# THE PAST THROUGH NARRATOLOGY

New Approaches to Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages

18

Mateusz Fafinski and Jakob Riemenschneider (Eds.)

> Das Mittelalter Beihefte 18

THE PAST THROUGH NARRATOLOGY

# DAS MITTELALTER

Perspektiven mediävistischer Forschung

Beihefte

Herausgegeben von Ingrid Baumgärtner, Stephan Conermann und Thomas Honegger

Band 18

# THE PAST THROUGH NARRATOLOGY

New Approaches to Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages

Edited by Mateusz Fafinski and Jakob Riemenschneider

Mateusz Fafinski https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1637-8174 Jakob Riemenschneider https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0194-6581

The publication of this book has been generously supported by the Mediävistenverband e.V.

The peer review is carried out in collaboration with external reviewers who have been chosen on the basis of their specialization as well as members of the advisory board of the Mediävistenverband e.V. in a double-blind review process.

Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.

This book is published under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY-SA 4.0. The cover is subject to the Creative Commons License CC BY-ND 4.0.

Published at Heidelberg University Publishing (heiUP), 2022

Heidelberg University /Heidelberg University Library Heidelberg University Publishing (heiUP) Grabengasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany https://heiup.uni-heidelberg.de

The electronic open access version of this work is permanently available on Heidelberg University Publishing's website: https://heiup.uni-heidelberg.de urn: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-heiup-book-921-9 doi: https://doi.org/10.17885/heiup.921

Text © 2022, the authors

ISSN 2698-2129 eISSN 2748-3614

ISBN 978-3-96822-107-6 (Hardcover) ISBN 978-3-96822-108-3 (PDF)

# Contents



### Introduction

We tend to forget how much of what surrounds us is narrative-driven – both in our past and in our present. But the stories we tell shape our perceptions and behaviour. They also underpin the sources we work with, and they are the foundation of our disciplines. Narratives permeate our work and, following the narrative turn, they became important factors in historical practice. The readiness to acknowledge narratives has been changing rapidly, with an ever-growing number of different narratives laid bare and with new research paradigms rushing onto the scene. Hence the need for a perpetual rediscovery of the narrative, which requires a constant search for new frameworks.

The following collection of essays is the result of a conference held in Innsbruck in November 2019, which tried to offer a platform for such a search. The initial gathering was designed to bring together scholars of various disciplines in order to discuss the broader implications of narratological perspectives in their fields for Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. While narratology is a widely acknowledged theoretical and methodological stance in some disciplines, like philology, it has yet to make a real impact in others. This uneven distribution of methodological and theoretical reflections turned out to be one of the main positive aspects of the whole endeavour. The conference discussions soon focused on the practical consequences of the narratological framework and its implementation. The key takeaway was the immediate effect of a change in perspective. The deep-dives into the structural complexities of texts and the intricacies of storytelling turned out to be only one of the many ways forward. One can discover new meaning simply by considering the narratological consequences of our sources. This makes for a low threshold to enter the paradigm in the first place, while never limiting the reach of detailed narratological analysis.

It was a logical consequence of such a spirited, interdisciplinary, and international discussion to gather its results together. This collection is then perhaps first and foremost proof that narratology works well as a platform for an exchange of ideas. The book that you hold in your hand is a great example of how narrativity and narratology as frameworks can be applied to a broader scope of topics, sources and periods than previously thought. Many areas of social life and interactions are dictated by rules and traditions that resemble the many facets of literature and the rules and traditions that govern its production. And so, this collection starts with a form of methodological prolegomena, framed as guiding principles for the impact of narratives on Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages underpinned by the concept we will call "literarisation". The structure we propose – mirroring the methodological reflections of our contributors – is threefold.

The first part follows the traditional understanding of narratology as developed by scholars of literature. Sihong Lin, Sabina Tuzzo, and Andreas Abele each dissect one text, highlighting their authors' narrative strategies and how they influence both the form and the message of their respective sources. Sihong Lin recovers hidden traces of ecclesiastical conflict and the spread of the monothelete heresy in Gaul by interpreting the proleptic features of a famous excursus in the hagiography of Eligius of Noyon. Its author had rearranged his material by shifting the focus to certain times and protagonists to avoid the association of his hero with – from a later perspective – controversial figures. He thus produced telling silences. Sabina Tuzzo analyses erotic epigrams and the philological traditions surrounding them, showing well the disciplinary roots of this methodological framework. She also emphasises the fluidity and continuing relevance of Greek myth even in the face of a predominantly Christian society. Andreas Abele then utilises theories of space to distinguish between three different spatial settings in Sulpicius Severus' *Life of St. Martin*. Each setting allows Sulpicius to show Martin's saintly power in a particular way, and ultimately his ability to determine the spatial configuration of his opponents. Martin reigns not only over God's enemies but also over their active capacities in the narrative.

In the second part, the focus changes by zooming out of the level of single sources in order to bring into our view the phenomena called literary movements. Literary movements are here a variety of practices and intellectual efforts that modern research can profitably analyse with narratological eyes.

At first glance, Veronika Egetenmeyr is looking for the emotional strategies of two Gallic aristocrats, Sidonius and Ruricius, and their correspondents. But what she unearths as well are the narrative structures and the semantics of ostensible Romanness and of *amicitia*. Being Roman and performing *amicitia* are also literary movements, movements that are essential to building and maintaining (a sense of) community. Jelle Wassenaar's paper on the changing nature of urban communities in the post-Carolingian world and the reflection of those changes in narratives shows how this understanding of community as a literary movement also perseveres at the very end of the Early Middle Ages. By pointing out which particular narrative strategies were used when describing inhabitants of towns and cities, Wassenaar shows how those strategies reflected a creation of a community. Michail Kitsos' reading of one particular example of the *Adversus Iudaeos* dialogues also analyses narrative markers. He shows us the main storytelling devices of the text and how they make the text effective, and at the same time, he also unveils the common traits that bind the whole genre together. With his analysis in mind, researchers can look at the genre and see the literary movement of performative Christianity in fictional debates.

Another possible avenue forward is the observation of narrative motifs through different texts. Be it in a literary environment or in texts with a more factual, seemingly story-less, face to them, there exist nonetheless stories and motifs. Sabina Walter shows how Roman and Ostrogothic laws are permeated by traditional – and conflicting – narratives of what good rulers are supposed to do. The difficulty of interpreting these laws can only be grasped and dealt with when acknowledging the impact of these narratives on the actual legislation. Reuven Kiperwasser and Serge Ruzer approach the traditional Jewish and Christian storyworlds of modern-day Iraq and Syria, laying bare age-old motifs of human interaction with the mythical and dangerous maritime world. These motifs morph into new elements with different meanings, continuously adapting to customary and eschatological needs but always remaining a visibly shared stock for Near Eastern societies. That such pieces of narrative travel through different media is proven by Salvatore Liccardo, who shows that the Peutinger Table contains traces of the legends about Alexander the Great, especially in the context of Far Eastern regions with their mystical appeal to Mediterranean observers. Even small symbols on large maps transport narratives that span time and space.

This reflection leads us to the final part of this collection, where meta-narratives receive their deserved attention. Philipp Margreiter's paper on archaeological research narratives showcases the robustness and prevalence of certain notions in archaeology. By closely analysing one particular assemblage, he unpicks how its current and past interpretations are deeply rooted in self-serving paradigms. Ekaterina Novokhatko and Rutger Kramer take hagiography and analyse it not only as a set of narratives and a genre but also as a medium, ordered by a set of meta-narrative principles that influence the lives of saints but also the research narratives. Their paper shows that narratological approaches are particularly well suited for interdisciplinary research and for opening doors to other kinds of frameworks, in this case media-oriented ones.

While the papers presented in this collection form a logical and coherent whole, as do its three parts, each is also a gateway to further interdisciplinary research. We hope that they will serve as an example of the new possibilities and chances that can be reached by exploring a narratological framework. They can all be read in different ways, and they also build connections outside of the linear structure of this collection. For example, Sihong Lin looks at narrative silence and how it can help us elucidate the problems of religious disagreement, especially in a multicultural environment. When read together with Andreas Abele's paper on space in the *Vita Sancti Martini* and Ekaterina Novokhatko and Rutger Kramer's paper on Breton hagiography as a medial genre, it offers a vision of an interdisciplinary, narratologically driven approach to the lives of saints. It shows how historical arguments can be made through narratological frameworks. In a different juxtaposition, we see how Veronika Egetenmeyr also contextualises friendship, the rules of which were already highly formalised before, as a genre to be performed. One can be not only a member of a friendship *circle* defined through networks but also a member of the friendship *genre* through literary performance. The same happens with historiography: common emotions about space and past become an entry ticket to a community. We then appreciate Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages as periods during which authors and movements operated in sophisticated, deceivingly modern categories of narrative. As Salvatore Liccardo shows, maps can carry not only spaces but emotions, historiography, and expectations. Not only making them but also reading them makes you into a member of a narrative. We discover a different kind of a public sphere: while disjointed and ruled by different and specific means of literary production, it is nevertheless one where, thanks to literarisation, the chief category is the ability to decode, and therefore belong to, a genre.

These are just some of the possible ways in which the papers in this collection enter a dialogue and form new narratives, crossing genres and disciplines. We hope that more will be discovered and that this book will further stimulate the discussions about narratological frameworks for Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages.

> M. F. and J. R. Berlin, 15 February 2022

PROLEGOMENA

Mateusz Fafinski and Jakob Riemenschneider

### Literarised Spaces

# Towards a Narratological Framework for Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages

Abstract This paper aims to establish a new framework for including narratological methodologies in the study of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, taking as its starting point an overview of narrative and narratological approaches to late and post-Roman worlds. The characteristics of both the sources and the research tradition of those periods make them well suited for such methodologies. The paper identifies three primary levels of possible narratological reflection – single sources, literary movements, and meta-narratives. Key to this framework is the concept of literarisation – progressive shaping of various movements and spaces according to rules similar to those of a genre. Thanks to this structure and the identification of literarising phenomena, narratological approaches, can be included in late antique and early medieval hermeneutics and used for historical argumentation.

Zusammenfassung Dieser Aufsatz soll einen neuen Bezugsrahmen für die Implementierung narratologischer Methodologien in der Erforschung der Spätantike und des Frühmittelalters schaffen, wobei ein Überblick über narrative und narratologische Ansätze in der Erforschung der spät- und nachrömischen Welt als Ausgangspunkt dient. Sowohl die Quellen als auch die Forschungstradition dieser Epochen eignen sich aufgrund ihrer Charakteristika gut für derartige Methoden. Der hier vorgestellte Bezugsrahmen zeichnet sich durch eine narratologische Analyse auf mehreren Ebenen – der Quellentexte, literarischen Bewegungen und Meta-Narrative – aus. Ein Schlüssel hierfür ist das Konzept der *literarisation*/ Literarisierung: der zunehmenden Anpassung vieler sozialer Bewegungen und

#### Contact

#### Dr. Mateusz Fafinski,

Freie Universität Berlin, Fachbereich Geschichts- und Kulturwissenschaften, Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut, Koserstr. 20, Raum A 238, 14195 Berlin, mateusz.fafinski@fu-berlin.de https://orcid.org/0000-0003- 1637-8174

Jakob Riemenschneider, MA, Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck, Institut für Alte Geschichte und Altorientalistik, Langer Weg 11, 6020 Innsbruck, Jakob.Riemenschneider@uibk.ac.at https://orcid.org/0000-0002- 0194-6581

Mateusz Fafinski and Jakob Riemenschneider: Literarised Spaces. Towards a Narratological Framework for Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In: Fafinski, Mateusz and Riemenschneider, Jakob (Eds.): The Past Through Narratology, 7–23. Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2022 (Das Mittelalter. Perspektiven mediävistischer Forschung /Beihefte, Band 18). DOI: https://doi.org/10.17885/heiup.921.c13610

Räume an Regeln und Charakteristika, die literarisch vorgezeichnet sind. Die hier vorgeschlagene Struktur und die Identifikation literarisierender Impulse erlauben die breit gefächerte Implementierung narratologischer Herangehensweisen in die Hermeneutik und die historische Analyse der Spätantike und des Frühmittelalters.

#### Introduction

This article and the following collection of papers are prolegomena for integrating narratological models into the study of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Researchers have in recent years successfully established the validity of narratology as a way forward in historical analyses – both in historical disciplines1 and in scholarship adopting historical perspectives on literary studies.2 Here, we want to suggest a direction by illustrating how narratology fits into the established hermeneutics of our specific periods.3 Our paper cannot offer a fully developed methodological concept, nor was it ours or the other contributors' intention to do so. Instead, we will make a case for a new methodological approach and possible ways forward in our understanding of these periods.

Narrativity is already an expanding paradigm in the transition period from Antiquity to the Middle Ages.4 With advances in research, a much clearer picture has emerged of narrative patterns and narrative dependencies that shape our source

<sup>1</sup> Cf. Charis Messis and Ingela Nilsson, Byzantine Storytelling and Modern Narratology. An Introduction, in: Charis Messis, Margaret Mullett and Ingela Nilsson (eds.), Storytelling in Byzantium. Narratological Approaches to Byzantine Texts and Images, Uppsala 2018, pp. 1–11.

<sup>2</sup> Cf. Monika Fludernik, The Diachronization of Narratology. Dedicated to F. K. Stanzel on his 80th Birthday, in: Narrative 11 (2003), pp. 331–348; as well as von Eva von Contzen, Diachrone Narratologie und historische Erzählforschung. Eine Bestandsaufnahme und ein Plädoyer, in: Beiträge zur mediävistischen Erzählforschung 1 (2018), pp. 16–37. The new standard here should be Eva von Contzen and Stefan Tilg, Handbuch Historische Narratologie, Stuttgart 2019.

<sup>3</sup> The appropriation of narratology for specific circumstances (typically periods and genres) has recent precedents as well. Cf. Stephan Conermann (ed.), Mamluk Historiography Revisited. Narratological Perspectives, Göttingen 2018; Maximilian Benz and Silvia Reuvekamp, Mittelhochdeutsche Erzählverfahren und theologisches Wissen. Bausteine einer historisch spezifischen Narratologie, in: Poetica 50 (2020), pp. 53–82; and Stefan Tilg, Autor / Erzähler und Fiktion im neulateinischen Roman. Ein Beitrag zu einer historischen Narratologie, in: Florian Schaffenrath (ed.), Acta conventus neo-latini albasitensis. Proceedings of the seventeenth International Congress of Neo-Latin Studies (Albacete 2018), Leiden 2020, pp. 68–90.

<sup>4</sup> This paper, like the whole collection, differentiates between 'narrativity', understood as "being able to inspire a narrative response", Marie-Laure Ryan, On the Theoretical Foundations of Transmedial Narratology, in: Jan Christoph Meister (ed.), Narratology beyond Literary Criticism. Mediality, Disciplinarity, Berlin 2018, p. 347 and 'narratology', the discipline and toolbox used to analyse and process narratives.

material.5 While narratology emerged as a tool to analyse fictional literature, it is now clear that the presence of narrative structures outside this field warrants a broad application of the methodology.6 Even non-literary artefacts such as maps, pictures, or architecture contain narratives – sometimes more overtly, sometimes more subtly. Therefore, the narratological approach taken in this collection of papers and in our article is both a form of navigation in new waters and a consequent reaction to the stipulations of the narrative turn.7

### Why Do We Need a Model of Narratology for Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages?

Already on the semantic level a surprising connection lies between Late Antiquity, the Early Middle Ages and narratology. And, of course, it all starts with the barbarians. The 'fear of barbarians' is a common motif in our sources and at the same time a strong motivation in narratives, especially as a means to convey a variety of messages – messages that have little to do with any actual fear of barbarians. It is also the title of an important investigation by Tzvetan Todorov, who helped to coin the term narratology in the first place.8 That fact, as we shall see, is only superficially a coincidence.

In late antique sources, when the image of the gruesome barbarian appears, we see an uncanny inconsistency. As a form of categorisation, it can be withheld from people one might very well expect to be described as such. It can also be applied to individuals we would not expect to be barbarian, like (ex-)Roman officials. Be it along the lines of religious conflict, political allegiances or ethnic identities, barbarian was a complex and polyvalent attribute that suited many a rhetorical need. Among the best examples of barbarian being a fluid category, we have Victor of Vita's treatment of the Vandal rule 9 and Orosius' outlook on the crumbling Roman power in the Gallic provinces of his time. Orosius is especially prominent and difficult to grasp due to his "shaping the barbarian in function of the narrative". If the question remains what Orosius' genuine opinion about barbarians was, then his text is bound to produce

<sup>5</sup> See for example Elizabeth M. Tyler and Ross Balzaretti (eds.), Narrative and History in the Early Medieval West, Turnhout 2006.

<sup>6</sup> For stepping outside the fictional in narratological approaches see Martin Löschnigg, Narratological Categories and the (Non)-Distinction between Factual and Fictional Narratives, in: John Pier (ed.), Recent Trends in Narratological Research, Tours 1999, pp. 31–48.

<sup>7</sup> For an overview of the narrative turn's consequences for historiography see Philippe Carrard, History and Narrative. An Overview, in: Narrative Works 5 (2015), pp. 174–196.

<sup>8</sup> Tzvetan Todorov, The Fear of Barbarians. Beyond the Clash of Civilizations, transl. by Andrew Brown, Chicago, London 2010 (originally: La peur des barbares. Au-delà du choc des civilisations, Paris 2008).

<sup>9</sup> Tankred Howe, Vandalen, Barbaren und Arianer bei Victor von Vita, Frankfurt a. M. 2007, p. 32.

paradoxes and contradictions.10 To understand this we can use a document from a very different corner of the empire: a sixth-century papyrus from southern Egypt. It is a petition, surely not a form usually considered to be 'literature', asking for military support against a Roman commander gone rogue. It shows us the wide range of 'barbarian' possibilities. The commander in question is not only called a brute and badly behaved man but also an *omophagos*, an eater of raw meat. Using this particularly barbarian slur recalls both the Hunnic nomads and the wild followers of Dionysus – as classical a notion for a barbarian 'lifestyle' as there will ever be.11

For these instances a narrative-focused approach has proven to help render self-contradictory statements understandable and to add nuance to holistic arguments. The image of a barbarian can serve multiple purposes in a single text, becoming a Swiss Army knife of categorisations. The late antique world appears much less antagonistic once we decode some of its black-and-white language. Nevertheless, this narrative approach is not narratology as such; reaching those conclusions does not necessitate narratology. If we want to go further, our task of decoding gets more laborious. In smaller units of text and with more complex 'barbarisations', it becomes increasingly difficult to see through the authors' mixture of reports, stereotypes, and literary allusions.

Let us take Procopius, whose views of barbarians are a subject of potentially endless debate.12 A closer look at one description of a specific group of barbarians can show us how difficult it is to make sense of his text and how rewarding it can be to engage it in detail from a more narratological perspective. A particularly odd example is a narrative unit that equates Kutrigurs (and Utigurs), barbarian groups active in the Balkans and the northern Black Sea region, with Huns and Kimmerians. What does this strange equation of different barbarian peoples mean? One can easily recognise a direct benefit for a historian in decoding this narrative strategy – in terms of what it meant for both Procopius and his audience. To understand what these Kutrigurs are to Procopius and his audience promises a good return on the invested work, but it is not an easy task, for it is all somewhat puzzling: in a geographical diatribe

<sup>10</sup> Peter van Nuffelen, Orosius and the Rhetoric of History, Oxford 2012, pp. 177–178.

<sup>11</sup> For the petition itself see Jitse H. F. Dijkstra, A Cult of Isis at Philae after Justinian? Reconsidering P.Cair.Masp. I 67004, in: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 146 (2004), pp. 137–154. For Huns as raw-meat-eaters see Ammianus Marcellinus, Roman Antiquities XXX.2.1, for Maenads see Albert Henrichs, Greek Maenadism from Olympias to Messalina, in: Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 82 (1978), pp. 121–160.

<sup>12</sup> A recent assessment of this is Geoffrey Greatrex, Procopius' Attitude towards Barbarians', in: Geoffrey Greatrex and Sylvain Janniard (eds.), Le Monde de Procope / The World of Procopius, Paris 2018, pp. 327–354; a comparative approach is Alexander Sarantis, Roman or Barbarian? Ethnic Identities and Political Loyalties in the Balkans According to Procopius, in: Christopher Lilington-Martin and Élodie Turquois (eds.), Procopius of Caesarea. Literary and Historical Interpretations, London 2017, pp. 217–237. For a thorough case study see Henning Börm, Prokop und die Perser. Untersuchungen zu den römisch-sasanidischen Kontakten in der ausgehenden Spätantike, Stuttgart 2007, esp. pp. 247–275.

near the beginning of the eighth book of the 'Wars',13 he mentions the existence of a Hunnic tribe that at some point in history split up into two. So far, so good. Each group followed one of two rival princes named Utigur and Kutrigur. Procopius adds that these people were in ancient times called Kimmerians. The story of why and how the two groups shocked the civilised world is then based on the well-known story of the origin of the Huns as also told by his contemporary Jordanes.14 It seems that two classical interpretations for this narrative mélange are possible. One possibility is that Procopius paints the Kutrigurs as ultimately barbaric fear-infusing and eternal foes of civilisation, with a strange origin story. Such an understanding would presuppose a solitary reading, ignorant of other literature. Why then would you add the Kimmerians, a name that is a classic in the literary canon, used by both Homer and Herodotus (and quite differently at that)?15 Adding Kimmerians muddles the waters and we are in need of an alternative reading: Procopius wants to allude to the fact that there have been many barbarians threatening civilisation before, namely the Huns and even earlier the Kimmerians, by pointing to earlier texts mentioning a similar phenomenon. Thus, he undermines the notion of these peoples being particular at all; he wants his audience to think that they are but garden-variety barbarians. In this case, why be so indirect about it? Why cite the relatively recent Hunnic story *and* the very, very ancient, quasi-mythical Kimmerians? In a nutshell: why is Procopius undermining the 'simple' reading with a name full of connotations, while at the same time undermining a 'complex', intertextual reading with contradicting intertexts?

For a historian, this seems strange, like a puzzle that either cannot be solved with the familiar historical methodologies or one that delivers distorted pictures. To understand what the Kutrigurs are supposed to represent in Procopius' account, one needs instruments that account for this strangeness. Narratology can furnish such an instrument. It offers a path through the complex state of texts between Christian and pagan beliefs, between new concepts of genre and a stable canon of fixed archetypes, and between an age-old language of history and new historical paradigms. Procopius might still seem strange, but his logic of Kimmerian subversion becomes justified when we see it as catering to contradicting narrative requirements. The Kutrigurs can be read as referring to roughly contemporary political and ethnographical preoccupations. On the other hand, the Kimmerian subset of connotations aims at a different level of expression, one that engages the early Byzantine penchant for ancient Greek myth and antiquarian curiosities. Procopius fuses both interpretations of the issue, which is quite understandable given his political and literary disposition. This

<sup>13</sup> Procopius, Wars, VIII.5.

<sup>14</sup> Jordanes, Getica, XXIV.

<sup>15</sup> Homer, Odyssey, XI, 12–19 has the Kimmerians as cave-people living on the edge of *okeanos*, and Herodotus, Histories, IV.11–12 explains that they lost a confrontation with Scythians and had to move to Asia Minor. Compare also Strabo, Geography, I, 3.21, linking the Kimmerians to the death of legendary Anatolian king Midas.

strategy is narratively extremely effective. However, it produces a strange outcome for an unprepared reader.

The strangeness in our minds, the defamiliarisation in the face of our sources, is a feeling we get from many texts and objects from Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages.16 Encountering defamiliarisation in our sources can lead to the undermining of our expectations. Instead of seeing those passages as exclusively purely fantastic or purely factual, a narratological approach draws our attention to the act of subverting literary and historical expectations, the role this uncanny effect has on our research narratives and their place in the textual communities.17 This language usage (be it textual or visual) that differs so much from our expectations, coming both from 'classics' and from our historical methodologies, necessitates or at least allows for a new methodological foray into even well-known texts. Simply put, many sources are uncanny when we dissect them,18 but there are still ways to see meaning in them.

We will find it in Procopius, as shown above, but also in Gregory the Great's pagan-crushing methods from his letters or in the Roman wall builders of Gildas. Gregory, in his letters, alternates between leniency and strict measures against the remaining pagans, presenting conflicting narratives and sudden changes of mind.19 His narrative strategies and conflicting intertextualities are also, at least in part, responses to contradicting expectations. Gildas uses difficult and scholarly Latin betraying a thorough classical education, yet he seems to get so much about the Roman past of his island wrong – like letting the walls of Hadrian and Antoninus

<sup>16</sup> For defamiliarisation see Viktor Shklovsky, Theory of Prose, transl. by Benjamin Sher, Champaign, London 1990 (originally: O teorii prozy, Moscow 1925), pp. 1–14, and an investigation in its genesis in Douglas Robinson, Estrangement and the Somatics of Literature. Tolstoy, Shklovsky, Brecht, Baltimore, 2008.

<sup>17</sup> For the concept of textual communities see Brian Stock, The Implications of Literacy. Written Language and Models of Interpretation in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries, Princeton 1983, pp. 88–240; for the consequences of this term for the research on antiquity and an overview of trends, see Jane Heath, "Textual Communities". Brian Stock's Concept and Recent Scholarship on Antiquity, in: Florian Wilk (ed.), Scriptural Interpretation at the Interface between Education and Religion, Leiden 2019, pp. 5–35.

<sup>18</sup> While the term itself is derived from Sigmund Freud, over the twentieth century it has undergone a process of conceptualisation in literary theory and narratology that has changed its applicability and understanding, see Annneleen Masschelein, The Unconcept. The Freudian Uncanny in Late-Twentieth-Century Theory, New York 2011, pp. 7–11, 53–71. Identified in Nicholas Royle, The Uncanny, Manchester 2002, p. 1 as a "peculiar commingling of the familiar and unfamiliar", it is applicable to the defamiliarisation experienced when faced with the unexpected undermining of established concepts in the works of Procopius and alike. In particular, the structuralist poetics of the uncanny is applicable in our contexts, see Masschelein, pp. 78–85. Tzvetan Todorov, The Fantastic. A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre, Ithaca 1975, p. 46 wrote about situations where uncanny occurs in literary sense as "events […] which may be readily accounted for by the laws of reason, but which are, in one way or another, […] unexpected, and which thereby provoke in the character and in the reader a reaction similar to that which works of the fantastic have made familiar".

<sup>19</sup> Cf. Gregory the Great, Letters IV.26, XI.37, XI.56.

be built in the wrong order.20 This perplexing lack of attention to history becomes easier to understand when we start reading his work in the right *genre* of homiletics. When trying to unravel those features of the source, narratology offers us a way out of simple binary conclusions. As a methodology, it also opens a possibility to understand why authors resorted to such strategies in the first place. It can lay bare the inner dynamics of uncanny passages, making them valuable and strategic objects of rhetoric and text – objects that researchers can analyse and evaluate. What is seen as inner contradictions can be finally understood as multi-layered strategies of managing narrative expectations.

The case of the uncanny serves as one of the examples of engaging with sources of our timeframe. However, in no way is the utilisation of narratology limited to situations of the 'apparent fantastic'. There are multiple points of departure and multiple possible outcomes and a multiplicity of possible objects and narrative units to analyse, from paragraphs to chapters and books, from texts to genres, and from literary to all kinds of other narratives. Although narratology is a development of literary studies, it can serve as an instrument for many disciplines. If we apply a broad understanding of narrative, it becomes a vehicle for genuine interdisciplinarity. If we accept not only that fictional texts are narratives but also that 'factual' texts, legal texts, and indeed objects transport or contain narratives, new possibilities emerge. In that case, narratology is one methodology that can provide a common ground – for literary studies, philology, history, patristics, Jewish studies, art history, media studies and indeed archaeology.

In many places, this shift has already happened. Narratology is not a newcomer in Classics, Byzantine Studies, Religious Studies, Medieval German Studies or modern and contemporary history, and it has had considerable impact in bringing different traditions of interpretation together.21 The same approach has to still reach studies of

<sup>20</sup> Gildas, De excidio et conquestu Britanniae, 15 and 18.

<sup>21</sup> See for example the edited volumes Jonas Grethlein and Antonios Rengakos (eds.), Narratology and Interpretation, Berlin, New York 2009; Charis Messis, Margaret Mullett and Ingela Nilsson (eds.), Storytelling in Byzantium. Narratological Approaches to Byzantine Texts and Images, Uppsala 2018; Constanza Cordoni de Gmeinbauer, Narratology, Hermeneutics, and Midrash, Göttingen 2014, or articles such as Simon Hornblower, Narratology and Narrative Techniques in Thucydides, in: Simon Hornblower (ed.), Greek Historiography, Oxford 1996, pp. 131–166; Jonathan M. Newman, Narratology and Literary Theory in Medieval Studies, in: Albrecht Claassen (ed.), Handbook of Medieval Studies. Terms – Methods – Trends, Berlin, New York 2010, pp. 990–998. Particularly interesting is the direction of Lively, who tries to firmly root narratology in ancient authors such as Aristotle, Plato and Horace, thereby reversing the usual relationship between it and historical sources, Genevieve Liveley, Narratology. Classics in Theory, Oxford 2019. For narratology and literary studies see for example Peter Hühn et al., Handbook of Narratology, Berlin, Boston 2009; Matthew Garrett, The Cambridge Companion to Narrative Theory, Cambridge 2018. For examples of the use of narratology in early modern history, see Liv Willumsen, A Narratological Approach to Witchcraft Trial. A Scottish Case, in: Journal of Early Modern History 15 (2015), pp. 531–560 and in contemporary history, see Katarzyna Chmielewska, Contemporary Historical Discourse on Polish Communism in a Narratological Perspective, in: Teksty Drugie 1 (2016), pp. 99–115.

Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages to the same extent. Yet, apart from disciplinary overlap22 and philological case studies, narratology is largely absent from the study of our periods.23 There are many possible reasons for this. For the six hundred years from Diocletian to Charlemagne, there is no classics, and no 'Germanistische Mediävistik', no 'interdisciplinary disciplines', so to speak, that could offer a common ground for adopting a mixture of methodologies. Philologists of late antique and early medieval Greek and Latin have tended to focus on the traditional philological fields of 'poetry' and 'fiction' (in themselves often ill-defined categories). There was in some sense no natural point of entry for a literary approach like narratology nor interdisciplinary conversations. However, especially when it comes to interdisciplinarity, there is much to be gained. In terms of reading all available sources in ways until now considered unorthodox – e. g. patristic sources for history, historiography for literary analysis, and poetry for intercultural exchange – many more connections can still be made even on well-trodden ground.24

Based on those considerations, as a workable and formative approach to the multiplicity of applications of narratology to Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, we identify a three-level structure. At its foundation lies a single-source level that analyses particular narratives such as those shown above with the example of Procopius. Such an approach takes classical narratology and brings it to new genres of text and new disciplines. On the other end of this hierarchy, at the head of the structure, we see a meta-level, which analyses research narratives and the interdependency of small-scale research to the period's grander narratives.

Before we move to the level of analysis situated between these two stages, we need to consider this meta-level in more detail. Of course, every historical period is a discretionary (but not arbitrary) model, but Late Antiquity, as a relatively young one, is small enough to be able to see well the coalescing of its defining characteristics and the development of its inner narrative. Thus, Late Antiquity as a 'research history' can also be analysed through a narratological lens.25 Periods are not static;

<sup>22</sup> For example Byzantinists looking 'back' at the sixth century, like Uffe Holmsgaard Eriksen, Dramatic Narratives and Recognition in the Kontakia of Romanos the Melodist, in: Charis Messis, Margaret Mullett and Ingela Nilsson (eds.), Storytelling in Byzantium. Narratological Approaches to Byzantine Texts and Images, Uppsala 2018, pp. 91–109, or classicists looking 'forward' at Latin poetry like Péter Hajdu, Corippus's Attempt at Writing a Continuous Narrative Again, in: Latomus 60 (2001), pp. 167–175.

<sup>23</sup> Although narrativity has been used as a point of departure already for over a generation, see e.g. Walter Goffart, The Narrators of Barbarian History, Princeton 1988 and Joaquín Martínez Pizarro, A Rhetoric of the Scene. Dramatic Narrative in the Early Middle Ages, Toronto 1989. Both spurred by the framework laid down in Hayden White, The Value of Narrativity in the Representation of Reality, in: Critical Inquiry 7, 1 (1980), pp. 5–27.

<sup>24</sup> A perfect example of such an endeavour with the help of narratology is the recent volume Christoph Brunhorn, Peter Gemeinhardt and Maria Munkholt Christensen (eds.), Narratologie und Intertextualität. Zugänge zu spätantiken Text-Welten (Seraphim 7), Tübingen 2020.

<sup>25</sup> Late Antiquity has existed as a term since the mid-nineteenth century (which still makes for a relatively short 'research history'), but it was not until the publication of Peter Brown, The

they undergo constant renegotiation. In this process, terms are redefined, borders (both spatial and chronological) change and the interpretations of our sources and the narratives of the past of our discipline transform. Terms like *Völkerwanderung* go out of use,26 are redefined,27 and possess their inner narrative dynamics.28 The history of historical research is therefore largely dependent on narrative structures as well. Be it the 'migration of peoples', the 'fall of Rome', or the 'transformation of the Roman world' – these are all essentially stories that structure the way we frame our research. It would only be natural to dissect said stories with tools that were made for such a task. Using narratology to analyse our way of approaching the source and the narratives that guide us is, consequently, only a logical next step. The way our discourse about the epoch is structured, the way the meta-narrative about the past functions, is also within the remit of narratology.

The same is true for the Early Middle Ages. Ian Wood's 'The Modern Origins of the Early Middle Ages' from 2013 is an excellent example of an analysis of the founding myth of the period as rooted in French, English and German attitudes of the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries and deeply connected with contemporary politics. Those narratives of periods (and not only the periods in question here) can be analysed as histories of historiography, as in Wood's approach, but they can also be analysed through a narratological lens: their inner logic is a crucial, but rarely conceptualised, factor in everyday research that needs to be fully understood. One can say that this logic also finds its embodiment in the two principles of narrative: succession as well as transformation.29 A narratological approach can then not only help us understand why the narrative of 'the transformation of the Roman world' succeeded the narrative of 'decline and fall' but also why the meaning of the 'migration of peoples' has changed dramatically in the last forty years.

In our case we also deal with a peculiar case in which those two periods, Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, overlap at least partly chronologically and spatially. The discussions on where one period begins, and another one ends – or, in other words, how historians model their periods for the timespan c. 300 to 800 – also

World of Late Antiquity, New York 1971 that it experienced first a formalisation as a period and second a true flourishing of its own research narrative. This is not to say that forerunners such as Henri-Irénée Marrou, Saint Augustin et la Fin de la Culture Antique, Paris 1938, did not contribute substantially to this process of formalisation.

<sup>26</sup> On the limited usability of the term see Walter Goffart, Does the Distant Past Impinge on the Invasion Age Germans?, in: Thomas F. X. Noble (ed.), From Roman Provinces to Medieval Kingdoms, London 2006, pp. 78–79.

<sup>27</sup> Mischa Meier, Geschichte der Völkerwanderung. Europa, Asien und Afrika vom 3. bis zum 8. Jahrhundert n. Chr., München 2019, p. 15–123.

<sup>28</sup> On the dynamic and evolution of historical concepts see Reinhart Koselleck, Begriffsgeschichten, Frankfurt a. M. 2006, esp. pp. 9–104.

<sup>29</sup> Tzvetan Todorov, The 2 Principles of Narrative, in: Diacritics 1 (1971), p. 39.

influence the methodologies used.30 Since the choice of terminology is not neutral, we believe that is precisely why we need to include both periodisation approaches when thinking about a model of narratology for this time and space. The narratives of our disciplines (and our periods) can be seen as prejudgements that guide the way we order, model, and read our sources, the relationships between them and the outputs of our predecessors, and how we build our own periods. The existence of those prejudgements is necessary for our understanding of the concepts we are analysing. To exist free of our traditions is impossible.31

Similarly, it remains an illusion to try to ignore the influence of the contemporary world around us on our research – an attempt to do so will only make us victims of our subjectivity. The difference lies in whether or not we reflect upon the existence of the prejudgements that shape our traditions and our world.32 Our concept of narratology for these periods can do precisely that: on the level of research narratives, it can help us remember that we also move inside a meta-narrative, that stepping outside it is impossible, nor is it necessary as long as we acknowledge its existence.

While those two levels, the single-source level and the meta-level, remain crucial and present clear areas where researchers encounter narratives and can fall back on narratology, there is another level that gains particular prominence in this collection. In our praxis we notice a constant need to employ narratology on a level lying between the other two, a level that lies at the centre of the particular features that characterise the hermeneutics of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. This is the level of literary movements.

### Literarisation, Literary Movements and the Advent of Narratology to Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages

In our view, the critical component to the three-layered narratological approach advocated here is the concept of literarisation: a process in which non-literary phenomena begin to function according to literary rules. We posit that both the time and space we look at are particularly literarised. By the process of literarisation we do not mean a sudden change but a continuous development of fractions of the public sphere into

<sup>30</sup> See Averil Cameron, The 'Long' Late Antiquity. A Late Twentieth-Century Model, in: Timothy Wiseman (ed.), Classics in Progress. Essays on ancient Greece and Rome, Oxford 2002, pp. 165–119; Ernesto Sestan, Tardoantico e Altomedievale. Difficoltà di una periodizzazione, in: Ernesto Sestan (ed.), Italia Medievale, Napoli 1968, pp. 15–37; and Andrea Giardina, Esplosione di tardoantico, in: Giuseppe Mazzoli and Fabio Gasti (eds.), Prospettive sul tardoantico, Como 1999, pp. 9–30.

<sup>31</sup> Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method, London 2004 (originally: Wahrheit und Methode, Tübingen 1960), pp. 267–304.

<sup>32</sup> Jürgen Habermas, Zur Logik der Sozialwissenschaften, Frankfurt a. M. 1982, p. 283.

what, in essence, are narrative-driven genres.33 One of the direct consequences of this process is the change in the rules of public communication. Those rules are adapted to become akin to the diverse rules that govern the production of works of literature according to the given genre. In this sense, the *exempla*, the *mos maiorum*, and the traditional rules of civic behaviour turn into a form of self-positioning in a world of literary precedent, of canonical authority, and *mimesis*. We can only give limited evidence here, but to us it seems clear that, considering the output that we have at our disposal, societies in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages increasingly relied on utilising narrative tools. The process of literarisation fosters the development of textual communities, "microsocieties organised around the common understanding of a text".34 This *translatio* of the rules of a genre goes beyond the simple rules of composition and influences the creation of a tight network of textual communities both by catering to their expectations and simultaneously changing these expectations. However, as a phenomenon, it is much broader than just a proliferation of such microsocieties. It is responsible for the emergence of the rules that make this reliance on narrative tools possible.

One does not have to look far to find examples of this reliance. From our perspective, among the most vital indicators of literarisation is the evolution of Christian heresies. While heterodoxy also built on performative differences and questions of praxis (the controversy surrounding Donatists and re-baptism comes to mind),35 the disputes that have driven Christianity from its beginning were centred on texts and authors. Be it Origen, the Theopaschite Formula or the adherence to the Council of Chalcedon – to point out heresy and orthodoxy, one needed to know what authors, texts, and words your side and the other side used.

A similar point can be made for two other fundamental phenomena of Christianity: asceticism and holiness. Both relied on precedents furnished by biblical texts (as well as notoriously elusive forerunners such as Philo's Therapeutae or the Essenes). However, with time one can notice how asceticism (or rather its primary textual expression at our disposal: hagiography) developed strong narrative

<sup>33</sup> This idea rests on texts from theorists like Paul Ricœur, Der Text als Modell: hermeneutisches Verstehen, in: Hans-Georg Gadamer and Gottfried Boehm (eds.), Seminar: Die Hermeneutik und die Wissenschaften, Frankfurt a. M. 1978, pp. 83–117 and Richard Harvey Brown, Society as Text. Essays on Rhetoric, Reason, and Reality, Chicago 1987. Yet, we also want to quite clearly differentiate in the context of our periods: we do not want to read society solely via semiotics per se, as Ricœur proposes, nor do we see 'text' as the most apt metaphor for the functioning of society, like Brown. We posit that there existed in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages a societal process that led to a convergence of societies (or their sections) with their literary production, thus making them open to narrative analysis.

<sup>34</sup> Brian Stock, History, Literature, and Medieval Textuality, in: Yale French Studies 70 (1986), p. 12.

<sup>35</sup> And the narratives surrounding those disputes could survive the timeframes of the actual controversies, see in case of the Donatists Robin Whelan, African Controversy. The Inheritance of the Donatist Schism in Vandal Africa, in: The Journal of Ecclesiastical History 65 (2014), pp. 504–521.

patterns – narrative patterns that are not necessarily a reflection of the actual saint's life but crucial for the literary tradition the ascetic and the account of his life follow. It is neither coincidental nor surprising that Cyril of Scythopolis' hermits are very often born to parents who were gifted only a single child late in their marriage, or that all of them reach a biblical age.

To be clear, literarisation is not limited to the exclusively religious aspects of society. Deeds and charters, both those known to us from the late antique papyrus records of Egypt or the early medieval parchments of the West, develop into flexible but nevertheless genre-like forms of administration. Both their formulaic character and their sometimes surprising diversity are reflections of the process of administration being influenced by literarisation. Keepers of records aligned their formulations with the narratives of power through invoking intertextual precedents. The scribes of charters also transferred the literary narratives into their documents, aligning their output with the literary rules. Sharing common Roman formal ancestors, the charters of the West developed into a genre where similar self-positioning was possible as in other literary genres. Their evolution is an excellent example of how this phenomenon continued well into the Early Middle Ages. The elaborate ninth-century Mercian charters, "formidable documents, laced with sophisticated literary devices",36 show how even governance could be executed in line with the rules of a genre. Thus, literarisation could reach areas that were not directly connected with religious practice.

Literarisation is not an all-encompassing feature, nor is it spread out evenly across the field. Instead, it hinges on strong literary traditions and the (perceived) continuity of values and ideas. In Late Antiquity, we see literarisation nonetheless as more acute and more pervasive than so far postulated – with an eye to establishing specific genres in an already highly literary sphere.37 It is then a phenomenon touching on multiple levels of society but not a universal one.38

Literarisation does not stand alone. The other component of our interpretative paradigm is movements. Movements are usually conceptualised as social movements. This means placing them in the context of collective action and the short-term investment of social actors in political or economic strategies with varying degrees of coherence. Movements are thus characterised by overarching goals and ideas and by a presence of a substructure of "heterogeneous and fragmented" social groups with differing micro goals and ideas. Additionally, they "often consume a large part of

<sup>36</sup> Ben Snook, When Aldhelm Met the Vikings. Advanced Latinity in Ninth-Century Mercian Charters, in: Mediaevistik 26 (2013), p. 138.

<sup>37</sup> As in Manuel Baumbach, Andrej Petrovic and Ivana Petrovic, Archaic and Classical Greek Epigram. An Introduction, in: Manuel Baumbach, Andrej Petrovic and Ivana Petrovic (eds.), Archaic and Classical Greek Epigram, Cambridge, New York 2010, pp. 1–19.

<sup>38</sup> For official documents such as petitions, this argument has been made already by Jean Luc Fournet, Between Literary Tradition and Cultural Change. The Poetic and Documentary Production of Dioscorus of Aphrodite, in: Alasdair A. MacDonald, Michael W. Twomey and Gerrit J. Reinink (eds.), Learned Antiquity. Scholarship and Society in the Near East, the Greco-Roman World, and the Early Medieval West, Leuven 2003, pp. 101–114.

their energies in the effort to bind such differences together".39 It is tempting, though, to use the term 'movement' for diachronic phenomena as well. It is loosely defined and open enough to play a significant role in discussions of long-term developments that transcend narrow social groups or classes and are not limited to networks of people that can be traced directly. The classic example of a 'movement' in this understanding, i. e. being used for a historical phenomenon (albeit not explicitly grounded methodologically), is the monastic movement. Monasticism emerged and evolved in different locales and in different ways and quickly spread in a way that could no longer be simply explained as a network of personal relations. It is no wonder, then, that monasticism is difficult to define. Usually, a detailed description of the different variants of monasticism replaces an actual definition. For a phenomenon of people following a similar goal in a lot of diverging ways at the same time while also seeing themselves in one single tradition, the term movement is indeed very fitting. We can even trace how, in a narrative and genre-specific way, inside monasticism a large amount of energy, time, and resources was spent to bind its differences together. Monastic rules or ecclesiastical canons constitute emanations of those attempts.40 It is important to note that this rings true only if we treat 'movement' as an analytical concept.41

Therefore, we understand multiple historical actors linked through various, sometimes contradictory structures and traditions when we speak about a historical and diachronic movement.42 This means that among the movements and the structures that bind them, we see societal groups, genres and performative practices. Those movements and the relationship between them under the influence of literarisation constitute the fragmented public sphere of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages.43


<sup>39</sup> Cf. Alberto Melucci, Challenging Codes. Collective Action in the Information Age, Cambridge 1996, p. 13.

<sup>40</sup> Indeed, here we meet another result of literarisation: the possible regulatory feature of a narrative; a feature, which in the Mediterranean Late Antiquity we see in the core attempts of defining not only Christian, but also Jewish or Islamic orthodoxy and communities. For the regulatory role of the narrative in Mishna see Moshe Simon-Shoshan, Stories of the Law. Narrative Discourse and the Construction of Authority in the Mishnah, Oxford 2012, for the utilisation of established narratives in early Islam see Thomas Sizgorich, Narrative and Community in Islamic Late Antiquity, in: Past & Present 185 (2004), pp. 9–42.

As it is, movement could describe a variety of phenomena in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In our approach, however, we will narrow our focus to literary movements – while maintaining the claim that a wide range of phenomena deserves to be treated as such. With respect to the high degree of literarisation, we estimate that, in fact, most of the movements in our period are actually literary. There are two reasons for this state of affairs. One is that few of them have left enough traces apart from literature that we are in a position to analyse them without depending on literary evidence (or that the non-literary traces are almost impossible to interpret without it). Furthermore, the second is that due to literarisation, movements tended to shape themselves according to habits and necessities of textual communication. In other words, literary rules dictated what social movements looked like.

Literary movements are, in this understanding, movements that are today (primarily) perceivable as literary output and that follow rules that are dictated by the rules of the production of literature. But this is not all. A lot of them can not only be perceived as such but indeed *were* literary. The most obvious example already made an appearance: Christian orthodoxy and its heresies. But we have also deduced how this literarisation of movements was not limited to religion. Friendship, community creation, cartography, even, as we have seen, the habit of charter practice became literarised and resulted in literary movements over the course of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages.

A possible objection here would be that literarisation can only be observed if we were to look exclusively at texts. While this is technically true, it is impossible to fully divide the literary movements as we see them today from the literary movements as they were in the past. Moreover, literarisation changed the mode of preservation of output as well. Trying to separate those two points of view – ours and theirs – is perhaps impossible and certainly not the most productive approach to studying the past.

Bringing those observations into the domain of hermeneutics, we can see that Christianity can be analysed as a literary movement. The praxis of Christian religion was experienced through the literary lens44 – not only through the Bible, a multifocal, polyphonic text that slowly coalesced in Late Antiquity,45 but also through the

45 For the Old Testament as a polyphonic text cf. Walter Brueggemann, Theology of Old Testament. Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy, Minneapolis 1997, for the New Testament it has been

limited in the observable output. We can therefore only speak of fractions of the public sphere becoming narrative-driven genres. It constituted then what was 'published', what was debated and exchanged. Habermas later did propose such 'Teilöffentlichkeiten' as possible forms of the public sphere, making a lack of mechanism to edit and synthesise decentralised messages responsible for fragmentation, see Jürgen Habermas, Ach, Europa, Frankfurt a. M. 2008, p. 168. This reflects our understanding of the public sphere. For the pre-modern public sphere see Mayke de Jong and Irene van Renswoude, Introduction. Carolingian cultures of dialogue, debate and disputation, in: Early Medieval Europe 25 (2017), pp. 6–18 and for the pre-print modes of 'publishing', Leighton Reynolds and Nigel Wilson, Scribes and Scholars. A Guide to the Transmission of Greek and Latin Literature, Oxford 1968.

<sup>44</sup> Cf. the paradigm that biblical texts bear strong narrative shaping and discernible narrative strategies relating to historical issues in George J. Brooke and Jean-Daniel Kaestli (eds.), Narrativity in Biblical and Related Texts, Leuven 2000.

literarisation of the Christian public sphere in liturgy or through the literarisation of its constituent movements such as monasticism. The everyday performance of Christian religion made the believers participants in a literary movement. The public sphere of a religion became a genre. Moreover, participation in that genre was not exclusive to being a member of a Christian religion. We can see it even in the case of an overtly pagan author like Rutilius Namatianus, who in 'De reditu suo' plays inside the Christian public sphere, both in the choice of his classical sources as dictated by Christian sensibilities46 and in his understanding of the role of Christians in governance.47 Even criticising Christianity was now done along the literary rules dictated by the new religion. The rules as we observe them had ostensibly changed.

We can now hopefully see how the literary output, the movements both producing and functioning according to that output, and the narratives about these elements correspond to our proposed three-tiered structure of (singular) sources, literary movements, and meta-narratives. This opens doors for narratology to be a tool in analysing historical actor-groups. Those we should never lose from our sight. At the end of the day we might order our available material in new structures to understand it, but this material was not produced by some abstract structures but by actual actors. This agency that we have called before self-positioning or participating in the rules of a genre is detectable to us and allows for identifying literarised spaces. In a literarised space, historical arguments can be made with the inclusion of narratological methods.

In our three-tiered structure of singular sources, literary movements, and research narratives, narratology offers a way to focus on relationships: between the motifs of the sources, between the structures that bind and separate the movements, and between the sometimes conflicting elements of the research narratives. In all those cases, narratology focuses on historical actors and their traces in the historical record. And this is perhaps the key for including a narratological toolbox in the hermeneutics of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. It offers another way of looking at the connecting tissues of those literarised spaces.

Narratology is, for better or for worse, a fluid discipline. And for it to become a part of our hermeneutics at least some achievements of its postclassical methodology have to be applied.48 The "question which text can be the subject of narrative analysis

argued recently as well by Barbara Meyer, Jesus the Jew in Christian Memory. Theological and Philosophical Explorations, Cambridge 2020, especially p. 87; for the creation of various canons of the Bible see papers in Jean-Marie Auwers and Henk Jan de Jonge (eds.), The Biblical Canons, Leuven 2003.

<sup>46</sup> Alan Cameron, Rutilius Namatianus, St. Augustine, and the date of the 'De Reditu', in: The Journal of Roman Studies 57 (1967), pp. 31–39.

<sup>47</sup> Wim Verbaal, A Man and his Gods. Religion in the De reditu suo of Rutilius Claudius Namatianus, in: Wiener Studien 119 (2006), pp. 157–171.

<sup>48</sup> The term "postclassical narratology" was introduced as "pooling the resources of many disciplinary traditions, many kinds of expertise" in David Herman, Narratologies. New Perspectives on Narrative Analysis, Columbus 1999, p. 14, which does not discard the classical narratology but rather opens it up to new possibilities. Especially important for historical research was a reconfiguration of the structuralist models in new light that this enabled and the broadening

has become a part of narratology itself " 49 and our contributors show that very pointedly by testing various limits of the narratological praxis. As such, in a postclassical understanding of this methodology, even those forays that do not explicitly use narratological tools can be a part of this unique model of late antique and early medieval hermeneutics. By applying narratological analysis to meta-narratives, movements and singular sources, we try to enlarge the realm of the possible for narratology in a given frame of time and space.

Chihaia has pointed out that while numerous results of cultural production can be analysed as a narrative, not all of them can be analysed as texts. Both of those terms contain multiple phenomena, but texts – even understood very broadly as not only written forms of communication – are more limited.50 This is an essential point for our attempt here. Narratology can only become a part of the hermeneutics of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages if it is understood as a toolbox for narrative analysis and not just, narrowly, as a toolbox for textual analysis. One could argue that seeing "The Past Through Narratology" has to mean not only applied narratology of texts but also an analysis of 'narrative consequences' of texts, archaeological finds, research narratives and their respective repercussions. Only then can we truly hope that the use of narratology will bring new approaches to Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. However, there are further idiosyncrasies. When tackling individual sources, literary movements, and meta-narratives, we see that theoretical narratology sometimes gives way to practical narrativity. In other words, far from proposing a totalising approach, we recognise that narratology is not always the correct register. Recognising its validity and applying it is also part of our proposed hermeneutics: a non-dogmatic narratological model, if you will.

#### Conclusions

The main benefit of introducing new methods (or using old ones in new contexts) is not to discover the 'real truth' about our past. New methods are not brought into play just to discover what is hidden in our sources. Instead, they help to master the experience of working with them.51 Simply put, new methods make the process of

of the approaches that could be included under the umbrella term of 'narratology'. In the last twenty years this postclassical approach has both proved to be productive and not contradictory to classical narratological analysis, see respectively Jan Alber and Monika Fludernik, Narratologies. New Perspectives on Narrative Analysis, Columbus 2010 and Roy Sommer, The Merger of Classical and Postclassical Narratologies and the Consolidated Future of Narrative Theory, in: Diegesis 1 (2012), pp. 143–157.

<sup>49</sup> Matei Chihaia, Introductions to Narratology. Theory, Practice and the Afterlife of Structuralism, in: Diegesis 1 (2012), pp. 15–31.

<sup>50</sup> See, for the text linguistic view, the models and features listed in Robert-Alain de Beaugrande and Wolfgang U. Dressler, Einführung in die Textlinguistik, Tübingen 1981.

<sup>51</sup> Gadamer (note 31), pp. 3–8, 340–354.

analysis more refined, the argumentation more comprehensive. Additionally, they allow reinterpretations of the narratives at hand, both on the source and the metalevel. This mastering of interpretative experience was perhaps our chief goal here.

We have proposed to recognise Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages as a particularly literarised space and introduced the concept of literarisation to describe the process of how this state of affairs came to be. This is a space where literary movements can be traced between multiple historical actors and where sometimes unexpected communication strategies serve as means to a literarised end. Inside literarised spaces, narratology can be used to make historical arguments and can make us understand the sometimes surprising communication strategies. But narratology can also make us see clearly that which is already familiar.

In order to reflect those observations in practice, we have proposed a three-tiered model of narratological enquiry: from singular sources, through literary movements to meta-narratives. The narratives discernible in all three levels can be analysed using narratological methods. Of particular importance is the level of literary movements, in which we have identified a dynamic especially well suited to this kind of analysis. Many phenomena, like monasticism, seen through the lens of literary movements, gain a form of interpretative clarity. We have not claimed literarisation to be a universal law of our periods, but its prevalence is hard to deny.

This volume reflects our proposed interpretative structure. Because it is essentially discipline-agnostic (but not discipline-ignorant), its implementation by the contributors often crosses disciplinary boundaries. The results of this narratological experiment that follow are perhaps the best testimony for a need to establish a narratological 'third way' for Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. These propositions are not meant to replace but to enrich our methodologies, showing how vibrant a literary movement the late antique and early medieval community is.

#### NARRATOLOGY AND TEXTS

# Rereading Absence Silent Narratives in the 'Life of Eligius of Noyon'

Abstract The 'Life of Eligius of Noyon' contains a unique digression on the monothelete controversy engulfing the Roman Empire in the seventh century. While it is often read as evidence of the author and the saint's support for Pope Martin's anti-monothelete initiatives, an examination of the excursus also reveals clues that this particular narrative was artfully crafted to argue for this 'orthodox' position, not necessarily that it reflected the reality of Frankish attitudes around the year 650. By re-examining narrative omissions within this digression and viewing the absence of information not as indications of ignorance, but as the result of deliberate authorial intent, this contribution suggests that the hagiographer explicitly wove together the actions of Eligius and Martin, at least partially, in order to excuse Frankish inaction during this doctrinal dispute.

Zusammenfasssung Das 'Leben des Eligius von Noyon' enthält einen in vielerlei Hinsicht einzigartigen Exkurs über die Monotheletismus-Kontroverse, die das Römische Reich im 7. Jahrhundert erschütterte. Während der Exkurs oft als Beleg dafür gelesen wird, dass sowohl der Autor wie auch der in der Vita beschriebene Heilige Eligius die antimonotheletistischen Initiativen Papst Martins unterstützten, liefert eine genauere Untersuchung Anhaltspunkte dafür, dass der Exkurs mit Bedacht konzipiert wurde, um für die 'orthodoxe' Position zu werben, und er daher nicht unbedingt die fränkische Haltung um 650 widerspiegelt. Indem der vorliegende Aufsatz die erzählerischen Auslassungen innerhalb dieses Exkurses neu bewertet und das Fehlen von Informationen nicht als Unwissenheit, sondern als Absicht des Autors interpretiert, legt dieser Aufsatz die

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Dr. Sihong Lin,

Department of History, The University of Sheffield, Jessop West, 1 Upper Hanover Street, Sheffield S3 7RA, sihong.lin@sheffield.ac.uk https://orcid.org/0000-0003- 1125-2775

Sihong Lin: Rereading Absence: Silent Narratives in the 'Life of Eligius of Noyon'. In: Fafinski, Mateusz and Riemenschneider, Jakob (Eds.): The Past Through Narratology, 27–39. Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2022 (Das Mittelalter. Perspektiven mediävistischer Forschung /Beihefte, Band 18). DOI: https://doi.org/10.17885/heiup.921.c13612

Vermutung nahe, dass der Hagiograph die Handlungen von Eligius und Martin – zumindest stellenweise – absichtlich miteinander verwoben hat, um die fränkische Passivität während des Lehrstreits zu überspielen.

Historians of the Merovingian kingdoms are no strangers to dissecting narratives past and present. Between Carolingian tales of dynastic decline and more modern interpretations of a fragmenting Mediterranean world, the Frankish kingdoms have been viewed through many lenses, not many of them kind to the achievements of kings and bishops in this transformative period. Recent scholarship has greatly rehabilitated the seventh century, but much more can be done when we revisit the sources.1 The lives of saints in particular remain a potent avenue for further exploration, for each text argues for the veneration of its protagonist and advances its own vision for society, often with its saintly hero at the forefront.2 Much scholarly work has understandably been done on how each hagiographical work reshaped elements of Merovingian life to make its argument, but we can also turn to what each text neglected to tell the audience.

