιξὶ τὸν ἐπὶ πάντων θεὸν [variant, τὸν Χριστὸν] ἐπιβοωμένοις).21
Even eighty years earlier (for
so, I take it, we must understand the authority cited in Epiph., Hœr. 51.33), Thyatira was
practically a Christian (i.e., a Montanist) city.
21 "A
whole town of Christians, in
Phrygia, was surrounded by soldiers when its citizens were inside. Fire
was flung into it, and the troops burned it up, with men, women, and
children, all calling upon Christ." The sequel is particularly
instructive, as showing the extent to which Christianity had become
naturalized in the country; even the authorities of the town were
Christians (ὅτι δὴ
πανδημεὶ πάντες οἱ τὴν πόλιν οἰκοῦντες λογιστής τε αὐτὸς καὶ στρατηγοὶ
σὺν τοῖς ἐν τέλει πᾶσιν καὶ ὅλῳ δήμῳ
Χριστιανοὺς σφᾶς ὁμολογοῦντες, οὐδ’ ὁπωστιοῦν τοῖς προστάττουσιν εἰδωλολατρεῖν
ἐπειθάρχουν [= ΕΤ], cp. p. 40).
Lactantius also (Instit. 5.11)
mentions the incident: "Unus in Phrygia
universum populum cum ipso pariter conventiculo concremavit" ("One
burned up a whole town in Phrygia, with its assembly and all").
(4) From the Vita Constantini
2.1-2, it follows that there were
several churches at Amasia in Pontus during the reign of Licinius. If
there were several in a town like this, which was not in the front
rank, we may safely assume that many towns of Asia Minor already
contained not one church but many.22
22
Throughout the towns it is obvious
that the churches generally were quite small; for Licinius (Vita
Constantini 1.53), pleading hygienic reasons, decreed that
Christians were to conduct their worship in the open air. On his part,
this was purely a pretext for either ridding the towns of their
presence or throwing obstacles in the way of their worship.
(5) Dionysius of Alexandria (Eus., H.E.
7.7) had already
described the churches of Phrygia and the adjoining provinces as "the
most populous churches." These districts had the largest number of
bishoprics and the largest churches in the East -- a fact which is
confirmed by the council of Nicæa. For although attendance at the
council depended upon all sorts of accidental circumstances, so that
inferences from it are not quite certain, still the loca1 strength of
Christianity in a province which was, comparatively speaking, so remote
and wild as Isauria, is clearly shown by its representation at Nicæa,
of thirteen bishops and four chor-episcopi, drawn from all parts of the
country. [[191]]
(6) Besides the mere number of chor-episcopi attending
Nicæa, the Christian inscriptions from the small townships of Phrygia,
which were publicly erected and bore the name of Χριστιανός, the story of
Gregory Thaumaturgus (see below),
the evidence of Lucian, and other sources as well, show still more
forcibly that Christianity during the third century had penetrated
deeply into the population of the towns and country districts
throughout Asia Minor, partially absorbing into itself the native
cults.23
23
An admirably comprehensive work upon
the Christian inscriptions of Asia Minor has been written by Cumont:
Les Inscr. Chrét. De l'Asie mineure,
Rome, 1895 [Extr. des Mélanges
d'Archéologie et d'Histoire, t. 15). True, we cannot verify more than
nine dated inscriptions for the pre-Constantine period (besides the
inscription of Arycanda, which refers to Christians), but Duchesne and
Cumont have shown that internal evidence justifies us in claiming a
considerable number of undated inscriptions as pre-Constantine (cp.
Renan's Paul, Germ. ed., 323
f.). The dated inscriptions come from
Hieropolis, Eumenea, Sebaste, Apamea, Pepuza, and Trajanopolis. On the
position of Christians in Asia, Cumont rightly observes (pp. 26 f.):
"La paix relative où vécurent ces communautés, n'y laissa pas grandir
comme ailleurs la haine contre l'État romain. On pouvait devenir
chrétien et rester bon citoyen; on aimait à faire l'eloge de sa ville
natale, on y exerçait des fonctions publiques, on déposait aux archives
la copie de son testament, on stipulait contre les violateurs de son
tombeau des amendes au profit de la caisse municipale ou du trésor
publique…..Rien d'étonnant que dans un pareil milieu les idées et les
coutumes antiques se soient plus qu'ailleurs mêlées aux convictions
nouvelles, que dans la vie journalière on ait cherché un compromis
entre le passé et le présent."
(7) Palpably, the reaction under Julian failed to get any footing in
Asia Minor, owing to the strong hold of the country already won by
Christianity. This explains, among other things, why the names of the
bishoprics, which we can verify for Asia Minor, determine the actual
number of these bishoprics still less accurately than is the case with
the other provinces. If a large number of the Eastern provinces
generally fell under the verdict -- a verdict which cannot, of course,
be
strictly proved -- that by about 325 C.E. the network of the episcopal
hierarchy had been completed, leaving few meshes to be added at a later
period,24
then Asia Minor comes pre-eminently within the sweep
[[192]] of such a judgment.
Still, to avoid the introduction of
uncertain data, I shall refrain from adducing, byway of evidence, the
diocesan distribution of the Asiatic provinces, since our knowledge of
this dates only from a later period. I shall merely add in this
connection an allusion to such towns and localities as can be clearly
proved to have had Christian communities up to 325 C.E.25
24
Cp. above, p. 158, on Egypt. There
are but few traces of new bishoprics having been founded in the East by
Constantine or his sons. Most of the sees had evidently been created
previously. The main concern of the first Christian emperor was the
building of churches (i.e.,
new buildings or the enlargement of old
ones), and their equipment.
25
Hilary, who
wrote during his exile in Asia, declares (in de Synodis) that, "apart
from Eleusius of Cyzicus and a few of his company, the ten Asiatic
provinces in which I stayed had really no knowledge of God." If this
was the state of matters, it is a melancholy testimony against the real
Christianity of the Asiatic Christians, but the passage must not be
connected with the problem of the spread of Christianity. Augustine
(Ep. 93.31 f.) properly
brushed aside the Donatist Vincentius in
Mauretania, who concluded from the passage that there were practically
no Christians in these ten provinces, and thus tried to give it an
anti-catholic bearing.
A. CAPPADOCIA
This province was not Grecized26 till late, and even then
only slightly. It was neither densely populated nor rich in towns, and
it was passed over by Paul. His steps turned westward. But, as 1 Pet.
1.1 implies, there were already Christians in Cappadocia. Seven
Cappadocian bishops attended Nicaea, from Caesarea, Tyana, Colonia,
Cybistra, Comana, Spania (= Spalia ? where is it ?), and Parnassus,27
besides no fewer than five chorepiscopi.28 This proves how
deeply Christianity had permeated the population of the country.29
By about 258 C.E. it must [[193]] have comprised a
large Christian population, for the Gothic invaders in that year
dragged off Christians, and even some of the clergy, among their
captives. These included the Greek parents of Ulfilas, who were already
Christians, and had resided in the village of Sadagolthina near the
town of Parnassus (Philostorg., H.E.
2.5). The story of the father
of Gregory Naz. proves also that there was a Christian community at
Nazianzus (Dio-Caesarea) prior to Constantine.30
27 The last-named town is doubtful, however. Still, there
is no doubt that there were local Christians by the middle of the third
century, for such were to be found in the village of Sadagolthina near
Parnassus. Perhaps Camulia, near Caesarea, had also Christians about
this time (cp. von Dobschutz's Christusbilder,
p. 40, 14**)
28 Cappadocian chor-episcopi also attended the synod of
Neo-Caesarea. The bishop of Caesarea was at Ancyra. The chor-episcopate
was strongest in Cappadocia and Isauria.
29 The names of the bishops show how entirely Greek
Christianity had become, even here : Leontius, Eutychius, Erythrius,
Timotheus, Elpidius, Paulus. The chor-episcopi were called Gorgonius,
Stephanus, Eudromius, Rhodon, and Theophanes.
After the second century we frequently come across Cappadocian
Christians in other provinces (cp., e.g.,
the Acta Justini 41, where
Euelpistus comes of Christian parents in Cappadocia).31
Tertullian, far off in Carthage, can even report a Cappadocian
persecution (cp. Neumann, op. cit.
1, p. 70) between 180 and 196; "
Claudius Lucius Herminianus in Cappadocia, cum indigne ferens uxorem
suam ad hancsectam transisse Christianos crudeliter tractasset solusque
in praetorio suo vastatus peste convivis vermibus ebulisset, nemo
sciat, aiebat, ne gaudeant Christiani aut sperent Christianae. postea
cognito errore suo quod tormentis quosdam a proposito suo excidere
fecisset, paene Christianus decessit" (ad
Scap. 3: "Enraged at the
conversion of his wife" to this sect, Claudius Lucius Herminianus in
Cappadocia treated the Christians cruelly. But afterwards, left alone
in his palace and devoured by disease, he grew fevered with worms
eating his vitals, and would cry out, ' Let none know of it, lest the
Christian men rejoice and Christian wives take heart.' Subsequently, he
came to see his error in having forced some to give up their faith by
means of torture. And he died almost a Christian himself ").
