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The Arians of Alexandria
Author(s): Christopher HaasSource: Vigiliae Christianae, Vol. 47, No. 3 (Sep., 1993), pp. 234-245Published by: BRILLStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1583805.
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Vigiliae
Christianae
47
(1993),
234-245,
E.J.
Brill,
Leiden
THE
ARIANS OF
ALEXANDRIA
BY
CHRISTOPHER HAAS
Over the
past
two
decades,
the stream of
scholarly
studies
on the
Arian
controversy
has
risen to
a veritable
floodtide,
resulting
from
sym-
posia
and
book-length
treatments of
Arius's
theology (particularly
his
Thalia),
his
theological
antecedents,
and the
appeal
of his
preaching
as
a
message
of salvation. The
vast
majority
of these valuable studies
treat
the
outbreak of Arianism within
Alexandria
as a
purely
theological
phenomenon.
If
the
Alexandrian context
of the
controversy
is
con-
sidered at
all,
it is
treated as
only
one factor
in the
theological
and
philosophical
climate
which
bred
Arius'
teaching.2
Intellectual
history,
however,
seldom takes
place
in a
vacuum.
Alex-
andria in the
early
fourth
century
was
probably
the second
largest
city
in
the
Roman
Empire,
and served as the commercial
entrepot
for the
entire
eastern Mediterranean.
Tightly
organized
communities of
Jews,
pagans,
and Christians
jostled
one another
in
their
ongoing competition
for
socio-cultural
hegemony
within
this
cosmopolitan
urban milieu.3
Arius'
teaching
gained
its first
popularity
within this
richly-textured,
socially
complex
urban environment.
Consequently,
our
understanding
of
both this
outspoken
Alexandrian
presbyter
and
his
message
may
be
sharpened further by looking closely at the social composition of his
first adherents within the
city.
Early
on,
both sides
in
this local
theological
dispute
appealed
to
authorities outside
Alexandria,
thereby embroiling emperors
and
bishops
in
over a
half-century
of
empire-wide
conflict. The Alexandrian
patriarch,
Alexander
(312-328),
enlisted the
support
of various
bishops
throughout
Palestine and
Syria.
For his
part,
Arius
gained
the
backing
of
several
high-placed
churchmen,
including
Eusebius of Nicomedia.
Henceforth, the focus of the dispute shifted away from the great Egyp-
tian
metropolis.
The
see
of
Alexandria became
just
one of several
prizes
in
the
broader arena of
ecclesiastical
politics fought
over
by
the
adherents of various
factions.
In
time,
the contentious Alexandrian
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THE ARIANS OF ALEXANDRIA
presbyter
became
something
of a
cipher
in
the
complex theologies
of the
episcopal opponents
of
Nicaea-lumped together
under
the
derisive
epithet,
Ariomaniacs,
by
Athanasius.4 Some have even
argued
that
eventually,
Athanasius' Alexandria became
a
theological
backwater,
with the
intransigent
bishop maintaining
positions
decades
old,
out
of
step
with the
evolving
Trinitarian consensus
forged by
the
Cappadocian
fathers
in the
second
half of the fourth
century.5
Despite
Athanasius'
long
tenure
as
head
of the
city's
Homoousian
community
(albeit
fre-
quently
in
exile),
and his
reputation
for
brutality
in
suppressing
dissent
within his
church,
Arianism continued
on
as
an Alexandrian
phenomenon
for
decades.6
Who
were
these
Alexandrian Arians? And
how did this embattled faction
change
over time?
The
initial focus
of Arianism
in
Alexandria
was Arius'
parish
church
of
Baucalis
or
Boukolou. This
was
a
relatively
minor
church
in
a
parochial organization
which,
by
the
beginning
of
the fourth
century,
included at least nine churches.7
The
city's
most
important
church,
named
for the
beloved former
bishop
Theonas,
was situated
in
an area
largely given
over to
public
buildings
at one end of
Alexandria's
prin-
cipal
boulevard,
the
Via
Canopica.8
Indications are that the
episcopal
residence and its attached church, that of St. Dionysius, were likewise
located
on the
fringes
of
the
city's
center.9
Christian
buildings
on the
urban
periphery
were
common on the eve of the
Peace
of
the
Church,
and
it was left
to later
bishops,
(notably
Athanasius and
Theophilus)
to
fill
in the
center
of
the
city
with
large
churches. Baucalis was one of
a
handful of
lesser
churches
which
probably
could
trace their
origins
back
to
private
donations
in
the
previous
two centuries.?1
It
appears
as
though
the
church of Baucalis was
not
in
the
city
at
all,
but ratherwas situated in a nearby extra-muralsuburb, on the opposite
end
of town from
the
bishop's
main
church. The
church took
its
name
from a
larger sparsely
inhabited
region, just beyond
the
suburb and
the
adjacent necropolis,
which was
populated mainly
by
herdsmen and their
flocks of
sheep
and
cattle. This
is
the district
known in
the
sources as
Boukolia or
Boukolion,
that
is,
the
pasturage. Throughout
Anti-
quity, grazing
took
place
all
along
the shores
of
Lake Mareotis and the
canals which criss-crossed this
region.
extending
east
of
the
city
as far
as the Canopic branch of the
Nile.12
This region of pasturage should be
distinguished very carefully
from
the
intensely-cultivated
agricultural
area of
Mareotis to the
city's
southwest.