By examining the literary mechanics employed by authors to elide over parts of the story, such as through the use of prolepsis (a flashforward) and a switch in focalisation (the narrative point of view), more can be gleaned of the motivations behind these compositions.3 After reading a reference to the future through a prolepsis, for instance, the audience may be prompted to anticipate forthcoming developments and connect together the themes of the preceding and following narratives. A change in focalisation meanwhile allows the writer to emphasise or obscure different aspects of the story, for the reader is naturally drawn to an omniscient or first-person narrator.4 Medieval authors were no exception in seeking to reshape the audience's expectations

<sup>1</sup> Andreas Fischer and Ian Wood (eds.), Mediterranean Perspectives on the Mediterranean. Cultural Transfer in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, 400–800 AD, London 2014; Stefan Esders et al. (eds.), East and West in the Middle Ages. The Merovingian Kingdoms in Mediterranean Perspective, Cambridge 2019; Stefan Esders et al. (eds.), The Merovingian Kingdoms and the Mediterranean World. Revisiting the Sources, London 2019.

<sup>2</sup> Paul Fouracre, Merovingian History and Merovingian Hagiography, in: Past & Present 127 (1990), pp. 3–38; Jamie Kreiner, The Social Life of Hagiography in the Merovingian Kingdom, Cambridge 2014.

<sup>3</sup> On these two terms: Teresa Bridgeman, Time and Space, in: David Herman (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Narrative, Cambridge 2007, pp. 52–65, here pp. 57–58; Manfred Jahn, Focalization, in: Herman (ed.) Companion to Narrative, pp. 94–108, here pp. 96–102; Irene J. F. de Jong, Narratology and Classics. A Practical Guide, Oxford 2014, pp. 48–69, 78–87.

<sup>4</sup> Particular inspiration for this study is drawn from Klazina Staat, Disclosing Secret Chaste Marriages in Jerome's 'Life of Malchus' and Stephen the African's 'Life of Amator', in: Christa Gray and James Corke-Webster (eds.), The Hagiographical Experiment. Developing Discourses of Sainthood, Leiden 2020, pp. 275–299, here pp. 286–292; Anne Alwis, The Hagiographer's Craft. Narrators and Focalisation in Byzantine Hagiography, in: Gray and Corke-Webster (eds.), Hagiographical Experiment, pp. 300–332, here pp. 320–325.

and it would be profitable for historians today to probe the extent to which medieval texts adopted similar stratagems, as well as to investigate the reasons behind these narratorial decisions.

This paper focuses on one lengthy Merovingian hagiography, the 'Life of Eligius of Noyon', and its well-known digression on Rome and 'heresy'.5 These three chapters, however, do not tell the whole story and the omissions provide clues to how the hagiographer had artfully crafted his case. By examining the absence of certain details, the motivations and audiences for the 'silent narrative' embedded within the text are also made clearer, in this instance revealing doctrinal tensions within the Frankish kingdoms. The digression focuses on a seventh-century doctrinal controversy within the (Eastern) Roman Empire: the dispute over the monothelete 'heresy', the view that Jesus Christ possessed 'one will', as opposed to 'two wills'.6 The precise Christological details need not concern us here, but it suffices to note that this was an odd choice to include in a Merovingian 'Life', especially as Eligius does not feature for much of it, nor does the excursus offer a straightforward narrative of the controversy itself. These inconsistencies in the tale do, nonetheless, reveal some of the authorial strategies behind this particular depiction of Eligius' early career.

The study of this narrative has previously been problematised by the difficult textual history of the 'Life of Eligius', a conundrum that has long exercised scholars, for if the 'Life' was heavily interpolated later, this incoherent tale may have been Carolingian in origin and as such may be an uncertain guide to seventh-century history.7 An emerging consensus on the composition of the 'Life', of the first recension being placed sometime in the 660s or 670s and then progressively added to in the seventh century, however, allows us to rethink this digression's purpose.8 As it is

<sup>5</sup> Audoin of Rouen, Life of Eligius of Noyon I, 33–35, ed. Bruno Krusch (MGH Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum 4), Hannover 1902, pp. 634–742, here pp. 689–692. This digression has recently been studied in Laury Sarti, The Digression on Pope Martin I in the 'Life of Eligius of Noyon', in: Stefan Esders et al. (eds.), East and West in the Middle Ages. The Merovingian Kingdoms in Mediterranean Perspective, Cambridge 2019, pp. 149–164; Catherine Cubitt, The Impact of the Lateran Council of 649 in Francia. The Martyrdom of Pope Martin and the Life of St Eligius, in: Scott DeGregorio and Paul Kershaw (eds.), Cities, Saints, and Communities in Early Medieval Europe. Essays in Honour of Alan Thacker, Turnhout 2020, pp. 71–103.

<sup>6</sup> On the monothelete controversy: Friedhelm Winkelmann, Der monenergetisch-monotheletische Streit, Frankfurt a. M. 2001; Marek Jankowiak, Essai d'histoire politique du monothélisme, à partir de la correspondance entre les empereurs byzantins, les patriarches de Constantinople et les papes de Rome, PhD thesis École pratique des hautes études Paris/Uniwersytet Warszawski, 2009; Phil Booth, Crisis of Empire. Doctrine and Dissent at the End of Late Antiquity, Berkeley 2013.

<sup>7</sup> Krusch (note 5), p. 648; Yitzhak Hen, Culture and Religion in Merovingian Gaul. A. D. 481–751, Leiden 1995, p. 196 n. 245; Isabelle Westeel, Quelques remarques sur la ‹Vita Eligii›, Vie de saint Éloi, in: Mélanges de science religieuse 56,2 (1999), pp. 33–47, here p. 40.

<sup>8</sup> Clemens Bayer, Vita Eligii, in: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, Bd. 35 (2007), pp. 461–524, here pp. 468–469, 475, 478; Walter Berschin, Der heilige Goldschmied. Die Eligiusvita – ein merowingisches Original?, in: Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische

positioned near the end of book one, which focuses on Eligius' career before he became a bishop, the excursus studied here is part of the earliest layer of the 'Life' composed by St Audoin of Rouen, who was Eligius' close friend and another prominent figure in the Merovingian church.9 The narrative omissions in a near-contemporary source then become more significant, for they provide a glimpse of how Audoin sought to present and reinterpret events of the preceding decades.

The digression begins with chapter thirty-three, which sets the scene by narrating the death of King Dagobert I in 639, before describing the rise of a new 'heresy' in the Eastern Roman Empire. This development became a concern to Pope Martin, who sent a letter to the Franks in 649 to gather support. Our protagonist, St Eligius, wanted to go to Rome as a result, but was mysteriously prevented from doing so. The following chapter details Martin's resistance against the 'heretical' doctrine, his arrest by imperial forces and then his exile, all for the purposes of valorising the pope and praising him as a martyr for 'orthodoxy'. Perhaps surprisingly, the concluding chapter of this excursus returns to Gaul, around 640, and narrates the arrival of an anonymous 'heretic' from across the sea and his predictable defeat by Eligius. The sequential flashforward and flashback are of particular interest, for they are clear signals of the digression's constructed nature, and together with an analysis of the occasional shifts in perspective, we can determine how Audoin had skilfully constructed this narrative and glimpse the doctrinal context that warranted such an arrangement.

In chronological terms, the digression begins as one would expect, with Audoin first noting the death of Dagobert and the accession of his son King Clovis II to the throne of Neustria-Burgundy in 639. It then describes the accession of Constantine, better known today as Constans II, who became the Roman emperor in 641.10 A similar narrative arrangement, as noted recently by Andreas Fischer, also features in the Frankish 'Chronicle' attributed to Fredegar, which was written in the same kingdom around 660. The chronicler had taken the obvious concordance of a young king and young emperor further by including notices on the consequences of their minorities on their respective polities. This had an important purpose for a contemporary Frankish audience, as royal minorities were very much a lived reality for the chronicler and their audience, for the Merovingian kings of the late 650s and 660s were once again

Geschichtsforschung 118 (2010), pp. 1‒7; Martin Heinzelmann, Eligius monetarius. Norm oder Sonderfall?, in: Jörg Jarnut and Jürgen Strothmann (eds.), Die Merowingischen Monetarmünzen als Quelle zum Verständnis des 7. Jahrhunderts in Gallien, Paderborn 2013, pp. 243–291, here pp. 249–256; Sarti (note 5), pp. 151–152.

<sup>9</sup> On Audoin: Elphège Vacandard, Vie de saint Ouen, Évêque de Rouen (641–684). Étude d'histoire mérovingienne, Paris 1902; Paul Fouracre, The Work of Audoenus of Rouen and Eligius of Noyon in Extending Episcopal Influence from the Town to the Country in Seventh-Century Neustria, in: Studies in Church History 16 (1979), pp. 77–91.

<sup>10</sup> Audoin of Rouen, Life of Eligius I, 33, p. 689. On Constans II: cf. L. Konstans II, in: Ralph-Johannes Lilie et al. (eds.), Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit Online, https://doi.org/10.1515/ pmbz (29 October 2021).

children.11 The anonymous chronicler had then evoked and reshaped the recent past as lessons for the political factions of their present day, drawing together examples from the Mediterranean to better cement the argument.12 The 'Life of Eligius' is a text from a different genre and written with a different purpose, but its highlighting of Clovis and Constans could have likewise served the author's agenda beyond that of a simple chronological framework, if further clues to it being a carefully shaped account can be identified.

We can certainly detect more of the author's voice in the following section, which narrates the rise of monotheletism through a prolepsis to 649, which we can presume was a deliberate authorial choice by Audoin to prepare the audience for the overriding theme of the following chapters. We learn that Pope Martin was a fervent opponent of the 'heresy' emanating from the East, to the extent that he gathered together a council, published a statement of faith, and then sent a letter to the Merovingian kingdoms to request their support. Although Eligius had wanted to take part in this endeavour, he was prevented from doing so by an unspecified reason (*quaedam causa*), a puzzling statement that has attracted much discussion in recent years, for this call for action should have led to some pro-Roman mobilisation within the Merovingian kingdoms.13 Whereas previously historians have emphasised the anti-monothelete leanings of Frankish bishops, in a recent article I offered the alternative explanation that Audoin's curious excuse was but one symptom of Frankish apathy during the monothelete controversy, and that overall there was little enthusiasm among bishops in Gaul to aid the beleaguered Martin. I argued that whereas the two men were probably entirely genuine in their desire to support Rome, their fellow bishops (and perhaps even the king or the mayor of the palace) were less keen for one reason or another, thus preventing Eligius from backing Rome as he had wished.14

Though perhaps unexpected, my proposal aligns with recent reinterpretations of the monothelete controversy, which together paint a much more complex picture of this dispute. No longer can this theological debate be seen as one between the Greek East and the Latin West, nor the doctrine itself as an artificial compromise imposed from above by Constantinople. Instead, proponents of monotheletism can be found in North Africa and imperial Italy, and the anti-monotheletes' campaign

<sup>11</sup> Andreas Fischer, Rewriting History. Fredegar's Perspectives on the Mediterranean, in: Andreas Fischer and Ian Wood (eds.), Mediterranean Perspectives on the Mediterranean. Cultural Transfer in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, 400–800 AD, London 2014, pp. 55–75, here pp. 61–69, 73–75.

<sup>12</sup> Another concordance of Mediterranean history in Fredegar is discussed in Gregory Halfond, The Endorsement of Royal-Episcopal Collaboration in the Fredegar *Chronica*, in: Traditio 70 (2015), pp. 1–28, here p. 18.

<sup>13</sup> Audoin of Rouen, Life of Eligius I, 33, pp. 689–690. For interpretations of the *causa*: André Borias, Saint Wandrille et la crise monothélite, in: Revue Bénédictine 97, 1‒2 (1987), pp. 42‒67, here pp. 59‒61; Sarti (note 5), p. 158; Stefan Esders, Chindasvinth, the 'Gothic Disease', and the Monothelite Crisis, in: Millennium 16, 1 (2019), pp. 175‒212, here p. 200.

<sup>14</sup> Sihong Lin, The Merovingian Kingdoms and the Monothelete Controversy, in: Journal of Ecclesiastical History 71, 2 (2020), pp. 235–252, here pp. 238–244.

was frequently hindered by the lack of support for them.15 Indeed, Martin himself presided over a seemingly unconvinced papal bureaucracy, as no Roman clergy can be identified as an attendee of the Lateran Synod in 649 and his own legates to Thessalonica were persuaded by the local archbishop's pro-Constantinopolitan stance.16 In such circumstances, we should not assume that Latin authors writing outside of the Roman Empire were automatically opposed to eastern initiatives.

The Council of Chalon-sur-Saône, which took place at some point between 647 and 653 and gathered together bishops from across Neustria-Burgundy (including both Eligius and Audoin), has long been interpreted as a public proclamation of the Frankish Church's opposition to monotheletism.17 Against this view, I instead suggested that the crucial first canon from the council would have been accepted by Constantinople and refuted by Rome, as its ambiguous condemnation of earlier, uncontroversial Christological 'heresies' mirrored the contemporary imperial position, as outlined in the document known as the '*Typos'*, which barred all discussion of the monothelete doctrine.18 Yet at the same time in Rome, this attempt to obfuscate the current controversy was precisely what Martin condemned in 649, making the canon issued by the Frankish bishops not only a tepid reference to the ongoing dispute, but also a sorely misjudged one, since if it was ever sent to Rome it would have surely been criticised by the papacy for its indirect language, instead of the explicit condemnation Martin had requested. This particular canon thus raises the possibility that the gathered bishops, for now-unrecoverable reasons, chose to present their views as being in step with Constantinopolitan diktats instead of papal theology. Even if this canon was meant to condemn imperial doctrinal policy, however ineffectually, we can presume that it would have been viewed as something of an embarrassment in retrospect for its weak language, as monotheletism would be decisively condemned by both the imperial and post-Roman churches in the 680s.19 In either case, Audoin

<sup>15</sup> Jankowiak (note 6), pp. 224–227, 253–258, 275–276. See also Tim Greenwood, 'New Light from the East'. Chronography and Ecclesiastical History through a Late Seventh-Century Armenian Source, in: Journal of Early Christian Studies 16, 2 (2008), pp. 197‒254; Jack Tannous, In Search of Monotheletism, in: Dumbarton Oaks Papers 68 (2014), pp. 29–67.

<sup>16</sup> Jankowiak (note 6), pp. 257–258, 292–293.

<sup>17</sup> Canons of the Council of Chalon-sur-Saône, ed. by Charles de Clercq (Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 148A), Turnhout 1963, p. 303; Borias (note 13), pp. 59–61; Ian Wood, The Franks and Papal Theology, 550‒660, in: Celia Chazelle and Catherine Cubitt (eds.), The Crisis of the Oikoumene. The Three Chapters and the Failed Quest for Unity in the Sixth-Century Mediterranean, Turnhout 2007, pp. 223‒241, here pp. 239‒240.

<sup>18</sup> Jankowiak (note 6), pp. 238‒239; Booth (note 6), pp. 291‒293; Lin (note 14), pp. 240‒241. Independently, Charles Mériaux, A One-Way Ticket to Francia. Constantinople, Rome and Northern Gaul in the Mid Seventh Century, in: Stefan Esders et al. (eds.), East and West in the Middle Ages. The Merovingian Kingdoms in Mediterranean Perspective, Cambridge 2019, pp. 138‒148, here p. 146, also notes the generic nature of the canon.

<sup>19</sup> See now Stefan Esders, 'Great Security Prevailed in Both East and West'. The Merovingian Kingdoms and the Sixth Ecumenical Council (680/1), in: Stefan Esders et al. (eds.), East and West in the Middle Ages. The Merovingian Kingdoms in Mediterranean Perspective, Cambridge 2019, pp. 247‒264, on the western background to the condemnation.

would have had excellent reasons to write carefully about Eligius' actions around 650 and to reframe his career in a much more anti-monothelete light.

Returning to Fredegar, it is then interesting that in this 'Chronicle' Emperor Constans' religious policy was not mentioned at all, seemingly because Neustria-Burgundy at the time was on friendly terms with the empire.20 This sentiment, though surprising, is again understandable in the doctrinal milieu of the 650s, as Constans' court had pursued a very different religious policy. Constantinople at this point no longer enforced monotheletism, the doctrine promulgated by Emperor Heraclius via the document known as the 'Ekthesis' and for which Heraclius was condemned in Fredegar's 'Chronicle'. Instead, Constans had issued the '*Typos'* in 647/8, which suppressed discussions of monotheletism or dyotheletism altogether in an attempt to secure doctrinal peace.21 Although such a compromise was still seen as unacceptable by Pope Martin, it may nonetheless have created enough ambiguity to allow outside observers to not see Constans solely as a 'heretic'. In the 'Life of Eligius' composed a decade or two later, however, the emperor was explicitly associated with the monothelete 'heresy', which is likely representative of a later reaction against earlier, more tolerant views of eastern doctrinal developments.22

We therefore have a plausible reason for why no additional information is provided in the 'Life of Eligius', as in the following decades it became increasingly unpalatable to say that the Franks had done little to condemn the monothelete doctrine, especially among this group of pro-papal bishops. Instead, in a simple sentence Audoin made clear Eligius' stance and left unsaid the ultimate cause for the saint's inaction. The hagiographer was perhaps even craftier and further elided his own role, since Eligius was supposed to go to Rome with an anonymous companion (*sodalis*), who can be identified as Audoin himself, for he is identified as a *sodalis* elsewhere in the 'Life'.23 If it is indeed a reference to Audoin, then the change in focalisation provides another helpful tool for the author to further distance himself and his protagonist from the Frankish Church's actions (or lack thereof) around 650. No longer is the hagiographer an omniscient narrator or a first-person eyewitness to the saint's miracles, for he has now become a character whom the reader may not even associate with the saintly Audoin.

The same explanation, that Audoin had wanted to gloss over certain events, also adds to the already highlighted pairing of King Clovis and Emperor Constans, as it was Clovis, or his mayor of the palace, given the king's young age, who had done nothing to support the pope. Constans, on the other hand, was the emperor

<sup>20</sup> Stefan Esders, When Contemporary History is Caught Up by the Immediate Present. Fredegar's Proleptic Depiction of Emperor Constans, in: Esders et al., Merovingian Kingdoms (note 1), pp. 141–149, here pp. 144, 146.

<sup>21</sup> Jankowiak (note 6), pp. 327–335; Booth (note 6), pp. 320–322.

<sup>22</sup> Audoin of Rouen, Life of Eligius I, 33, p. 689. Cf. Sarti (note 5), p. 159.

<sup>23</sup> Audoin of Rouen, Life of Eligius I, 8, II, 2, pp. 675, 695; Krusch (note 5), pp. 646–647; Bayer (note 8), pp. 469–470.

who persecuted Pope Martin, which provides yet another parallel between the two rulers, in addition to those already identified by Fischer. More subtly, it is also worth noting that according to the previous chapter, Dagobert, Clovis' father, had ordered Eligius to further embellish St Martin's sepulchre and granted privileges to the church of Tours.24 While it might seem unlikely for Audoin to have linked together St Martin, a very well-known saint in Gaul, and Pope Martin, we must remember that this digression does not belong here in chronological terms, for the first book of the 'Life of Eligius' focuses on the saint's career before he became the bishop in 641. These chapters on Pope Martin, who became the bishop of Rome in 649, were thus a deliberate prolepsis that served a greater narrative purpose. By placing the pro-papal digression here instead of in the second, more chronologically appropriate book, Audoin implicitly draws the reader to consider how one king, Dagobert, had venerated St Martin, while Dagobert's son had done little to help Pope Martin, whom the next chapter makes clear was a martyr worthy of veneration. To a knowledgeable contemporary, such as a bishop, Audoin's narrative would have thus provided potent reminders of the recent past, much like how the Fredegar 'Chronicle' included lessons on how nobles ought to behave when serving kings who had yet to reach their majority.25

The next chapter of the monothelete digression jumps even further forward away from c. 640, where the main narrative still remained, and it essentially has nothing to do with Eligius, the saint this text is supposed to be celebrating. It describes the arrest and exile of Pope Martin by imperial forces in 653–654, with a substantial defence of Martin's status as a martyr for Christianity. Martin was said to have had a more glorious martyrdom, because he suffered for the universal church, rather than being personally persecuted by pagans, which could have only driven home further the message of the pope's righteousness and the just nature of his call to arms against monotheletism.26 As Catherine Cubitt observes, the Martin narrative as a whole occupies 58 lines in the Latin edition, but 18 of which focus on the pope's status as a martyr, which provides a telling indication of this argument's importance to Audoin.27 Given the exceptional nature of this praise, however, we should keep open the possibility that the hagiographer was perhaps protesting too much. The text was written in the 660s or the 670s, when the tide was turning against monotheletism, possibly even in the lead-up to the 680–681 council that finally overturned this doctrine, so it is understandable that the 'Life of Eligius' would have included such positive

27 Cubitt (note 5), p. 80.

<sup>24</sup> Audoin of Rouen, Life of Eligius I, 32, p. 688. Krusch (note 5), p. 647–648, suggested that this chapter is a later addition, but Cubitt (note 5), p. 80, rightfully argues that the noted powers assumed by a Merovingian bishop would not now be seen as anachronistic by scholars.

<sup>25</sup> While we cannot determine the audience of the 'Life', the text was read by at least one bishop, Chrodebert of Tours: Krusch (note 5), p. 741; Bayer (note 8), p. 516.

<sup>26</sup> Audoin of Rouen, Life of Eligius I, 34, pp. 690–691.

descriptions of Martin, the arch anti-monothelete.28 A laudatory account of Martin's sufferings, in turn, would also help to mitigate the earlier revelation that Eligius had not in fact done what the pope had asked for in 649, for the saintly Martin now has pride of place in the celebration of Eligius' sanctity.

It is likewise worth noting that the prolepsis in this chapter goes even beyond Martin's death, for the author added two further interventions. First, there is a validating statement immediately prior to the papal narrative, which noted that the following account was related to the hagiographer by someone who had followed the pope to Constantinople and his exile.29 Not only does the digression stretch to 655, the year of Martin's death, it now extends into the following decades, when apparently an eyewitness to eastern events arrived in Gaul and provided Audoin with the necessary material. Moreover, Audoin is now speaking in the first person (*novismus, narro*) to reassert the validity of his source. This is a common strategy by hagiographers to bolster their claims, but the shift in perspective also makes the narrative much more immediate to the audience, even though the story has moved well beyond Martin's exile and the career of Eligius. As recently suggested by Anne Alwis for the seventh-century Greek 'Life of Mary of Egypt', the unprompted appearance of the first-person perspective may have been a strategy to anticipate future critiques concerning the tale's veracity, for the hagiographer needed to change the focalisation and allow a more trustworthy narratorial voice to intervene.30

The emphasis on the martyrdom of the pope is then all the more interesting, for Audoin acknowledges that the pope's holiness was so great that this story deserved to be inserted in the 'Life of Eligius'.31 This is an oddly open statement about the artificial, crafted nature of the narrative, and presents an explicit hint of the purpose of this account, to tie together Eligius with Pope Martin. This prolepsis can therefore be seen as serving a very strange purpose in the digression, to reinforce contemporary expectations of pro-papal solidarity among the Frankish audience and re-emphasise both the author and the protagonist's alignment with the papacy, yet also to distract the reader from Eligius' earlier inaction. While this chapter might seem at first glance to be evidence that the memory of Pope Martin was revered among some Frankish bishops, such an account of papal sanctity could also have been a convenient literary topos, more akin to a rhetorical tool to make up for the deficiencies in the story, all the while priming the reader for what comes next.

The final part of the digression, chapter thirty-five, completes the story and is the culmination of the Eligius–Martin narrative. The narrative now uses an analepsis

<sup>28</sup> On the various mooted datings, all in the 660s and 670s: Bayer (note 8), p. 475; Berschin (note 8), p. 3; Sarti (note 5), pp. 152, 155.

<sup>29</sup> Audoin of Rouen, Life of Eligius I, 34, pp. 690: *Novimus quendam fratrem a partibus Orientis venientem, qui ea quae narro se coram posito gesta esse testabatur* ("We know a certain brother coming from the eastern parts, who witnessed the deeds that I narrate in his presence").

<sup>30</sup> Alwis (note 4), pp. 321–322.

<sup>31</sup> Audoin of Rouen, Life of Eligius I, 34, pp. 690.

(flashback) to jump back to around 640, so two or three decades before the authorial intervention noted previously, since Eligius was still described as a layman.32 A 'heretic' from across the sea arrived in Gaul, who by implication was someone spreading the monothelete 'heresy' given the preceding chapters, but he was naturally defeated by a church council, with Eligius and Audoin playing a key role.33 Interestingly, there is again no royal involvement in the process. Instead, it was Eligius and Audoin, both still laymen, who took the lead, which ties in well with the suggestion above of Clovis' complicity with 'heresy' and the narrative need to bolster Eligius' (otherwise lacking) anti-'heretical' credentials. This chapter thus continues to hammer home the message found throughout the digression.34 In the first chapter, Eligius was described as loyal to the pope, then the pope's sanctity is established via a prolepsis, and now in the conclusion of the digression Eligius' own actions and implicit parallels to Martin himself are highlighted. The narrative jumps forwards and back, but through these different episodes, the reader is given a timeless image of an 'orthodox' saint aligned with the papacy that stretched across the decades, with Eligius' actions in 640 even mirroring Pope Martin's struggle against monotheletism, as though the saint's personal position had never changed. Audoin the hagiographer himself also reappears in the narrative, for he joined Eligius in the campaign to stamp out the 'heresy' in Gaul.35 Now that he is talking about a much safer topic, the 'orthodoxy' of Pope Martin and his friend Eligius, Audoin can return to the narrative and take on a more proactive role, rather than relegate himself to an anonymous companion as he did in chapter thirty-three.

Taken together, we can discern a coherent narrative logic to the structure of this digression, one that centres Eligius' similarities to Pope Martin and elides the question of his inaction, with the previous sections all building up to this climax and together framing Eligius' efforts c. 640 within a larger history of Christianity. Whereas Eligius' 'orthodoxy' might be questioned by the reader earlier, now his stance is beyond reproach, once we read the whole story and draw the natural conclusion that just like Pope Martin, Eligius had organised a council to suppress a foreign 'heresy'. Eligius' inability to support Martin in Rome after 649 was an unfortunate exception, but Audoin's narrative then makes clear the two men's similarities, while the effusive praise for the pope ensures that readers will conclude that Eligius no doubt felt the same way for the holy pontiff. Audoin therefore had ample justification to include this excursus in the first book of the 'Life of Eligius', for it at once strengthened his friend's

<sup>32</sup> Ibid., I, 35, pp. 691–692.

<sup>33</sup> Odette Pontal, Histoire des conciles mérovingiens, Paris 1989, p. 216; Ian Wood, The Merovingian Kingdoms, 450–751, Harlow 1994, p. 246; Andreas Fischer, Orthodoxy and Authority. Jonas, Eustasius, and the Agrestius Affair, in: Alexander O'Hara (ed.), Columbanus and the Peoples of Post-Roman Europe, Oxford 2018, pp. 143‒164, here p. 155. Cf. Krusch (note 5), pp. 648‒649, 691 n. 3.

<sup>34</sup> Bayer (note 8), p. 478, highlights also the thematic relevance of chapter thirty-six.

<sup>35</sup> Audoin of Rouen, Life of Eligius I, 35, p. 692.

image, even comparing favourably an incident from Eligius' secular career with the sufferings of a saintly pope, and partially absolved these bishops' actions c. 650.

We should then be wary of using this digression to analyse Frankish admiration of the papacy, as the narrative is a construct, drawing together different events to promote one saint and to fulfil Audoin's authorial agenda. While there were genuine connections with Rome, the narratorial strategies employed in this digression also make events here part of an artificial story world, not one that mirrored the historical reality. There remains much historical value, however, within the digression, but more in what the digression neglected to say. As Paul Fouracre argued in 1990, Merovingian hagiographers were nonetheless limited by the lived lives of their protagonists and had to deal with the many awkward details besmirching their heroes' careers.36 Audoin's project here has obscured much of what Eligius had done or thought c. 650, but his omissions nonetheless provide clues to what the hagiographer was concerned with decades later and what an 'orthodox' audience would have expected from a friend of Rome.

Audoin was not alone in writing about the 650s while omitting certain facts, for other Latin authors had similarly obfuscated doctrinal history in this period. The Fredegar 'Chronicle', for example, said nothing of Constans II's 'heresy', even though Heraclius' equally questionable doctrinal measures were explicitly criticised.37 Amandus of Maastricht, an acquaintance of Eligius and Audoin and yet another Frankish bishop with close links to Rome, had likewise received a letter from Pope Martin calling for a Frankish council to be convened and envoys sent to the Eternal City. Amandus, moreover, was exhorted not to resign from his position.38 It is telling then that the next thing we know of Amandus is that he did resign his bishopric shortly after c. 650, and that there is no evidence of a council held in the Frankish kingdom of Austrasia, with Stefan Esders recently even suggesting that King Sigibert III had actively ordered his bishops not to be involved in this doctrinal furore.39

<sup>36</sup> Fouracre (note 2), pp. 11, 37.

<sup>37</sup> Esders (note 20), pp. 144, 146; Stefan Esders, Herakleios, Dagobert und die 'beschnittenen Völker'. Die Umwälzungen des Mittelmeerraums im 7. Jahrhundert in der fränkischen Chronik des sog. Fredegar, in: Andreas Goltz, Hartmut Leppin and Heinrich Schlange-Schöningen (eds.), Jenseits der Grenzen. Beiträge zur spätantiken und frühmittelalterlichen Geschichtsschreibung, Berlin 2009, pp. 240–309, here pp. 293–294.