31 Also Mart.
Pal., p. 75 (ed. Violet). The martyrs of Caesarea (Palest.),
Seleucus
and Julianus, came from Cappadocia (ibid.,
pp. 97, 101).
The bishopric of Caesarea, which was the metropolis of Cappadocia
and "the medium of the busy traffic between the seaports on the west
coast32 and the region of the Euphrates," was widely known
throughout the church on account of two [[194]] men, both friends
of learning, viz., Alexander and Firmilian. The former (cp. my
Litt.-Gesch. 1, pp. 505
f.; 2.2. pp. 6 f., 92 f.) was bishop at
Caesarea33 when quite a youth (c. 200 C.E.) ; he was a
friend of Clement and of Origen ; and as bishop of Jerusalem he died
full of years, after having founded a library in Jerusalem. Clement
stayed with him, after leaving Alexandria, and took part in
mission-work at Caesarea. Alexander distinctly says that he added to
the local church (Eus., H.E.
6.11. 6). Firmilian, who also was a man
of Alexandrian culture and an ardent admirer of Origen (c. 230-268),
was connected with the most prominent people in all the church, even
with Cyprian of Carthage (cp. my Litt.-Gesch.
1, pp. 407 f. ; 2.2.
102 f.). Thanks to his episcopal efforts34 Caesarea became a
center of theological culture ; and it was here that the learned,
maiden Juliana resided, who harboured Origen35 for two years
and received one or two books from Symmachus. A good deal of
information upon the history of the Cappadocian church during the first
half of the third century is yielded by Firmilian's letter to Cyprian
(Ep. 75), where we read of synods,
persecutions, heretics, and
fanatics. Special interest attaches to his account of a prophetess (c.
10) connected with the earlier prophetesses of Phrygia, who stirred up
the whole Christian population during the reign of Maximinus Thrax, and
even captured a presbyter and a deacon. In the controversy over the
baptism of heretics, Firmilian sided with Cyprian. The most famous
Cappadocian martyr was Mamas,36 a simple shepherd (in the
days of Valerian?). But unfortunately we have no Acta at our disposal.
32 The
bishopric was in close touch not only with Antioch and Palestine, but
also with the West.
33 Eusebius did not know, at any rate he did not say, what place
it was, but Gregory of Nyssa (Migne 46, p. 905) mentions it.
34 Gregory of Nyssa calls him a " distinguished "
Cappadocian. He lived to see the terrible invasion of Sapur and the
siege of Caesarea. The raid of the Goths and the invasion of the
province by the Persians were simultaneous.
35 Origen stayed at Caesarea (in the house of a certain
Juliana), by the request of Firmilian, " for the good of the churches"
(Eus., H. E. 6.17 ; cp.
Pallad., Hist. Laus. 64); cp. my
Chronologie 2, p. 33.
36 His body was deposited in the imperial estate of Macellum,
near Caesarea (Soz. 5.2.).
Alexander and
(especially) Firmilian were responsible for the theological importance
of the Caesarean and Cappadocian [[195]] church.37
As regards the fourth century, we can even speak of a distinctively
Origenist Cappadocian theology, which proved of the utmost significance
for the church at large, and in point of fact became an orthodox
theology itself Basil (ὁ
τῆς οἰκουμένης φωστήρ,
Theodor 4.19) and the two great Gregorys were sons of
Cappadocia .38 Withal, a popular Christianity developed
simultaneously in Cappadocia, . which became fused with paganism -- as
may
be inferred from numberless statements and hints scattered through the
works of Cappadocians (cp. also the cult of the "Hypsistarii,"39
votaries of θεὸς
ὕψιστος), and [[196]]
especially in the letter of Basil to Glycerius (Ep. 169. [412]).40
Following in the wake of Gregory Thaumaturgus, their teacher,41
these Cappadocians were skilled in adjusting Christianity to Hellenism
in the interests of the cultured, Hellenism being viewed as a
preparation for the gospel. They understood how to Christianize the
cults. But above all, they knew how to plan everything so as to
heighten the power and sanctity of the catholic church, and how to
enthrone it over every form and phase of contemporary syncretism ; they
knew how to put an end to the latter and at the same time to perpetuate
them in the sense of subordinating them, as local and justifiable
varieties of religion, to the authority of the one church and of her
cultus. Such an achievement would have been impossible, had not
Cappadocia been practically Christian by about 325 C.E., even though
its Christianity was cleft in twain.42
Finally, the church of Cappadocia is invested with still further
importance as the mother of the Gothic and, in company with the
Edessene church, of the Armenian churches as well.
B. ARMENIA, DIOSPONTUS, PAPHLAGONIA, AND
PONTUS POLEMONIACUS.
The early history of the church in Armenia, Major and Minor, is
wrapt in obscurity. Apart from the district of Melitene, it emerges
first of all43 in the statement of Eusebius (H.E. 6.46),
that Dionysius Alex. wrote "to the brethren in [[197]] Armenia, whose
bishop was Meruzanes."44 Meruzanes was either bishop of
Sebaste in Armenia Minor, a town which was .the capital of the province
at the time of the council of Nicaea, or bishop of some unknown town in
South-East Armenia.45 From the mode of expression in
Eusebius (Dionysius) it seems probable that Sebaste was not the only
Christian church in Armenia about 200 C.E.46 As for the
district of Melitene, which is to be assigned to the southern section
of Armenia Minor, we can verify local Christians in the reign of M.
Aurelius, since, as is clear from the story of the miracle of the rain,
there were numerous Christians in the Thundering Legion quartered in
that district (see above). We may rightly assume (Eus., 5.5) that the
soldiers of this legion were recruited largely from the local
population,47 and Eus. 8.6 proves that Christianity
there was very strong (see further the remarks on this passage on p.
138).48
43 Hippolytus (Philos. 7.31) calls Bardesanes "the
Armenian." But this is out of the question.
Bardesanes was a Syrian (see above).
44 The name is Armenian ; an Armenian satrap is so called in
Faustus of Byzantium (4.23. p. 144).
45 Gelzer, in pp. 176 f. of the essay mentioned below,
thinks of Armenia Major, on account of the Armenian name. But was there
any bishop at all in that district at that period? Gelzer's idea is
that Meruzanes was a scion of the princely house of Arzruni, and bishop
of Vaspurakan in the S.E. (the district of Taron lies S.W.). The
Armenian name of the bishop tells against Sebaste in Armenia Minor ;
for Christianity, so far as we know, was Greek in Armenia Minor.
46 I find, among my notes, Nicopolis (ἡ τοῦ Πομπηίου) in
Armenia Minor described as a town where martyrdoms prove the existence
of Christians before Constantine. But I am unable to give the
reference.
47 Eusebius seems to regard the legion as composed practically of
Christians.
48 The Christian soldier Polyeuctes, who was martyred under
Decius or Valerian, also belonged to the Melitene legion (cp. the
ancient Syrian Martyrologium for 7th Jan. ; Conybeare's Apol. and Acts
of Apollonius and other Monuments of Early Christianity, 1894,
London,
pp. 123 f. ; Aube's Polyeucte dans
l'histoire, Paris, 1882; and Acta
SS., Febr. T. 2, pp. 650 f.). If we may trust a remark in what
is,
relatively speaking, the best recension of the Acta Polyeuctes, to the
effect that he was the first martyr at Melitene, then Christianity must
have been able to develop there uninterrupted till the reign of Decius.
The statement of Eus., H.E.
8.6.8, that there were numerous
clergy everywhere about 300 C.E., refers to Syria and Melitene.
The period of the Licinian persecution furnishes us with an
invaluable source of information for Armenia Minor, in the testament of
the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste,49 which shows that [[198]] Christianity was at that
time as widely diffused throughout the smaller
localities of the province as in Cappadocia. There were Christians in
Sarin, Phydela, Chaduthi (not Chaduthb), Charisphone, and Zimara50
(none of which, except Phydela, can be identified, so far as I am
aware), besides other villages which are not named.51 Even
here the Christianity52 is Hellenic (cp. the numerous
personal names). Presbyters rule the village-churches53 [[199]]
along with deacons, but there are also village-churches with bishops of
their own.54
The bishops (Eulalius and Euethius) of Sebaste55 and
Satala (in the extreme north-east of Armenia Minor) attended Nicaea.