Augustus
seems to have had
more
than
simple logistics
in
mind
when he
planted
his
garrison camp
235
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CHRISTOPHER HAAS
of
Nicopolis
in
Boukolia,
on the
only
broad landward
approach
to the
city.
For
the
proximity
of
troops
to
this
pasture-land
also served to
police
the
shepherds
and herdsmen
of Boukolia who were
notoriously
rough
characters,
known for
assaulting
travelers
and
murdering
one
another. Palladius
tells us of one Roman
matron,
returning
from her
tour of the
holy places,
who
ordered
her
boats to be tied
up along
the
canal near
Nicopolis
while
she
went
into
Alexandria. Her
entourage
was
attacked
by
locals
who killed
some,
maimed
others,
and tossed one
unfortunate
bishop
into the canal.'3
And
depending
upon
one's trust
in
the information
provided by
Greek romances and
by
a
highly
stylized
passage
in
Cassius
Dio,
the
inhabitants
of Boukolia
may
have even
broken out
in
open
insurrection
against
Roman
authority
in
the late
2nd
century.'4
In
light
of
the
variegated
evidence
for
Baucalis and its
adja-
cent
region,
I
would
place
the
city's
cattle
market
in
this
suburb,
thereby
envisioning
its economic
activity
to be
roughly comparable
to
that
of
early
Rome's
Forum Boarium.
This excursus
into Alexandrian
topography
will
assist
us
in
under-
standing
religious
factionalism
in
Alexandria.
Epiphanius
tells us that
presbyters
were
appointed
in
each
of
the
parish
churches of Alexandria
to serve the needs of
people dwelling
in their immediate
neighborhood.15
This structure was
common
enough
in
the
larger
cities
of
the
empire,
but
he then
goes
on
to
explain
that,
in
Alexandria,
the
parishioners
were
exceptionally
devoted
to the
style
of
Biblical
exposition
practiced
by
their
respective
presbyters-so
much so that a
rivalry
sprung up
between
the
partisans
of these local
pastors.'6
When one
considers that Alexan-
dria had a
long
tradition of barrio
pride
and
competition,
and that the
bishop
of Alexandria
(for
all his
authority
in
the
Egyptian chora)
had
a difficult time asserting his will within his own city, it is not surprising
that
religious
factionalism
in
Alexandria
was
shaped,
at
least
in
part, by
the
city's
topographical
divisions.
Thus,
in
March of
339,
when the
Arian
appointee,
Gregory
the
Cap-
padocian,
made his violent adventus
into
the
city
accompanied
by
Philagrius,
a
veteran
Praefectus
Aegypti,
the Arian mob which
attacked
the
church
of
Quirinus
included herdsmen and
shepherds.
1
Athanasius
even tells us
that
they
were armed
with
clubs-in
this
case
probably
shepherds' staves. Two decades later we find a similar topographical
connection between
Arianism and
Alexandria's
extra-mural
regions.
Before his
appointment
to the throne of
St.
Mark,
the
Arian
bishop
George
of
Cappadocia
had
spent
a
portion
of his
career
as a
urcoexrSq
236
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THE ARIANS
OF
ALEXANDRIA
Tx,tax)ov
(treasury
contractor)
in
Constantinople,
and
had
acquired
thereby
a measure
of
business acumen and
a
reputation
for
ruthlessness.18
It is
instructive to
note
that
during
his ill-fated
tenure
in
Alexandria,
George sought monopolies
on
papyrus
manufacture
and
reed
cutting,
as
well as a
special
tax on the
extraction
of
nitre-
economic
activities concentrated in
Alexandria's suburbs. This
reliance
on the
city's
peripheral regions
is confirmed
by
George's
control
over
the
city's
collegium
of
grave-diggers
and
coffin-bearers,
who
seemed
content
with
giving George
a
portion
of their
profits
in
exchange
for
the
bishop's patronage.19
Arius'
congregation
at Baucalis also included
large
numbers
of
ascetically-minded
Alexandrians. This association
between Alexandrian
asceticism
and
early
Arianism can be accounted
for
by
several factors.
The church
at
Baucalis
appears
to
have been
adjacent
to the
martyrium
of
St.
Mark,
since all the various
recensions
of
Mark's
passion
place
his
execution
and
eventual burial at
a site known as
Boukolou.20
If
one dis-
counts the
disputed
testimony
of
the
Passio of
bishop
Peter,
who was
said to
have
prayed
at the tomb
of Mark
in
Boukolou
prior
to
his
execu-
tion
in
311,
the
earliest mention
we have of the
evangelist's martyrium
dates from the end of the fourth
century.2'
It is
probable,
however,
that
there was some sort
of commemorative shrine for
the
founder of the
Alexandrian
church at
least as
early
as
the time of
Arius,
if
not
before.