<sup>38</sup> Pope Martin, Letter to Amandus, ed. Rudolf Riedinger (Acta conciliorum oecumenicorum 2.1), Berlin 1984, pp. 422–424.

<sup>39</sup> Wood (note 17), pp. 239‒241; Mériaux (note 18), pp. 147‒148; Esders (note 13), pp. 198‒200; Stefan Esders, Die gallische Kirche des 7. Jahrhunderts zwischen *imperium* und *regna*. Der Brief des merowingischen Königs Sigibert III. an Bischof Desiderius von Cahors (650) und die fränkische Rezeption des Monotheletismus-Streites, in: Matthias Becher and Hendrik Hess (eds.), Kontingenzerfahrungen und ihre Bewältigung zwischen *imperium* und *regna*. Beispiele aus Gallien und angrenzenden Gebieten vom 5. bis zum 8. Jahrhundert, Göttingen 2021, pp. 339–374.

From eighth-century England, we learn from the 'Life of Wilfrid of York', the hagiography of the pre-eminent Romanophile in Northumbria, that Wilfrid had encountered an anonymous pope during his pilgrimage to Rome in the early 650s.40 The silence is a curious one, for this is the only pope out of the five pontiffs who feature in the 'Life' to have been left unnamed.41 As the possible candidates for a meeting with the young pilgrim can only have been Martin, Eugenius, and Vitalian, with the first and last being figures associated with the struggle against monotheletism, it is tempting to suggest that Wilfrid had in fact met Eugenius, the pope who had accepted Constantinopolitan diktats on monotheletism after Martin was deposed.42 Much like Eligius' inaction c. 650, this encounter was a potentially awkward event to include in a celebration of Wilfrid's sanctity, for the Northumbrian had championed Roman doctrines in England. Similarly to Audoin, the hagiographer Stephen understandably sidelined the problematic aspect of the narrative – the pope – and instead put greater emphasis on Boniface, an archdeacon who served as Wilfrid's mentor, but who was surely an altogether less memorable character than the bishop of Rome himself.43 As Boniface had unimpeachable anti-monothelete credentials at a time when Rome had favoured doctrinal accommodation with the emperor, his appearance in the 'Life of Wilfrid' therefore became a helpful narrative foil to the more problematic Eugenius.44

The 650s were a time when the papacy had capitulated to Emperor Constans II's religious policy, and the same was equally possible for the Merovingian kingdoms, as the imperial 'heresy', represented by the reconciliatory 'Typos', was likely much more acceptable to audiences within and outside of the empire than historians have often assumed. The silence in the 'Life of Eligius' can then be understood along the same lines, for in the following decades there emerged a need for the 'Life' to explain away a previously more positive relationship with Constantinople, to rewrite the story of Eligius to be more suitable in a world without compromises, when attitudes needed to be the same, whether in 640 or 670. This is all the more important in a hagiography written by Audoin to celebrate the sanctity of his friend, which naturally necessitated certain editorial omissions to gloss over aspects of Eligius' career. By adding an extensive prolepsis featuring Pope Martin and then returning to an account of Eligius' attitudes towards 'heresy' much, much earlier, Audoin had therefore created


<sup>40</sup> Stephen, Life of Wilfrid of York 5, ed. by Bertram Colgrave, Cambridge 1927, p. 12.

<sup>41</sup> Ibid. Pope Agatho: 29, 31‒32, 43‒47, 51‒54, pp. 56‒60, 64, 88‒96, 104‒118; John VI: 50‒54, pp. 102‒116; Benedict II and Sergius: 43, 46, 51‒53, pp. 90, 94, 104‒114.

<sup>44</sup> On Boniface's career: Walter Berschin, Bonifatius Consiliarius († nach 704). Ein römischer Übersetzer in der byzantinischen Epoche des Papsttums, in: Walter Berschin, Mittellateinische Studien, Heidelberg 2005, pp. 65‒78; Catherine Cubitt, St. Wilfrid. A Man for His Times, in: Nick Higham (ed.), Wilfrid. Abbot, Bishop, Saint. Papers from the 1300th Anniversary Conferences, Donington 2013, pp. 311‒330, here pp. 327‒328; Richard Pollard, A Cooperative Correspondence. The Letters of Gregory the Great, in: Bronwen Neil and Matthew Dal Santo (eds.), A Companion to Gregory the Great, Leiden 2013, pp. 291–312, here pp. 308‒309.

the misleading impression that the same narrative holds true in between these episodes, that Eligius remained a stalwart friend of Rome even in 650.

But at least in this regard, the argument made in the 'Life of Eligius' was singularly successful, for its story of a 'heretical' emperor and an 'orthodox' Frankish Church fit very well into the grander narrative of a post-Roman West growing further and further apart from the eastern Roman Empire. The reality, however, appears to have been more complex, for the Latin West and the eastern Mediterranean may have been more aligned than we had thought. Because of the pervasiveness of this meta-narrative, it is all the more important to dig deeper into the sources, to understand why this particular digression, for example, was written and to question the methodology it used to reshape the narrative of the monothelete controversy.

#### Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Mateusz Fafinski and Jakob Riemenschneider for organising the 2019 conference and their exemplary stewardship of the paper through the publication process. I am also very grateful to Andrew Buck for introducing me to narratology and the reviewers for their helpful suggestions. This article was completed during a Government of Ireland postdoctoral fellowship and I am likewise thankful to the Irish Research Council for its generous support.

# The Erotic Dreams of Penelope ('Epigr. Bob.' 36 Sp.)

Abstract The 'Epigrammata Bobiensia' is a poetry collection, probably written between the fourth and fifth century. After the *editio princeps* by Munari in 1955 and the Teubnerian edition by Speyer in 1963, the '*Epigrammata Bobiensia'* were not edited until the 2016 edition by F. R. Nocchi.

In this analysis, I attend to the many problems of interpretation of the epigram on Penelope ('Epigr. Bob.' 36 Sp.), where Ulysses's wife proclaims her love for a mysterious man, and freely confesses her nocturnal torments due to her chastity caused by Ulysses's long absence. During her sleep, these torments become erotic dreams at the height of an uncontrollable passion.

The purpose of this epigram seems to be one of questioning the traditional version of the image of Ulysses's wife, chaste and faithful to her distant husband. On Penelope, indeed, there are two very different traditions: the first one, transmitted in particular by Homer, exalts the figure of the heroine as the greatest example of conjugal fidelity and modesty; the other one, handed on, among others, by Pausanias, Herodotus and Cicero, and most certainly adopted by the anonymous author of 'Epigr. Bob.' 36 Sp., turns the bride of Ulysses into an impudent woman in love, who breaks the laws of modesty and is unable to resist an overwhelming new amorous passion.

Zusammenfassung Die ,Epigrammata Bobiensia' sind eine Kollektion von Epigrammen, die vermutlich zwischen dem 4. und 5. Jahrhundert n. Chr. geschrieben wurden. Nach der Erstveröffentlichung 1955 (Munari) und der Teubner'schen Ausgabe 1963 (Speyer) wurden sie erst 2016 von F. R. Nocchi neu ediert.

#### Contact

#### Prof. Sabina Tuzzo,

Università del Salento, Department of Humanities, Viale Giovanni Paolo II 14/B, 73100 Lecce, sabina.tuzzo@unisalento.it https://orcid.org/0000-0001- 5584-0478

Sabina Tuzzo: The Erotic Dreams of Penelope ('Epigr. Bob.' 36 Sp.). In: Fafinski, Mateusz and Riemenschneider, Jakob (Eds.): The Past Through Narratology, 41–55. Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2022 (Das Mittelalter. Perspektiven mediävistischer Forschung /Beihefte, Band 18). DOI: https://doi.org/10.17885/heiup.921.c13613

Die vorliegende Analyse ist der Versuch, die vielfältigen Probleme bei der Interpretation des Epigramms über Penelope (,Epigr. Bob.' 36 Sp.) zu lösen. Diese gesteht darin ihre Liebe zu einem mysteriösen Mann und bekennt freimütig, dass sie wegen der erzwungenen Keuschheit aufgrund der langen Abwesenheit ihres Mannes von erotischen Träumen heimgesucht wird, die sich zu unkontrollierbarer Leidenschaft verstärken.

Offensichtlich hat der Autor des Epigramms auf zwei unterschiedliche Narrative zu Schicksal und Charakter Penelopes reagiert: Neben der homerischen Tradition, welche die Heldin zu einem Vorbild für Keuschheit und Treue stilisiert, existiert eine zweite Erzählung, die unter anderem durch Pausanias, Herodot und Cicero überliefert ist. Hier ist Penelope eine schamlose Frau, die sich in Abwesenheit ihres Ehemannes neu verliebt und mit den herkömmlichen Vorstellungen einer treuen Ehefrau bricht. Dieser zweiten Tradition ist auch der anonyme Autor dieses Epigramms zuzuordnen.

After the *editio princeps* by Munari1 in 1955 and the Teubnerian edition by Speyer 2 in 1963, the 'Epigrammata Bobiensia' collection were not further edited until the 2016 edition by F. R. Nocchi, who provided the anthology with a full commentary.3 The 'Epigrammata Bobiensia' is a poetry collection of great importance in the field of late-ancient epigrammatic production. It includes 70 epigrams and 71 poems and probably dates back to the end of the fourth or the beginning of the fifth century. It was likely written by a single compiler belonging to the circle of Symmachus, or somehow linked to it.4 The original manuscript, today lost, was found in 1493 in the library of Bobbio Abbey, founded by the Irish monk Columbanus in 614, not very far

<sup>1</sup> Epigrammata Bobiensia, detexit Augusto Campana, edidit Francesco Munari, Roma 1955.

<sup>2</sup> Epigrammata Bobiensia, edidit Wolfgang Speyer, Leipzig 1963.

<sup>3</sup> Francesca R. Nocchi, Commento agli Epigrammata Bobiensia, Berlin, Boston 2016. In 2011 Francesca R. Nocchi and Luca Canali really edited a critical edition based on that one by Wolfgang Speyer (Epigrammata Bobiensia, a cura di Luca Canali e Francesca R. Nocchi, Soveria Mannelli 2011), and even before, in 2008, Angelo Luceri, in collaboration with Orazio Portuese as part of the research unit of the University of Catania directed by Rosa M. D'Angelo, edited the digitised edition, now available at: http://www.mqdq.it (29 October 2021).

<sup>4</sup> Scevola Mariotti, Scritti di Filologia classica, a cura di Mario De Nonno and Leopoldo Gamberale, Salerno 2000, p. 228; see also Luca Mondin, La misura epigrammatica nella tarda antichità, in: Alfredo M. Morelli (ed.), Epigramma *Longum.* Da Marziale alla tarda antichità/ From Martial to Late Antiquity. Atti del Convegno internazionale (Cassino, 29–31 maggio 2006), vol. 2, Cassino 2008, pp. 397–494, here pp. 416–418; Fabio Nolfo, Epigr. Bob. 45 Sp. (= Ps. Auson. 2*,* pp. 420–421 Peip.). La palinodia di Didone negli Epigrammata Bobiensia e la sua rappresentazione iconica, in: Sileno 41 (2015), pp. 277–304, here pp. 282–283.

from the town of Piacenza, in northern Italy. The above-mentioned modern editions are based on a copy of the original code accidentally discovered in the Vatican Library by Augusto Campana in the middle of the twentieth century.

This paper will discuss the many problems of interpretation of the epigram on Penelope ('Epigr. Bob*.*' 36 Sp.), in which Ulysses's wife reveals her love for another man and confesses her nightly torments due to her long chastity because of the continued absence of her husband. During her sleep, these inner torments change into erotic dreams at the height of an uncontrollable passion. The purpose of the composition is likely to be one of disputing the traditional version of the image of the chaste wife, loyal to her distant husband.

On Penelope, there are two different traditions: the first one, dating back to Homer, exalts the figure of the heroine as the maximum example of conjugal fidelity and modesty; the second one, handed down by Apollodorus and Pausanias, makes Ulysses's bride into a shameless and lovesick woman, who breaks the laws of modesty and cannot resist an overwhelming new amorous passion.5 However, even in the Odyssey, the paternity of Telemachus, and consequently Penelope's fidelity, is questioned (1, 215–216; 3, 122–123; 16, 300). In the Odyssey, indeed, Penelope probably does not only reveal her desire for a new marriage, but she also seems to appreciate the kindness and flatteries of her suitors;6 when she confesses that she had a dream, that perhaps reveals her real desires (19, 535–550). The interpretation of this dream is apparently simple: the swooping eagle killing twenty geese under the sad glance of Penelope, clearly forebodes the return of Ulysses and the massacre of the suitors. What seems to be less understandable is the behaviour of the queen, who in a completely unexpected way decides to organise a competition and marry the winner. Why after waiting so long would Penelope have decided to remarry just when signs foretell her husband's return? Apollodorus says that, as soon as Ulysses returned to his homeland, he heard of Penelope's betrayal with Antinous. Then he immediately sent the queen back to her father Icarius. Afterwards, the queen had a sexual encounter with Hermes and gave birth to Pan. According to other ancient writers, Ulysses probably killed his wife Penelope because she wanted to let herself be seduced by Amphinomus.7 Pausanias reports that Ulysses, on his return to Ithaca, banished the queen from the

<sup>5</sup> On the reception of the character of Penelope from the Middle Ages to the modern age see Anna Stenmans, Penelope in Drama, Libretto und bildender Kunst der Frühen Neuzeit, Münster 2013. On the manifold appearances of medieval epigrams see also: Wolfgang Maaz, Lateinische Epigrammatik im hohen Mittelalter. Literarhistorische Untersuchungen zur Martial-Rezeption, Berlin 1992.

<sup>6</sup> Marie-Madeleine Mactoux, Pénélope. Légende et mythe, Paris 1975, pp. 8–15; Joseph Russo, Interview and Aftermath. Dream, Fantasy, and Intuition in Odyssey 19 and 20, in: American Journal of Philology 103 (1982), pp. 4–18; Marylin A. Katz, Penelope's Renown. Meaning and Indeterminacy in the Odyssey, Princeton 1991, pp. 145–148.

<sup>7</sup> Apollod. 7, 38 *τινὲς δὲ Πηνελόπην ὑπὸ Ἀντινόου φθαρεῖσαν λέγουσιν ὑπὸ Ὀδυσσέως πρὸς τὸν πατέρα Ἱκάριον ἀποσταλῆναι, γενομένην δὲ τῆς Ἀρκαδίας κατὰ Μαντίνειαν ἐξ Ἑρμοῦ τεκεῖν Πᾶνα·ἄλλοι δὲ δι' Ἀμφίνομον ὑπὸ Ὀδυσσέως αὐτοῦ τελευτῆσαι.* Also Herodotus (2, 145, 4) and Cicero (nat. 3, 56) confirm that Pan was the son of Hermes and Penelope, and Servius ad

island. So Penelope would be sheltered first in Sparta and then in Mantinea, where she was probably buried after her death.8 From all these sources, therefore, we can deduce a certain ambiguity in Penelope's behaviour and her loyalty to her absent husband. As it has been rightly observed, more than once Penelope appears different from her centuries-old, well-established, lasting image of extremely loyal wife in spite of the unshakeable faith of scholars in the myth of her chastity.9

Among all these different above-mentioned interpretations of Penelope's myth, which question the extolled virtues of the queen, the Bobbian epigram 36 with the title 'De Penelope' is inserted. The text below belongs to the Speyer edition, apart from a few exceptions that I am about to talk about:


Aen. ww2, 44, besides this version, adds another one, according to which Penelope and the suitors begot Pan.


Firstly, it should be clarified which literary genre the composition belongs to. According to Giordano Rampioni, it is an ekphrastic epigram, in which the poet is inspired by figurative art, and describes the climax scene of the meeting between Penelope and Ulysses.11 This hypothesis looks somewhat unlikely because of the lack of deictic elements in the poem.12 The same can be said of Butrica's hypothesis,13 not supported by irrefutable elements. According to Butrica, the above-mentioned verses, in which Penelope is brought into play as a paradigm of modesty, have to be attributed to Sulpicia and make up a fragment of a longer composition, in which the poetess tells her love story with her husband Galenus. On the contrary, Mariotti's opinion appears more likely. Mariotti considered the poem to be an epistle in the same kind as Ovid's 'Heroides', and in particular a short epigrammatic epistle, just like the majority of the compositions of the whole collection.14 Therefore, I agree with Nocchi, according to whom the Bobbian epigram belongs to the epistolary genre and presents all the characteristics of a rhetorical exercise following "i moduli tipici di un'etopea epistolare proginnasmatica".15

The topic of the immodest Penelope during Ulysses's absence was common in rhetoric schools and had numerous followers in the scholastic debates and exercises of rhetorical composition, as Seneca recalls in letter 88, 8 where he criticises the liberal arts as an end in itself and wonders: *Quid inquiris an Penelope impudica fuerit, an verba saeculo suo dederit?*16 In this sense the rhetorical structure of the poem17 is

with nails, for Love negotiated his treaty in peace and silence. Afterwards, I did not summon anyone with quavering shout, nor did an elderly slave woman come running first to serve me: I myself picked up the tablets with becoming paleness [15], confessing the imposed load of young modesty."


not surprising: the first two verses are dedicated to the nostalgic memory of the long wait for her husband and have the function of preparing and justifying what is said in the following verses (3–14), which describe in detail the current condition of the queen, sincerely and deeply fallen in love with another man. At the end, in the last two verses of the lyric, the woman resolves to declare her love through a letter with the secret hope of having her feelings reciprocated by the man. However, the poet denies all the well-codified tradition and presents us with an immodest Penelope, surprisingly unmindful of her husband and ready to give in to a new passion of love. The opposite situation can be found in the Bobbian epigram 45, in which Dido protests against Virgil being guilty of disgracing her modesty by inventing her love story with Aeneas.18 The queen of Ithaca, mostly famous for her chastity and loyalty, unexpectedly shows herself to be a lustful woman when she lets herself indulge in a scene of intense eroticism. In a similar way, the unfortunate queen of Carthage, made the protagonist of an unhappy love story by the Virgilian *fabula*, also acknowledged by scholastic exegesis,19 reacts by turning into a model of *pudicitia* and marital fidelity. Dido defends herself from Virgil's defamatory accusations by denying any relationship with Aeneas, who would never have arrived in Libya and whom she would never meet. The Carthaginian queen now can re-establish the truth by affirming in first person that her suicide was not due to the *furor or crudus dolor* ('Epigr. Bob*.*' 45, 10) of an outraged love, but to her firm will to preserve her chastity, after escaping the fury and weapons of Iarba. Therefore, I agree with Mariotti's view when he notes that the two different images of the immodest Penelope and of the modest Dido would not be random in their respective epigrams. Rather, the two images would correspond to the same taste for the unconventional overturning of the common opinion by the collector of the Bobbian collection.20

Returning to the reading of the poem, James Butrica also questioned the title 'De Penelope'. According to him, the woman referred to in the poem is Sulpicia and not Penelope, brought into play simply as *exemplum pudoris*.21 Moreover, Butrica added that the title 'De Penelope' would seem to be inappropriate, because the female

21 Butrica (note 10), pp. 312–313.

<sup>18</sup> See Sabina Tuzzo, La castità di Didone (Epigr. Bob. 45 Sp.), in: Bollettino di Studi Latini 48 (2018), pp. 93–104.

<sup>19</sup> According to Servius Danielinus Dido's love is *contra dignitatem susceptus* (ad Aen. 4, 1), a *stuprum* (4, 29) rightly punished by death: *videtur et post amissam castitatem etiam iustus interitus* (4, 1). Moreover, Servius charges the queen with hypocrisy when she is given to believe that she nurses for Aeneas the same love feelings she nursed for her late husband: *bene inhonestam rem sub honesta specie con tetur, dicens se agnoscere maritalis coniugii ardorem* (ad Aen. 4, 23), with the meaningful explanatory note of Servius Danielinus: *nam erat meretricium dicere 'in amorem Aeneae incidi'*. See Luca Mondin, Didone hard-core, in: Incontri triestini di filologia classica 3 (2003–2004), pp. 227–246, here pp. 236–237.

<sup>20</sup> The original Italian text quotes: "allo stesso gusto per l'anticonformistico rovesciamento dell'opinione comune da parte del raccoglitore della silloge bobbiese", see Mariotti (note 14), p. 642 n. 12; Scevola Mariotti, Epigrammata Bobiensia, in: RE, Suppl. 9 (1962), cols. 37–64, here col. 46.

protagonist tells her love story in the first person. Therefore, it is not certain whether the title is to be attributed to the author or more likely to the person who edited the Bobbian collection, as suggested by Nocchi,22 because the formula 'De Penelope' is surely not accidental for the story of a dream and the torments of the awakening.

In the first six couplets of the poem, Penelope confesses her innermost feelings and is proud to have remained chaste in spite of the prolonged absence of her husband. Her status as single and forsaken woman led her to fall in love with another man, whose love Penelope was not able to resist, as shown by some dreams, which the queen believed she lived as if they were true. In the last two couplets, as she was about to wake up from the dream, Penelope looks to be conscious and self-confident, and claims that she did not need to ask anyone for help. Now she is ready and decided to send a letter to her lover in order to confess her love to him and so rid herself of that load on her conscience due to her adulterous relationship.

The poem opens as a *prosopopoeia*, a rhetorical device in which a speaker or writer communicates to the audience by speaking as another person. This figure of speech was often used to give another perspective on the action being described. Just so at the beginning of this epigram, where Penelope describes herself as a chaste and modest woman, so much so that she often does not even kiss her son Telemachus. The opening past participle *intemerata* has called the attention of some critics, who considered the poem to be a mutilated composition. In the first couplet, the subject is indeed not expressed, but it cannot be anyone other than Penelope, as the reference to the suitors and Telemachus leads us to believe without any doubt. As proposed by Bernardini,23 the problem may be solved by moving the third couplet (vv. 5–6) before the second one (vv. 3–4), and considering *intemerata* and *servata* as appositions of *ego* of v. 5. However, as Mariotti has already pointed out,24 the actual order of the verses cannot be changed at all, because vv. 5–6 cannot be separated from vv. 7–8: the first verses talk about the false dreams, followed by the awakening in the second verses. Mariotti had hypothesised a *nominativus pendens*25 – furthermore that such a use of the nominative is certainly not unusual in the Bobbian collection 26 – with *intemerata*27 and *servata* referring to Penelope, as confirmed by a passage from Ovid, well known to the Bobbian poet: *Penelope mansit […] / inter tot iuvenes intemerata* 

<sup>22</sup> Nocchi (note 3), p. 234.

<sup>23</sup> Rossella Bernardini, Ricerche, annotazioni e osservazioni sul c. 36 'De Penelope', Epigrammata Bobiensia*,* in: Quaderni dell'Istituto di Lingua e Letteratura Latina 1 (1979), pp. 7–15, here pp. 12–13.

<sup>24</sup> Mariotti (note 14), p. 644; see also Nocchi (note 3), p. 235.

<sup>25</sup> Scevola Mariotti, Adnotatiunculae ad Epigrammata Bobiensia et Anthologiam Latinam*,* in: Philologus 100 (1956), pp. 323–326, here p. 324; Mariotti (note 14), p. 640.

<sup>26</sup> 'Epigr. Bob.' 5, 5; 38, 3; 52, 3; 67, 2.

<sup>27</sup> The use of *intemeratus* is actually frequent especially in late Latin, see Giordano Rampioni (note 11), p. 247.

*procos* ('*amor.'* 3, 4, 23 f.)28. Thus, if we consider v. 2 as a parenthesis, where the poet intended to emphasise the purity of the queen who barely kissed Telemachus, v. 1 might be linked directly to v. 3, which probably represents the direct consequence of *intemerata* and *servata*: the forced abstinence, to which Penelope would have been compelled, would have produced as a reaction the outburst of an overwhelming new amorous passion due to a sense of loneliness caused by Ulysses's long absence. Besides, the principle of cause and effect is marked by the adverb *hinc* (= *ideo*) with the meaning of origin, which directly links v. 3 to v. 1. Therefore v. 3, in fact, is perfectly consistent with what we read in the Bobbian code, and so the lesson *mea* in place of *me* is not necessary. It should be noted, however, that this substitution of *mea* in place of *me* was transmitted by the two oldest editions *A* and *V*, and adopted by Cazzaniga29 and Speyer in their respective editions (*ad l.*). Furthermore, and by the same premise, the substitution of the conjecture *luxit*30 in place of the transmitted *lusit* is also not necessary. On the other hand, Mariotti's opinion31 cannot be fully shared. While accepting the link *me lusit* – with the same meaning of Ovid 32 and Claudian33 – Mariotti explained it wrongly: *mea ipsius simplicitate decepta tuo amore flagravi* and considered *tibi* as a *dativus commodi*. Indeed, if we attribute the meaning of "naivety" to *virginitas*, it is then hard to understand the expressive effectiveness of the thought process, which is instead clear and coherent if *virginitas* keeps its proper sense.34 Moreover, the interpretation of this verse is also corroborated if we imagine that in these verses Penelope states that virginity, preserved for such a long time, mocked her, unable to withstand the birth of a new love.35

Whom Penelope addresses with *tibi* remains to be seen. Certainly not Ulysses, as hypothesised by some critics,36 who actually based their hypothesis on another one already put forward by Marx.37 According to Marx, the theme of the dream dates back to Homer's Odyssey ('Od.' 20, 87–90). Here Penelope confessed to have


<sup>28</sup> English translation by Grant Showerman, Ovid in Six Volumes, vol. 1: Heroides and Amores, Cambridge MA, London 1971, p. 461: "Penelope […] remained inviolate among so many youthful wooers." Cf. also Prop. 2, 9, 3 f. *Penelope poterat bis denos salva per annos / vivere.*

<sup>29</sup> Ignazio Cazzaniga, Note marginali agli Epigrammi Bobbiesi, in: Studi italiani di Filologia classica 32 (1960), pp. 146–155, here p. 154.

<sup>30</sup> Canter *ap.* Munari (note 1); Cazzaniga (note 29), p. 154; Giordano Rampioni (note 11), p. 248.

dreamt she was sleeping with a man like her husband. However, as Mariotti 38 has already rightly observed, "il tono di acceso erotismo e il senso del peccato che percorrono tutto il carme non si accordano con una dichiarazione di conservata fedeltà". Furthermore, in the Homeric epic Penelope enjoys the dream, imagining that she really slept with her husband; on the contrary, in the Bobbian poem the erotic dream deeply upsets Penelope's modesty (v. 15 *verecundo pallor*) and lays heavy on her conscience (v. 16 *tener pudoris onus*).39 Moreover, at v. 7 Penelope speaks of *ignotos dolores*, that is, she had already experienced previous feelings probably for a man other than Ulysses. Therefore, in this poem it can perhaps be supposed, in contrast to the situation presented, that the poet recalled Dido's confession to her sister Anna in book IV of the Aeneid, which comes to a climax in the tremendously meaningful expression: *adgnosco veteris vestigia flammae* (v. 23). Here *adgnosco* probably has to be translated "I recognise", as this verb means the recognition, *agnitio,* that puts an end to the dramatic events. Dido feels the emotions already felt for her husband, and recognises the fire of the first love from *vestigia*, the signs which still remain in her mind and have now become more intense. The value of these metaphors (*vestigia* as "love signs", and *flamma* as "burning love") likely allude to some old healed scars of love, which are now opening again, and which Dido can at once recognise because she had already experienced them in the past. Penelope reveals an uncontrollable new passion for another man instead.

The Bobbian poet, like Virgil, uses a well-known erotic *topos: facibus adultis*, that is fire as a metaphor for the passion of love. This *topos*, of Hellenistic origin,40 was already well known in Archaic Greek lyric.41 The image, repeated both in v. 3 *facibus adultis* and in v. 4 *arsit verus amor*, functions as a description of the new overwhelming passion of Penelope,42 as suggested by the link *verus amor* dating back to Propertius, who states: *verus amor nullum novit habere modum* (2, 15, 30), and as also stylistically emphasised by the emphatic position of the keyword (*amor*) at the end of the verse, by the hyperbaton and the double alliteration *arsit / amor* and *vidua / verus*, and finally by the expression *vidua principe*,43 placed in the middle between *arsit* and *amor*, which represents the queen's natural reaction to her condition of *vidua*.

42 Butrica (note 10), p. 319.

<sup>38</sup> Mariotti (note 14), p. 642.

<sup>39</sup> Nocchi (note 3), p. 236.

<sup>40</sup> Josef Svennung, Catulls Bildersprache, Uppsala, Leipzig 1945, pp. 16–17; Giuseppe Giangrande, Trois épigrammes de l'Anthologie, in: Revue des Études Grecques 81 (1968), pp. 47–66, here pp. 53–54; Dante Nardo, La sesta satira di Giovenale e la tradizione erotico-elegiaca latina, Padova 1973, p. 36 n. 59; Paola Pinotti, Presenze elegiache nella V Satira di Persio, in: Alfonso Traina (ed.), Satura. Studi in memoria di E. Pasoli, Bologna 1981, pp. 47–72, here p. 61.

<sup>41</sup> Giuseppe Spatafora, Il fuoco d'amore. Storia di un topos dalla poesia greca arcaica al romanzo bizantino. 1: L'immagine del fuoco nella poesia di età arcaica e classica, in: Myrtia 22 (2007), pp. 19–33.

<sup>43</sup> The same *iunctura* referred to Penelope is in Plaut. Stich. 1 ff.: *credo ego miseram / fuisse Penelopam / […] / quae tam diu vidua / viro suo carui*t.