Caesarius, the father of Eudoxius, bishop of Germanicia (and afterwards
of Antioch), came from Arabissus, a town in the south-west. He died
there as a martyr (cp. Philostorg., 4.4, and Suidas, s.v. "Eudoxius
"). Philostorgius calls Eudoxius himself an Armenian (4.8). Meletius
of Antioch came from Melitene (Philost., 5.5).
49 Cp. Bonwetsch in
Neue
kirchl. Zeitschr. 3 (1892), pp. 705 f., and in the
Stud. z. Gesch.
d. Theol. u. Kirche (1897), pp. 73 f. ; also von Gebhardt's
Acta
Martyr. Selecta (1902), pp. 166 f.
50 The editors hitherto have followed the MS. in writing
"Ximara," but Cumont (
Anal. Boll.
23, 1904, p. 448) has shown that
"Zimara" is the correct reading. "Zimara est une ` statio' de la route
militaire de Satala a Melitene, dans la petite Armenie, non loin de
l'Euphrate (
Itiner. Anton.,
208, 5 ; cp. Ptolem., 5.7.2, et la Table
de Peutinger). Aujourd'hui encore le village qui lui a succede porte le
nom de Zimarra. Un eveque de Satala assistait au concile de Nicee, et
Melitene aussi avait une eglise des l'epoque des persecutions. Rien
d'etonnant donc que, vers la meme date, une communante chrstienne ait
existe dans une bourgade situee sur la grande voie qui reliait ces deux
cites. Le testament des 40 martyrs nous fournit ainsi une indication
interessante sur la diffusion du Christianisme le long de la frontiere
orientale de l'empire."
51 It is uncertain whether the town of Zela (Pontus) is
really
mentioned in the Acts, or whether the name has been corrupted. There
seems to have been a Zela in Armenia also (cp. Pape-Benseler).
52 Very few of the names of the forty martyrs are not Greek
or
Latin ; viz., Ayyίαs, Χουδίων, 'Ιωάννηs, and Νικάλλοs (?). Twice we get
a very characteristic phrase of the period, in “ὁ καὶ" (Λεόντιοs ὁ καὶ
Θεόκτιστοs) (Βικράτιοs ὁ καὶ Βιβιανός).
53 As the following passage (
Test. 3.1-3) is almost unique, I
shall cite it here [TLG text with Harnack's variants noted]:
Προσαγορεύομεν τὸν κύριν
[κύριον] τὸν πρεσβύτερον Φίλιππον καὶ Προκλιανὸν καὶ Διογένην ἅμα τῇ ἁγίᾳ ἐκκλησίᾳ.
προσαγορεύομεν τὸν κύριν [κύριον] Προκλιανὸν τὸν ἐν τῷ χωρίῳ
Φυδελᾷ ἅμα τῇ ἁγίᾳ ἐκκλησίᾳ μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων. προσαγορεύομεν Μάξιμον μετὰ
τῆς ἐκκλησίας, Μάγνον μετὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας. προσαγορεύομεν Δόμνον μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων καὶ [om] Ἴλην τὸν πατέρα ἡμῶν,
[+καὶ] Οὐάλην μετὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας. προσαγορεύω καὶ ἐγὼ Μελέτιος τοὺς
συγγενεῖς μου Λουτάνιον Κρίσπον καὶ Γόρδιον μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων, Ἐλπίδιον
μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων,
Ὑπερέχιον μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων [om 8 words]. προσαγορεύομεν καὶ τοὺς ἐν τῷ
χωρίῳ Σαρεῖμ, τὸν
πρεσβύτερον μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων, τοὺς διακόνους
μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων,
Μάξιμον μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων, Ἡσύχιον μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων,
Κυριακὸν μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων. προσαγορεύομεν τοὺς ἐν Χαδουθὶ πάντας κατ’
ὄνομα.
προσαγορεύομεν
καὶ τοὺς ἐν Χαρισφώνῃ πάντας κατ’ ὄνομα.
προσαγορεύω
καὶ ἐγὼ Ἀέτιος [Λέτιος] τοὺς συγγενεῖς μου Μάρκον καὶ Ἀκυλίναν καὶ τὸν
πρεσβύτερον Κλαύδιον καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφούς μου Μάρκον, Τρύφωνα [+ Γόρδιον καὶ
Κρίσπον] καὶ
τὰς ἀδελφάς μου καὶ τὴν σύμβιόν μου Δόμναν μετὰ τοῦ παιδίου μου.
προσαγορεύω καὶ ἐγὼ
Εὐτύχιος τοὺς ἐν Ξιμάροις τὴν μητέρα μου Ἰουλίαν καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφούς μου
Κύριλλον, Ῥοῦφον καὶ Ῥίγλον καὶ Κυρίλλαν καὶ τὴν νύμφην μου Βασιλείαν
καὶ τοὺς διακόνους Κλαύδιον καὶ Ῥουφῖνον καὶ Πρόκλον. προσαγορεύομεν
καὶ τοὺς ὑπηρέτας τοῦ θεοῦ Σαπρίκιον <τόν τοῦ> Ἀμμωνίου καὶ Γενέσιον, καὶ Σωσάνναν μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων
(" We hail the presbyter Philip and Proclianus and Diogenes, with the
holy church ; Proclianus in the district of Phydela, with the holy
church and his own people ; Maximus with his church, Magnus with his
church, Domnus with his own people ; lies, our father, and Vales, with
his church. I, Meletius, hail my kinsmen Latanius, Crispus, and
Gordius, with their households [+]. We hail also those in the district
of
Sarin, the presbyter and his people, the
deacons and their people, Maximus with his people, Hesychius with his
people, and Cyriacus and his people. We further hail all in Caduthi by
name, all in Carisphone by name. I, Aetius, hail my kinsfolk Marcus and
Aquilina and Claudius the presbyter, my brothers Marcus, Tryphon,
Gordius, and Crispus, with my sisters and Domna my wife and my child.
I, Eutychius, also hail those in Zimara, my mother Julia, and my
brothers Cyril, Rufus, Riglos, and Cyrilla, my bride Basileia, and the
deacons Claudius, Rufinus, and Proclus. We also hail and salute God's
servants Sapricius (the son of ?) Ammonius and Genesius, and Susanna
with her household ").
54 The
Testament of the Forty
is inscribed : (τοῖς) κατὰ
πᾶσαν πόλιν καὶ Χώραν [= village, here] ἁγίοιs ἐπισκόποις. The
chor-episcopus Anthogonius was martyred at Sebaste (cp. Achelis,
Martyrol.
Hieron., pp. 46 f., 163, 245).
The wide spread of Christianity in Pontus about the year 170 is
attested by Lucian (Alex. Abun.,
25.38), who writes that "the whole
country is full of atheists and Christians." Here (including
Paphlagonia as well) there were a number of churches, during the reigns
of M. Aurelius and Commodus, which had a metropolitan resident in
Amastris. This follows from the letter of Dionysius of Corinth
addressed to them
(in Eus., H.E. 4.23 : τῇ
ἐκκλησίᾳ
τῇ ταροικούσῃ Ἀμαστριν ἅμα ταῖς
κατὰ Πόντον), and from the part taken by the Pontic church in the
Easter controversy (ibid.
5.23: a writing τῶν κατὰ
Πόντον ἐπισκόπων, ὧν Πάλμας ώς ἀρχαιότατος
προὐτέτακτο). Of the local churches, we know Pompeiopolis and
Ionopolis, whose bishops, together with the bishop of Amastris,
attended the Nicene council.71 There was certainly a
[[204]]
church at Gangra, too, about 325 C.E. ; for, as the town had a
metropolitan circa 350 C.E., it cannot have been entirely pagan some
twenty-five years earlier.72 Hippolytus (Comm. in Dan. 4.19.1-7, p.
232 f., ed. Bonwetsch) has preserved for us one episode from the
history of Christianity in Pontus, an episode which reminds us very
strongly of the incident of the prophetess in Cappadocia and of the
Montanist movement in Phrygia, and which proves at the same time how
readily the Christian population of Asia Minor were disposed to take up
with such fanatical movements. Unfortunately he does not name the town
whose bishop enacted the movement in question.73 The
Novatians were particularly numerous in Paphlagonia (see [[205]]
Socrat. 2.38), and they had regular churches. They were strongest in
Mantinium.74
[Extra space]
The life of Gregory
Thaumaturgus, which has just been mentioned, is
thrown by its author, Gregory of Nyssa, into the [[206]] form
of an oration;78 but it supplies us with some
excellent information upon the Christianizing of the western part of
Pontus Polemoniacus, and at the same time with an extremely instructive
sketch of the way in which the mission was carried out, and of how
paganism was "overcome " -- i.e.,
absorbed.