Several mid-
to late fourth
century
canons attributed
to
Athanasius
carefully
regulate
the
behavior of ascetics
(especially virgins)
who
fre-
quented
the
shrines
of
Alexandrian
martyrs.22
The
clear inference
from
these detailed
canons is that the
most famous
martyrium
in
the
city
must
have
attracted
monastic devotees. This connection between
Alexandrian
asceticism and the Evangelist's martyrium continued until the time of
the
Arab
conquest,
when
both the shrine and its
neighboring
monasteries were
burned
during
the
city's
siege.23
Besides
this
link between
ascetics and
St.
Mark's
martyrium,
we
find
that
many
of
Alexandria's
earliest ascetics retired to the
suburban
regions just
east of the
city.
It
was here
that
some of
Alexandria's most
extensive cemeteries were
located,
known
today by
the
names of
Chatby, Ibrahimiya,
and el
Hadra.24
During
the
middle
years
of the
fourth century, these tombs became the hermitages of numerous Alex-
andrian
ascetics.25
The
necropoleis
in
and around
Boukolia
continued
to
appeal
to
ascetics
until the
founding
of
Alexandria's
suburban
monasteries
towards
the
end of
the fouth
century.26
St.
Antony
himself
237
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6/13
CHRISTOPHER HAAS
considered
settling
in
the
region
of Boukolia
before he withdrew to his
inner mountain.27 Boukolia
also served as a
recruiting ground
for
monasticism,
as seen
especially by
the
conversion of a
young shepherd
named
Macarius,
who
murdered one of his
comrades
along
the
shore
of Lake
Mareotis
and then
fled to the desert as a
hermit.28Given this
context,
we find
that
Arius,
the
presbyter charged
with the
pastoral
oversight
of this
region,
was noted for his
ascetic demeanor and even
a
style
of dress which was
characteristic of
early Egyptian
monks.29 At
the time of his
excommunication,
over 700
virgins
were
expelled along
with him-a
graphic testimony
to the
appeal
of Arianism
among
Alex-
andrian ascetics.30
In
addition,
there is also the
testimony
of
bishop
Alexander
who,
in
a letter to his namesake
in
Thessalonica,
speaks
of
Arians
troubling
us
in
the lawcourts
by
the
pleas
of
disorderly
women
whom
they
have
duped
and also
discrediting
Christianity
by
the
way
in
which the
younger
women
among
them
immodestly
frequent
every
public
street -
precisely
the same immodest behavior
addressed
by
the
Alexandrian canons.3'
A
letter of
Athanasius,
preserved
in
part by
Theodoret,
complains
of,
the
impiety
of the
Arians,
[who]
block
up
the
gates,
and sit like so
many
demons around the
tombs,
in
order
to
hinder the dead from
being
interred. 32The
dating
of this
fragment
is
uncertain and
may
refer to
George's
monopoly
of
the
funerary
collegia.
However,
it
could
easily
be read as an
indictment
of Arian
ascetics,
in
a vein
not unlike the
anti-monastic
diatribes of a
Libanius
or a Rutilius
Namatianus.
Of
course,
the bonds between
Alexandrian asceticism and
Arianism
were
decisively
broken
by
Athanasius'
vigorous
courting
of the
monks,
begun
as
early
as the
330's.33The clearest
expression
of this
alliance
between Athanasius' Homoousion
party
and the ascetics, both in Alex-
andria and
in
the
chora,
was the
celebrated visit of
Antony
to
the
city
in
338.34
Though
the
vita
gives
the
impression
that
Antony
came to
Alexandria
in
order to
refute
publicly
the rumors that he
secretly
espoused
Arian
doctrines,
a
close
reading
makes
it
clear that
Antony's
sojourn
was
orchestrated
by
Athanasius,
doubtless with the
intention of
enlisting
a revered
holy
man on the
side
of
the Homoousian
party.3
This
appears
to have
become a
regular
policy
of
Athanasius,
since
under
similar circumstances he also brought Abba Pambo to Alexandria from
Nitria.36 These
high profile
monastic
endorsements
of
Athanasius
in
Alexandria
suggest
that his
cultivation of the monks
was
a
more multi-
faceted
policy
than is
usually
presented,
i.e.,
that the
bishop
sought
to
238
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THE ARIANS OF
ALEXANDRIA
invoke
monastic
aid to
counterbalance
Melitian
influence
in
the chora
and also
prepare
a
strategic
retreat
for
himself
during
moments
of
imperial
displeasure.
In
light
of the
make-up
of the initial
Arian faction
in
Alexandria,
it
seems
likely
that Athanasius also felt a
specific
need
to thwart
Arian
sentiments
among
the
city's
ascetic communities.
However,
the
complexion
of the Alexandrian Arian faction was also
changing during
the decades
following
Nicaea.
