Christians and Their Many Identities in Late Antiquity, North Africa, 200-450 CE

145 Pages·2012·0.74 MB·English

by  Éric Rebillard

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CHRISTIANS AND
THEIR MANY IDENTITIES
IN LATE ANTIQUITY,
NORTH AFRICA,
200–450 CE

CHRISTIANS AND
THEIR MANY IDENTITIES
n
IN LATE ANTIQUITY,
NORTH AFRICA,
200–450 CE
Éric Rebillard
CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS
Ithaca and London
Copyright © 2012 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review,
this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any
form without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage
House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.
First published 2012 by Cornell University Press
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rebillard, Éric.
Christians and their many identities in late antiquity,
North Africa, 200–450 CE / Éric Rebillard.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8014-5142-3 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Africa, North—Church history. 2. Church history—
Primitive and early church, ca. 30–600. 3. Christian life—
History—Early church, ca. 30–600. I. Title.
BR190.R43 2013
276.1′02—dc23 2012020509
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Cloth printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Note on Primary Sources ix
Introduction 1
1. Setting the Stage: Carthage at the End
of the Second Century 9
2. Persecution and the Limits
of Religious Allegiance 34
3. Being Christian in the Age
of Augustine 61
Conclusion 92
Notes 99
Bibliography 109
Index 127

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Acknowledgments
The research for this book started (too long ago)
in the very congenial and productive context of the program Les identités
religieuses dans les mondes grec et romain d’Alexandre à Justinien, directed by
Nicole Belayche and Simon Mimouni (Paris, 2001–2005). Mark Vessey’s invi-
tation to contribute a chapter to his Companion to Augustine came at the right
time to set me back to work on the topic of being Christian in late antiquity.
The conceptual framework of the project was refined and tuned during a grad-
uate seminar at Cornell University in 2010. With their patience and inquisi-
tiveness the participants helped me tighten up my approach. Jörg Rüpke’s
generous invitation to join the Max-Weber Kolleg für kultur- und sozialwis-
senschaftliche Studien (Erfurt Universität) as a fellow in 2010–2011 provided
invaluable time for writing and audiences for discussion. I thank all the fellows,
students, and staff members of the MWK for welcoming me and my family in
Erfurt and making our year there so fruitful. I also thank Jörg for reading the
first draft of the whole book and making many insightful comments. The final
version of the book was written—and many references checked—in Oxford. I
thank Neil McLynn for facilitating my election as Visiting Scholar at Corpus
Christi for Michaelmas and Hilary Terms. Special thanks are due to the chair of
the department of classics, Charles Brittain, to the dean of the College of Arts
and Science, and to the provost of Cornell University for allowing and funding
a second year of leave. I owe encouragements and forceful comments to Claire
Sotinel who read a very early draft of the introduction and first two chapters.
Peter Brown was inspirational early in the project, when he directed my atten-
tion to Rogers Brubaker’s ethnographical work. I wish I could have included all
the conclusions he invited me to draw after reading the final draft of the book.
I must acknowledge the invaluable work of Alice Brigance, who not only care-
fully edited my English text but also helped me clarify many points with her
questions and comments. Linda Brown’s help has been vital, fetching books
or articles left in my office at Cornell and sending scanned versions of them
almost instantaneously. Last, but not least, my thanks go to my wife, Suzanne,
and my son, Emile, who cheerfully followed me to Germany and England!
vii

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Note on Primary Sources
Abbreviations for works are those of the Thesaurus
Linguae Latinae for Latin texts and of the Diccionario Griego-Español (DGE) for
Greek texts. Translations are mine unless otherwise acknowledged in the notes.
ix