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Acta Patristica et Byzantina

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ISSN (Print) 1022-6486
Published by Sabinet Online Ltd

[223 journals]

Early orthodoxy : the Scripture in Clement of Alexandria : general article on early Christian, Jewish and Byzantine studies
- Abstract: Author: Zuiddam, Benna A. Vol 21 Issue 2 Publication: 2010 Page: 307-319 : This article establishes the role and view of Scripture in Clement of Alexandria's literary legacy. It argues that his writings reflect a belief in the verbal divine inspiration of Holy Writ that extended to words and even syllables. In Clement's view the Scriptures served as an educational tool in the hand of God to teach people his ways. The Holy Spirit is considered the author of Scripture, who wrote the Bible for this purpose and continues to apply its truths to the hearts and minds of men and women. Clement refers to most of the books of the later canon of the Bible as authoritative or specifically as Scripture.
  PubDate: 2012-01-27T13:43:13Z
The postrabbinic apocalypse, Sefer Elijah, and the Hebrew Bible : general article on early Christian, Jewish and Byzantine studies
- Abstract: Author: Nel, Marius Vol 21 Issue 2 Publication: 2010 Page: 270-286 : Sefer Elijah is the perhaps the oldest of Jewish apocalypses produced during late antiquity. The book is a compilation of biblical texts serving the plot of the initial humiliation of the people of God, with accompanying hope, conflict, and the resultant victory and restoration. The apocalypse originated during the Sassanid conquest, a period which brought a new fervor among Palestinian Jews. The apocalypse purports to be a vision mediated by the archangel Michael to the biblical prophet Elijah during Elijah's flight to Horeb to escape from the Israelite-Canaanite queen. The revelation is received at Mount Carmel. Michael converses in third person about the mystery of "the end" marked by an array of military disasters marking that time. Elijah responds in first person about the wonderful sights he sees during a tour of the cosmos leading to the time of the end of the eschaton. The prophet and angel do not interact directly but rather deliver speeches. In this article the influence of the Hebrew Bible on the apocalypse is investigated leading to the conclusion that the apocalypse is an attempt to apply the Biblical text to new circumstances in the seventh century CE.
  PubDate: 2012-01-27T13:43:13Z
The Albanians in the Chronicle(s) of Ioannina : an anthropological approach : general article on early Christian, Jewish and Byzantine studies
- Abstract: Author: Sansaridou-Hendrickx, Thekla Vol 21 Issue 2 Publication: 2010 Page: 287-306 : This article analyses the position and image of the Albanians - according to the two versions of the Chronicle of Ioannina - in the history of Epiros during the 14th century. By means of a comparative approach, it also examines the different, sometimes opposed, interpretations of the image and role of the Albanians as an ethnic group by modem scholars.
  PubDate: 2012-01-27T13:43:13Z
Studies on the family as strategy in the Roman Empire : editorial
- Abstract: Author: Bosman, Philip R. Vorster, Johannes N. Vol 21 Issue 2 Publication: 2010 Page: 1-4 : The family emerged as prominent site of historical enquiry, only since the eighties of the twentieth century in Classics. Although traces of interest can be detected earlier, it was during the eighties that collaborative research and the publication of significant monographs established the Roman family as "object" of enquiry (Rawson 2003).
  PubDate: 2012-01-27T13:43:12Z
The family as a target for revenge in Greek and Roman history
- Abstract: Author: Evans, Richard J. Vol 21 Issue 2 Publication: 2010 Page: 63-73 : The ancient literary evidence reveals a number of occasions when the families of rulers or of individuals of some importance in Greek and Roman history were excoriated and often exterminated, either when these political figures fell from power or lost the favour of their subject populations. In particular, the history of Syracuse between about 405 and 212 BC is notable for the excessive punishment meted out to the families of the tyrants of this city. Elsewhere, in Ptolemaic Egypt, in the Roman Republic and during the Roman Empire other examples can be found roughly between 220 BC and AD 250. This paper, first of all, seeks to explore the reasons for these sometimes arguably irrational revenge attacks on the family of former rulers and, secondly, endeavours not only to explain the causes for such activities but also whether or not any trends in this behaviour might be illustrated. In the end, the targeting of families for revenge appears to be largely a phenomenon found in Sicily and Magna Graecia, occasionally to be found at Rome, but appears to disappear with the advent of Christianity.