Although
Arius' con-
gregation
at
Baucalis was the most visible center of
opposition
to
the
bishop's
authority,
(in
part,
a function
of
the
literary
sources'
pre-
occupation
with
Arius),
it
is
worth
noting
that
during
the
episcopate
of
Alexander
(ca.
312-328)
at least five
presbyters
and
five
deacons were
excommunicated
by
the
bishop,
and that each
presbyter
was
likely
to
have
had
authority
over an individual church.
Given
the often-fractious
nature of
the Alexandrian
clergy,
there is
no
more reason to
believe
that
these Arians
formed a monolithic
party
than that
the
bishop's party
formed a solid
phalanx
of
support.
In
this
context,
Athanasius'
allegedly
brutal methods
for
enforcing
ecclesiastical
discipline
and doc-
trinal
conformity
become
much more
comprehensible.37 Despite
Epiphanius'
enthusiasm
for
Athanasius,
he tells
us that
Athanasius
kept
trying accusations, threats, and admonitions, and no one
paid
attention.
38
Among
the
Arians,
there are hints that a more
distinctly
urban ele-
ment came
to the fore
in the
thirty
some
years
between
Nicaea
and the
episcopate
of
George
of
Cappadocia.
Alexander's excommunication of
various
Alexandrian
clergymen suggests
that Arian doctrines had found
a
hearing
in
several
of the
city's
parishes.
In
addition,
several
sources,
including
a letter
of Constantine
to the
Alexandrians,
speak
of
the
spread of Arian sentiments via multi-class urban institutions where the
populace
would
gather,
notably
the
marketplaces,
the
theatres,
and
(most frequently)
unspecified
public
assemblies.39
This
may
provide
at
least
a
partial
backdrop
for
understanding
Arius'
Thalia,
and also the
well-known
comment
of
Philostorgius
on
Arius'
composition
of
popular
songs
designed
for
sailors,
millers,
travellers,
and others.40
Perhaps
the most
telling
indication of Athanasius'
lack of
unquestioned
support
among
the
urban
populace
was the use
that his
opponents
at the
Synod of Tyre made of a formal document listing complaints by the
Alexandrian demos.41
During
the
340's,
when
imperial
coercion
was
increasingly brought
to
bear
upon
the issue
of ecclesiastical
factionalism
in
Alexandria,
the
239
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CHRISTOPHER HAAS
urban
complexion
of the diffuse
community
labeled as
Arians
by
our
hostile
sources continued to
grow.
Indeed,
there
is
a
direct correlation
between official
pressure
and
the
morphology
of the Arian
community,
as
groups especially
vulnerable to outside influence
increasingly
identify
themselves
as Arian. These
groups
tend to cluster
at
opposite
ends of
the Alexandrian
social
spectrum,
and
their
shifting allegiance
indicates
that the
primary
issue at stake was
patronage,
not
theology.
With
their wealth and status at
risk,
it is not
surprising
that
large
numbers
of the
so-called
bouleutic
class took
up
the Arian
cause.
These
bouleutai were
members of a
hereditary
urban elite who
made
up
the
Alexandrian senate/council
(pouX;l).42
On
several
occasions,
the
bouleutai
of
the
city
were
specifically
singled
out in
imperial
directives
and
threatened
with
fines,
confiscations,
and
imprisonment
if
they
did
not
renounce
Athanasius
and
accept
the
imperial
nominee.43
For those
who
did
comply,
there were
tangible
benefits,
most
importantly,
the
prospect
of ordination as
bishop
and its attendant
privilege
of
exemp-
tion from
public
duties.44
By
and
large,
it
seems that the
bouleutic class
was
eager
to
embrace
positions
which would be
deemed
inoffensive
during
an
age
of
frequent
reversals
in
imperial
policy.
No
wonder
Athanasius denounces so
bitterly
these
upper
class
chameleons;
the
political
realities
of the
day
called for
easy-natured
men
(uxoXoL).45
Their
non-confrontational
stance
was bound to
raise
the ire
of
a fac-
tious
patriarch
who
had
been exiled several times for
his views.
At the
same
time,
there is also
evidence that the
Alexandrian
upper
classes
hardly
constituted
a
unified bloc.46
As
with
the curiales
of
other
large
cities,
considerable
diversity
of
religious allegiance persisted throughout
the
entire Late
Antique period-provided
that
dissenting
opinions
were
not publicly expressed.
During
the summer and fall
of
356,
in the
period just
prior
to
the
installation of
George
of
Cappadocia
as
Arian
bishop
of
Alexandria,
groups
of Alexandrian
young
men
took a
leading
role in
the
violence
directed
against
the
supporters
of
Athanasius. These
youths
are
depicted
vandalizing
churches,
assaulting clergy,
and
shouting
obscenities
at
virgins.47
Athanasius
attempts
to
paint
these
young
men
as
thoroughgoing pagans, claiming
that
they
cast incense on
bonfires of
church furniture, sang praises to pagan gods, and even waved tree
branches in
the church
sanctuaries-perhaps
an
indication
of
Dionysiac
behavior.