With reference to vv. 5–8, in which Penelope recounts the frequent dreams deeply upsetting her senses, the Bobbian poet drew inspiration from some Ovidian female dreams.44 I refer in particular to '*her*.' 15, 123 ff., where, while dreaming, Sappho is talking to Phaon. Her words: *veris simillima verba / eloquor* (v. 131 f.), can be compared with Penelope's words in v. 6: *lapsaque non merito sunt mihi verba sono*.

In v. 8 of the Bobbian epigram, the adjective *sicca*, with reference to the lack of pleasure experienced by Penelope, recalls v. 134 of the Ovidian epistle: *siccae non licet esse mihi*, which alludes to the pleasure experienced by the poetess of Lesbos in her dream. According to Mariotti,45 instead the the 'Metamorphoses' author of the Bobbian epigram was probably also influenced by the tale of Byblis in of Ovid (9, 450–665). Here the female protagonist sends a letter to her brother to reveal her love for him. Both Penelope and Byblis are guilty: Penelope is guilty of adulterous love, while Byblis, madly in love with her twin brother Caunus, is guilty of incest. Awakened, Byblis does not let herself be overwhelmed by carnal thoughts, but when asleep she often dreams of being embraced by her twin brother: *spes tamen obscenas animo demittere non est / ausa sua vigilans; placida resoluta quiete / saepe videt quod amat; visa est quoque iungere fratri / corpus et erubuit, quamvis sopita iacebat* (9, 468–471).46 The two women are flooded with conflicting sensations and feelings such as dismay and modesty, love and reason. Both of them are aware of their sinful behaviour, but neither of them wants to give up on their own amorous passion, despite the fact that they feel remorse, as revealed by Penelope's pallor of shame (v. 6 *lapsaque non merito sunt mihi verba sono; v. 15 verecundo […] pallore*) and Byblis's blush (v. 471 *erubuit quamvis sopita iacebat*), explicitly called *putibunda* in v. 568. Just as the queen of Ithaca unconditionally yields to the embraces, even if only in the dream – *paruit indulgens et sine voce dolor* (v. 10) – so Byblis hopes that she will soon go back to dreaming of joining her brother: *saepe licet simili redeat sub imagine somnus / testis abest somno, nec abest imitata voluptas* (9, 480–481)47.

About the expression *nova femina* of v. 5, I think that the interpretation of Munari does not work.48 According to him, the attribute *nova* should be interpreted as *rudis, imperita*. From the first verses, indeed, Penelope appears to be a self-confident woman, capable of resisting the flattery of her suitors. Since Penelope is a married woman, her reputation of *virginitas* cannot definitively refer to her inexperience. *Nova* probably

<sup>44</sup> Mariotti (note 14), p. 643.

<sup>45</sup> Bernardini (note 22), p. 9; Mariotti (note 14), pp. 643–644.

<sup>46</sup> English translation by Frank Justus Miller, Ovid in Six Volumes, vol. 4: Metamorphoses, Cambridge MA 1984, p. 37: "Still in her waking hours she would not admit impure desires to her mind; but when she is relaxed in peaceful slumber, she often has visions of her love: she sees herself clasped in her brother's arms and blushes, though she lies sunk in sleep."

<sup>47</sup> English translation by Miller (note 46), p. 37: "still may sleep often return with a dream like that! A dream lacks a witness, but does not lack a substitute joy."

<sup>48</sup> Munari (note 1), *ad l*.

better refers to the present situation of the queen,49 who, after many years of chastity spent with her husband absent, regains her femininity and feels the need to rekindle her sexual drives at last. This can explain her trembling experienced during the night, caused by new erotic drives imagined in the dream, as well as the words that the queen utters with an undignified sound. The expression *non merito* evidently refers to the sound of Penelope's words, not to the meaning of her words themselves. Therefore, Penelope does not deny what she said, but she regrets the way she said it.

I entirely agree with Nocchi's opinion that "Penelope confessi con un certo imbarazzo di essersi abbandonata a sensazioni di una tale intensità da non essere più riuscita a controllare le espressioni del proprio piacere".50 The queen is living her dream experience as a real event, as proved by the link *tamen […] experrecta*, which has to be interpreted as suggested by Mariotti, namely in the meaning of *quamvis experrecta*.51 In vv. 7–8 she interrupts the description of her dream, and states that even when awake she experienced unknown love pains, the same *dolores*52 which we find in v. 10 as a synonym of *amor*.53 Thus, the attribute *sicca* in v. 8 refers to Penelope, who, now awake, but troubled by dreams, fingers the bed-clothes with a fearful hand. The queen looks for some signs of sexual excitement54 in order to check whether what she has just dreamt was mere imagination or truth.55Giordano Rampioni links *sicca* to *strata* in reference to the empty bed, where Penelope and the mysterious man of her dreams probably had not had intercourse.56 This image recalls a similar situation in Ovid ('*her*.' 15, 134 *siccae non licet esse mihi*).

In vv. 9–12 Penelope once more addresses the receiver of the poem with *tibi*, linked to *tibi* of v. 3, in order to tell him her dreams, which even after she has awakened, bring her anxiety and upset. In this sense, the transmitted *nam*, introducing v. 9, evidently has an explanatory value and is very appropriate. In this case, therefore, the emendation *nunc*, suggested by Giordano Rampioni,57 who gives her

55 Although in a different context the image of the hand fingering the bed-clothes is in Ov. her. 10, 53 f. *et tua, quae possum pro te, vestgia tango, / strataque quae membris intepuere tuis*, where Ariadne fingers the bed-clothes in the fruitless search for her lover Theseus, while being clearly aware of having been abandoned by him. Moreover, in Auson. ephem. 8, 14–15 (Roger P. H. Green, The Works of Ausonius, Oxford 1991) *totum […] lectum / pertractat secura manus*, the woman fingers the bed-clothes with a *secura* not *pavente* hand, even though well aware of unhappy love affairs and night-time pleasures: see Mariotti (note 14), p. 643.

<sup>49</sup> Giordano Rampioni (note 11), p. 248; Nocchi (note 3), p. 238.

<sup>50</sup> Nocchi (note 3), p. 239.

<sup>51</sup> Mariotti (note 14), p. 642 n. 13.

<sup>52</sup> Mariotti (note 14), p. 642 and n. 14.

<sup>53</sup> Munari (note 1), *ad l*.

<sup>54</sup> On the erotic significance of *sicca* cf. Mart. 11, 81, 2 *iacet in medio sicca puella toro*. More generally cf. Ov. her. 1, 7, where Penelope says the same thing: *non ego deserto iacuissem frigida toro*.

<sup>56</sup> Giordano Rampioni (note 11), pp. 242–243. Nowhere else does the attribute *sicca* refer to *strata*.

<sup>57</sup> Giordano Rampioni (note 11), p. 250.

loose interpretation of the poem, is unnecessary. According to Giordano Rampioni, Penelope may first have reminded Ulysses, just returned home, of his long absence, and then immediately spent the night with him. This hypothesis obviously seems quite unlikely. Indeed, it is not clear why the queen should have reported to Ulysses what he should have already known by having personally taken part in that night. In these verses, the love quarrels transform into total abandonment to the man, and Penelope's femininity shows itself through the force of repressed passion, which causes an unexpected tenderness and transport. The feelings of the two lovers are expressed through the language of erotic lexicon: the military metaphor *bella moventi* refers to the battles of love, as already described in Tibullus 58 and Ovid; 59 the participle *anhelanti* is indicative of the physical attraction of the man for the woman, as if he were overwhelmed by passion. Even in this case we can find the participle *anhelanti* with the same sense as in Tibullus: *dare anhelanti pugnantibus umida linguis / oscula et in collo figere dente notas* (1, 8, 37 f.).60 Moreover, the attribute *suprema*, referring to *bella*, is indicative of how the ever stronger passion of the man certainly does not leave the woman insensitive, in her turn victim of her inner torments, and unable to resist the final insistences of the man, to which she gives in, yielding and speechless. The intensity of Penelope's passion recalls a refined literary echo, referred to in some well-known motifs of the Latin elegy. The poet uses these motifs dear to the Latin elegy to tell a love story, where there is nothing unreal or awesome. The queen thus feels powerless against the man and is not even able to pretend resistance by defending herself tooth and nail, because love has negotiated a treaty between them. The mention of the extramarital *foedus* firstly recalls Catullus, who, in order to remedy a love affair configured as adultery, changes the symbolic image of the conjugal bond into the *foedus amoris*.61 Catullus has always respected the *foedus amoris* without ever violating the *fides*, as solemnly declared in carme 76 (vv. 3 f. *nec sanctam violasse fidem, nec foedere nullo / divum ad fallendos numine abusum homines*).62 From this point of view, true love cannot exist if not outside of marriage, for within the bond of marriage husband and wife have precise duties towards each other, and the daily familiar routine might weaken the intensity of strong emotions and feelings due to unsatisfied passion and desire. The elegiac poet therefore feels the need to make a new

<sup>58</sup> Tib. 1, 10, 53 f. *sed Veneris tunc bella calent, scisoque capillos / femina perfractas*.

<sup>59</sup> Ov*.* ars*.* 2, 146.

<sup>60</sup> *Dare anhelanti pugnantibus umida linguis / oscula et in collo figere dente notas* (1, 8, 37 f.). English translation by John Percival Postgate, Tibullus, Cambridge MA 1988, p. 235: "for giving wet kisses with quickened breath and struggling tongue and printing the teeth's marks on his neck". This couplet recalls Lucr. 4, 1108 f. *adfigunt avide corpus iunguntque salivas / oris et inspirant pressantes dentes ora*.

<sup>61</sup> Paolo Fedeli, Poesia d'amore latina, Torino 1998, p. XVII.

<sup>62</sup> *Nec sanctam violasse fidem, nec foedere nullo / divum ad fallendos numine abusum homines.* English translation by Francis Warre-Cornish, Catullus, Cambridge MA, London 1988, p. 155: "and that he has not broken sacred faith, nor in any compact has used the majesty of the gods in order to deceive men".

*foedus*, which upholds the laws of love despite not having legal value.63 While on this subject, it is useful to recall Propertius' elegy 2, 7, where the poet welcomes the repeal of a law against celibacy, which would force him to abandon Cynthia because of her lower social class. The two final lines of the poem are very interesting. Here Propertius reiterates the power of his *foedus* with Cynthia, and the exclusive feelings he has for the *puella*, who inspires in him a more intense and deeper love than feelings towards fatherhood: *tu mihi sola places: placeam tibi, Cynthia, solus: / hic erit et patrio nomine pluris amor*.64 The double poliptoto and chiasmus are useful to emphasise the reciprocity and intensity of the passion between the poet and his beloved woman.

In vv. 13–14, Penelope's state of enjoyment is described. The oldest two editions, *V* and *A*, as well as Munari 65 and Speyer,66 transmit the lesson *aviam*, while the Bobbian code has *animam*, which is clearly wrong. According to Mariotti 67 *aviam* may be an adjustment by Ugoletus, the editor of *V*, instead. Even Gazzaniga's 68 amendment *famulam*, which recalls *anus* of the following line, seems excessive. The conjecture *quemquam*, proposed by Traina,69 might be more appropriate, at least coherent with the logical train of thought. *Quemquam* indeed might disclose the mood of Penelope, who, while dreaming, did not offer any resistance to the man's passion. Thus, now awake, well aware of her new passion and self-confident, she does not feel the need to call anyone for help, not even her old female slave, always ready to rush to her call.

The last two lines of the poem have some interpretation problems. The meaning of the expression *tetigi puellas*, transmitted by the two oldest editions *V* and *A*, is hard to grasp. In Munari's 70 opinion, *tetigi puellas* means "*movi […] iuvenes ancillas*", but Munari, sceptical of the meaning of *tetigi*, suggested *didici* with the meaning of *docui*. Mariotti,71 however, rightly wondered: "che cosa c'entrano le giovani ancelle […] dopo che Penelope ha stretto il silenzioso patto con l'uomo senza nemmeno rivolgersi ad alcuno per aiuto"? The presence of the young maids does not make any sense in this context, after Penelope has negotiated a silent treaty with the man without even addressing anyone for help. So, instead of the transmitted *puellas*,


<sup>63</sup> Antonio De Caro, Si qua fides. Gli amores di Ovidio e la persuasione elegiaca, Palermo 2003, p. 51.

<sup>64</sup> English translation by H. E. Butler, Propertius, Cambridge MA, London 1967, p. 83: "Thou only pleasest me; let me in like manner, Cynthia, be thy only pleasure: love such as this will be worth more to me than the name of father."

Mariotti conjectured *tabellas*, which matches the interpretation of considering the composition as a letter sent by Penelope to her lover in order to sincerely confess her love to him. The same situation can be found in the above-mentioned letter of Byblis to her brother, in which the woman confesses her love to him: *miserere fatentis amorem / et non fassurae, nisi cogeret ultimus ardor* ('*met*.' 9, 561 f.).72 In the myth of Byblis, moreover, the noun *tabellae* is often used and even in the same position at the end of the hexameter.73 Therefore, Penelope, despite the paleness of her face because of the embarrassment of shame, "picks up" the tablets to confess her feelings directly to the man, and to share a long-hidden secret that disturbed her conscience.74

At the beginning of v. 15 we have also to observe the emphatic pronoun *ipsa*, followed by the alliteration *tetigi / tabellas*, which works to underline the impatience of Ulysses's bride, who cannot wait to open her heart to her lover. Furthermore, Penelope's confession sounds still more meaningful thanks to the use of *fateor,* a particularly solemn verb, as attested by the term *fatum*, indicating generically what is said and in particular the immutable oracle response. Tiberius Donatus clearly distinguishes *fateor* and *for*. He states that *fateor* has especially to be used for reporting something to be kept hidden or confessing something.75

#### Conclusion

Finally, it can be said that this composition is a monologue, a short speech presented by a single character most often to directly address the audience. During her speech Penelope expresses her thoughts aloud, and her emotions and feelings play an important role here. Through the words uttered by the queen herself, the poet conducts a detailed psychological analysis of Penelope's attitude and describes every single aspect of it. The female protagonist of the poem admits a very strong attraction towards the man and, overwhelmed by passion, has no intention of giving him up. The woman's sense of frustration and resignation turns into enthusiasm, and she feels as though she was almost waking up to a new life. Dreams reveal a new reality to Penelope, who becomes aware of her unspeakable passion and her most hidden desires, in which now she indulges without any hesitation. In order to describe Penelope's mood at that time exactly, the poet makes use of the lexicon, which

<sup>72</sup> *Miserere fatentis amorem / et non fassurae, nisi cogeret ultimus ardor* (met. 9, 561 f.). English translation by Miller (note 46), p. 43: "Pity her who confesses to you her love, but who would not confess if the utmost love did not compel her."

<sup>73</sup> Ov. met. 9, 523; 571; 575; 587; 604.

<sup>74</sup> In the last line of the composition, instead of the transmitted *opus* that does not make much sense here, Sebisius assumes *onus*, accepted also by Mariotti (note 14), p. 647 n. 28 and by Nocchi (note 3), p. 243. This conjecture is confirmed by Ov. trist. 3, 4, 62 *impositumque sibi firma tuetur onus*.

<sup>75</sup> Gabriella Focardi Monami, Fateor, in: Enciclopedia Virgiliana, vol. 2 (1985), pp. 472–473, here p. 472.

refers to that of Latin erotic poetry. While sleeping, Penelope's unconscious lets go of everything that reason holds back, and releases disturbing thoughts and desires, just like those of the Virgilian Dido. The same dreams and nightmares trouble the Carthaginian queen (*Anna soror, quae me suspensam insomnia terrent!*).76 The oath of loyalty to her husband Sychaeus and her condition as a queen prevent Dido from admitting her new passion for Aeneas. Precisely thanks to the *insomnia,* Dido becomes aware of her unconfessable passion and ends up breaking the oath and the laws of modesty. Virgil comments: *his dictis impenso animum inflammavit amore / spemque dedit dubiae menti solvitque pudorem ('Aen*.' 4, 54 f.).77

Returning to Penelope's epigram, the real climax of the story can be perceived only in the last two verses, when the woman, pale with shame, declares her love for her beloved man in a letter. In this way, Penelope abandons herself unreservedly to her new love. Her doing this represents the final seal of a love monologue, started in her imagination, very far from reality, and described with constant references to the classical tradition.

<sup>76</sup> English translation by Henry Rushton Fairclough, Virgil in Two Volumes, vol. 1: Eclogues, Georgics, Aeneid I–VI, Cambridge MA 1967, p. 397: "Anna, my sister, what dreams thrill me with fears?"

<sup>77</sup> English translation by Rushton Fairclough (note 76), p. 401: "With these words she famed into flame the queen's love-enkindled heart, put hope in her wavering mind, and loosed the bonds of shame."

# The Semantisation of Space in Sulpicius Severus' 'Vita Sancti Martini'

Abstract The article follows a relatively recent trend in applying modern narratological analysis tools to late antique hagiographic texts, a genre that has hardly been touched on by such approaches. It provides a spatial narratological close-reading of three exemplary episodes from Sulpicius Severus' 'Vita Sancti Martini'. First, it focuses on Sulpicius' account of how Martin converts a robber in the dangerous Alps (Mart. 5, 4–6), then on the protagonist's encounter with a pagan funeral procession (Mart. 12). Finally, it analyses an episode in which Martin is tempted by the Devil in his bare monk's cell (Mart. 24, 4–8).

The study is based on the spatial narratological model proposed by Birgit Haupt and also draws on Jurij M. Lotman's semantic model of space. It works out that the narrative space of Sulpicius' hagiographic description of the life of St Martin is more than just a mere background foil against which the events are narrated. Rather, it has its own semantics that highlight, illustrate and enlarge the holiness and power of its ascetic and hermit hero.

Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag folgt einem noch relativ jungen Trend, moderne narratologische Analysekategorien auf spätantike hagiographische Texte anzuwenden, eine Textgattung, die in dieser Hinsicht bislang kaum untersucht wurde. Hierzu werden drei exemplarische Episoden aus der ,Vita Sancti Martini' des Sulpicius Severus einem raumnarratologischen *close-reading* unterzogen. Zunächst liegt der Fokus auf Sulpicius' Bericht, wie Martin in den lebensfeindlichen Alpen einen Räuber zum Christentum bekehrt (Mart. 5, 4–6). Im Anschluss richtet sich der Blick auf eine Episode, in der der Protagonist mit einer heidnischen

Andreas Abele: The Semantisation of Space in Sulpicius Severus' 'Vita Sancti Martini'. In: Fafinski, Mateusz and Riemenschneider, Jakob (Eds.): The Past Through Narratology, 57–72. Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2022 (Das Mittelalter. Perspektiven mediävistischer Forschung /

#### Contact

Dr. Andreas Abele, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Philologisches Seminar, Wilhelmstraße 36, 72074 Tübingen, andreas.abele@uni-tuebingen.de https://orcid.org/0000-0002- 1859-7912

Begräbnisprozession konfrontiert wird (Mart. 12). Zuletzt folgt eine Analyse von Sulpicius' Erzählung von einer Begegnung zwischen Martin und dem Teufel, der ihn in seiner kargen Mönchszelle in Versuchung führt (Mart. 24, 4–8).

Die Untersuchung basiert auf dem raumnarratologischen Model von Birgit Haupt und wird teilweise erweitert durch das raumsemantische Konzept von Jurij M. Lotman. Hierbei zeigt sich, dass der narrative Raum in Sulpicius' hagiographischer Darstellung des Lebens des Heiligen Martin mehr ist als eine reine Hintergrundfolie, vor der die erzählten Ereignisse stattfinden. Vielmehr besitzt er seine eigene Semantik, die die Heiligkeit und Macht des asketischen und anachoretischen Helden hervorhebt, illustriert und letztlich sogar noch umfassender erscheinen lässt.

Narratological analyses have become more and more numerous in classical philology,1 at the latest since Irene de Jong's groundbreaking studies on the Homeric epics.2 Such approaches are now also taken for granted in the research on the Old and New Testament as well as on apocryphal books.3

Recently, narratology has started to be used for late antique hagiography as well.4 An extremely promising category of narratological analysis for the study of

<sup>1</sup> For a detailed diachronic summary of the development of narratology in Classics in general and in the 'epic' genre in particular see: Robert Kirstein, Andreas Abele and Hans-Peter Nill, Narratology and Classical Epic, in: Christiane Reitz and Simone Finkmann (eds.), Structures of Epic Poetry, vol. 1: Foundations, Berlin, Boston 2019, pp. 99–113; Irene J. F. de Jong, Narratology and Classics. A Practical Guide, Oxford 2014, pp. 3–15.

<sup>2</sup> See Irene J. F. de Jong, Narrators and Focalizers. The Presentation of the Story in the Iliad, Amsterdam 1989; Irene J. F. de Jong, Narratology and Oral Poetry. The Case of Homer, in: Poetics Today 12 (1991), pp. 405–423; Irene J. F. de Jong, A Narratological Commentary on the Odyssey, Cambridge 2001.

<sup>3</sup> For a concise overview see Sönke Finnern, Narration in Religious Discourse. The Example of Christianity, in: Peter Hühn et al. (eds.), The Living Handbook of Narratology, Hamburg, http://www.lhn.uni-hamburg.de/article/narration-religious-discourse-example-christianity (9 November 2021). A list of narratological studies on the Old Testament is provided by Uta Schmidt, Narratologie und Altes Testament, in: Theologische Literaturzeitung 143 (2018), pp. 423–438. Concerning the New Testament and apocryphal books see e. g. Sönke Finnern and Jan Rüggemeier, Methoden der neutestamentlichen Exegese. Ein Lehr- und Arbeitsbuch, Tübingen 2016, pp. 173–194; Philipp Augustin, Die Juden im Petrusevangelium. Narratologische Analyse und theologiegeschichtliche Kontextualisierung, Berlin et al. 2015; Sönke Finnern, Narratologie und biblische Exegese. Eine integrative Methode der Erzählanalyse und ihr Ertrag am Beispiel von Matthäus 28, Tübingen 2010; Ute E. Eisen, Die Poetik der Apostelgeschichte. Eine narratologische Studie, Fribourg 2006. Many narratological publications on the Gospel of Mark are listed in Martin Ebner and Bernhard Heininger, Exegese des Neuen Testaments. Ein Arbeitsbuch für Lehre und Praxis, Paderborn 2018, pp. 131–132, providing an exemplary analysis of Mark 2, 1–3, 6 on pp. 113–118.

<sup>4</sup> Esp. Leyla Telli, Narrative Analysis of Bethu Brigte, in: Stephan Conermann and Jim Rheingans (eds.), Narrative Pattern and Genre in Hagiographic Life Writing. Comparative

hagiographic texts is the narrative representation of space.5 One needs only to think of the stereotypical and semantically highly charged settings in Christian martyr narratives (e. g. prisons, arenas), of the places hostile to life in which emaciated desert fathers lived their ascetic lives, or of those pillars on which hermits dwelt as a sign of their strict asceticism, to name only three illustrative examples. In general, narrative space has attracted increasing attention in recent years,6 not least in Classics.7 In

Perspectives from Asia to Europe (Narratio Aliena? Studien des Bonner Zentrums für Transkulturelle Narratologie 7), Berlin 2014, pp. 43–58; Christa Gray, 'Holy and Pleasing to God'. A Narratological Approach to Hagiography in Jerome's Lives of Paul and Malchus, in: Ancient Narrative 14 (2017), pp. 103–128; Andreas Abele, Ut fidem dictis adhibeant. 'Distanz' und 'Fokalisation' in der 'Mantelteilung' des Heiligen Martin (zu Sulp. Sev. Mart. 2–3), in: Mnemosyne 73 (2020), pp. 633–658; Nienke Vos, The Ambiguity of the Devil. A Discourse-Linguistic Reading of Sulpicius Severus' Vita Martini 21 and 24, in: Eva Elm and Nicole Hartmann (eds.), Demons in Late Antiquity. Their Perception and Transformation in Different Literary Genres (Transformationen der Antike 54), Berlin, Boston 2020, pp. 135–150; Christoph Brunhorn, Peter Gemeinhardt and Maria Munkholt Christensen (eds.), Narratologie und Intertextualität. Zugänge zu spätantiken Text-Welten (Seraphim 7), Tübingen 2020.


the context of the 'spatial turn', space was rehabilitated and now forms an equally important pillar of narratological analysis as the previously predominant category of time.8 It is no longer perceived as an unchangeable and static background element but rather as a fluid, subjectively perceivable and processed constituent. In contrast to the diachronic orientation of time, spatial approaches emphasise synchronicity and spatial juxtapositions of objects, figures and actions. Decisive for literary studies is the realisation that "literary space is no static factor which is detached from the plot and figures, but a dynamically integrated one which does not only provide a framework for the narrative but which is also a functional component of the narrated world which itself develops 'protagonist qualities'".9 However, in the field of hagiographical studies, narrative space has almost completely been ignored so far.

The objective of this article is to be a small step towards filling this research gap by analysing the narrative space in Sulpicius Severus' 'Life of St Martin' based on the spatial narratological model proposed by Birgit Haupt*.* In addition to Seymour B. Chatman's notion of 'discourse space'10 and Ruth Ronen's model of 'spatial frames',11 which are occasionally more established in the English-speaking world, Haupt's alternative model is a useful tool to analyse concrete text passages from

Ancient Christianity. Essays on Late Antique Thought and Culture in Honor of R. A. Markus, Ann Arbor 1999, pp. 188–206; Robert A. Markus, How on Earth Could Places Become Holy? Origins of the Christian Idea of Holy Places, in: Journal of Early Christian Studies 2 (1994), pp. 257–271.


a spatial narratological perspective.12 After a short theoretical introduction into her concept, it will be applied to the 'Vita Martini', one of the best-known and most influential late antique hagiographic texts, composed by the Gallic aristocrat and convert Sulpicius Severus in 396 AD.13 Its protagonist, the author's contemporary, Martin of Tours (316/7–397), has not only been the patron saint of France ever since the Merovingian period, and is widely present in Christian literature and art across ages.14 To the present day, he still is one of the most famous and popular saints of the western church. The analysis of the narrative space of three exemplary episodes in the 'Vita Martini' will demonstrate a part of the semantisation of space within Sulpicius' text. It will be shown that its narrative space serves in an implicit way, by the narrative presentation itself, to reinforce the protagonist's power, which is broadly presented in terms of content. It is the interaction of *fabula* and *story*, to use Irene de Jong's terminology,15 that makes Sulpicius' account more credible within the framework of biographical or hagiographical authenticity.16 This is exactly what he stated as his main goal in the proem of the 'Vita Martini': "This I ask my future readers: that they give credence to my words."17


<sup>12</sup> See e. g. Kirstein, Raum – Antike (note 8); Robert Kirstein, Zeit, Raum, Geschlecht. Ovids Erzählung von Hermaphrodit und Salmacis (Metamorphosen 4.271–388), in: Wolfgang Polleichtner (ed.), Literatur- und Kulturtheorie und altsprachlicher Unterricht (Didaskalika 1), Speyer 2018, pp. 99–145; Robert Kirstein, Der sehende Drache. Raumnarratologische Überlegungen zu Ovids Metamorphosen, in: Christoph Kugelmeier (ed.), Translatio humanitatis, St. Ingbert 2015; Nill (note 9), pp. 141–152 and 280–284.

<sup>13</sup> For a biographical outline see Sulpicius Severus' Vita Martini, ed. by Philip Burton, Oxford 2017, pp. 1–7; Sulpicius Severus, Vita Sancti Martini. Das Leben des heiligen Martin. Lateinisch / Deutsch. Übersetzungen, Anmerkungen und Nachwort von Gerlinde Huber-Rebenich, Stuttgart 2010, pp. 101–103; Sulpicio Severo, Vita di Martino. Introduzione, testo, traduzione e commento di Fabio Ruggiero, Bologna 2003, pp. 11–17; Walter Berschin, Biographie und Epochenstil im lateinischen Mittelalter, Bd. 1: Von der Passio Perpetuae zu den Dialogi Gregors des Großen (Quellen und Untersuchungen zur lateinischen Philologie des Mittelalters 8), Stuttgart 1986, pp. 195–196; Clare Stancliffe, St. Martin and his Hagiographer. History and Miracle in Sulpicius Severus, Oxford 1983, pp. 15–107; Sulpice Sévère, Vie de Saint Martin, tome 1: Introduction, Texte et Traduction (SChr 133), by Jacques Fontaine, Paris 1967, pp. 54–58.

#### Birgit Haupt's Spatial Narratological Model

The spatial narratological model developed by Birgit Haupt is based on Elisabeth Ströker's philosophical concepts of space.18 Like the spatial notions of Ströker and Gerhard Hoffmann, who introduced it into literary studies,19Haupt's model is a tripartite one distinguishing between "tuned space" (*TS*; "Gestimmter Raum"), "action space" (*AS*; "Handlungsraum") and "viewed space" (*VS*; "Anschauungsraum").20 However, this does not imply a strict separation of 'spaces', but rather describes different modalities or possibilities of accentuation ("Akzentuierungsmöglichkeiten"). They are to be considered as different, overlapping and mutually non-exclusive layers which correspond to the three ways in which a subject can consciously perceive or experience space (by feeling, acting, seeing) and which can be accentuated in different ways (cf. Fig. 1).