  PubDate: 2012-01-27T13:43:12Z
Husbands, wives and the haustafeln in John Chrysostom's Homilia in Epistulam ad Ephesios 20
- Abstract: Author: De Wet, Chris L. Vol 21 Issue 2 Publication: 2010 Page: 51-62 : This study examines how John Chrysostom, a popular homilist of the 4th century AD, interprets the haustafeln ('household codes ') for husbands and wives in Ephesians 5:22-33. It is found in Chrysostom's Homiliae in Epistulam ad Ephesios 20. The homily is examined and it is found that Chrysostom uses three rhetorical techniques to clarify the dynamics between husbands and wives according to Ephesians 5:22 - 33. Firstly he incorporates a rhetoric of naturalization (the submission of the wife to the husband is 'natural' as from creation); secondly, he uses a military and political metaphor; and thirdly, he discusses the dynamics between husbands and wives in terms of a rhetoric of the body. It is shown that Chrysostom especially wants to promote his own version of popular Christianity by domesticating monastic Christianity in terms of the household.
  PubDate: 2012-01-27T13:43:12Z
Alternative families : from the Hebrew Bible to early Judaisms
- Abstract: Author: Brenner, Athalya Vol 21 Issue 2 Publication: 2010 Page: 39-50 : It has become a convention to define the bēt āb, "house of the father" - in which blood kin and social others / orders of two to three vertical generations function, usually within a limited territorial location ("homestead"), under a dominant male figure, usually the father - as the smallest and most common family unit in the Hebrew Bible. Such units are defined as organised around two basic principles: production, for subsistence and further economical ends; and reproduction, for human perpetuation. This concept is undoubtedly influenced by biblical presentations of humanity as emanating from a single couple and developing into clearly patriarchal genealogies. The "patriarchal" generalisation may be valid; however, it does not cover all the structural or actual social formations that, in current terms, qualify as "families". In this presentation I will explore several other formations, taking into account differences in ideologies, interest and aim that influence biblical and early Judaic descriptions of social relations, as well as differences of text chronology, class and geography. Among these formations, the bēt ēm ("house of the mother") will be explored anew, for the biblical periods and especially the late ones. Other social units to be examined are same-sex, non-heterosexual and non-productive formations, such as the Essenes and early Jewish and rabbinic arrangements in the late Hellenistic and early Roman times.
  PubDate: 2012-01-27T13:43:12Z
Virgins, eunuchs, empire
- Abstract: Author: Braun, Willi Vol 21 Issue 2 Publication: 2010 Page: 19-38 : This paper presents an argument that the oft-supposed centrality and stability of "the family" in Greco-Roman antiquity belongs as much to the realm of ancient and modem desire and mythmaking as to historical reality. The centrality of the family as the keystone of Greco-Roman societies, and the stability of this keystone will be questioned in light of the anti-familial margins, metonymically represented by the figure of the eunuch-priest and the vestal virgin, both spectacular investments in celibacy. Both figures, the argument goes, are simultaneously symptoms and signs of empire: the vestal virgin a totemic emblem of the fantasy for an inviolable, eternal Rome, but also its sacrificial scapegoat that reasserted Rome and Romanitas by expiating its failures; the eunuch a creaking announcement of Empire's more fundamental fissures, an exposure of the hegemony of Empire as a contestable ideology of stability that could not hold up against a disquieting sense of its frailty that was as frail as its people's gender vestures and "family values" that Greeks and Romans often lethargically regarded as natural, fixed, stable.
  PubDate: 2012-01-27T13:43:12Z
Utopia, domestication and special status : marriage and family in the Stoic tradition
- Abstract: Author: Bosman, Philip R. Vol 21 Issue 2 Publication: 2010 Page: 5-18 : The family was a prominent aspect of early imperial ideology and enjoyed an increased status in Roman society of the period. Since Panaetius, Stoic thought provided rational support for this status by means of its oikeiosis doctrine. Roman Stoics, far from ignoring the prominence of family in their society, imbued the space of marriage with fresh content but did not agree on the issue of whether the philosopher should be exempted from this responsibility. Ambiguity on whether the sage should marry can be traced back to the Stoic founder. The scantily transmitted material on Zeno suggests a double focus in early Stoic thought, on the one hand utopian constructions of the ideal sate and ideal sage (where marriage is abolished) and on the other, ordinary reality (where the Stoic sage should marry and procreate). The abolition of property and marriage (having women and children in common) occurs frequently in so-called high utopias of the classical era, but this aspect of Stoicism diminished since the middle Stoa, together with receding expectations regarding the Stoic wise man. The Roman Stoics Musonius and Epictetus relate differently to their own tradition. Musonius pays no attention to utopia or the ideal sage, but incorporates utopian vocabulary in his defence of marriage for the philosopher, thus 'domesticating' utopia. This results in an emphasis on the marriage partnership as small-scale communism based on friendship. Epictetus retains the distinction between the ideal community of the wise and reality as is. Marriage is an essential part of the latter, but the Cynic, to whom Epictetus assigns the special status of messenger and scout of Zeus, is exempted from the responsibilities accompanying family life.