Yet,
some of these
same
youths
are
ordained,
in
short
order,
as
Arian
bishops
throughout
Egypt.48
Despite
Athanasius'
characteriza-
240
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9/13
THE
ARIANS OF ALEXANDRIA
tion
of
them as
belonging
to the
&yopXoi,
(i.e.,
the lower
class fre-
quenters
of the
agora),
t
is
more
plausible
o
believe hat
they
belonged
to
the
same class
as
the other
Arian
nominees-the
Alexandrian
bouleutic
class.
These
youths
are
simply
styled
ve&6Tpot
n the
sources,
and this
may
be an
echo
of
upper
class
youth
organizations
known
in
the
earlyEmpire
as the neoi. The
neoi wereclubsof
young
men
just
past
the
age
for
ephebes
17),
and often
wereconnected
with the
gymnasium,
electing
heir
own
officers
and
even
maintaining
lub
treasuries.49 heir
upper
class
origins
are
strongly
suggestedby
a
letter
of
Constantius o
the
senateand
people
of
Alexandria,
whereinhe
requires
he
young
men
to
assemble
ogether,
and eitherto
persecute
Athanasius,
or
consider
themselvesas
(the emperor's)
enemies. 50Formal
groups
of Alexan-
drian
youths
appear
to
have taken an
active role
in
political
brawling
as far back as the
Ptolemaic
period.
Their
mportance
n
urban
power
politics
was
tacitly
recognizedby
Caracalla,
who
assembled
hem and
then ordered heir
massacre
n
215.51Like
their
uppercrust
lders,
the
youth
of Alexandriamade
up
an
easily
distinguished
ocial
group
which
could be
threatened and
mobilized
by imperial
directives.
By
all
appearances,
hey
had no
abiding
concern
with
theological
ssues,
but
weremotivatedby class interestsand civic
pride.
At the other end of the
social
scale,
the
recipients
f
public
assistance
were
also
susceptible
o the coercive
powers
of
imperial
officials.
One
method of
coercion
employed
ime
and
again
was
simply
to limit
the
grain
dole to those
who
conformed
o
imperial
dictates.52
n
addition,
there is
evidence
hat oil and other
regular
alms were
confiscated rom
Athanasius'
supporters.53
his
may,
in
part,
reflect the
government's
wish
to
disrupt
he
patriarchate's
laborate
networkof
patronage
within
the city. Widowsand the city'sdestitute &vgo8ot)ufferedmostunder
these measures.54
thanasius
gives
us the
impression
hat
despite
these
coercive
methods,
the lower
orders remained
faithful
Homoousians.
However,
the
veracity
of
his claim
is difficult
to
determine,
especially
given
the
wide
success
enjoyed
by
the Prefect
Florus
a
century
ater,
when
rioting
n
the
city
was
promptlyextinguished
fter the
Prefectcut
off
the
bread dole.55
There are hints
that other
groups
within
Alexandrian
ociety gave
their allegianceto the Arian (or more precisely,the imperial)cause
during
he 340'sand
the 350's.
One
cryptic
remark
f
Athanasius
peaks
of
certain
unspecified
collegia
who
were
incited
to
anti-Homoousion
violence
by imperial
agents.56
In
addition,
we also hear of the
ayopoaot,
241
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10/13
CHRISTOPHER
HAAS
i.e.,
otherwise
unoccupied
lower class
frequenters
of the
agora,
who
are
enlisted
in
pagan
and Arian
mobs.57
Given the attractions of the Arian
cause
to
certain sections of Alexan-
drian
society,
one
can more
easily
understand how it was
possible
for
Gregory
the
Cappodocian
to find a
viable local
community
of
co-
religionists
when,
in
339,
he
entered Alexandria backed
by
imperial
troops.58Though
diffuse,
this Arian
community possessed
enough
of
a
self-identity
to insist on the
ailing
Gregory's
replacement
in
346
with
someone who would
promote
their
interests more
vigorously.59
These
Alexandrian Arians wished to
present
a clear alternative to
Athanasius,
who had incurred both
imperial
and ecclesiastical
ill-will
through
his
violent methods.
Consequently,
the Arians found
Gregory
to
be
a
liability,
since his tenure
as
bishop
was
marked
by
violence and arson.
The
next Arian
occupant
of
the
throne of St. Mark was
Gregory's
coun-
tryman,
George.
It
is
only
with the
disastrous
episcopate
of
George
of
Cappadocia (357-361)
that Arianism
loses
all
appeal among
the
Alexan-
drians,
due to the association of the Arian
cause
with this
unpopular
and
inept imperial appointee. George
instituted a brutal
regime
which
indiscriminately persecuted
pagans,
Jews,
and Homoousian Christians.
These methods led to
George's
death at the hand of a mob in December
of
361.60
The
collapse
of
the Arian cause
in
Alexandria is
clearly
evidenced some
15
years
after
George's
murder,
when the
support
for
the Arian Lucius
(himself
an
Alexandrian)
extends
only
as far as the
coercion
bought by
the Prefect's
spears.6'
NOTES
'
As a mere
sampling
of this
extensive
literature,
consult M.