In *Tuned Space* (*TS*), the focus lies on how the atmospheric setting of narrative space is perceived by a subject. The atmosphere or mood of space can be generated by different factors depending (1) on associations that a specific spatial setting triggers in a person perceiving it, or (2) on specific external circumstances in which a perceiving subject is placed. *TS* can be perceived quite differently by different text-internal figures as well as by different text-external recipients. Correspondingly, the concept of focalisation coined by Gérard Genette, i. e. the question through whose eyes, ears or other sensory organs a setting is perceived, is of great significance in this context.21 For instance, a Christian text-internal figure or text-external reader, respectively, who personally experiences an archaic pagan animal sacrifice or reads of it, perceives this setting quite differently than a devoted pagan figure or reader. Concerning the perspective of consciousness, *TS* correlates with the feeling and experiencing subject.

*Action Space* (*AS*), on the other hand, is accentuated when actions stand in the foreground of a narrative as well as the interaction between an acting subject and space. Here, a figure can be characterised by the way it acts within narrative space, especially in contrast to other figures' actions or to the expectation of the recipient. A figure might also interact with space by creating specific spatial structures, for example through moving.

For *Viewed Space* (*VS*), finally, visual perception is essential, especially the question of how a subject sees space and how space presents itself to the perceiving subject.

<sup>18</sup> Elisabeth Ströker, Philosophische Untersuchungen zum Raum, Frankfurt a. M. 1965.

<sup>19</sup> Gerhard Hoffmann, Raum, Situation, erzählte Wirklichkeit, Stuttgart 1978.

<sup>20</sup> Birgit Haupt, Zur Analyse des Raums, in: Peter Wenzel (ed.), Einführung in die Erzähltextanalyse. Kategorien, Modelle, Probleme, Trier 2004, pp. 69–87, esp. pp. 70–73. See also Kirstein, Raum – Antike (note 8), pp. 210–211. The English terminology used here follows the proposal by Kirstein, Introduction (note 8), p. 250.

<sup>21</sup> Cf. Kirstein, Introduction (note 8), pp. 251–252; Kirstein, Raum – Antike (note 8), p. 211. On Genette's notion of focalisation see: Gérard Genette, Figures III, Paris 1972, pp. 183–203; Gérard Genette, Die Erzählung, Paderborn 2010, pp. 104–118; Martínez and Scheffel (note 5), pp. 50–67.

Fig. 1 | Modalities and Perceptions of Narrative Space according to Haupt (note 20), p. 72.

Narrative space is always mediated by a narrator and, accordingly, individual spatial aspects of a narrative are strategically accentuated. Thus, for example, differing perceptions of space by several figures can be used as a means of indirect characterisation.

Apart from its emphasis on dynamic interdependencies, the major advantage of Haupt's phenomenological model is that the accentuation of a modality of narrative space can be identified by relatively concrete linguistic markers. In order to accentuate *TS,* adjectives are often used that explicitly name a certain atmosphere (safe / dangerous, bright / gloomy, beautiful / ugly), but also figures, objects and other spatial elements with certain – so to speak – 'natural' semantics such as executioners, graves or specific weather phenomena (e. g. a storm, sunshine). Verbs of movement, on the other hand, primarily accentuate *AS.* If verbs of sensory perception, especially of seeing and being seen, are in the foreground, accentuation shifts to *VS*.

### 'The Power of the Hermit': St Martin Converts a Robber in the Alps (Mart. 5, 4–6)

Haupt's model will first be applied to a passage at the opening of the 'Vita Martini'. After Martin had left the Roman army (Mart. 4) and had spent some time with Hilary of Poitiers (Mart. 5, 1–2), he decided, inspired by a dream, to visit his still pagan parents.22 On his way to his Pannonian birthplace Sabaria (today Szombathely in Hungary), he set out to cross the dangerous Alps and fell into the hands of a robber band. One of them was willing to kill Martin immediately with his axe but was prevented from doing so by one of his accomplices. After this, Martin was handed over to only one of the thieves. The latter brought him to a remote place and began to ask questions.23 Martin explained that he was a Christian, and when asked if he was afraid, he answered "with complete assurance that he had never been less so, as he knew the Lord's mercy would be specially present to help him in times of testing. Rather, he said, he felt sorry for the robber, who, in as much as he pursued a life of robbery, was unworthy of the mercy of Christ". After Martin had preached the Gospel, the robber confessed Christ, released Martin and led him back to his former way.24

Applying Haupt's spatial narratological model to this passage, one notices that, at first, accentuation lies on *TS.* The introductory authorial notes by the 'external primary narrator-focaliser' (to use Irene de Jong's terminology once again) 25 that Hilary enjoined Martin with many tears and entreaties (*precibus et lacrimis*) to come back and that Martin embarked on the journey to his birthplace with sadness (*maestus*) evokes a melancholic mood. This is intensified by Martin's testifying that he would suffer many adversities (*multa se adversa passurum*), which would be confirmed by the course of events. This foreshadowing of the dangers Martin would get into is then increased by naming the alpine mountains, which are in literary tradition connected with all sorts of threats,26 and by strikingly calling the path Martin chose *devia.* 


<sup>22</sup> On the difficulties concerning the chronology of these events and of Martin leaving the Roman army see: Timothy P. Barnes, Early Christian Hagiography and Roman History (Tria Corda 6), Tübingen 2010, pp. 207–208; Timothy P. Barnes, The Military Career of Martin of Tours, in: Analecta Bollandiana 114 (1996), pp. 25–32; Stancliffe (note 13), pp. 134–148; Ernest-Charles Babut, Saint Martin de Tours, Paris 1912, pp. 112–132.

<sup>23</sup> Mart. 5, 3–4: *Ex voluntate sancti Hilari profectus est, multis ab eo obstrictus precibus et lacrimis ut rediret. Maestus, ut ferunt, peregrinationem illam ingressus est, contestatus fratribus multa se adversa passurum; quod postea probavit eventus. Ac primum inter Alpes devia secutus incidit in latrones. Cumque unus securi elevata in caput eius librasset ictum, ferientis dexteram sustinuit alter; vinctis tamen post tergum manibus uni asservandus et spoliandus traditur. Qui cum eum ad remotiora duxisset, percontari ab eo coepit quisnam esset.* 

<sup>26</sup> In antiquity, the Alps were considered a dangerous place due to their harsh climate und natural forces. See Amm. 15, 10; Claud. 26, 340–348; Liv. 21 passim; Pol. 2, 15 and 3, 55; Sen. nat. 4, 2, 19; Strab. 4, 1, 12 and 6, 5. While areas along the main routes were Christianised from the fourth century onwards, more remote parts (cf. *devia*) are occasionally associated with pagan practices until the ninth century. However, caution is advised here since there are hardly any reliable sources on paganism in the Alps in post-antique times. Cf. Katharina Winckler, Die Alpen im Frühmittelalter. Die Geschichte eines Raumes in den Jahren 500 bis 800, Vienna, Cologne, Weimar 2012, pp. 173–184; Lutz E. von Padberg, Die Christianisierung Europas im Mittelalter, Stuttgart 1998, pp. 58–62; Jacques Fontaine, Sulpice Sévère. Vie de Saint Martin, tome 2: Commentaire (jusqu'à Vita 19) (SChr 134), Paris 1968, pp. 561–562. – In the context given, however, literary predecessors presenting alpine tribes as ferocious, reluctant and rebellious are probably more important (cf. Hor. carm. 4, 4, 17–24 and 4, 14, 7–16; Vell. 2, 90, 1).

This crescendo of foreshadowed dangers then culminates in the event that actually threatens Martin's life: *incidit in latrones.* That Martin leaves safe Gaul and enters the dangerous mountain range of the Alps, marked by a verb of movement (*ingressus est*) in combination with the participle of movement *secutus*, might be seen as an act of crossing semantic borders in the sense of Lotman's notion of 'event' (see below).

It is striking in this context that this transgressive act of the hero-agent coincides with a shift of accentuation from *TS* to *AS.* It also induces a process of both spatial and personal isolation as well as of atmospheric intensification: Martin started out from the caring Gallic Poitiers, where he led a secure life together with bishop Hilary, "whose faithfulness in the things of God at that time were well known and attested" (Mart. 5, 1) and his *fratres*, and proceeded via the alpine *devia,* which were controlled by pagan bandits, to even more remote regions: *ad remotiora.* The comparative is certainly not accidental here. In parallel with this spatial isolation, we can identify a personal, since only one of the thieves takes Martin to this remote place. Thus, the figural isolation is, in a way, made spatial. The verb of movement describing these actions, *ducere*  (as well as *tradere* before), continues to accentuate *AS*. This intertwined spatial and personal zoom-in, which is generated by the actions of the subjects within the narrative, prepares for the central event of this episode. For readers familiar with classical Latin literature, this creates suspense, since such narrative dispositions, primarily the atmospheric setting at the beginning, are often used, e. g. in Ovid's 'Metamorphoses', to initiate a dramatic transformation narrative.27 Even in the 'Vita Martini', this is not the only instance where we find such a disposition. The accounts of Martin bringing dead people back to life, for instance, are introduced by similar spatial and personal zoom-ins combined with comparable shifts of spatial accentuation.28

This spatialised isolation of the episode's main protagonists, however, serves not only to prepare atmospherically for the key event and to create suspense. This narrative also makes Martin's immaterial and inner hermit-like ascetic life spatial. It is in the framework of the latter that the very strength of his faith and the very trust in God's mercy at the moment of fear of death becomes apparent, which ultimately brings about the robber's conversion and the resolution of the conflict.

The strength of faith that comes to the fore here is a manifestation of Martin's eremitic life, which he would actually realise only later. At the very beginning of the 'Vita Martini', the narrator noted that Martin had already aspired to this ideal at the age of twelve. Although his young age still prevented him from becoming a hermit, he always pursued this goal in his heart (Mart. 2, 4). As Jacques Fontaine has already

<sup>27</sup> Some of these were analysed by Kirstein (note 12) from a spatial narratological point of view.

<sup>28</sup> Mart. 7–8. The same applies to the way Martin used to drive out evil spirits in possessed people described by Sulpicius in dial. 3, 6, 3. Similar 'spatial isolations' can also be found in other anachoretical life descriptions, sometimes combined with encounters with robber bands as well, see e. g. Athan. vit. Anton. 8–10, 12–13 and 49–50; Hier. vita Hilar. 3, 1–2; 6, 1–4; 31, 1–10, vita Malchi 4–5, vita Pauli 5; Dionys. Exig. vita Pachom. 12 (PL 73, 236–237); cf. Vitae patr. 7, 34–35 (PL 73, 1052–1053).

pointed out,29 it must also be stressed in this context that *remotiora,* the local adverb discussed earlier, evokes associations of an anachoretical life and of the desert as a place of penance, asceticism and encounter with God.

Thus, the isolation in the middle of the life-threatening Alps not only spatialises and updates Martin's wish from childhood, it also stands for his later ascetic and hermit-like life, which became most apparent in his foundation of a hermitage in Logociacum (today Ligugé near Poitiers), treated in Mart. 7, 1. It was also reinforced later when, having become a bishop, he established a 'monastery' (*monasterium*) for himself at Marmoutier (Mart. 10, 3–4). Both steps are to be considered as a (Western) adaption of the ascetic hermitism practised in the East.30 It is striking that the narrator tags Marmoutier with the adjective *remotus* as well, explicitly classifying the dwelling there as an equal substitute for an eremitic life in the desert: "This place was so remote and sequestered that it lacked none of the solitude of the wilderness." 31

At the same time, it is the strength of Martin's faith becoming manifest in his ascetic eremitic way of life that makes him fearless in the face of the robber, and that has the latter convert to Christianity. Thus, the narrative space in which the narrated events happen emphasises the power of the ascetic and hermit Martin.

This way of Christian life as pursued by Martin, however, was not accepted by all of his and Sulpicius' contemporaries, especially his fellow bishops,32 and so it had to be defended offensively in the saint's *vita.* With its specific spatial semantics and its typological connections to various stories from the New Testament, including a story about the apostle Paul, who is also said to have fallen into the hands of a robber band,33 the episode under discussion also serves to illustrate the equivalence of 'Martin the Ascetic' to, if not superiority over, his bishop colleagues.

### 'Master of Spaces': Martin and a Pagan (Sacrificial?) Procession (Mart. 12)

The second passage to be analysed leads us back to Gaul, but it fast-forwards us to the other, much larger part of the 'Vita Martini'. In this, its protagonist is primarily concerned with taking action against various expressions of misbelief and with performing miraculous healings and exorcisms.

<sup>29</sup> Fontaine (note 26), pp. 564–565, 671–672.

<sup>30</sup> Cf. Huber-Rebenich (note 13), pp. 81–82.

<sup>31</sup> Mart. 10, 4: *Qui locus tam secretus et remotus erat ut eremi solitudinem non desideraret.* Cf. Sulpicius' *remotior cellula* in Primuliacum (Sulp. dial. 1, 1, 4).

<sup>32</sup> Cf. Huber-Rebenich (note 13), pp. 114–115. For Martin's enemies see Babut (note 22), pp. 112–132.

<sup>33</sup> See 2 Corinthians 11, 26; cf. Luke 10, 30. Also see Burton (note 13), pp. 170–171; Fontaine (note 26), pp. 563–564.

One day, according to the beginning of chapter 12, Martin was on his way to some place not further specified in the narrative when he met a funeral procession carrying the body of a pagan to his grave. When the throng was still far away, he could not see what it actually was. From the fact that those people were peasants and that linen cloths were draped over the corpse and fluttering in the wind, he concluded that they were conducting pagan sacrificial rites. For there was in those times a "wretched madness", as the narrator emphasises, "among the Gallic peasants to carry images of the demons, covered with a white veil, around their territory".34

In order to have a closer look at these things, Martin held the sign of the cross against them and bade them not to move from their place but to lay down their burden. First, they were stiff as stones. Then, although trying hard to move forward, they were unable to proceed any further. They "span around in the most laughable state of giddiness, until, overwhelmed, they laid down their burden". After Martin had realised that it was 'only' a pagan funeral ceremony and not a sacrifice, he raised his hand and let them go on their way.35

Walter Berschin has drawn attention to the fact that by a conspicuous accumulation of military vocabulary, Martin is stylised here as an *imperator Dei.*36 A spatial narratological analysis of this episode can, however, reveal that even greater power is attributed to Martin than this analogy to a Roman general suggests; he is, in a sense, equipped with the omnipotence of the narrator itself.

At the beginning of this account, *AS* is obviously accentuated: Martin is on a journey (*dum iter ageret*), the funeral procession is coming towards him (*obvium haberet*), the corpse is being borne to its burial (*deferebatur*). But then, accentuation shifts to *VS* since Martin sees (*conspicatusque*) the things happening in front of him from a distance and, out of ignorance (*ignarus*) as to what it is, stands still for a while (*paululum stetit*), observing the procession still approaching him (*difficile fuerit dinoscere quid videret*). This shift of accentuation is accompanied by a change of focalisation: from the 'external primary narrator-focaliser' to an 'explicit embedded

<sup>34</sup> Mart. 12, 1–2: *Accidit autem insequenti tempore, dum iter ageret, ut gentilis cuiusdam corpus, quod ad sepulcrum cum superstitioso funere deferebatur, obvium haberet; conspicatusque eminus venientium turbam, quidnam id esset ignarus, paululum stetit: nam fere quingentorum passuum intervallum erat, ut difficile fuerit dinoscere quid videret. Tamen, quia rusticam manum cerneret et agente vento lintea corpori superiecta volitarent, profanos sacrificiorum ritus agi credidit; quia esset haec Gallorum rusticis consuetudo, simulacra daemonum candido tecta velamine misera per agros suos circumferre dementia.*

<sup>35</sup> Mart. 12, 3–5: *Levato ergo in adversos signo crucis imperat turbae non moveri loco onusque deponere. Hic vero mirum in modum videres miseros primum velut saxa riguisse. Dein, cum promovere se summo conamine niterentur, ultra accedere non valentes ridiculam in vertiginem rotabantur, donec victi corporis onus ponunt. Attoniti et semet invicem aspicientes, quidnam sibi accidisset, taciti cogitabant. Sed cum beatus vir comperisset exsequiarum esse illam frequentiam, non sacrorum, elevata rursum manu dat eis abeundi et tollendi corporis potestatem.*

<sup>36</sup> Berschin (note 13), pp. 202–204. On Mart. 12, especially on its interaction with the preceding chapter, see also Fabio Ruggiero, San Martino di Tours di fronte a un culto contaminato. Per una nuova interpretazione del capitolo 11 della biografia sulpiciana, in: Rivista Liturgica 105 (2018), pp. 79–95.

focaliser'*.* We are told from the inside view of the protagonist what he believes he is seeing based on his own background knowledge about pagan peasant practices in contemporary Gaul (*quia rusticam manum cerneret […], profanos sacrificiorum ritus agi credidit*: Mart. 12, 2).

When Martin then raises the sign of the cross against the approaching crowd, accentuation shifts, though only for a brief moment, back to *AS* (*imperat turbae non moveri loco*). In the following, however, we find an extremely curious constellation, not only in terms of the *fabula*, but also concerning the narrative representation (*story*) of its space*.* The participants in the procession struggle to go forward but cannot proceed. Reading this part of Sulpicius' account through the lens of Haupt's spatial narratological model, one could argue that these text-internal figures strive with all their strength to accentuate *AS* but are stuck in *VS* by Martin's miraculous act. Accordingly, in this passage, we can find a mixture of verbs of (vainly tried) movement on the one hand (*promovere se [...] niterentur, ultra accedere non valentes*) and of standstill on the other (*velut saxa riguisse*), which Martin and the reader, who is indirectly addressed by *videres,* observe: "Then it was wondrous to behold how the wretched peasants were at first stiff as stones, then, striving […] to go forward, they were unable to proceed any further." 37 Their ridiculous spinning around (*ridiculam in vertiginem rotabantur*) may be seen as a manifestation of their unsuccessful attempt to shift accentuation from one modality of narrative space to the other.

Finally, the throng abandons all attempts to move forward, looking at each other as if struck by thunder (*attoniti […] aspicientes*), considering in silence (*taciti cogitabant*) what is happening there. Therefore, accentuation again lies on *VS.* Only now is Martin able to realise the true nature of the procession and allows them to go their way. Then they are able to move again, in other words, to shift accentuation from *VS* to *AS.* 

The crucial point that emerges from a spatial narratological close-reading of this episode is that the intradiegetic figure Martin is basically represented as a character that has the power to determine whether other text-internal figures are allowed to move forward or must stop so as to be seen or, in other words, which modality of narrative space they are allowed to accentuate, so to speak. Martin's absolute power over other text-internal figures and their movements is pointedly summarised in the concluding authorial remark of this passage: "So he both compelled them to stay when he willed it, and allowed them to go when he wished it" (*Ita eos et cum voluit, stare compulit, et cum libuit, abire permisit*).38 The narrator presents the protagonist not only as a powerful *imperator Dei,* but also – and this is only revealed by looking at the spatial narrative structure of the episode – as an *imperator spatiorum,* a master of spaces, who in this scene appears to have the same omnipotence as the narrator. In addition to Burton's intertextual reference to Christ in John 10, 18 (*potestatem* 

<sup>37</sup> Mart. 12, 3–4: *Hic vero mirum in modum videres miseros primum velut saxa riguisse. Dein, cum promovere se [...] niterentur, ultra accedere non valentes*.

<sup>38</sup> On this phrase see Fontaine (note 26), pp. 731–737.

*habeo ponendi eam [sc. animam meam] et potestatem habeo iterum sumendi eam*),39 this can be seen as a narrative manifestation of the immanent power which a saint thoroughly filled with God exercises over his earthly fellow human beings.

### 'Immobile Asceticism Defeats Mobile Luxury': Martin Faces the Devil in his Cell (Mart. 24, 4–8)

The final text passage to be discussed shows the potential that can result from a combination of Haupt's notion and Jurij M. Lotman's semantic model of space. The latter defines the crossing of a topological, semantic and / or topographical border between mutually complementary subsets by a mobile hero-agent as the criterion for an 'event' or 'sujet' (i. e. narrativity).40 Although it was designed for the global structure of a text, various studies, particularly in the fields of classical philology and biblical studies, have shown that it can also be applied productively to analyses of minor text units.41

One day, as the narrator says, when Martin was praying in his cell, the Devil appeared before him, clad in purple light, "robed in kingly raiment, crowned with a diadem of gold and gems, his shoes smeared with gold, his countenance so calm, his face so joyful, that one would think him anyone but the Devil."42

At the beginning of this passage, its narrative space is atmospherically coloured negative (*TS*). This is already indicated by the introductory authorial remark by the 'external primary narrator-focaliser' explicitly mentioning the Devil (*diabolus*) as an agent and his fraudulent behaviour (*quanta […] arte temptaverit*). Moreover, his appearance corresponds not only to the typical dress worn by the late antique Roman

41 See e. g. Berenike Jochim-Buhl and Robert Kirstein, Lots Frau (Gen 19, 1–29). Grenzüberschreitung als Ereignis. Der Versuch eines gemeinsamen narratologischen Zugangs von Literatur- und Bibelwissenschaft, in: Theologische Quartalschrift 198 (2018), pp. 114–24; Nill (note 9).

<sup>39</sup> Burton (note 13), p. 213.

<sup>40</sup> Jurij M. Lotman, The Structure of the Artistic Text, transl. by Ronald Vroon, Ann Arbor 1977, esp. pp. 217–244. See also Nill (note 9), pp. 63–66; Martínez and Scheffel (note 5), pp. 158–163. – On the concept of 'the male mobile hero' and 'female immobile heroine / female obstacle' in classical epic see Alison Keith, Versions of Epic Masculinity in Ovid's Metamorphosis, in: Philip Hardie, Alessandro Barchiesi and Stephen Hinds (eds.), Ovidian Transformations. Essays on the Metamorphoses and its Reception, Cambridge 1999, pp. 214–239; cf. Alison Keith, Engendering Civil War in Flavian Epic, in: Lauren D. Ginsberg and Darcy A. Krasne (eds.), After 69 CE. Writing Civil War in Flavian Rome, Berlin 2018, pp. 295–320; Alison Keith, Sexuality and Gender, in: Peter E. Knox (ed.), A Companion to Ovid, Chichester, Malden 2009, pp. 355–369.

<sup>42</sup> Mart. 24, 4: *Non praetereundum autem videtur quanta Martinum sub isdem diebus diabolus arte temptaverit. Quodam enim die praemissa prae se et circumiectus ipse luce purpurea, quo facilius claritate assumpti fulgoris illuderet, veste etiam regia indutus, diademate ex gemmis auroque redimitus, calceis auro illitis, sereno ore, laeta facie, ut nihil minus quam diabolus putaretur, oranti in cellula adstitit.* Also note the apocalyptic colouring of this description evoked by motivic references to Revelation 17, 4: *Et mulier erat circumdata purpura et coccino, et inaurata auro et lapide pretioso et margaritis*. On this whole passage see also Vos (note 4), pp. 145–147.

emperor, as Fontaine has already highlighted,43 but also, from a decidedly Christian point of view, to the vanity of earthly life. In contrast, the ascetic Martin dwelling in his cell like a hermit stands out only because of his prayer (*oranti*). This antithesis between earthly mammon and ascetic hermitism directed towards the kingdom of heaven is particularly emphasised by the contrast between the number of words describing the appearances of both protagonists.44

At the same time, the Devil is, in terms of Lotman's model, presented as a mobile, transgressive and thus *sujet*-generating ("sujethafter") hero-agent who crosses the topographical, topological and semantic border between the earthly world and the monk's cell. Here, the verb *adstare* describing his action is used in a completely different way than in the episode discussed above 45 and therefore paradoxically accentuates *AS.* Martin, on the other hand, is presented as an immobile antagonist; by his reaction to the Devil's appearance *VS* is distinctly accentuated:

[5] At first sight of him, Martin was long astounded, and for long both kept a speechless silence. Then the Devil spoke first: 'Martin, acknowledge', he said, 'whom you behold! I am Christ. About to descend to earth, I willed first to manifest myself to you.' [6] Then, as Martin kept silence and gave no reply, the Devil had the audacity to repeat his audacious claim. 'Martin, why do you hesitate? Believe, as you see! I am Christ.'46

As Martin notices the figure that has entered his cell, he looks at it in astonishment (*primo aspectu eius fuisset hebetatus*). Then, after a while, it is again the Devil who takes the initiative by addressing Martin (*prior diabolus, 'Agnosce' inquit, 'Martine, quem cernis'*). By the relative clause *quem cernis* providing a *verbum sentiendi,* the Devil explicitly points out, so to speak, that Martin is accentuating *VS.* Even when the Devil, at first, pretends in cunning disguise to be Christ about to descend to earth and to reveal himself to Martin first, the latter remains immobile in *VS*. This can be interpreted as a manifestation of his resolute determination not to let himself change his mind.

After this, the Devil becomes active again and in the same way as before. Here, too, he stresses by a *verbum sentiendi* (*cum videas*) that *VS* is accentuated by Martin*.*  Finally, however, Martin becomes more active than before. Yet the verb describing

<sup>43</sup> Jacques Fontaine, Sulpice Sévère. Vie de Saint Martin, tome 3: Commentaire (fin) et index (SChr 135), Paris 1969, pp. 1022–1028, cf. Burton (note 13), pp. 247, 250–251.

<sup>44</sup> Cf. Burton (note 13), pp. 249–251.

<sup>45</sup> On the mobile aspect of *(ad)stare* often used for gods or humans suddenly appearing (not least by Sulpicius) see: ThLL 2, cols. 953, 5–956, 16 *s. v.* adsto, here col. 955, 24–39.

<sup>46</sup> Mart. 24, 5–6: *Cumque Martinus primo aspectu eius fuisset hebetatus, diu mutum silentium ambo tenuerunt. Tum prior diabolus, 'Agnosce' inquit, 'Martine, quem cernis: Christus ego sum; descensurus ad terram prius me manifestare tibi volui.' Ad haec cum Martinus taceret nec quidquam responsi referret, iterare ausus est diabolus professionis audaciam: 'Martine, quid dubitas? Crede, cum videas! Christus ego sum'.*

his reaction (*intellegere*) is still a *verbum sentiendi* and therefore still accentuates *VS.*  Significantly, Martin does not become active of his own accord, but it is the "spiritual revelation" (*revelans spiritus*) that makes him react:

Then Martin, understanding by spiritual revelation it was the Devil, not the Lord, spoke. 'Not clothed in purple', he said, 'nor radiant with diadem did the Lord Jesus say he would come. Unless he come in that fashion and form in which he suffered, unless he come bearing the marks of the Cross, I shall not believe that Christ has come.'47

In his direct speech, it becomes clear that the only mobile authority which the praying Martin allows into his cell is Christ, since he alone is here connected with verbs of movement (*venire, praeferre*). Thus, Martin ironically defeats the Devil by his immobility, by his actions accentuating *VS* and by this professing statement. In contrast, the flight of the Devil is again characterised as an immediate mobility: "At these words the Devil vanished like smoke."48

In this episode, too, narrative space is more than a mere background foil against which the narrated events take place. Its different modalities evoked by the actions of the Devil and Martin illustrate their fundamental antagonism. Martin's defeat of the active, mobile, classificatory borders transgressing diabolic *luxuria* by means of his 'unheroic' immobility shows the power of the ascetic hermit praying in his bare cell.

#### Conclusion

In his monumental commentary on the 'Vita Martini', Jacques Fontaine makes some effort to pinpoint the events of the first episode under discussion here. Although he says, on the one hand, that it is not easy to clarify exactly where a traveller leaving Poitiers for Milan would have crossed the Alps, he comes to the relatively unequivocal conclusion that Martin probably travelled via Lyon, but then without any doubt ("sans doute") through the Graian Alps via the Little Saint Bernard Pass or through the Cottian Alps via the Mont Cenis Pass to Italy.49 As melodramatic as the narrated events may seem, according to Fontaine, this anecdote is perfectly plausible, especially considering the reputedly well-known rebelliousness of the Alpine people in antiquity.

<sup>47</sup> Mart. 24, 7: *Tum ille, revelante sibi spiritu ut intellegeret diabolum esse, non dominum, 'Non se' inquit, 'Iesus dominus purpuratum nec diademate renidentem venturum esse praedixit; ego Christum nisi in eo habitu formaque qua passus est, nisi crucis stigmata praeferentem, venisse non credam'.*

<sup>48</sup> Mart. 24, 8: *Ad hanc ille vocem statim ut fumus evanuit*.

<sup>49</sup> Fontaine (note 26), pp. 560–562.

Fontaine also presents three more or less plausible explanations for the curious and ridiculous behaviour of the procession participants in Mart. 12, 4 after Martin raised the sign of the cross against them: (1) physiologically, this could be interpreted as symptoms of a nervous disease (with reference to Macr. Sat. 7, 9, 2) or (2) as cramps which befell the possessed when they were brought to graves of martyrs (cf. Sulp. dial. 3, 6; Hil. c. Const. 8; Hier. epist. 108, 13) or (3) as typical behaviour of people worshipping demons.50Burton, too, can explain this scene, which admittedly is hard to visualise, only by some biblical references (Isaiah 19, 14; Psalms 82, 14; Ecclesiasticus 33, 5).51 The spatial semantics of the third episode treated above, finally, are discussed by neither of them, nor by other commentators.