78 Migne, vol. 46, pp. 893
f. ; cp. also Rufinus' Church
History (7.25), the Syriac "Narrative of Gregory's exploits,"
and
Basil, de Spiritu 74.
Gregory, the Worker of Wonders, was born of pagan parents in
Neo-Caesarea, but was converted by Origen. Striking up a fast
friendship with Firmilian of Cappadocia, he returned to his native
place and was consecrated bishop of Neo-Caesarea about 240 C.E. by
Phaedimus, the bishop of Amasia. At that time there were said to be
only seventeen Christians in the town and its environs. When he died
(shortly before 270 C.E.) only the same number of pagans are said to
have been counted within the town.79 Certainly the
Christianizing of the town and country was carried out most completely.80
Gregory himself
(Epist. Canon. 7) uses
Ποντικοὶ καὶ Χριστιανοί as a hendiadys,
in contrast to the barbarian pagan Goths. This acute and energetic
bishop succeeded because he set up Christian miracles in opposition to
those of paganism,81 because he had the courage to expose
the cunning and trickery of the pagan priests, and because he let the
rude multitude enjoy their festivals still in Christian guise. "The
preaching of the gospel made its way in all directions, the doctrine of
mysteries operated powerfully, and the aspiration for what was good
increased, as the priesthood got introduced in every quarter." As was
customary in the country, Gregory held assemblies in the open air.
During the Decian persecution, "as that great man understood
well the frailty of human nature, recognizing that the majority [[207]]
were incapable of contending for their religion unto death, his counsel
was that the church might execute some kind of retreat before the
fierce persecution." He fled himself. -- After the persecution was
over, when it was permissible to address oneself to Christian worship
with unrestricted zeal, he again returned to the city, and, by
travelling over all the surrounding country, increased the people's
ardour for worship in all the churches by holding a solemn
commemoration in honour of those who had contended for the faith. Here
one brought corpses of the martyrs, there another. So much so, that the
assemblies went on for the space of a whole year, the people
rejoicing in the celebration of festivals in honour of the martyrs.
This also was one proof of his great sagacity, viz., that while he
completely altered the direction of everyone's life in his own day,
turning them into a new course altogether, and harnessing them
firmly to faith and to the knowledge of God, he slightly lessened the
strain upon those who had accepted the yoke of the faith, in order to
let them enjoy good cheer in life. For, as he saw that the raw and
ignorant multitude adhered to idols on account of bodily pleasures, he
permitted the people -- so as to secure the most vital matters, i.e.,
the
direction of their hearts to God instead of to a vain worship --
permitted
them to enjoy themselves at the commemoration of the holy martyrs, to
take their ease, and to amuse themselves, since life would become more
serious and earnest naturally in process of time, as the Christian
faith came to assume more control of it." Gregory is the sole
missionary we know of, during these first three centuries, who employed
such methods;82 and he was a highly educated Greek. If
such things could occur in the [[208]]
green tree, what must be expected from the dry? The cult of the
martyrs, with its frenzied pagan joy in festivals, took the place of
the old local cults, and the old fetishes were succeeded by the relics
of the saints (cp. Lucius, Die
Anfange d. christl. Heiligenkultus,
1904). Undoubtedly the method proved an extraordinary success. The
country became Christian. A sphere which had been overlooked at the
outset of the mission rapidly made up lost ground, and the country
ranked along with the provinces of Asia Minor, which had been
Christianized at an earlier period, as substantially Christian.
82 On the blending of religions in Asia, cp. also Texte
u.
Unters., N.F. 4.1 (Marutas, pp. ii f.). -- Gregory's exploits
and
testimony were subsequently extended by Theodoret to the church at
large (Grac. affect. curat.
8.68-69, opp. ed. Schulze 4, pp. 923
f.), but without any of Gregory's naivete and without his
naive attitude towards the festivals :
Τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἐκείνων
οὕτω [om] παντελῶς διελύθη τεμένη, ὡς μηδὲ τῶν σχημάτων διαμεῖναι τὸ
εἶδος, μηδὲ τῶν βωμῶν τὸν τύπον τοὺς νῦν ἀνθρώπους ἐπίστασθαι, αἱ δὲ
τούτων
ὕλαι καθωσιώθησαν τοῖς τῶν
μαρτύρων σηκοῖς. Τοὺς γὰρ οἰκείους νεκροὺς ὁ δεσπότης ἀντεισῆξε τοῖς
ὑμετέροις θεοῖς, καὶ τοὺς μὲν φρούδους ἀπέφηνε, τούτοις δὲ τὸ ἐκείνων
ἀπένειμε γέρας. Ἀντὶ γὰρ δὴ τῶν Πανδίων καὶ Διασίων καὶ Διονυσίων καὶ
τῶν ἄλλων ὑμῶν ἑορτῶν Πέτρου καὶ Παύλου καὶ Θωμᾶ καὶ Σεργίου καὶ
Μαρκέλλου καὶ Λεοντίου καὶ Παντελεήμονος καὶ Ἀντωνίνου καὶ Μαυρικίου καὶ
τῶν ἄλλων μαρτύρων ἐπιτελοῦνται δημοθοινίαι· καὶ ἀντὶ τῆς πάλαι
πομπείας καὶ αἰσχρουργίας καὶ αἰσχρορημοσύνης σώφρονες ἑορτάζονται
πανηγύρεις
("For the glebes of
those idols were utterly destroyed, so
that not even the very form of their statues remains, nor do people of
this age know the shape of the altars. Their graves were also devoted
to the sepulchres of the martyrs. For the proprietor substituted the
corpses of his own family for your gods, showing plainly that the
latter were gone, and conferring on the former the honours which had
pertained to their predecessors. For instead of the Pandia, Diasia,
Dionysia, and the rest of your festivals, the feasts of Peter, Paul,
Thomas, Sergius, Marcellus, Leontius, Panteleemon, Antoninus,
Mauritius, and the other martyrs are celebrated; and instead of the
former ribaldry, obscenity, and foul language, orderly assemblies now
keep feast").
Cp. also pp. 921 f., where the martyrs, in all
emergencies (and Theodoret enumerates dozens of cases :
unproductiveness, dangers in travel, etc. ), appear as semi-divine
helpers who are to be invoked. Perhaps, too, we should see the
acceptance of a pagan custom in the statements of Acta Archel. 2,
where a Christian explains the following custom to the Christians of
his own country, near Edessa: "Est nobis mos huiusmodi patrum
nostrorum in nos traditione descendens, quique a nobis observatus est
usque ad hunc diem : per annos singulos extra urbem egressi una cum
conjugibus ac liberis supplicamus soli et invisibili deo, imbres ab eo
satis nostris et frugibus obsecrantes"
(" Our fathers had a custom of
this kind, which has come down to us and which we still observe every
year we all go outside the city, with our wives and children, to pray
to the one, invisible God, and to beseech him for enough rain for
ourselves and our crops ").
The sequel shows that they fasted and spent
the night there.
Gregory the Illuminator obviously copied, in the neighboring regions
of Armenia Major, the missionary methods of Gregory Thaumaturgus and
this new, wild growth of Pontic Christianity (the reaction against it,
as we have seen, being due to Eustathius of Sebaste). What we know of
the earliest Armenian Christianity tallies entirely with that of
Neo-Caesarea. Aschtischat and Bagravan possessed relics of Gregory ;
they even had a
festival (Gelzer, p. 128) of their own. The great
church of Christ in Aschtischat assumed the place and position of the
ruined pagan shrine (cp. p. 156) ; [[209]]
it became the sacred center of "Christian" Armenia. The feast of the
local saints, John the Baptist and Athenogenes, which Gregory had
ordered to he kept on the 7th of Sahmi every year, was one of the
greatest in Armenia. "Such was the custom of the archbishops of
Armenia, in common with the kings, the magnates; the bishops, and the
populace, to venerate the places which had previously harboured images
of the idols and were now sanctified in the name of the Deity, having
become a house of prayer and a place for vows. They assembled
especially at this the main centre of the church, in memory of the
saints who slept there, and offered sacrifice to them seven times a
year" (Faustus of Byzantium 3.3, p. 7 ; Gelzer, p. 130). "Pagan
customs, especially the disorderly one of wailing for the dead, which
the clergy strenuously opposed [they were even against the festivals of
the martyrs], also prevailed in the succeeding age. Even about 378, the
Mamiconians deposited the body of their head, Muschel, on the top of a
tower, with the words, ' Because he was a valiant man, the Arlads
emerge and raise him "' (Faustus 5.36. p. 245 ; Gelzer, pp. 133 f.).