Simonetti,
La crisi ariana
del
IV
secolo
(Rome,
1975);
A.M.
Ritter,
'Arianismus' in
Theologische
Real-
Enzyklopadie
G. Krause and G.
Miller,
eds.
(Berlin,
1978)
3:
692-719;
R.C.
Gregg
and
D.E.
Groh,
Early
Arianism: A
View
of
Salvation
(Philadelphia,
1981);
C.
Kannengiesser,
'Arius
and the
Arians,'
Theological
Studies
44
(1983):
456-475;
R.C.
Gregg,
ed.,
Arianism: Historical and
Theological
Reassessments
(Philadelphia,
1985);
R.
Williams,
Arius:
Heresy
and Tradition
(London, 1987);
R.P.C.
Hanson,
The Search
for
the Chris-
tian
Doctrine
of
God
(Edinburgh, 1988).
2
L.W.
Barnard,
'The
Antecedents
of
Arius,'
VigChr
24
(1970):
172-188;
M.H.
Marrou,
'L'Arianisme comme Ph6nomene Alexandrin,' Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Let-
tres,
Comptes
Rendus
(1973):
533-542;
C.
Kannengiesser,
Holy Scripture
and Hellenistic
Hermeneutics
in
Alexandrian
Christology:
The
Arian
Crisis,
Protocol of
the
Colloquy
of
the
Center for
Hermeneutical Studies
in
Hellenistic and
Modern
Culture,
no.
41
(Berkeley,
1982).
The
best treatments of
the Alexandrian
background
for the
controversy
242
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11/13
THE ARIANS OF ALEXANDRIA
may
be
found in
Williams, Arius,
pp.
29-32,
41-47;
and in
C.
Kannengiesser,
'Athanasius
of Alexandria
vs.
Arius:
The Alexandrian
Crisis,'
The Roots
of Egyptian
Christianity,
B.
Pearson
and
J.
Goehring,
eds.
(Philadelphia,
1986),
pp.
204-215.
3
On Alexandrian in Late Antiquity, see M. Rodziewicz, Les Habitations Romaines Tar-
dives d'Alexandrie a
la
lumiere
desfouilles polonaises
a
K6m
el-Dikka,
in the
series,
Alex-
andrie
III,
(Warsaw,
1984);
P.M.
Fraser,
'Alexandria,
Christian and Medieval'
in
The
Coptic Encyclopedia
I:
88-92
(New
York,
1990);
H.
Heinen,
'Alexandria
in
Late
Anti-
quity'
Idem
1:
95-103;
and
C.J.
Haas,
Late
Roman Alexandria
(Baltimore,
forthcoming).
For the
wider
Egyptian
context
during
this
period,
see the useful
summary
article
of R.S.
Bagnall,
'Late
Roman
Egypt'
in
Dictionary
of
the
Middle
Ages
10: 453-456
(New
York,
1988),
as
well as his fuller
exposition
in
Late Roman
Egypt (Princeton,
forthcoming).
4
A
catalogue
of
Arian
disavowals
of
Arius
may
be found
in
Hanson,
The Search
for
the Christian
Doctrine
of
God,
pp.
123-128.
5J.M.
Leroux, 'Athanase et la seconde phase de la crise arienne (345-373),' in Kan-
nengiesser,
ed.
Politique
et
Theologie
chez
Athanase
d'Alexandrie
(Paris,
1974), pp.
145-156.
6
For
recent
surveys
of Athanasius'
career,
see
the
important
collection of articles in C.
Kannengiesser,
ed.,
Politique
et
Thdologie
chez
Athanase
d'Alexandrie
(Paris,
1974);
M.
Tetz,
in
Theologische
Realenzykopadie
4:
333-349
(New
York and
Berlin,
1978);
G.C.
Stead,
in
Dizionario
Patristico
e di
Antichita
Cristiane
1:
413-432
(Casale
Monferrato,
1983);
A.S.
Atiya,
in
The
Coptic
Encyclopedia
1: 298-302
(New
York,
1991);
T.D.
Barnes,
Athanasius
of
Alexandria:
Theology
and
Politics in the
Constantinian
Empire
(forth-
coming).
A
useful
bibliographical
essay
may
be found in
C.
Kannengiesser,
'The
Athana-
sian Decade
1974-1984,'
Theological
Studies 46
(1985):
524-541.
7
Epiph.
Haer. 69.
2.
2-7.
The best
single
survey
of church
topography
in
Alexandria
is
A.
Martin,
'Les
premiers
siecles
du
christianisme
a
Alexandrie:
Essai de
topographie
religieuse
(IIIe-IVe
siecles),'
Revue
des
Etudes
Augustiniennes
30
(1984):
211-225. On
parochial
organization
see
A.
Martin,
'Topographie
et
Liturgie:
Le
Probleme
des
'Paroisses'
d'Alexandrie,'
in
Actes du
XIe
Congres
International
d'Archeologie
Chre-
tienne,
Ecole
Francaise
de Rome
(Rome,
1989)
2:
1133-1144.