  PubDate: 2012-01-27T13:43:12Z
Family values in Greek lyric poetry
- Abstract: Author: Henderson, William J. Vol 21 Issue 2 Publication: 2010 Page: 74-94 : Greek lyric poetry largely perpetuated the aristocratic male values of the Homeric and Hesiodic poems. The values functioning in the personal relationships within the family do not seem to have been distinct from those in society as a whole. In the surviving lyric texts aristocratic male aretaí dominate, though poets such as Archilochus, Pindar, Bacchylides and Xenophanes challenged or redefined traditional values. There are only a few scattered and brief scenes of domestic life and values, notably in Simonides and Sappho. Negative male perceptions of women predominate, Semonides' fragment 7 being a prime example. Only Sappho reflects female values.
  PubDate: 2012-01-27T13:43:12Z
Exploring the possibilities of the family as strategy in the Roman Empire and early Christianity
- Abstract: Author: Vorster, Johannes N. Vol 21 Issue 2 Publication: 2010 Page: 227-255 : Enquiring the Roman and early Christian family as an analytic category shifts the strategies deployed in the making of Romanness and Christianness into focus. Constituted by notions of inter alia spatiality, temporality and relationality, this analytic category enables the articulation of those generating, social mechanisms allowing for different versions of familial discourse. Not only legislative practice, but also examples from public and private building practices deriving from the Roman Empire are analysed and an attempt is made to locate examples from current and recent research from the perspective of the family as analytic category.
  PubDate: 2012-01-27T13:43:12Z
Is there evidence for a medieval Nubian feudalism' : general article on early Christian, Jewish and Byzantine studies
- Abstract: Author: Hendrickx, Benjamin Vol 21 Issue 2 Publication: 2010 Page: 256-269 : In this article the question is raised whether a medieval Nubian feudalism existed. The sources as well as the divergent theories or viewpoints of modem scholars on this controversy are critically examined. The definition of feudalism in its different senses is discussed in order to try to "place" a possible Nubian feudalism, and parallelism with Byzantium is examined. The author comes to the conclusion that there is no real evidence for the acceptance of the existence of a Nubian feudalism.
  PubDate: 2012-01-27T13:43:12Z
Domestic architecture : culture, fictive kinship and identity in the First Epistle of John
- Abstract: Author: Van der Merwe, Dirk G. Vol 21 Issue 2 Publication: 2010 Page: 207-226 : The aim of this research is to investigate the domestic architecture of the First Epistle of John. It seems that the author has used family metaphorics to make the invisible (Father) visible in the community and also to characterise this early Christian community. Group orientation, also spelled out in terms of kinship, which appears to be the main social construction in the first-century Mediterranean world, was the driving force behind this research. This orientation together with the social identity theory, pioneered by Henri Tajfel, has been applied to the situation depicted in this epistle to characterise the identity of this Johannine group.
  PubDate: 2012-01-27T13:43:12Z
Dichotomising the family in Hellenistic Etruria : forms of strategic display in elite burials
- Abstract: Author: Roth, Roman Vol 21 Issue 2 Publication: 2010 Page: 176-194 : Etruscan burial provides a unique source for the archaeological study of the 'family as strategy.' This chapter starts by providing an overview of the chronological development of burial practices across the region between the eighth and first centuries BC. During this time, the coherence of the extended family as a social unit was increasingly emphasised while, paradoxically, certain deceased members of these burying groups were assigned especial prominence within the tomb. The paper concludes by offering a number of historical explanations for this increasing dichotomy in later Etruscan burials.
  PubDate: 2012-01-27T13:43:12Z
"The bold and the beautiful" in ancient Athens' The Atreides and family
- Abstract: Author: Steinmeyer, Elke Vol 21 Issue 2 Publication: 2010 Page: 194-206 : This essay intends to investigate various aspects of the concept of "family" in a modem South African adaptation of the Greek myths around the House of Atreus, especially Aeschylus' Oresteia and Euripides' Iphigeneia in Aulis, which was produced under the title Family in Durban in 2008. After contextualizing the production under discussion with famous productions in European theatre history, three topics will be discussed: the structure of the production as a metaphor for the concept of a "patchwork family", the explicit links between the production (and also this specific Greek myth in general) and the medium of modern soap opera, and lastly the problem of domestic violence. Although it might seem strange at first sight - given the mythological background - to label this adaptation Family, it becomes clear upon closer inspection that the production merits its name.