Indeed, between 290 and 370, while Christianity in Armenia was the
state-religion, the masses at bottom declined to know anything about
"this deception of humanity" (such was the language used even under
king Tiran, 326-337). The northern mounted tribes declared, just like
the Kurds of the present day, "If we do not rob or plunder and seize
other people's property, how are we to live, with all our innumerable
hosts?" (Faustus 3.6 ; Gelzer, p. 135). By means of a
latitudinarianism unexampled elsewhere in the primitive history of
missions, an attempt was made to adapt the new religion to their
tastes. The attempt did not succeed. Here, as elsewhere, it is evident
that the monastic, catholic Christianity, as that developed even in
Armenia after the close of the fourth century, was the first thing to
win the nation for the Lord. -- In 315 (or thereabouts) a large synod83
was held [[210]]
at Neo-Caesarea, the capital of Eastern Pontus, under the presidency of
bishop Longinus. Its Acts are extant. It set itself the task of
determining certain cardinal features of the catholic discipline, in
view of loose and disorderly practices.
Christianity had also made its way into the Greek seaports of
Eastern
Pontus Polemoniacus by 325 C.E. Bishop Domnus of Trapezus, and even
bishop Stratophilus from far-away Pityus, were at Nicaea. As their
names signify, they were Greeks. Christianity had also got the length
of the North Armenians and the Iberians (Georgians and Albanians) by
about 300 C.E., preceded by Judaism. It spread thither from the
above-named cities, from Armenia, and finally, across Armenia from
Syria (cp. Theodoret, H.E.
1.23). A grandson of Gregory the
Illuminator, himself called Gregory, became catholicus of the Iberians
and the Albanians -- for in Iberia and Albania the holder of the
supreme
clerical office was also called the "catholicus." He attained to this
position at the age of fifteen, "because he was already mature and had
the knowledge of God in him." I have before me a manuscript history, in
German, of the Georgians (by Prince Dschawachoff, 1902), which shows
that Christianity was established there by the beginning of the fourth
century,84 and the country organized ecclesiastically not
long afterwards. The rivalry, or rather the enmity, between the
Georgians and Armenians was always keen. Consequently the church of
Georgia gravitated more and more to the Western church of
Constantinople. Ere long it approximated more closely to the Greek than
to the Armenian church.
C. BITHYNIA
After we pass the first epistle of Peter and the authentic and
surprising testimony furnished by Pliny to the wide diffusion of
Christianity in this province (see above), which was wholly Hellenized
in the imperial age, we practically come upon no further traces of it
till the age of Diocletian. All we know is [[211]]
that Dionysius of Corinth addressed a letter to the church of Nicomedia
(evidently it was the capital) about 170 C.E., warning it against the
heresy of Marcion (cp. Eus., H.E., 4.24), and also that Origen spent
some time here (Ep. Orig. ad Jul. Afric.) about the year 240 C.E.61
The outbreak of Diocletian's persecution, however, reveals Nicomedia as
a semi-Christian city, the imperial court itself being full of
Christians.62 From the very numerous martyrdoms, as well
as, above all, from the history of Nicomedia during the age of
Constantine and his sons (the historical source here being quite
trustworthy and ample), we are warranted in holding that this
metropolis must have been a centre of the church. The calendar of the
majority of churches goes back to the festal calendar of the church of
Nicomedia.63 And what holds true of the capital, holds true
of the towns throughout the province; all were most vigorously
Christianized. Constantine located his new capital at Constantinople,
for the express reason that the opposite province was so rich in
Christians, while the same consideration dictated without doubt the
choice of Nicaea as the meeting-place of the famous council.
[[212]]
At the same time, apart from Nicomedia, not a single Christian
community in Bithynia is heard of before the great persecution, i.e.,
before 325 C.E.64 No Christian writer mentions any. The
reason for this, however, is that no prominent bishop or author was
vouchsafed to that country before the days of Eusebius of Nicomedia.65
The council of Nicaea testifies to the existence of episcopal churches
at the towns of Nicaea, Chalcedon,66 Kius, Prusa,
Apollonia, Prusias, Adriani, and Caesarea, besides Nicomedia itself.67
In the country, also, there were episcopal churches, as is shown by the
presence of two chor-episcopi (Theophanes and Eulalius) at Nicaea. The
Novatians had numerous churches also in Bithynia (on the Hellespont),
at Nicomedia. (cp. Socrat., 1.13, 4.28) and Nicaea (ibid., 4.28,
7.12. 25), etc. (cp. 5.22); and a famous Novatian recluse,
Eutychianus, stayed at Mount Olympus in the days of Constantine (Soz.,
1.14).
D.
GALATIA,
PHRYGIA, AND PISIDIA (WITH LYCAONIA) .
In their Christian
capacity these central provinces of Asia Minor,
whose boundaries or titles were frequently altered, 68 had
a
common history, although S.W. Phrygia gravitated [[213]]
towards Asia.69
68 The names of
Phrygia and Galatia were often employed in a
broader or a narrower sense, without any regard to the legal and
current political divisions. I refrain here from entering into the
question of what "Galatia" means in Paul and elsewhere. Renan,
Hausrath, Ramsay, Zahn, J. Weiss, and many others hold that it included Pisidia,
Lycaonia, and Isauria. This is denied,
especially by Schurer. But there are strong reasons for thinking that
the former scholars are right. Galatia, in the narrower sense of the
term, was ethnographically a province by itself, while Phrygia
ethnographically embraced Pisidia and large sections of Lycaonia.
Iconium was a Phrygian town, and the Lycaonian language which Paul
heard at Lystra (Acts 14.11) was probably Phrygian.
69 The epistle of the churches at Lyons and
Vienne (177/178),
which describes their sufferings, is addressed to the churches of Asia
and Phrygia. We may perhaps assume that Phrygia here means simply the
south-west section.
The Montanist movement,70 which
arose in Phrygia proper, and, blending with the Novatian movement,
forthwith became national ,71 was particularly
characteristic of these provinces.72 The Phrygian character
shows a peculiar mixture of wild enthusiasm and seriousness. Thus
Socrates, who was favourable to them, writes (H.E., 4.28): Φαίνεται
τὰ Φρυγῶν ἔθνη σωφρονέστερα εἶναι τῶν ἄλλων ἐθνῶν . καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ
σπανιάκις Φρύγες ὀμνύουσιν . ἐπικρατεῖ γὸρ το μὲν θυμικὸν παρὰ Σκύθαις
καὶ θραξί, τῷ δὲ ἐπιθυμητικῷ οἱ πρὸς ἀνίσχοντα ἥλιον τὴν οἴκησιν
ἔχοντες πλέον δουλεύουσι . τὰ δὲ Παφλαγόνων καὶ Φρυγῶν ἔθνη πρὸς
οὐδέτερον τούτων ἐπ;ιρρεπῶς ἔχει . οὐδὲ γὰρ ἱπποδρομίαι οὐδὲ θέατρα
σπουδάξονται νῦν παρ' αὐτοῖς .... ὡς μύσος ἐξαίσιον παρ' αὐτοῖς ἡ
πορνεία νομίξεται καὶ γὰρ οἱασδήποτε ἄλλης αἱρέσεως σωφρονέτερον
βιοῦντας Φρύγας καὶ Παφλαγόνας ἐστὶν ἑυρεῖν ("The Phrygians appear
to be more temperate than other nations. They swear but seldom. Whereas
the Scythians and the Thracians are naturally of a passionate
disposition, whilst the inhabitants of the East are prone by nature to
sensuality. The Paphlagonians and Phrygians, on the other hand, are not
inclined to either
[[214]]
of these vices, nor are the circus and theatre in vogue with them at
the present day.... As for fornication, they reckon that a gross
enormity"). The Phrygians described here were already Christians. Their
wild religious enthusiasm was restrained, but the seriousness remained.73
Before Montanus was converted, he had been a priest of
Cybele. Movements such as that initiated by him had occurred, as we
have seen, in Cappadocia and Pontus; but Montanus and his prophetesses
knew how to make their movement both effective and permanent, supplying
it at once with a firm organization.
73 The fanatical and wild
Messalians emerged at a later
period in Asia Minor.