8
Athan.
Apol.
ad Constant.
15:
M.
petr.
Al.
16. in P.
Devos,
'Une
passion
grecque
in6dite de
S. Pierre d'Alexandria et sa traduction
par
Anastase le
Biblioth6caire,'
AnBol
83
(1965):
157-187. See
also C.
Haas,
'Alexandria's Via
Canopica:
Political
Expression
&
Urban
Topography
from
Augustus
to
'Amr
ibn
al-'As,'
in Alexandrian Studies
in
Memory of
Daoud Abu
Daoud,
ed.,
Nabil Swelim
(Cairo,
1993),
forthcoming.
9
Socrates
HE 2. 11.
6;
Hist.
Aceph.
2.
3,
5.
4.
'0
For
a
useful
comparative
study
of this
process,
see
L.M.
White,
Building
God's
House
in the Roman
World:
Architectural
Adaptation
Among Pagans,
Jews,
and Christians
(Baltimore,
1989).
Epiph.
Haer. 69.
1-2;
Chron.
Pasch.
252
cols.
608c-609a;
M.
Petr.
Al.
11.
R. Williams
suggests
(Arius,
p.
264,
n.
107)
that the church
in Baucalis
derived its name
from
the Greek
word
for
a
wine
or water
cooler,
and that the church was
formerly
used
as
a vintner's warehouse. Given the economic differentiation of Alexandria's topography,
it seems
more
likely
that
vinters' warehouses
would be
located,
on the
opposite
side
of
the
city,
near the famous
wine
growing regions
of
Taenia and Mareotis: Strabo 17.
1.
15;
Pliny
HN 14.
74,
117;
Virgil
Georg.
2.
91;
Horace Odes
1.
37;
Athenaeus
Deipnosophistes
1.
33;
v. Jo. Eleem. 10.
243
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12/13
CHRISTOPHER
AAS
2
The use of
this
region
as
pasturage
by
[ouxo6Xo
ates
back before
Alexander's founda-
tion
of
the
city;
Strabo
17. 1. 19.
13
Hist.
Laus. 15.
1,
35.
14-15.
14
Achilles Tatius 3. 15; Heliodorus 1.5-30; Cassius Dio 71. 4. On the evolution of the
pouxoXot
s
a
literary
type,
see J.
Winkler,
'Lollianos and the
Desperadoes,'
JHS
100
(1980):
155-181,
esp.
175-179.
5
Epiph.
Haer.
69. 1.
1.
16
Epiph.
Haer.
69.
2. 6.
7
Athan.
Hist. Ar.
10.
18
Greg.
Naz.
Or. 21.
16;
Athan.
de
Syn.
12;
ad
Episcopos
7;
Hist.
Ar.
75.
19
Epiph.
Haer. 76. 1. 5-7.
See also
C.
Haas,
'The Alexandrian Riots
of
356 and
George
of
Cappadocia,'
Greek,
Roman &
Byzantine
Studies 32.
3
(1991):
281-301.
20
A
thorough
discussion
of the traditions
connecting
Mark with Boukolou/Boukolia
may be found in B.A. Pearson, 'Earliest Christianity in Egypt: some Observations,' The
Roots
of
Egyptian
Christianity,
B.
Pearson
and J.
Goehring,
eds.
(Philadelphia,
1986),
pp.
132-159.
21
M.Petr.
Al.
11-14;
Palladius Hist. Laus.
45.
22
Canons
of
Athanasius
91-92,
98-99,
ed.
and
trans.
W. Riedel and
W.E. Crum
(Lon-
don,
1904).
23
History
of
the Patriarchs
1.
14,
p.
495 ,
ed.
and
trans.
B.
Evetts
Patrologia
Orientalis 1.
4
(1907).
24
M. Petr.
Al. 14
indicates that Peter's
executioners
took him
from the south side
of
the
commemorative
chapel
of the
holy
evangelist
Mark,
and
stood
him
in a
deep
valley
where there were tombs. On these
cemeteries,
see A.
Bernand,
Alexandrie la
grande
(Paris, 1966), pp.
210-216,
222-228.
25
E.g.,
an unnamed ascetic who inhabited a cell for
many
years
near the
military camp
at
Nicopolis,
(Apoph.
Patr.
Systematic
Coll.
237).
26
Palladius Hist.
Laus. 5. 1.
27
Athan. v. Ant. 49.
28
Palladius
Hist.
Laus.
15.
29
Epiph.
Haer. 69. 3.
1.
30
Epiph.
Haer. 69. 3.
2.
31
In
Theodoret
HE 1.
3.
32
Theodoret
HE 2. 11.
3
L.-T.
Lefort,
'Saint Athanase ecrivain
copte.'
Le
Museon
46
(1933):
1-33;
P.
Rousseau,
Ascetics,
Authority,
and
the
Church in
the
Age
of
Jerome
and
Cassian
(Oxford, 1978);
G.J.M.