  PubDate: 2012-01-27T13:43:12Z
"All in the family'" The social location of new testament households and Christian claims on "traditional family values"
- Abstract: Author: Punt, Jeremy Vol 21 Issue 2 Publication: 2010 Page: 152-175 : Investigations into "the family" in New Testament texts require attention for its social location. The family as household was related to the particular ways in which male and female were constructed according to hierarchical notions and gendered distinctions, considered to provide (among others) the framework for procreation. Moreover, marriage and family (in the sense of household) were perceived to provide continuity and stability in the social order. New Testament texts dealing with the household relate to such considerations, and therefore require attention as to how issues ranging from body through sex and "sexuality", children, slaves to "family", were understood in ancient times, deriving their content from, but also informing the construction of first-century households. The nature and role of these households, in a Graeco-Roman environment with its imperial tentacles, complicates the use of New Testament texts for supporting contemporary appeals to "traditional family values".
  PubDate: 2012-01-27T13:43:12Z
Family as strategy : image-making and the children of Germanicus
- Abstract: Author: McWilliam, Janette Vol 21 Issue 2 Publication: 2010 Page: 121-140 : This paper will examine the "display" of the children of Germanicus and Agrippina I, particularly in the context of Germanic us' triumph of 17 CE, One of the developing trends of empire was to promote imperial children through events and institutions which were often steeped in precedent and tradition, such as the triumph. The children of Germanicus, however, played an even more significant role in the overall visual framework of the Early Empire: they were used to help shape the image of their father, heir to Augustus and Tiberius, in Rome, on the military front, and in key areas of the empire. Germanicus' military and political achievements were often represented as events of family (and hence Roman) significance.
  PubDate: 2012-01-27T13:43:12Z
Deconstructing the heteronormative image of the early christian household : reconsidering gender as a key organising concept of family functioning
- Abstract: Author: Nortje-Meyer, Lilly Vol 21 Issue 2 Publication: 2010 Page: 141-151 : Heteronormativity is the process of socially constructing a privileged heterosexuality and its related binary understandings of gender, over unconventional presentations of gender and gender-related issues. The early Christian household constructs a heteronormative image of the family only. This implies that heterosexual marriage and relationships were the only access to sanctioned sexuality and respectability in the community. Therefore, binary opposites enforced the heterosexual structure and function of family as "given" and "natural". Meanwhile, male dominance in heterosexual and heteropatriarchal structures persists. This paper questions the inevitability and naturalness of heterosexuality and heteropatriarchy and its normative status for constructing the ancient / Christian family. It aims to problematise gender as the dominant, unassailable expression and organising concept of family functioning which - in turn - determines social constructs.
  PubDate: 2012-01-27T13:43:12Z
Striking family hierarchies : Luke 12:35-48, gender and slavery
- Abstract: Author: Kartzow, Marianne B. Vol 21 Issue 2 Publication: 2010 Page: 95-108 : In this article I use the parable in Luke 12:35-48 "to think with". The parable talks about a master who leaves his house, after which the trusted slave misuses his privileged position and starts beating his subordinates in the household. According to Luke, Jesus tells the disciples this parable in order to teach them to be prepared. The terminology opens up a variety of scenarios: either the trusted slave strikes his fellow slaves, both male and female, or he strikes boys and girls. Such physical punishment was probably common in ancient families, where slave bodies were part of their owner's property, and where children had to obey their parents. Luke constructs theology and ideal virtues by use of violence and abuse, according to power structures in which class, gender and age intersect. This article will address some of these intersections, highlighting issues of slavery, family and gender. I develop an intersectional critique of memory theory in order to reflect on how interpreters are confronted with several challenges when New Testament texts are used as models for family life.
  PubDate: 2012-01-27T13:43:12Z
Constructing a family : representations of the women of the Roman imperial family
- Abstract: Author: McIntyre, Gwynaeth Vol 21 Issue 2 Publication: 2010 Page: 109-120 : This article compares the women of two imperial families: the sisters of Gaius (Caligula), and those of Hadrian's adoptive family. These women did not play a role in producing heirs or securing succession, yet they played an important role in the way these two emperors represented themselves and their families. This article discusses the literary representations of these women and compares them with the iconographic evidence, to determine how these women were depicted in different media (both contemporary and later sources) as well as how the roles and representations of women of the imperial family changed over time. It argues that even though many representations of women during these two periods were seen as being radical and innovative, they were in some cases conservative extensions of honours previously granted to other members of the imperial family. Moreover, even though they were not fulfilling their role as child-bearers (and attempting to influence succession by promoting their own sons), they helped legitimise and secure the position of the emperor as well as the position of his family and, as a result, ensured the stability of the empire as well.
  PubDate: 2012-01-27T13:43:12Z