In these inland parts primitive
Christianity survived longer than elsewhere. The third century still
furnishes us with instances of (non-clerical) teachers, as well as
prophets, being drawn from the ranks of the laity ; and in a letter
written circa 218 by Alexander of Jerusalem, and Theoktistus of
Caesarea, in connection with the case of Origen, we read that “Wherever
people able to profit the brethren can be found, they are
exhorted by the holy bishops to address the people ; as, for example,
Euelpis in Laranda (Isauria) by Neon, Paulinus in Iconium (Pisidia) by
Celsus, and Theodorus by Atticus in Synnada (Phrygia), all of whom are
our blessed brethren. Probably this has also been done in
other places unknown to us" ((ὅπου εὑρίσκονται οἱ ἐπιτήδειοι πρὸς τὸ
ὠφελεῖν τοὺς ἁδελφούς, καὶ παρακαλοῦνται τῷ λαῷ προσομιλεῖν ὑπό τῶν
ἁγίων ἐπισκόπων, ὥσπερ ἐν Λαράνδοις Εὔελπις ὑπὸ Νέωνος καὶ ἐν 'Ικονίῳ
Παυλῖνος ὑπὸ Κέλσου καὶ ἐν Συννάδοις Θεόδωρος ὑπὸ 'Αττικοῦ τῶν μακαρίων
ἀδελφῶν. εἰκὸς δὲ καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις τόποις τοῦτο γίνεσθαι, ἠμᾶς δὲ μὴ
εἰδεναι.).
Lay-teachers like Euelpis, Paulinus, and Theodorus did not exist any
longer in Palestine or Egypt ;74 as is plain from the
Palestinian bishops having to go to the interior of Asia for examples
of this practice.75
Almost from the very
hour of its rise, the Montanist movement indicates
a very wide extension of Christianity throughout Phrygia and the
neighbouring districts of Galatia; [[215]]
even in small localities Christians were to be met with.76
Our knowledge on this point has been enlarged during the last twenty
years by Ramsay's thorough-going investigations of the whole country ;
thanks to his meritorious volumes,77 we are better
acquainted with the extant inscriptions and the topography of Phrygia
and Pisidia than with any other province in the interior of Asia Minor.
We have learnt from them how widely Judaism78 and
Christianity were diffused, locally, in the earliest periods, and we
have been taught how to distinguish and make ourselves familiar (even
inside Galatia and Phrygia) with those districts where Christianity
found but a meagre access.
With great rapidity the Montanist movement flowed over into Galatia
and
Ancyra on the one side,79 and into Asia upon the other.80
The synods held by the church party, in order to defend themselves
against the new prophets, were got up by churches belonging to the
central provinces, and in fact were attended by representatives from
the most distant quarters of the country (Eus., H.E., 5.19). A few
decades afterwards, when these churches were agitated by the question
of the validity of heretical baptism, large synods were held at Iconium
and Synnada (between 9.30 and 235), attended by bishops from
Phrygia, Galatia, Cilicia, and the rest of the neighbouring [[216]]
provinces (Cappadocia).81 Firmilian and Dionys. Alex., who
give some account of them, speak of numerous bishops, but they give no
numbers. Augustine, on the other hand, following some source which is
unknown to us, declares that there were fifty bishops at Iconium alone.
Which is a remarkable number!
In the following pages I shall give a list of places in Galatia,
Phrygia, and Pisidia
where we know Christians were to be found.
Galatia:
In this province, so poor in towns, Christianity was naturally as
Hellenic in all essentials as in the neighbouring provinces, although
the country lay " like a Celtic island in the flood of Eastern
peoples." The internal political organization of the country remained
Celtic for long (cp. the three divisions), but, from a religious point
of view, the new inhabitants were first Phrygian and then Greek
Christians. The Celtic names did not long survive the age of Tiberius,
but the vernacular remained Celtic (cp. Pausanias, Lucian's Alex. 51,
and Jerome's Com. in Galat. 2, at the opening). Probably, however, a
Celtic Christianity and a Celtic church never got beyond the embryonic
stage. From Sozom. 5.16 (the epistle of Julian to Arsacius, the pagan
high-priest of Galatia) we find that under Constantius there were many
pagan priests in Galatia who had Christian wives, children, and slaves.
-
Ancyra, the metropolis
and headquarters of the governor ; cp.
the
anti-Montanist in Eus. 5.16, also the remark in Mart. Syr., "Ancyrae
infantes qui de alvo matrum martyres [[217]]
facti sunt" (children at Ancyra who were martyred from their mother's
womb). A large synod was held here in 314, whose Acts are still extant.82
-
Malus (a village near
Ancyra, τῆς πόλεως ἀπῳκισμένον σημειων
μικροῦ
πρὸς τεσσαράκοντα ="distant all but forty miles from the city," Acta
Theod. 10, etc.) seems to have been entirely Christian. Its small
Christian community was managed by one presbyter, and remained
unmolested during the persecution which raged in the metropolis. It is
doubtful, however, whether the Acta can be trusted so far as to permit
us to include this spot in our list (so with Medicones).
-
Medicones (a village
near Ancyra, Acta Theod. 10; here also
there seem
to have been Christians).
-
Tavium (bishop Dicasius
was at Nicaea).
-
Gadamaua
[Gdmaua=Ekdaumana] (bishop Erechthius at Nicaea).
-
Kina [?] (bishop
Gorgonius at Nicaea). [[218]]
-
Juliopolis (bishop
Philadelphus was present at Ancyra in 314 C.E. and
at Nicaea). 83
83 It is
surprising
that the bishop of Pessinus
(usually
assigned to Galatia) is never mentioned at the synods of Ancyra or of
Nicaea. Even otherwise the town is ignored in the early Christian
literature. But it is clear from the epistle of the emperor Julian to
Arsacius that the town was at that time extremely backward as regards
the worship of the "Magna Mater"; i.e., it was substantially Christian
(cp. Soz., 5.16). Hence it must have had both Christians and a bishop
at an earlier date.
Phrygia
84:--
84 Duchesne (Orig. du culte,
p. 11) rightly observes: "La
Phrygie etait a pen pres chretienne que la Gaule ne comptait encore
qu'un tres petit nombre d'eglises organisees." Cp. Ramsay, as cited
above (p. 95). -- For Phrygian martyrs in Palestine (including a
Thekla)
under Diocletian, cp. Mart. Pal. (ed. Violet, pp. 18 f., 48). A
Phrygian, Alexander, was martyred at Lyons (Eus., H.E., 5.1) under
Marcus Aurelius.
- Laodicea85
(the metropolis : cp. Paul's epistles, the
martyrs, especially the famous bishop and martyr Sagaris [cp.
Polycrates in Eus., H.E., 5.24], the local controversy on the Paschal
question, Melito in Eus., H.E., 4.26. 3, and the council of Nicaea,
where bishop Nunechius was present).
85 The three churches at
Laodicea, Hierapolis, and Colossae
were closely connected in their origin (cp. Col. 4.13). Paul did not
found them himself; he was never there (Col. 2.1). It was his
disciples who founded them ; e.g., Epaphras the missionary in
Colossae. -- In the Mart. Syr. for 27th June we read : "In Laodicea
Phrygiae e numero . . . . Ka8apav [i.e., Novatians] in persecutione
secundum .. .. uniti sunt et adnumerati ecclesiae, deinde confessi sunt
Theophilus episcopus et Philippus et alii quinque."
- Hierapolis86
(Paul ; the evangelist Philip and his
daughters ; Papias ; Apollinaris of Hierapolis ; Eus., 3.31, 36, 39,
4.26, 5.19, 24; bishop Flaccus at Nicaea).
86 Hierapolis was the
birthplace of Epictetus.
- Colossae (Paul).
- Otrus (Eus., H.E., 5.16).
- Hieropolis
(inscriptions).
- Pepuza (Eus., 5.18; a
dated inscription of 260 C.E. ; cp.
Cumont, op.
cit., p. 36, No. 156 ;
- Philostorgius; 4.8,
mentions it as the place
to which Aetius was banished). Its site is not absolutely certain ; cp.
Kiefert's latest map.
- Tymion [=Dumanli?] (Eus.,
5.18).
- [Ardabau] (birthplace of
Montanus ; Eus., 5.16).
- Apamea Cibotus [coins of
the town with Noah's ark] (Eus., 5.16;
bishop
Paulus at Nicaea).[[219]]
- Cumane, a village (Eus.,
5.16).
- Eumenea (Eus., 5.16,
5.24; Thraseas, a bishop and martyr
of the second century, who was buried at Smyrna [Polycrates in
Eus., H.E., 5.24], in the cemetery πρὸ τῆς 'Εφεσιακῆς βασιλείας
sc. πύλης [Vita Polyc. 22], where Polycarp's predecessor Bucolus
is also said to have lain ; two dated inscriptions from 249 or
250 C.E. ; cp. Cumont, p. 36, Nos. 135, 136).
- Sanaus (bishop Flaccus at
Nicaea).
- Synnada (Eus., 6.19,
7.7 ; "early" martyrs, etc., in Mart.