Bartelink,
'Les
rapports
entre
le
monachisme
egyptienne
et
l'6piscopat
d'Alexandrie,'
Alexandrina: Hellenisme.
judaisme
et
christianisme
a
Alexan-
drie,
Melanges offerts
au
P.
Claude
Mondesert,
l'Institut
des
Sources
Chretiennes
(Paris,
1987),
pp.
351-363.
34
Athan. v.
Ant.
69-71.
35
Several
years
later,
Flavian of
Antioch
followed
an
identical
policy
by persuading
a
desert ascetic named Julianus to publicly denounce Arianism in Antioch, (Theodoret HE
4.
24).
36
Apoph.
Patr. Pambo 4.
37
On
this
controversial
aspect
of
Athanasius'
episcopate,
see T.D.
Barnes,
'The Career
of
Athanasius,'
in
Studia Patristica vol.
21,
Papers presented
to
the Tenth International
244
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http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp8/10/2019 The Arians of Alexandria
13/13
THE
ARIANS OF
ALEXANDRIA
Conference
on Patristic
Studies,
1987,
ed.
by
E.A.
Livingstone
(Leuven, 1989), pp.
390-
401;-a
depiction
which should be seen
in
light
of D.W.H.
Arnold,
'Sir Harold
Idris Bell
and Athanasius:
A
Reconsideration
of London
Papyrus
1914,'Ibid.,
pp.
377-383. See also
Hanson, (supra n. 1) pp. 239-246.
38
Epiph.
Haer.
69. 11.
7;
68.
7.
5.
39
Socrates
HE 1.
6-7;
Sozomen HE 2.23.
40
Philostorgius
HE 2. 2.
41
A document was
then
read,
containing popular
complaints
(xai
yparp.t0(azTov
&avyTtvaXctxo
qTi.LOtx(CV
xpoilaeo)v)
hat the
people
of Alexandria could
not continue their
attendance at
church on his account. Sozomen
HE 2.
25,
col 1004a.
42
See
D.
Delia,
Alexandrian
Citizenship During
the Roman
Principate
(Atlanta, 1991);
Haas,
Late Roman
Alexandria,
chap.
3.
43
Athan.
Ep. Ency.
4;
Hist. Ar.
31, 48-49,
54.
44
Athan. Apol. ad Constant. 28; Hist. Ar. 73.
45
Athan. Hist. Ar. 78 col. 788d.
46
Aside from the
probable pagan
majority among
the
bouleutai,
the
urban elite
undoubtedly
included some Homoousians
since Athanasius himself mentions
certain
well-born men
(iuyvveisav8poag)
ho
were
persecuted during
the
Arian
conflict
in
339:
Athan.
Ep.
Ency.
4
col. 232a.
47
Athan. Hist. Ar. 55-56.
48
Athan. Hist. Ar. 73.
49
See C.A.
Forbes,
Neoi
(Middletown,
Conn.,
1933);
J.
Delorme,
Gymnasion
(Bibliotheque
des Ecoles
Fransaises
d'Athens et de
Rome,
1960);
Pauly-Wissowa
R-E
s.
v. 'Neoi'
by
F.
Poland,
vol. 16.2:
2401-2409;
and D.
Delia,
Alexandrian
Citizenship, pp.
71-88.
50
Athan.
Hist. Ar. 48.
51
Herodian
4.
9.
6-7;
Cassius Dio 78. 23.
52
Athan.
Ep.
Ency.
4;
Hist. Ar.
31,
54.
53
Athan. Hist. Ar.
13,
Hist. Ar.
72.
54
Athan.
Apol.
de
Fuga.
6;
Hist. Ar.
13,
60-61.
5
Evagrius
HE
2. 5.
56
Athan.
Apol.
c. Ar.
15;
Hist. Ar. 55.
57
Athan. Hist. Ar. 54-55, 58.
For this social
grouping,
cf. Acts of
the
Apostles
17:
1-9;
Plut.
Aem.
38.
3.
In
Alexandria,
they
appear
earlier
in
Philo
in Flaccum
64, 95;
Legatio
ad Gaium 122. The
&yopaTot
appear
to
be identical to
the
group
referred
to as those of
the
Dromos,
(M.
Petr. Al.
16).
58
Athan.
Ep.
Ency.
6.
59
Festal Index 18.
60
On the
sequence
of these
events,
see M.
Simonetti,
La crisi
ariana,
pp.
226-230,
326-
333;
E.D.
Hunt,
Christians
and
Christianity
in Ammianus
Marcellinus,'
CQ
n.s. 35
(1985)
186-200;
J.
Matthews,
The Roman
Empire ofAmmianus
(Baltimore,
1989),
pp.
441-444;
M.
Caltabiano,
'L'assassinio di
Giorgio
di
Cappadocia,'
Quaderni
Catanesi di Studi
classici e medievali 7 (1985): 17-57; and Haas, supra n. 19.
61
Theodoret
HE 4. 18-19: Festal Index
39;
Hist.
Aceph.
5. 11-13.
Department
of
History
Villanova
University,
Villanova,
Pennsylvania
19085
245
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