Such questions, which sometimes lead to rather speculative and unsatisfactory answers, despite all efforts, are mainly irrelevant for a spatial narratological analysis as presented here. In this context, it is necessary to bear in mind that biographical or hagiographical texts like the 'Vita Martini' are not committed to an 'absolute' or 'factual' but to an 'ethical' truth. They "are prescriptive rather than descriptive: they offer moral *exempla*", as Danny Praet puts it.52 Therefore, one should be careful to locate these or similar narratives in their contemporary life-world, time and space. The study has shown that by their specific semantisation of narrative space, these episodes do not primarily serve the purpose of a factual historical account or a reconstruction of the protagonist's *vita,* but rather help to illustrate the outstanding power emerging from an ascetic and eremitic life as Martin leads it. This core message of Sulpicius Severus' 'Life of St Martin' is not only explicitly propagated in terms of content.53 Applying Birgit Haupt's spatial narratological model, which was combined in this article with Jurij Lotman's semantic model of space, the analysis has shown that the narrative space of the 'Vita Martini' is not a mere background foil against which the narrated events take place but that it rather has its own semantics that highlight, illustrate and enlarge the holiness and power of the narrative's hero Martin.

This exemplary study on the semantisation of narrative space in Sulpicius Severus' 'Vita Martini' might serve as a starting point for subsequent analyses of further contemporary and later hagiographic texts, for many of which this *vita* was a somewhat archetypal model worth imitating. Together with further studies to come, this may contribute to opening up a diachronic perspective on the functionalisation of space in hagiographic narratives.

<sup>50</sup> Fontaine (note 43), pp. 728–729.

<sup>51</sup> Burton (note 13), p. 213.

<sup>52</sup> Praet (note 16), p. 134. Cf. Fetz (note 16).

<sup>53</sup> Cf. Huber-Rebenich (note 13), pp. 114–118.

#### NARRATOLOGY AND LITERARY MOVEMENTS

# Constructing Emotions and Creating Identities

Emotional Persuasion in the Letters of Sidonius Apollinaris and Ruricius of Limoges

> Abstract It is undeniable that the act of letter writing should be understood as a communication process in which information is shared, discussions are held, and different persuasion strategies are applied for convincing the addressees of certain pleas or ideas.

> This paper focuses on emotional persuasion as a narrative instrument in the letters of Sidonius Apollinaris and Ruricius of Limoges to demonstrate that the authors constructed emotional communities with their readers. Based on this community, they wanted to convince their readers to follow a particular lifestyle: *Romanitas* and *Christianitas*. An in-depth analysis of emotional persuasion in their letters can contribute to a better understanding of the literary circles of Sidonius and Ruricius.

> Zusammenfassung Das Verfassen und Versenden von Briefen ist als ein Kommunikationsprozess zu verstehen, in dem Informationen ausgetauscht, Diskussionen geführt und verschiedene Überredungsstrategien angewandt werden, um die Adressaten und Adressatinnen von bestimmten Argumenten oder Ideen zu überzeugen. Dieser Aufsatz untersucht die emotionale Überzeugung als narratives Instrument in den Briefen von Sidonius Apollinaris und Ruricius von Limoges. Er zeigt, dass die Autoren emotionale Gemeinschaften mit ihren Lesern schufen, auf deren Grundlage sie diese davon zu überzeugen suchten, einem bestimmten Lebensstil zu folgen: dem der *Romanitas* und *Christianitas*. Eine tiefgreifende Analyse der emotionalen Überzeugungsarbeit Sidonius Apollinaris' und Ruricius von Limoges' kann zu einem besseren Verständnis der literarischen Zirkel beitragen, in denen sich die beiden Autoren bewegten.

#### Contact

Dr. Veronika Egetenmeyr, Universität Rostock, Heinrich Schliemann-Institut für Altertumswissenschaften, Schwaansche Straße 3, 18055 Rostock, veronika.egetenmeyr@uni-rostock.de https://orcid.org/0000-0003- 0903-4779

Veronika Egetenmeyr: Constructing Emotions and Creating Identities: Emotional Persuasion in the Letters of Sidonius Apollinaris and Ruricius of Limoges. In: Fafinski, Mateusz and Riemenschneider, Jakob (Eds.): The Past Through Narratology, 75–92. Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2022 (Das Mittelalter. Perspektiven mediävistischer Forschung /Beihefte, Band 18). DOI: https://doi.org/10.17885/heiup.921.c13616

### Introduction

In a time when Gaul was slowly falling into the hands of non-Roman groups, like Goths, Burgundians, or Franks, the letters of Sidonius Apollinaris1 and Ruricius of Limoges2 share daily socio-political struggles, personal worries, fears, and hopes, as well as their efforts to maintain classical education, as a core marker for *nobilitas*. Both authors lived during the fifth century,3 were members of the Gallo-Roman senatorial elites,4 received a classical education, and became, later in life, bishops. Whereas Sidonius reports on his own political and ecclesiastical career, as well as the resistance against non-Roman groups in the Auvergne,5 we know little about the life


<sup>1</sup> See e. g. Courtenay E. Stevens, Sidonius Apollinaris and his Age, Oxford 1933; Jill Harries, Sidonius Apollinaris and the Fall of Rome, AD 407–485, Oxford 1994. Modern editions and translations: Sidonius, Poems and Letters, with an English translation, introduction and notes by William B. Anderson, London, Cambridge 1936/1970; Sidoine Apollinaire, texte établi et traduit par André Loyen (Collection des Universités de France), Paris 1960–1970; C. Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius, Die Briefe, eingeleitet, übersetzt und erläutert von Helga Köhler (Bibliothek der Mittellateinischen Literatur 11), Stuttgart 2014. For an overview on the modern Sidonius scholarship, see Silvia Condorelli, Sidonius Scholarship. Twentieth to Twenty-First Centuries, in: Gavin Kelly and Joop A. van Waarden (eds.), The Edinburgh Companion to Sidonius Apollinaris, Edinburgh 2020, pp. 564–617, esp. pp. 566–572.

<sup>2</sup> See e. g. Harald Hagendahl, La correspondance de Ruricius (Göteborgs Högskolas årsskrift 58), Göteborg 1952; Ruricius of Limoges and friends. A collection of letters from Visigothic Gaul: Letters of Ruricius of Limoges, Caesarius of Arles, Euphrasius of Clermont, Faustus of Riez, Graecus of Marseilles, Paulinus of Bordeaux, Sedatus of Nîmes, Sidonius Apollinaris, Taurentius and Victorinus of Fréjus, transl. with introduction, commentary and notes by Ralph W. Mathisen (Translated Texts for Historians 30), Liverpool 1999; Ruricius Lemovicensis, Lettere, ed. by Marino Neri (Pubblicazioni della Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia dell'Università di Pavia 122), Pisa 2009; Ralph W. Mathisen, The Letter Collection of Ruricius of Limoges, in: Cristiana Sogno, Bradley K. Storin and Edward J. Watts (eds.), Late Antique Letter Collections. A Critical Introduction and Reference Guide, Oakland CA, 2017, pp. 337–356.

of Ruricius, aside from fragments of information gathered from his correspondences. However, both authors belonged to a common literary circle, and Ruricius was not only in contact with Sidonius but also shared strong familial and friendship ties, exemplified by Sidonius's *epithalamium* for Ruricius's wedding.6

Whereas Sidonius admits that he rearranged and revised his letters before they were publicly circulated, and modern scholarship has found a consensus that all nine books circulated before Sidonius died,7 we cannot assume the same for the letters of Ruricius. However, Mathisen convincingly argued that at least the first book was completely and the second book in parts prepared by Ruricius himself for circulating publicly. He further assumes that the first book might have circulated before 490 CE, so during Ruricius's lifetime. The final assemblage of the second book, as well as its circulation, dates to after his death.8

With their letters, both authors want to pass on a specific image of their personalities to their readers.9 One can even state that all these letters share one purpose: to convince the readers that the authors were morally good men, meaning that they behaved according to what was perceived as a good life, and thus, the letters can be understood as a means to justify their actions.10 Obviously, a "good character" is subjective and referring to an ideal that Sidonius or Ruricius and their circle constructed according to their needs. In their letters, they offer examples of morally good men, and, based on them, we can retrace our authors' understanding of being a *vir bonus*.11 Already Aristotle claims that only an orator who appears to have a morally good character can win the trust of his audience and, consequently, persuade them.12 Ancient epistolary theories proselytised that letters reflect the author's soul and mirror the writer's character.13 Linking both approaches means that if Sidonius and


Michael P. Hanaghan, Reading Sidonius' Epistles, Cambridge 2019; Kelly and van Waarden (note 1).

<sup>6</sup> Sidon. carm. 11; cf. Mathisen (note 2), pp. 80–83.

<sup>7</sup> Sidon. epist. 1.1.1. On dating the letters, cf. Gavin Kelly, Dating the works of Sidonius, in: Gavin Kelly and Joop A. van Waarden (eds.), The Edinburgh Companion to Sidonius Apollinaris, Edinburgh 2020, pp. 166–194, esp. pp. 179–193; cf. Ralph W. Mathisen, Dating the letters of Sidonius, in: Joop van Waarden and Gavin Kelly (eds.), New Approaches to Sidonius Apollinaris, Leuven 2013, pp. 221–248, here pp. 231–232.

Ruricius manage to convince their readers of their upright character, they would also persuade their counterparts to comply with their respective requests.

In understanding the act of letter writing as a communication process and following the hypothesis of Chaniotis, Kropp, and Steinhoff that every interpersonal relation and its communication is based on constant negotiations, aiming to persuade a counterpart, we must keep in mind that epistolarians intended to persuade the addressees, or in the case of a wider circulation the readers, of a certain plea.14 Such requests can be as simple as asking the letter recipient for a copy of a book or as complex as using the letters to promote a particular lifestyle like *Romanitas* (in Sidonius) or *Christianitas* (in Ruricius).15 Therefore, persuasion strategies in late antique letters can be analysed as a narrative tool.

Persuasion in this paper is defined following Petty and Cacioppo as "any instance in which an active attempt is made to change a person's mind" and which relies on communication.16 Further to Petty and Cacioppo's definition, I argue that an act of persuasion aims to change a person's mind and to reinforce ideas. In reading Sidonius's and Ruricius's letters as persuasive acts of communication, different narrative strategies following rhetorical theory can be discerned. As such, this paper examines the literary presentation of emotions as a narrative instrument for persuasion.17 The modern term emotion is used here as an umbrella term that


der Epistolartheorie von der Antike bis zu Samuel Richardson, in: Antike und Abendland 26 (1980), pp. 138–157; Jennifer Ebbeler, Mixed Messages. The play of epistolary codes in two late antique Latin correspondences, in: Ruth Morello and Andrew D. Morrison (eds.), Ancient letters. Classical and Late Antique epistolography, Oxford 2007, pp. 301–323, here p. 322.

includes feelings, passions and sentiments, sensibilities, and affections.18 In conducting emotional history, we must understand that emotions have a history in themselves and that they are part of historical events and linked to the formation of societies.19 Therefore, I will argue that we should understand the literary circles of Sidonius and Ruricius as emotional communities20 and will demonstrate via specific examples how they emotionally manipulated the reader to achieve their goals.

This paper will present some first steps in researching emotions in late antique Gaul, specifically in its epistolography. Further research on emotional discourses in the letters is needed to (a) better understand the semantics of specific emotions and (b) discern emotional communities based on a common discourse. Such research will reveal not only personal feelings and values but also shared emotions, and will help us understand the construction and transformation of communities.

#### The Art of Persuasion

Aristotle distinguishes three basic strategies that will lead to a successful, thus persuasive, speech: *ethos, pathos*, and *logos*.21 Whereas *logos* persuades through appeal to reason, persuasion based on *pathos* will address the audience's emotion. However, without a trustworthy character (*ethos*), an orator will not be successful.22 Investigating letters as persuasive communication, especially the moral character of a letter writer and the mindset of the readers, is therefore of great importance since, for Aristotle, the *ethos* of the speaker and the *pathos* of the recipient are equally necessary for emotionally influencing them in their decisions – hence, for persuading them.

and Difference in Medieval Europe. Essays in Honor of Barbara H. Rosenwein, London, New York 2017, pp. 1–19. The beginning marks the article of Lucien Febvre, La sensibilité et l'histoire. Comment reconstituer la vie affective d'autrefois?, in: Annales d'histoire sociale (1939–1941) 3 (1941), pp. 5–20.


This is immediately visible in the opening letters of Sidonius's and Ruricius's collections. They demonstrate both authors' efforts to convince their readers from the start of their good character and trustworthiness. For this purpose, they draw on the foundations of ancient rhetoric, defined by Aristotle as knowing everything that can serve for persuasion.23

First, let us examine the beginning of Sidonius's collection.

*Diu praecipis, domine maior, summa suadendi auctoritate, sicuti es in his quae deliberabuntur consiliosissimus, ut, si quae litterae paulo politiores varia occasione fluxerunt, prout eas causa persona tempus elicuit, omnes retractatis exemplaribus enucleatisque uno volumine includam […] (3) sed scilicet tibi parui [...]*24

Sidonius opens it with a letter to Constantius, in which he admits that Constantius persuaded him to revise and publicly circulate his letters. Constantius was successful in his persuasion because of the extraordinarily strong arguments (*summa suadendi auctoritate*) he used. Besides his high competence in persuasion techniques, Constantius is introduced as *dominus maior* and described with superlatives (*summa suadendi* and *consiliosissimus*), emphasising his authority and trustworthiness.25 Sidonius accepts the request of Constantius and thereby shows modesty. Following Aristotle, he wants to appear to be of good character, not to the letter's addressee, but to his readers, whom he indirectly convinces to continue reading the collection.

The same line of argumentation can be applied to the publicly circulated letters of Ruricius:

*Olim te, domine mi venerande ac beatissime sacerdos, fama celeberrima praedicante cognovi, olim desiderio pii amoris infuso illis te, quibus scribere dignaris, oculis cordis intueor [...]*26

<sup>23</sup> Arist. Rhet. 1.2.1, p. 1355b26.

<sup>24</sup> Sidon. epist. 1.1.1;1.1.3: "For a long time, my honourable Lord, have you advised me with the highest authority – for you are the most suitable adviser in this matter, which had to be considered – that I should compile all letters, if they are even a little bit elegant, which have been written on different occasions, according to reason, person and time, into one volume, after I have revised and corrected the transcripts […] (3) But of course, I obeyed you."

<sup>25</sup> Cf. Helga Köhler, C. Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius. Briefe Buch 1. Einleitung, Text, Übersetzung, Kommentar (Bibliothek der klassischen Altertumswissenschaften. Reihe 2, N. F. 96), Heidelberg 1995, here p. 103.

<sup>26</sup> Rvric. epist. 1.1.3–5: "For a long time, my honourable Lord and most blessed priest, I have known you through your widespread prestige; for a long time, with the longing of pious love given to the words you write, I have admired you with the eyes of the heart."

He commences his letter collection with a request to Faustus of Riez to guide him on his religious path. The beginning of the letter is quite emotional and filled with love, even though Ruricius implies that he never actually met Faustus, whom he describes as the most venerable lord and most blessed prelate (*domine mi venerande ac beatissime sacerdos*)*.* Similarly to Sidonius's opening, the addressee is presented with superlatives, emphasising his authority and upright character. However, Ruricius is the one who wants to persuade Faustus, and for this reason, he is showing him affection (*dignaris, oculis cordis intueor*), adoration (*olim desiderio pii amoris infuso*) and thus, indirectly, describes his personality through modesty.27 Ruricius is implicitly manipulating Faustus, who is expected to be emotionally touched by those lines, which offer Ruricius's love and adoration. The use of metaphorical language helps the author to play upon the emotional state of the addressee. At the end of the letter, Ruricius uses a superlative to compare Faustus to the best knowledgeable doctor holding the power to heal his sinful malady with divine help. The requested medicaments are in fact words in the form of an epistolary response. With this metaphor, Ruricius closes his letter with a ring composition asking for advice on the righteous path to follow. Thus, metaphors are part of his persuasion strategy, since they evoke vivid images in the reader, who might feel immediately more involved.28

Those introductory examples from Sidonius and Ruricius demonstrate that we can discern different persuasion strategies as narrative tools based on rhetorical theory. Constantius was able to persuade Sidonius because he appeared as a man with *ethos* and, consequently, won the trust of Sidonius. Ruricius achieves his goal by presenting himself as a humble person and by appealing indirectly to the emotions of Faustus.29 It seems that Ruricius followed the Aristotelian rule that both *ethos* and *pathos* are equally important to successfully persuade his counterpart. Furthermore, the beginning of Sidonius's letter to Constantius can be interpreted in similar ways since Sidonius presents himself as a modest person to appeal to the *pathos* of his readers. The question of whether the letters circulated were 'real' or purely 'fictional' in nature has no bearing on this argumentation since their addressees, real or not, serve as examples and as means of reflection for later readers. Late antique letters that publicly circulated are in both cases to be regarded as artworks in which the author's personality is expressed. The letter is thus a mirror of the soul, a possibility

<sup>27</sup> Cf. Hagendahl (note 2), pp. 93–97.

<sup>28</sup> Rvric. Epist 1.1.39–44. A similar use of a medical language for creating a vivid image can be found in Sidon. epist. 8.11. Cf. Sigrid Mratschek, The Silence of the Muses in Sidonius Apollinaris, (carm. 12–13, epist. 8.11). Aphasia and the Timelessness of Poetic Inspiration, in: Journal of Late Antiquity 13 (2020), pp. 10–43, here pp. 26–33.

<sup>29</sup> For direct / indirect appeal to emotions see Andreas Serafim, Feel between the Lines. Emotion, Language and Persuasion in Attic Forensic Oratory, in: Papaioannou, Serafim and Demetriou (note 16), pp. 137–152.

to create images of the self.30 When interpreting letters, questions of intention and composition must be given priority over the question of their 'reality'.31

Here, Althoff's argument on medieval public communication, in which emotional language has a functional purpose and even belongs to a set of societal rules, is applied to the in-group of Gallo-Roman elites. It can be argued that letter writers like Sidonius and Ruricius followed specific rules when composing a letter, and that the use of emotions in the letters is intentional and has a societal function.32 Apart from emotions being used as a persuasion strategy, we should bear in mind that emotions like "affection" or "admiration" were probably part of epistolary communication rituals.

#### Emotional Persuasion and Emotional Community

But what exactly is meant by *pathos* or emotion? Aristotle defines emotions as follows: "The emotions are all those affections which cause men to change their opinion in regard to their judgements."33

Hence, emotions as part of persuasion strategies must be regarded as a situational reaction to arguments. Aristotle states that to evoke emotions in the listener, an orator has to know his audience and how to trigger particular sentiments. Because emotions are connected to men's habits, ages, and fortunes, he presents different rhetorical methods an orator can use for evoking emotional reactions.34 To successfully appeal to the emotions of Faustus, Ruricius needed to know the recipient well enough to determine which sentiments would be effective. We can assume that Ruricius opted for a sentiment of pious love in addressing their shared Christian faith. Faustus, feeling loved and touched, would be more willing to comply with the request than if he felt exploited.

Quintilian expanded on the ideas of Aristotle and continued to give further advice on how to use emotions in acts of persuasion.35 He recognised that the *exordium* and the *peroratio* of a speech are where emotional rhetoric will be most used and most

<sup>30</sup> Demtr. Eloc. 227: *σχεδὸν γὰρ εἰκόνα ἕκαστος τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῆς γράφει τὴν ἐπιστολήν*. Transl.: "For almost everyone composes a letter as a reflection of their own soul."

<sup>31</sup> See Raphael Schwitter, Umbrosa Lux. Obscuritas in der lateinischen Epistolographie der Spätantike (Hermes), Stuttgart 2015, pp. 45–48, 152–154.

<sup>32</sup> See Gerd Althoff, Empörung, Tränen, Zerknirschung. 'Emotionen' in der öffentlichen Kommunikation des Mittelalters, in: Frühmittelalterliche Studien 30, 1 (1996), pp. 60–79, here pp. 61, 76–78. For communication rituals see Ebbeler (note 13), p. 301. Cf. Alberto Ricciardi, Transformations en Occident (Ve-Xe siècles) d'après l'épistolaire, in: François Guillaumont and Patrick Laurence (eds.), La présence de l'histoire dans l'épistolaire (Epistulae Antiquae 7), Tours 2012, pp. 279–293, here p. 280; Schwitter (note 31), p. 135.

<sup>33</sup> Arist. Rhet. 2.1.8, p. 1378a20: *ἔστι δὲ τὰ πάθη, δι᾽ ὅσα μεταβάλλοντες διαφέρουσι πρὸς τὰς κρίσεις.*  (Transl. Freese, note 12). For Aristotle on emotions see Cooper (note 22).

<sup>34</sup> See Arist. Rhet. 2.1.9, p. 1378a22 and Arist. Rhet. 2.12.1–2, p. 1388b31–32.

<sup>35</sup> For Quintilian's rhetoric see Iván G. Hompanera, Der vir bonus peritus dicendi. Quintilian und das Problem einer richtigen Definition der Rhetorik, in: Divinatio 47 (2019), pp. 37–60.

effective.36 If we transfer this thought to letters, the *captatio* and the *petitio* are the best places for emotional persuasion, which can be supported by the examples set out at the beginning. In both cases, persuasion strategies are visible immediately in the first lines of the letters, and the request will be enforced at the end. This does not mean that it cannot be expressed earlier on, as in the example of Ruricius (epist. 1.1), where the first direct request is articulated in the fourth paragraph or in the letter of Sidonius (epist. 1.1), where the request is accepted in the third paragraph. However, the strongest emphasis will be achieved at the end of the letter. Ruricius re-articulates his plea in the last paragraph of his letter to Faustus, and Sidonius affirms in the last paragraph that he will continue sending Constantius letters for publication. For Quintilian, emotional eloquence is the queen of all, and the core of convincing through emotions is the art of assimilating oneself to those emotions, which originate from the same sentiment that we want to evoke in the judge's mind.37

Thus, in the examples presented above, the use of emotional manipulation in their writing can only be successful because they are familiar with or even share the mindset of their counterpart. Through doing this, they build an emotional community, which Rosenwein defines as "group[s] in which people adhere to the same norms of emotional expression and value or devalue the same or related emotions".38 She states that various emotional communities can exist simultaneously and that they can change over time. Furthermore, she portrays them as "common discourse" in which we can define common vocabularies and a similar mindset. Rosenwein, therefore, places her notion of emotional communities in relation to Bourdieu's notion of *habitus*, in the sense of "internalized norms that determine how we think and act".39 Although I agree with Rosenwein on the basic ideas of her theory, I have to disagree on one part. Her definition of emotional communities is relatively broad and quite open, but she focuses on already existing social communities and thus bases her argumentation on the premise that existing social groups constitute shared emotions.40 Would it not be possible, however, for shared emotions to lead to the development and constitution of communities? Benno Gammerl argues that emotions can be bound to spaces forming specific emotional styles, since people in a supermarket would show different

39 Rosenwein (note 20), p. 25; cf. Pierre Bourdieu, La distinction. Critique sociale du jugement, Paris 1979, p. 70; Pierre Bourdieu, Les sens pratique, Paris 1980, pp. 87–88.

<sup>36</sup> See Qvint. inst. 6.1.51 (Marcus Fabius Qvintilianus, Institutio oratoria, vol. 1, Libri I–VI, ed. by Michael Winterbottom [Oxford Classical Texts], Oxford 1970).

<sup>37</sup> Qvint. inst. 6.2.7; Qvint. inst. 6.2.27: *et a tali animo proficiscatur oratio qualem facere iudici volet.*  Transl.: "and our speech must be of the same nature as the emotion we wish to evoke in the judge." It goes without saying that this little excurse on emotions in Aristotle and Quintilian are just the tip of the iceberg and that the semantics of emotions – *pathos / adfectus, ethos / morales* – changed with time and use.

<sup>38</sup> Rosenwein (note 20), p. 2. See further p. 24: "An emotional community is a group in which people have a common stake, interests, values and goals."

<sup>40</sup> Cf. Rosenwein (note 20), p. 11: "Emotional communities are largely the same as social communities – families, neighborhoods, syndicates, academic institutions, monasteries, factories, platoons, princely courts."

emotions than people in an office.41 Nevertheless, people know which emotions to show in which spaces because of our social conditioning. Building on the theories of Rosenwein and Stearns, he argues for a strong connection between the formation of social and spatial emotions.42 His ideas strengthen the argument that shared emotions can lead to the formation of communities, i.e. of people sharing physical or ideological spaces. This goes in line with the thoughts of Lutz, who regards sentiments as "a cultural and interpersonal process of naming, justifying, and persuading by people in relationship to each other".43

Agreeing with the aspect that emotions can be socially constructed and our emotional behaviour is linked to our social environment, we should give the individual and his / her agency more space in the research on emotions. Even though Rosenwein explores the ideas of emotions as circles and the possibility of people leaving and entering them, or even having a part in two emotional communities at the same time, the questions of how those emotional communities are constructed, how long it takes before we can talk about an emotional community and how many people must have a part in it stay unanswered. I argue for not neglecting the importance of individuals sharing their emotions and, in doing so, contributing to the creation of new communities. I assume that in communicating personal sentiments regarding contingent events, emotional persuasion strategies are used to convince others to join these ideas, and consequently, communities may emerge that are based on shared emotions. For success, an individual has to know, as Aristotle and Quintilian state, how to appeal and address the emotions of their communication partners. Thus, they have to know the shared emotions of the community they want to address.

But we have to beware of falling into the trap of transferring our modern concepts of certain emotions when discussing premodern sources.44 Furthermore, the semantics and meanings of emotion can vary from author to author, from genre to genre, and from time period to time period.45 For historians, those emotions are traceable with the help of discourse analysis, as Rosenwein suggests. Additionally, whereas Rosenwein sees the research of emotional communities as one factor of recognising changes and transformations within societies,46 I propose that the opposite is true as well and that shared emotions over a longer period can bring traditions and continuity to light.

<sup>41</sup> Benno Gammerl, Emotional styles – concepts and challenges. Rethinking History 16, 2 (2012), pp. 161–175;

<sup>42</sup> Rosenwein (note 20), pp. 164, 166. Cf. Stearns and Stearns (note 19).

<sup>43</sup> Catherine A. Lutz, Unnatural Emotions. Everyday Sentiments on a Micronesian Atoll and their Challenge to Western Theory, Chicago 1988, p. 5.

<sup>44</sup> Valentin Blaas, Überlegungen zu einer Codierung der Emotion "Zorn" im "Willehalm" Wolframs von Eschenbach, in: Bele Freudenberg (ed.), Furor, zorn, irance. Interdisziplinäre Sichtweisen auf mittelalterliche Emotionen, Berlin 2009 (Das Mittelalter 14, 1), pp. 50–66, here pp. 50–51.

<sup>45</sup> Cf. Bele Freudenberg (ed.), Furor, zorn, irance. Interdisziplinäre Sichtweisen auf mittelalterliche Emotionen, Berlin 2009 (Das Mittelalter 14, 1), see esp. the introduction by the editor.

<sup>46</sup> Rosenwein (note 20), pp. 199, 203.

Bearing this in mind, for Sidonius and Ruricius I will argue in two ways. Firstly, agreeing with Rosenwein, both authors belong to a community of educated letter writers in late antique Gaul and follow certain conventions regarding their lifestyle and their letter collections. As common discourses in their letters, we can discern shared emotions towards the political situation, the importance of education, and the practice of religious life. Thus, authors like Sidonius and Ruricius were self-aware of the shared emotions within their communities.47 Secondly, if we agree upon the constructed nature of emotions, their connections to society, and their contribution to the formation of communities, we can assume that emotions relate to the formation and affirmation of common identities. Common identities are defined following the ideas of Aleida Assmann and Jan Assmann. Aleida Assmann sees a collective identity as discourse formations, which are in place or given up through symbols that carry a culture and through which people define themselves as belonging to it and identify themselves with it.48 Like individual identity, group identities are in a continuous transformation process and can only develop through an active awareness of communalities, as Jan Assmann pointed out.49 Linking this assumption with the theoretical notion on persuasion strategy and the importance of emotions within persuasion practices as defined by Aristotle and Quintilian, the person conducting the persuasive communication must not only fit the community's norm on an ethical level but must also know through which rhetorical or, in the case of written texts, narrative tools to address the *pathos* of the recipients. Following the hypothesis that shared emotions can actively construct a community, I argue that Sidonius and Ruricius use emotions as a narrative persuasion tool to address not only the recipients of their letters and contemporary readers of their social circle but also future generations to convince them to maintain *Romanitas* and *Christianitas*, which slowly lead to a new community based on shared emotions outside of the original letter circles.

#### Emotions in the Letters

Within their letter collections, Sidonius and Ruricius express various emotions, from which I will highlight only one – fear – to support the hypothesis that Sidonius and Ruricius formed emotional communities with their readers.

<sup>47</sup> Sidon. epist. 5.9: *animae duae, animus unus*; transl.: "two bodies but one soul"; cf. Rvric. epist. 2.10.4: *amicos duos unam animam habere*; transl.: "two friends share one soul". Both in the sense of two people sharing one emotion.

<sup>48</sup> See Aleida Assmann, Zum Problem der Identität aus kulturwissenschaftlicher Sicht, in: Rolf Lindner (ed.), Die Wiederkehr des Regionalen, Frankfurt 1994, pp. 13–35, here p. 20.

<sup>49</sup> Jan Assmann Das kulturelle Gedächtnis. Schrift, Erinnerung und politische Identität in frühen Hochkulturen, München 2013, p. 134, p. 139.