Syr. ; bishop Procopius was at Nicaea).87
87 Bishop Agapetus
of Synnada, who was inclined to Arianism
and was famous for his miracles, was perhaps the predecessor of
Procopius. Philostorgius mentions him (HE., 2.8). He was originally a
soldier, then a presbyter, and then a bishop. Cp. the fragment about
him excerpted from Philostorgius by Suidas, s.v. ἀγαπητός, where it is
narrated how he almost fell a victim, as a soldier and a Christian, to
the persecution of Daza.
- Trajanopolis (a dated
inscription of 279 C.E. ; cp. Cumont,
p. 37, No. 172). This town is the same as Grimenothyrae ; cp.
Ramsay's Phrygia, p. 558.
- Aezani (bishop Pisticus
at Nicaea).
- Dorylaeum (bishop
Athenodorus at Nicaea). Eucarpia (bishop
Eugenius at
Nicaea).
- Cotiaeum (a local
Novatian bishop ; Socrat., 4.28).88
88 Merus (between
Cotiaeum, Appia, and Amorium) must also
have had a Christian church by 325 C.E. It cannot be identified with
certainty (cp. Kiefert's map). What Socrates relates about the reign of
Julian (H.E., 3.5 ; cp. Soz., 5.11) presupposes an old Christian
community and the extinction of paganism in the town. -- Probably there
was a Christian community at Pazus also (a village in Phrygia, ἔνθα τοῦ
Σαyγαρίον ποταμοῦ εἰσὶν αἱ πηyαί, i.e., north-west of Amorium ;
unidentified), since some of the Phrygian Novatians (or Montanists) met
there for a synod about the middle of the fourth century (Socrates,
HE., 4.28, 5.21).
- Lampe and the Siblianoi district (inscriptions ;
cp. Ramsay's
Phrygia, pp. 222 f., 539 f.).
- The Hyrgalic district,
together with Lunda and Motella
(inscriptions ; cp. Ramsay, pp. 540 f.).
- Sebaste or Dioskome (two
dated inscriptions of 253 or 256 C.E. ; cp. Ramsay, pp. 560 f., and
Cumont, p. 36, Nos. 160,
161).
- [Stektorion]
(inscriptions ; cp. Ramsay, pp. 719 f.). Bruzus
(inscriptions ; cp. Ramsay, pp. 700 f.).
- The Moxiane district
(inscriptions ; cp. Ramsay, pp. 717 f.).
[[220]]
- Prymnessus (martyrdom of
Ariadne ; cp. Franchi de Cavalieri,
Acta Theodoti, etc.).
- [Themisonion]
(inscriptions ; cp. Ramsay, p. 556).
- Akmonia or Keramon Agora
(inscriptions ; cp. Ramsay, pp.
562 f., 621 f., 674; for the pagan reaction here in 314 C.E.,
cp. ibid., pp. 506 f., and Deux jours en Phrygie, pp. 8 f.).
- Tiberiopolis
(martyr).
- Amorion (martyr). 89
89 In the late
Acta
Achatii (Ruinart, Acta Mart., Ratisbon,
1859, pp. 199 f ), which are said to belong to the reign of Decius, a
distinction is drawn (in the fourth chapter) between "Cataphryges,
homines religionis antiquae" and "Christiani catholicae legis." Is the
Antioch mentioned in the first chapter, whose bishop was Achatius,
Pisidian Antioch? Or was Achatius chor-episcopus in the vicinity of the
city ? He is called " a shield and succour for the district of Antioch"
("scutum quoddam ac refugium Antiochae regions"). Towards the close of
the Acta a certain "Piso Traianorum (Trojanorum?) episcopus" it
mentioned. Is not this town the Phrygian Trajanopolis, which lies not
very far from Pisidian Antioch? We can hardly think of a bishop of
Troas in Mysia Minor, who would be termed "episcopus Trojanus." -- The
parish of Alexander the Montanist is mentioned, but not defined, by
Eusebius (5.18. 9).
- [Cheretapa (Socr., 2.40;
Philostorg., 7.6 ; in Southern
Phrygia,
on the Pisidian border) had a bishop in Julian's day. It cannot be
identified with certainty ; perhaps= Diocaesarea, cp. Kiefert's map.]
- Iconium (the
metropolis-Paul, Acta Theclae [perhaps composed by a local
presbyter], Acta Justini, Hierax of
[[221]]
Iconium, born of Christian parents, Eus., H.E., 6.19, 7.7,
7.28; Eulalius, the bishop of Iconium, council of Nicaea). Antioch
(Paul, Acta Theclae ?).
- Lystra (Paul).
- Derbe (Paul). 91
91 Lystra and
Derbe were the
first Christian communities
which were almost entirely composed of Christians who had been born
pagans (cp. Renan's Paul; Germ. ed., p. 90).
- Philomelium (ep.
Smyrniote church to the local church, circa
156 C.E.).
- Hadrianopolis (bishop
Telemachus at Nicaea). Neapolis (bishop Hesychius
at Nicaea).
- Seleucia Sidera (bishop
Eutychius at Nicaea).
- Limenae (bishop Aranius
at Nicaea).
- Amblada (bishop Patricius
at Nicaea). 92
92 Amblada was in bad
repute. Constantine banished Aelius
thither (ἐκεῖ κακῶς
ἀπορρῆξαι τὸν βίον, διὰ τὸ βάρβαρον καὶ μισάνθρωπον τῶν ἐνοικούντον,
αὐχμοῦ δὲ καὶ λοιμοῦ τὴν χώραν ἔχοντοs ἀνυποίστου). So still in the
days of Philostorgius (5.20), though at the beginning of the fourth
century it had a bishop.
- Metropolis (also assigned
to Phrygia ; bishop Polycarp at
Nicaea).
- Apamea (=Celaenae; close
to Apamea Cibotus, also assigned
to Phrygia ; bishop Tarsicius at Nicaea; also an earlier dated
inscription of 254 C.E. ; cp. Cumont, p. 38, No. 209).
- Pappa (bishop Academicus
at Nicaea).
- Baris (bishop Heraclius
at Nicaea).
- Usada = Vasada (bishop
Theodorus93 at Nicaea).
93 This bishop occurs
also in the Isaurian list of the Nicene
council, and indeed with more right there than here.
- [Calytis = Canytis ? in
Pisidia] (martyrs).
Important sources relative to the church in Smyrna are available for
us
in the epistles of John, Ignatius (two), and Polycarp, as well as in
the epistle of the church to Philomelium and in the Martyrdom of
Pionius (in the reign of Decius) ; see also the accounts of Noetus, the
modalistic Christian, at Smyrna. One outstanding feature is the local
struggle between the Jews and the Christians, and also the high repute
of Polycarp ("the father of the Christians," as the pagans called him ;
EP. Smyrn. 12). During Polycarp's lifetime, there were several
Christian churches near Smyrna, for Irenaeus tells Florinus that
Polycarp addressed letters to them (Eus., 5.24). There was also a
Marcionite church at Smyrna or in the neighbourhood during the days of
Pionius, for the latter had a Marcionite presbyter called Metrodorus as
his fellow-martyr. 98
[[224]]
But unluckily none of all these sources furnishes us with any idea of
the Smyrniote church's size.99 In the Vita Polycarpi of
Pionius,100 and in the Apost. Constit., 7.46, there is a
doubtful list of the first bishops of Smyrna.
Pergamum, where the first Asiatic martyr perished, is familiar to us in
early church history from the martyrdom of Carpus, Papylus, and
Agathonike (apart from the Johannine letter to the church), as well as
from the martyrdom of Attalus of Pergamum at Lyons (Eus., H. E., 5.1);
Sardes is known to us through Melito, the local bishop, c. 170 C.E.,
whose large ideas upon the relation of the church to the empire would
not have been possible had not Christianity been already a power to
reckon with at Sardes and in Asia. The authority employed by Epiphanius
in Haer. 51.33 declares that almost the whole of Thyatira101
was won for Christ by the opening of the third century ; he also
mentions churches which had arisen in the neighbourhood of Thyatira,
but without giving any names. Papylus, who suffered martyrdom in
Pergamum, was an itinerant preacher hailing from Thyatira. The martyr
Appianus in Caesarea Pal, came from Lydia (cp. Mart. Pal., pp. 24 f.,
Violet). For martyrs at Miletus, cp. Sozom., 5.20. The author of the
Vita Polycarpi (25) mentions the bishop of Teos (south-west of Smyrna),
a certain Daphnus ; and, whatever be thought of the date of this Vita,
we can believe there was a bishop at Teos in the third century.
[[225]]
The exceptionally wide diffusion of the Asiatic churches, and the zeal
they displayed in the interests of the church at large, come out in a
passage from Lucian's tale of Proteus Peregrinus, where, after
narrating Proteus' conversion and imprisonment in Syria, he goes on to
say : "In fact, people actually came from several Asiatic towns,
despatched by the local Christians, in order to render aid, to conduct
the defence, and to encourage the man. They become incredibly alert
when anything of this kind occurs that affects their common interests.
On such occasions no expense is grudged."
The writings of Irenaeus, Hippolytus, and Tertullian furnish a good
deal of material for our knowledge of the relations between the
churches of Asia Minor and the West, and vice versa. Polycarp of
Smyrna, when quite an old man, travelled to see Anicetus at Rome, in
order to take counsel upon the Easter date and other matters. The
relations between the churches of Asia and Rome must have been close
and vivid. Any Asiatic controversy was transmitted to Rome. Asiatic
Christians were found at Lyons during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. The
churches of Lyons and Vienne describe their sufferings to their Asiatic
brethren. Most probably the canon of the four gospels originated in
Asia Minor (at Ephesus), where the ground was also prepared for the
formation of the New Testament (cp. Melito). The Paschal controversy
(c. 190 C.E.) seems to have alienated the Asiatic church from the
general body of the church. Thereafter it never had the. same central
position as before. What it lost, Rome gained. But the Asiatic church
steadily increased in numbers. The purely fictitious Acta Pauli (c. 180
C.E.) came from an Asiatic presbyter ; they are extremely important for
our knowledge of popular Asiatic Christianity.
The subscriptions of the Nicene council furnish further evidence of
Asiatic (Lydian and Mysian) and Carian towns with local churches ;
viz., Cyzikus102 (Theonas : where there was also a Novatian
church ; Socrat., 2.38), Ilium (Orion), Ilium [[226]]
(another: = Dascylium ? bishop Marinus), Hypaepa (Mithres), Anaea
(Paulus), Bagis (Pollion), Tripolis (Agogius), Ancyra ferrea
(Florentius), Aurelianopolis (Antiochus), Standus [ ? Silandus ?
Blaundus ? ] (bishop Marcus), Hierocaesarea (Antiochus).103
In Caria : Antioch (Eusebius), Aphrodisias (Ammonius; martyrs [Mart.
Syr.] and Christian inscriptions), Apollonias (Eugenius), Cibyra
(Laetodorus : inscriptions ; cp. also Epiph., Haer. 51.30), and
Miletus (Eusebius). MartyrActs from the reign of Decius (Ruinart, p.
205) also prove the existence of a Christian church at Lampsacus, where
Parthenius was bishop under Constantine (cp. Acta SS. Febr., 2,
pp. 38
f.). Sardes was the capital of Lydia, but we do not know whether
Antioch or Aphrodisias was the capital then of Caria. For Novatian
churches in Asia and Lydia, cp. Socrat., 6.19.
103 The bishops of
Ephesus (Menophantus), Smyrna (Eutychius),
Sardes (Artemidorus), Thyatira (Seras), and Philadelphia (Hetoimasius)
were also
present at Nicaea.
F. LYCIA, PAMPHYLIA, AND ISAURIA
No fewer than twenty-five bishops from these three southern
provinces of Asia Minor were present at Nicaea (including four
chor-episcopi from Isauria) -- a sad contrast to the little we know of
the
churches in these districts. With regard to Lycia (Olympus and Patara),
we are acquainted with the personality of Methodius, that influential
teacher of the church who lived circa 300 C.E. His writings give us a
picture of the ideas and intercourse of educated Christians in Lycia.
The newly discovered inscription of Arycanda (Maximinus Daza) also
informs us that there were Christians in that locality, and that . the
town joined in presenting servile petitions against them.104
Finally, it is probable, from the Acta Pauli, that there were
Christians in Myrrha, while similar evidence is perhaps afforded by
Eusebius (Mart. Pal. 4-5) with regard to Gaga -- not far from
Olympus.105 Nothing is heard of the churches in Pamphylia, [[227]]
however, from the allusion to Perge in Acts down to the council
of Nicaea, apart from one martyrdom in Attalia ; while all we know of
Isauria is the notice in Eusebius (6.19) which has been already cited
(cp. p. 214). The following is a list of the churches throughout the
three provinces, known to us for the most part from the council of
Nicaea :
Lycia : Patara (Method., Martyr.,
Nic. bishop Eudemus), Olympus
(Method.), Arycanda (inscr. from reign of Daza), [Gagae] (Euseb.),
Myrrha (Acta Pauli), Perdikia ? (Nic., but doubtful).
Isauria : It is amazing that
Christianity had spread so far in this
wild province that thirteen bishops and four chor-episcopi came from it
to the council of Nicaea. For Ramsay's investigations, cp. above, pp.
215, 220. Laranda (Alex. of Jerus., in Eus., H.E. 6.19, Nic. bishop
Paulus), Barata, Koropissus, Claudiopolis, Seleucia (Tracheia)108
Metropolis (?), Panemon Teichos, Antioch, Syedra, Humanades (=
Umanada),109 Ilistra (the last signature runs, Εὑσέβιος
διοικήσεως τῆς παροικίας 'Ισαυρίας). The Isaurian bishops are called
Stephanus, Athenaeus, Aedesius, Agapius, Silvanus, Faustus, Antoninus,
Nestor, Cyril, Theodorus, Tiberius, Eusebius. The chor-episcopi are
called : Hesychius, Anatolius, Quintus, and Aquila. Obviously they are
purely [[228]]
Greco-Roman names. The Christianizing of Isauria meant an increase of
Hellenizing, as was always the case in Asia Minor. Perhaps the name of
a (Lycian) locality is also hidden in the surname of " Amasceunites "
borne by Sistelius (Method., de Resu..., 1.1. 2 ; Bonwetsch, p.
xxxiii).
We cannot get any clear idea (cp. Lubeck, p. 96) of the political
and
ecclesiastical capitals of these provinces. The Nicene lists suggest
Patara (Lycia : yet this was the only Lycian bishop at Nicaea), Perge
(Pamphylia), and Barata (Isauria). Gelzer's map makes Seleucia the
metropolis of Isauria, without any basis for this ; it was probably the
political capital. Lubeck calls attention to the fact that no city
"Metropolis" occurs in Isauria ; hence, it is argued, the bishop who
signed from "Metropolis" was simply the bishop of the unnamed
political capital of Isauria at that period (which perhaps was not the
same as the ecclesiastical). But it is unexampled to find μητρόπολις in
the Nicene lists instead of the name of a town or city. The second
difficulty lies in the last signature. Schwartz (Zu. Gesch. des Athan.
6, pp. 283 f.), who has recently discussed these problems in
connection with the synodal document, which he discovered, of a synod
at Antioch held shortly before the Nicene council (immediately after
the death of Philogonius, bishop of Antioch), holds the Syrian reading
Εὐσέβιος παροικίας Ἰσαυροπόλεως to be original. With the aid of the
190th letter of Basil (to Amphilochius), which mentions small
localities near Isaura which had bishops, he proves that while Eusebius
was the bishop of the town of Isaura, his authority extended beyond the
town, and his parish did not coincide with that of the municipal
church, though he was not the metropolitan of the province. The latter
was, in Schwartz's judgment, the Σιλουανὸς Μητροπόλεως mentioned fifth
in order. This position Schwartz thinks he can explain by the fact that
the sees already mentioned, i.e., Barata, Coracesion (Coropissus),
Claudiopolis, and Seleucia were autocephalous at the date of the
Nicene council." They did not lie in Isauria proper, and the
ecclesiastical organization did not exactly follow the political at
this point." This does not seem to me to solve the problem
yet. For what town was the metropolis? Cp. Ramsay's Lycaonia [[229]]
(p. 77), and his Pisidia and the
Lycaonian Frontier (pp. 266 f.), on
this question. The latter scholar thinks that the two neighbouring
cities of Isaura nova and Coma had bishops at an earlier period, "but
were submerged in the great autocephalous bishoprics of Isaura palaea
sometime after 381."110
110 For Isaura nova = Dorla, cp.
Ramsay, Topogr. and Epigr.
of
Nova Isaura (1905), and the above-mentioned essay of Miss
Ramsay. In
this extremely interesting essay the monument sketched and discussed on
pp. 264 f. is of special importance. It belongs to a bishop (ὁ μακάριοs
πάπας) called on the inscription ὁ θεοῦ φίλος. By a custom of the
pagan priests, his name is not given. Or was he called Theophilus? The
monument must be pre-Constantine, as its general character and the
ornaments prove. The inscription for τὸν πᾶσι φίλον ἐπίσκοπον Μάμμαν
(pp. 269 f.) also seems to be pre- Constantine, possibly too that on
bishop Sisamoas (p. 272). The other antique monuments which have been
discovered and described belong also to the years 250-400 CE. The
rarity of Greek names on them is extremely striking; the Latin are
more numerous. For that very reason, one must not go too far with
them.
[[to be continued, #10]]