In one of Sidonius's letters, he reveals that he wrote under great anxiety since non-Roman soldiers surrounded his town.50 He explicitly expresses his fear with the adverb *anxiu*s and emphasises his feelings with the verb *terrificare*. He continues, emotionally, in describing the *civitas Arvernorum* as loot worth crying over in the middle of rivalries between jealous Burgundians and angry Goths.51 The fear of Sidonius, which expresses itself even in tears (*lacrimabilis*), is triggered by terror (*terrificare*), envy (*invidia*), and rage (*ira*).

Fear presents an emotion frequently encountered in his writing and can be expressed directly or metaphorically. Further examples of a direct expression of fear are references to the *tempus timoris*52 in which he was living and his reports on the *timor Arvernorum*.53

I suggest that Sidonius uses fear as a persuasion strategy not only in individual letters with a certain plea, but also to reinforce the idea of protecting Roman culture, classical traditions, and *paideia*, which he describes as threatened by barbarians.54 Due to the political situation of his *patria*, he fears not so much the downfall of the Roman Empire, but rather the loss of *Romanitas* for the upper class and their future generations. I follow the suggestion of Woolf that the local aristocrats developed a strong consciousness of a "Roman" identity that can be summarised under the umbrella term of *Romanitas* because of the various cultural encounters in the Gallic provinces*.*55 *Romanitas* in Sidonius's letters can be defined as a set of *paideia* (education and a good knowledge of Latin), behaviours (in the sense of an aristocratic *mentalité*),56 and traditions (like office holding, letter writing, *amicitia* etc.). This is visible when he complains to Calminius that he is not writing letters regularly anymore. The constant exchange through letters presents a duty considered to be of great importance for the aristocratic *amicitia,* and its neglect was taken seriously. Sidonius is thus seeking an explanation for his friend's behaviour and found one: fear (*par apud vos metus interpretetur*).57 He needs to persuade his friends and readers

53 Sidon. epist. 5.6.1.

<sup>50</sup> Sidon. epist. 3.4.1.

<sup>51</sup> Sidon. epist. 3.4.1. The 'angry Goths' are a recurring motive in Sidonius's writings and also traceable in his poems, e. g. Sidon. carm. 7.426: *Geticas […] iras.* For the 'conquest' of the Auvergne see Christine Delaplace, The so-called "Conquest of the Auvergne" (469–475) in the History of the Visigothic Kingdom. Relations between the Roman Elites of Southern Gaul, the Central Imperial Power in Rome and the Military Authority of the Federates on the Periphery, in: David Brakke, Deborah Deliyannis and Edward J. Watts (eds.), Shifting Cultural Frontiers in Late Antiquity, Farnham, Burlington 2012, pp. 271–281.

<sup>52</sup> Sidon. epist. 4.6.2.

<sup>54</sup> Sidon. epist. 8.2.2.

<sup>55</sup> Greg Woolf, Becoming Roman. The Origins of Provincial Civilization in Gaul, Cambridge 2003, p. 120.

<sup>56</sup> See Michele R. Salzman, The Making of a Christian Aristocracy. Social and Religious Change in the Western Roman Empire, Cambridge, London 2002, pp. 19–69; cf. Meurer (note 4), pp. 39–40.

<sup>57</sup> Sidon. epist. 5.12.1.

like Calminius to overcome their fear of non-Roman groups and continue with the traditions of their community, in the case of Calminius specifically, to maintain their correspondence through letters, even if they belong to different sides. To convince his peers not to give up on *Romanitas* but to maintain it, he constantly gives examples of the proper behaviour, and requests that his readers continue their literary studies and maintain traditions.58

In a similar way, this use of fear can be encountered in different situations and with different purposes in the letters of Ruricius. Besides being scared of non-Roman groups in Gaul,59 another parallel to Sidonius is his concern that the following generations will have no more examples of *Romanitas* and will therefore lose their *nobilitas,* as he reveals in a letter to Hesperius.60 The background of the letter is the author's request to Hesperius to teach his sons, since only he knows how to shape them according to the aristocratic *mentalité*. Ruricius fears that without the example and work of Hesperius, his sons will lose their *nobilitas* in response to the difficult times in which they live. His concern reinforces Sidonius's already presented statement in a letter to John, which shows that, for these circles, literary knowledge was the only marker of *nobilitas* preserved at that time.61 Whereas Sidonius quite openly recounts the political situation, Ruricius refers indirectly to it via expressions such as *sollicitudines saeculi,*62*in saeculi turbinibus*63 *or necessitate temporis.*64 Otherwise, his letters offer more insight into the daily life of a man of the church and his quest to proselytise the Christian faith.65 For this reason, the fear of God or the fear of Christ (*in timore dei*) 66 can be encountered in his writings. Whereas Sidonius's work reads like a manifesto for *Romanitas* and the preservation of 'Roman' traditions, for Ruricius these traditions seemed to have been reinvented within the context of a Christian community, since he beseeched his readers to follow a Christian lifestyle that included the traditions of *Romanitas*. The knowledge that most of their readers shared their fears


<sup>58</sup> E.g. Sidon. epist. 4.17, 5.9, 5.11.3.

<sup>59</sup> As visible in a letter to Bishop Volousianus of Tours, who was afraid of the enemy, by whom Ruricius meant non-Roman groups; see Rvric. epist. 2.65. On Bishop Volusianus of Tours see Mathisen (note 2), pp. 235–236.

<sup>60</sup> Rvric. epist. 1.3.31–32: *quae utique in tanta rerum confusione amitterent nobilitatem, si indicem non haberent*. Transl.: "certainly they would lose their *nobilitas* in the vast turmoil of our time, if they had no example."

<sup>61</sup> Sidon. epist. 8.2.2: *nam iam remotis gradibus dignitatum, per quas solebat ultimo a quoque summus quisque discerni, solum erit posthac nobilitatis indicium litteras nosse*. Transl.: "because ranks and honours, through which we used to distinguish the best man from the worst, are already removed, henceforth the only indication of *nobilitas* will be the knowledge of literature."

<sup>62</sup> Rvric. epist. 1.6.

<sup>65</sup> Hagendahl (note 2), p. 8: He is interpreting this as a form of escapism of Ruricius. For the topic of escapism in letters of Gallo-Roman writers see Meurer (note 4), pp. 3–8.

<sup>66</sup> E.g. Rvric. epist. 2.9.

enabled our authors to use an emotion that could easily be triggered to persuade the readers to either change their behaviour or to reinforce the safekeeping of traditions.

In continuously writing about such emotions indirectly or directly, Sidonius and Ruricius contribute to the affirmation as well as the formation of emotional communities and thereby to the construction of common identities.

#### Sidonius's Emotional Persuasion Strategy on Avitus: Epistle 3.1

In his third book of letters, in which Sidonius appears for the first time as a bishop of the Arvernian population, we encounter a letter addressed to Avitus, another Gallo-Roman aristocrat. The book is marked by narratives of the armed conflict with the Visigoths and their attacks on Clermont.67 In the first letter, Sidonius requests that Avitus conducts his duty and acts as a mediator between Rome and the Visigoths, and as Clermont's protector. To persuade Avitus to follow his request, Sidonius attempts at the letter's outset to trigger the recipient's emotions.

After the *salutatio,* in the *captatio* of the letter, Sidonius speaks of the commonalities between the letter writer and the addressee, who have known each other since childhood and were related to each other not only through marriage but also through friendship.68

The enumeration of those commonalities that are described as *multis vinculis caritatis* – thus with the help of the emotion of love – is the beginning of an argumentative chain, focusing on nostalgic memories that are based on shared emotions: in this case, the mutual interest (*mutua cura*) in each other. Sidonius explains this mutual affection in recalling the family bonds between their mothers. Additionally, he and Avitus are the same age, had studied under the same teacher, and played the same games when they were young. Furthermore, they both took on state offices under the same emperors and tried to achieve friendships with the same people. All in all, Sidonius underlines the shared mentality 69 of him and Avitus, which represents his understanding of *Romanitas*. At the same time, he used those arguments, recalling nostalgic memories, to invoke the appropriate emotional state in the recipient for his request. In a second step, this foundation is expanded, and different emotions are invoked.

Sidonius uses modesty to amplify the good character of Avitus, and he argues that even if their *voluntas* – their mentality – is alike because of similar actions, the *conscientia* in Avitus – the awareness of morality, is stronger than in Sidonius:

<sup>67</sup> For the third book of Sidonius's collection see the commentary of Filomena Giannotti, Sperare meliora. Il terzo libro delle Epistulae di Sidonio Apollinare. Introduzione, traduzione e commento, Pisa 2016.

<sup>68</sup> Sidon. epist. 3.1.1.

<sup>69</sup> Cf. *animae duae, animus unus* (note 46).

*propter quae omnia praeter conscientiam, quae interius tibi longe praestantior eminentiorque, multum voluntates nostras copulaverat decursarum forinsecus actionum similitudo.*70

Thus, in addressing the morality of Avitus and diminishing his own, he presents himself, following rhetorical traditions, as a trustworthy and good character (appeal to *ethos*). In honouring the recipient, Sidonius tries to put him into a favourable mood and, therefore, to make him more willing to accept his request. The emotional persuasion through friendship, affection, and praise makes it difficult for Avitus not to respond to the request.

As Sidonius lists the recipient's deeds for the church of Clermont in the *narratio*,71 he already leads the reader emotionally to the actual cause of the letter, which is presented in a two-fold way: (1) Avitus should care for Clermont and support the city as he supported its church;72 and (2) Avitus should halt the Visigothic expansion in the Auvergne.73

For the first request, Sidonius appeals to emotion by playing upon the guilt of the addressee. The appeal to guilt was one of Cicero's most common methods for persuading someone with whom he had a close relationship, as Evangelou was able to point out through research on emotional persuasion in the letters to Atticus. Since we can assume that Sidonius not only knew those letters but was quite familiar with them, he might have reused the Ciceronian model.74 Avitus demonstrated his affection not only to Sidonius but also to the church of Clermont through the donation of a *villa*. Afterward, he inherited another property belonging to the city of Clermont but neither visited it nor took care of it. Sidonius interprets this gain of property as God's will, binding Avitus to the fate of the *civitas Arvernorum*. In coming back to the arguments made at the beginning of the letter – the mutual affection and the moral superiority of Avitus – Sidonius wants to evoke a feeling of guilt in Avitus, who should feel responsible (*cura*) for the fate of Clermont. He underlines the request for protection with the wordplay *patrocinium* (protection) and *patrimonium* (possession).75

<sup>70</sup> Sidon. epist. 3.1.2: "For all these reasons, the similarity of our public activity had closely linked our sentiments, apart from the consciousness for the moral right that is far more excellent within you."

<sup>71</sup> Sidon. epist. 3.1.2–4.

<sup>72</sup> Sidon. epist. 3.1.4.

<sup>73</sup> Sidon. epist. 3.1.5*.*

<sup>74</sup> Gabriel Evangelou, The Use of Emotions as Persuasion in Cicero's Letters to Atticus, in: Papaioannou, Serafim and Demetriou (note 16), pp. 153–167. Cf. Meurer (note 4), pp. 215–232.

<sup>75</sup> Sidon. epist. 3.1.4: *quod restat exposcimus, ut sicut ecclesiae nostrae ita etiam civitatis aeque tibi sit cura communis, quae cum olim, tum debebit ex hoc praecipue tempore ad tuum patrocinium vel ob tuum patrimonium pertinere.* Transl.: "What is now left is our request that in the same way you cared for our church now also our city shall be your concern, which should, as in the past, be more than ever the object of your protection since you have inherited a property there."

It is only at this point that he mentions in the letter why his city needs protection: the Visigothic expansion. The political situation worries Sidonius as he mentions it more than once in his letters,76 and this brings him to the final request, unmasking his former plea as part of his appeal to the emotions of Avitus, to persuade him to behave as intended by Sidonius. In the conclusion, Sidonius summarises that it is Avitus' duty (*sed fast est*) to mediate between the Visigoths and the *res publica* to save Clermont.77

We can identify in this letter different strategies to convince the recipient to take a certain action. First, in evoking nostalgic memories shared within the community of Gallo-Roman aristocrats, Sidonius presents himself as trustworthy and benevolent to the recipient of the letter as well as to other readers. In using modesty to amplify the character and deeds of Avitus, he begins his construction of a feeling of responsibility for the Arvernian people since Avitus is a morally good man, and it is expected of him. The feeling of being responsible is then even magnified through the implementation of guilt, since Avitus is connected to Sidonius and his church not only mentally but even physically through the possession of lands. Everything that Sidonius reflected towards Avitus – the childhood memories, the same mentality, the morality – may be lost if Avitus does not react to the request of Sidonius. In using Avitus as an example, Sidonius expands the emotional community to his readers, contemporaneous as well as future ones, and appeals to their guilt to not neglect their *patriae*, their duties, but to preserve a shared mentality and finally contribute to the maintenance of *Romanitas*.

#### Ruricius's Emotional Persuasion Strategy on Capillutus

To explore emotions as a narrative persuasion tool in the letters of Ruricius, we can turn to his first letter to Capillutus.78 Ruricius considered Capillutus a friend and, in concern for his friend's soul, tries to persuade him to adopt a religious life.

Ruricius opens his letter by sharing with the reader that he is in distress because of a malady that frequently befalls Capillutus. However, Ruricius is not in distress due to the suffering or the possible dangers faced by his friend. The source of distress seems to be his interpretation of this illness as a divine warning, through which God sought to correct sinners.79 In the *narratio* of the letter, Ruricius uses hope for a better afterlife as a persuasion strategy for Capillutus, which he underlines through direct quotes from the New Testament, such as Matthew 23.12: "Whoever exalts himself shall

<sup>76</sup> E.g. Sidon. epist. 3.3, 7.5.3, 7.7.

<sup>77</sup> Sidon. epist. 3.1.4. Cf. Giannotti (note 66), pp. 109–121. She interprets this letter as an expression of Sidonius's sorrow over the fate of his city.

<sup>78</sup> For Capillutus see Mathisen (note 2), p. 174.

<sup>79</sup> Rvric. epist. 2.21.2–3: *Ingrata mihi est frequentior aegritudo vestra, quae mihi etiam videtur commonitio esse divina.* Transl.: "Your recurring illness is distressing to me; indeed, it seems to me to be a divine warning," Translation: Mathisen (note 2).

be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted."80 In this part of the letter, Ruricius presents God as a good, caring, and loving entity supporting those who are following him. In the *petitio*, this argument shifts again to create a ring composition with the *captatio* of the letter and presents God as an angry God when people will not convert. Hence, the illness at the beginning of the letter can be interpreted as a warning. The ending of the letter, the request to convert and take on religious life, appeals to Capillutus's fear, and Ruricius is not shy in even playing with the fear of sudden death. However, Capillutus still has a chance to turn to God, who is merciful and will offer comfort.81

Even though the letter seems quite different from that of Sidonius, we can still discern classical rhetorical persuasion techniques and narrative similarities. Like Sidonius, Ruricius must present himself as a good person with *ethos* – in this case, a faithful Christian – to even have a chance to persuade Capillutus of a lifestyle change. To appear to be such a person, Ruricius constantly refers to the New Testament to demonstrate his knowledge and his trustworthiness.82 Opening the letter with reference to his own emotion – distress – appeals to the recipient's guilt, who had had the chance to convert for some time. Following the idea that friends are connected through a shared mentality and shared emotions, Ruricius evokes guilt in Capillutus, who inflicts misery upon his friend. Like Sidonius, he uses the recipient as an example to address a wider audience and appeal to their emotions. The guilt Ruricius evokes in Capillutus lays the foundation for encouraging any other reader of the letter to give up their old lifestyle and finally convert to the Nicene Creed. Ruricius argues via the *ultimo* argument: God himself, who sends Capillutus warnings to take on religious life. This warning is emphasised at the end of the letter, where Ruricius triggers Capillutus's fear, who is confronted not only with the possibility of sudden death but with an angry God. Thus, Ruricius follows the idea of Quintilian that emotional manipulation works best at the beginning and the conclusion of a speech. In the last sentence, Ruricius changes from the first-, second-, or, in the case of God, third-person singular to the first-person plural. In speaking of "us" and "we", he includes himself in the condemnation of the world or the mercy of God in the event of a conversion. Through this linguistic change, the exemplary role of Capillutus becomes clear, and the readers of the letter are directly addressed by Ruricius. Thus, he not only invokes shared emotions but also suggests through using the first-person plural that he and his readers are part of the same community.

<sup>80</sup> See Rvric. epist. 2.21.9–10: *quia qui se exaltat humiliabitur et qui se humiliat exaltabitur*.

<sup>81</sup> Rvric. epist. 2.21.18–24: *Unde suadeo […] Ideoque, dum tempus habemus, convertamur ad dominum, ut non cum hoc mundo damnemur, quia sine dubio illi misericors Deus suum praestat auxilium, quem circa praecepta sua cernit adtentum*. Transl.:"I *persuade* you […] And therefore, while we still have time, let us turn to God, for that we are not condemned together with this world. For without doubt a merciful God will comfort the one whom He perceives as obeying His commandments." Translation: Mathisen (note 2).

<sup>82</sup> Cf. Mathisen (note 2), p. 175 for references to the New Testament in this letter.

Like Sidonius, Ruricius creates a community based on shared emotions between himself, his recipients, and his readers to promote the Nicene Creed as essential part of his in-group. In the same way, Sidonius uses emotional persuasion as a narrative tool for preserving *Romanitas* as part of an aristocratic identity. Ruricius, on the other hand, applies emotional persuasion as a tool for constructing a Christian community based on shared emotions.

#### Conclusion

The shifting frontiers – physically and mentally – of fifth-century Gaul made communication crucial to remember the past, maintain identities in the present, and pave the way for future generations. For this communication, letters played a vital role in persuading the readers of a certain plea or idea, as we have seen in our examples. Sidonius and Ruricius stay human in their emotions: they try to put themselves in the best light, and their letters present an admonitory account with an educational intention. Sidonius instrumentalises emotions to promote his view on *Romanitas*, whereas Ruricius's exploits emotions to promote the Christian (i. e. Nicene) faith.

This paper presented some preliminary ideas on researching emotions as part of persuasion strategies in late antique letters that can be traced back to Aristotle. Following the work of Rosenwein, I argued that emotions contribute to the self-perception of a community like that found in the letter circles of Sidonius and Ruricius. Following the rhetoric theories of Aristotle and Quintilian, only the awareness of shared emotions and how to appeal to them enable their use as a narrative tool to influence and affirm the behaviour of the reader. Through the intentional stirring of emotions in their letters, our authors established and strengthened a common identity. As the examples demonstrated, sharing and triggering similar sensibilities allowed the authors to evoke guilt or compassion and, finally, to manipulate the reader emotionally. This was their way of interpreting and shaping reality.

#### Acknowledgements

A warm thanks to the participants of the NLAEMA conference and their helpful comments on my paper. I am grateful to Nicole Diersen, who sparked my interest for researching emotions. I would like to thank James Harland for his corrections and Jonathan Ethier for his valuable feedback in the many theoretical discussions. All remaining errors are, of course, mine. If not indicated otherwise, translations are my own.

# Conflicting Narratives in Late Antique Law Concerning Jews

Abstract It is often seen as a given that literature follows certain narratives that shape its form and the choice of content. The same is not naturally assumed for legislative or administrative texts because they are supposed to be hardly more than a slightly stylised collection of data, descriptions or arguments. This paper argues that, since legal decisions have to be justified to the recipients and the arguments used for that purpose have to be, to some degree, consistent, legislative texts are actually prone to recurring motives and standardised modes of explanation and affirmation that are, in fact, small narratives of their own. They suggest recurring problems and the actions and reactions of rulers to the reader, transcending the merely descriptive or argumentative. The aim of this paper is to provide an example of narratives in a non-literary late antique genre and to demonstrate how acknowledging these narratives can lead to a better understanding of the relation between form and content in the texts concerned. This investigation will focus on the handling of Jewish subjects by late antique Christian lawgivers.

Zusammenfassung Dass Literatur bestimmten Narrativen folgt, die deren Form und die Wahl des Inhalts prägen, wird in der Regel als selbstverständlich angesehen. Anders verhält es sich bei Rechts- und Verwaltungstexten, die als kaum mehr als leicht stilisierte Sammlungen von Daten, Beschreibungen oder Argumenten betrachtet werden. In diesem Aufsatz wird die These vertreten, dass auch Texte legislativ-juristischen Inhalts, da sie rechtliche Entscheidungen gegenüber den Empfängern rechtfertigen und zu diesem Zweck verwendete Argumente bis zu einem gewissen

#### Contact

Dr. Sabina Walter, Friedrich-Alexander Universität, Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91054 Erlangen, sabina.walter@fau.de

Grad kohärent sein müssen, zu wiederkehrenden Motiven und standardisierten Erklärungen und Bekräftigungen neigen, die in der Tat kleine eigene Narrative sind. Sie geben dem Leser Hinweise auf wiederkehrende Probleme und auf die Handlungen und Reaktionen der Regierenden, die über das rein Deskriptive oder Argumentative hinausgehen. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, ein Beispiel für Narrative in einer nichtliterarischen spätantiken Gattung zu geben und zu zeigen, wie die Anerkennung dieser Narrative zu einem besseren Verständnis des Verhältnisses von Form und Inhalt in den betreffenden Texten führen kann. Die Untersuchung konzentriert sich auf die Behandlung jüdischer Untertanen durch spätantike christliche Gesetzgeber und Herrscher.

The hypothesis of this paper is that the variation in the conclusions that modern historians reach after reading the exact same sources on the treatment of Jewish subjects by Roman emperors and the Gothic king Theoderic can be explained by using narratology and the concept of narratives as a tool. Both the letters of Theoderic in Cassiodorus' 'Variae' and the constitutions of the emperors preceding Theoderic, published in the 'Codex Theodosianus', can (and should on occasion) be read from a narratological perspective. Such a perspective allows the reader to see the potential for misunderstanding in both sets of texts. Narratological concepts offer terms to describe a discrepancy between message and form, as well as a conflict of narratives in a text, as we will see.

We will begin in the post-Roman Ostrogothic realm comprising the biggest part of Italy. By the end of the fifth and the beginning of the sixth century, considered a time of transition between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages,1 the West, broadly speaking, was lost for the emperors. However, imperial law was still alive and explicitly safeguarded by the Ostrogothic kings,2 who used traditional means of imperial representation and narratives of good government to make their rule acceptable.3 In addition, Jewish communities existed in several Italian cities.4 If one

<sup>1</sup> On Ostrogothic Italy in general see, e. g. Jonathan J. Arnold, M. Shane Bjornlie and Kristina Sessa (eds.), A Companion to Ostrogothic Italy, Leiden, Boston 2016.

<sup>2</sup> Also, in Amalasuntha's case, by a queen. We find Theoderic's promise to uphold Roman law in Anon. Vales. 66, prominently in Cass. Var. 1, 1 and passim all over the Variae of Cassiodorus.

<sup>3</sup> See, e. g. Jonathan J. Arnold, Theoderic and the Roman Imperial Restoration, Cambridge 2014, especially pp. 57–115 and Christine Radtki, *Rex Theodericus pius princeps invictus semper* – Herrschaftsdarstellung in den Nachfolgereichen des *Imperium Romanum* am Beispiel Theoderichs des Großen, in: Dietrich Boschung, Marcel Danner and Christine Radtki (eds.), Politische Fragmentierung und kulturelle Kohärenz in der Spätantike, Paderborn 2015, pp. 69–104 on Theoderic's *imitatio imperii*.

<sup>4</sup> On Jewish communities in Italy during Late Antiquity see Leonard Rutgers, The Diaspora, c. 235–638. I: The Jews of Italy, c. 235–638, in: Steven T. Katz (ed.), The Cambridge History of Judaism, Cambridge 2006, pp. 492–508, e. g. p. 492: "In late antiquity, Jewish communities were a common occurrence throughout Italy." Attestations of Jewish communities specifically under

wants to understand the way in which the Ostrogothic regime treated its Jewish subjects, a comparison to the late Roman emperors is therefore not only possible but openly suggests itself. The focus of scholarly attention in this matter has been on the first and most successful Ostrogothic king, Theoderic the Great, whose decisions in Jewish matters are most accessible in the 'Variae' of Cassiodorus and whose deeds in general pique historians' interest for reasons of his being Great with a capital G. Historians wanted to know whether Theoderic ruled over the Jews in his realm in the same way as the emperors or whether he was more tolerant and lenient, whether he followed Roman law or published new rules, or whether he, as a Homoian or "Arian" Christian among Catholic Romans, felt any close theological connection or at least some sympathy among minorities for the Jews. After all, the Homoian Goths themselves were a comparatively small, albeit politically powerful group of maybe a hundred thousand among millions of Catholic Romans, and they were considered heretics by their neighbours, so a Goth might have understood the Jews' position.5

A glance over the relevant modern literature reveals that the answers to these questions vary widely, depending on the nationality, political inclination, and mindset of the respective scholar, but also on how he or she happened to understand the sources. Indeed, the spectrum of opinions is so vast that they are sometimes entirely incompatible. On the one hand, scholars like Hanns Christof Brennecke claim that the overall trend of fifth-century politics had already become increasingly anti-judaistic and would continue to grow more and more so, while only Theoderic eluded this general development and ruled with relative tolerance and compassion towards the Jews, even breaking existing law in their favour. He would have done so, Brennecke claims, explicitly in spite of the emperors, as a diplomatic manoeuvre to show his independence.6 On the other hand, Yitzhak Hen and Gerda Heydemann state that Theoderic, both formally and with regard to content, always decided cases

Ostrogothic rule: Rome: Cass. Var. 4, 43; Genoa: Cass. Var. 2, 27 and 4, 33; Milan: Cass. Var. 5, 37; Ravenna: Anon. Vales. 81–83; Naples: Proc. BG 5 (1), 8; Venosa: David Noy, Jewish Inscriptions of Western Europe, vol. 1: Italy (excluding the City of Rome), Spain and Gaul, Cambridge et al. 1993, nos. 42–116; Bova Marina: Rutgers, pp. 492–493. Cf. Hans-Ulrich Wiemer, Theoderich der Große, König der Goten – Herrscher der Römer. Eine Biographie, München 2018, pp. 532–533.

<sup>5</sup> For a broader treatment of the numbers of Homoians, the connection between Homoian creed and Gothic identity and relations between the Goths and the Catholic Church in Italy see, e. g. Wiemer (note 4), pp. 473–512. Generally on the Goths' so-called Arianism see Knut Schäferdiek, Ulfila und der sogenannte gotische Arianismus, in: Guido M. Berndt and Roland Steinacher, Arianism. Roman Heresy and Barbarian Creed, Farnham 2014, pp. 21–44.

<sup>6</sup> See Hanns Christof Brennecke, *Imitatio – reparatio – continuatio*. Die Judengesetzgebung im Ostgotenreich Theoderichs des Großen als *reparatio imperii*?, in: Journal of Ancient Christianity 4, 1 (2000), pp. 133–148. Recently, Brennecke himself turned away from his older theory and came to the conclusion that adherence to Roman law is the more probable motive behind Theoderic's behaviour towards his Jewish subjects. Hanns Christof Brennecke, *Ipse haereticus favens Iudaeis*. Homöer und Juden als religiöse Minderheiten im Ostgotenreich, in: Hans Ulrich Wiemer (ed.), Theoderich der Große und das gotische Königreich in Italien. Gesellschaft, Siedlungen und Wirtschaft, Repräsentationen und Identitäten, Berlin, Boston 2020, pp. 155–173, especially pp. 168–173.

concerning Jews with exact adherence to Roman legal tradition (and contemporary practice), never actually differing from the emperors at all. According to Hen and Heydemann, only in his particularly stark expressions of devaluation of the Jewish faith was Theoderic special, because as a Homoian, he had to fear affiliation with the Jews and the loss of prestige connected with such an affiliation in the eyes of his many Catholic subjects.7 To add to the confusion, claims have been made by Friedrich Lotter that late antique law did not in practice make any landslide moves towards anti-Judaism between Constantine and Justinian, whose rule might be considered a kind of landmark in this regard. That position, of course, does not harmonise well with Brennecke's trend of anti-Judaism in the fifth century.8 So how can one scholar look at the sources and see anti-judaistic emperors and a surprisingly, and for his time uncharacteristically, tolerant Theoderic, while the other scholar can find Theoderic to be explicitly anti-judaistic in his words and obedient to the Roman law in his deeds? And was there development of legal texts and decisions towards anti-Judaism or not?

As Friedrich Lotter has already observed, the message and the form of the emperors' laws regarding Jews often do not fit together.9 Constitutions published since the time of Constantine often have a distinct anti-judaistic flavour because of their rather pejorative language, while at the same time those constitutions confirm the legal status quo of Jewish communities or simply dispose of older legal exceptions and put the Jews inside the Empire on the same legal level as all other Roman citizens. Even in rulings in favour of the Jewish party, anti-judaistic phrasing can lead the reader to suspect discrimination. So, in a way, the position that an anti-judaistic trend existed in Roman legislation and the opposing premise of factual continuity of Jewish rights are both true and false at the same time. On the level of the message, the legal situation of Jewish inhabitants of the Roman Empire did not worsen significantly

8 See Friedrich Lotter, Die kaiserzeitliche Judengesetzgebung von Konstantin bis zur Veröffentlichung von Justinians Novelle 146 (553), in: Aschkenas 22, 1–2 (2012), pp. 247–390.

<sup>7</sup> See Yitzhak Hen and Gerda Heydemann, A Double-Edged Sword. Jews and the Rhetoric of Power in Ostrogothic Italy, in: Yitzhak Hen and Thomas F. X. Noble (eds.), Barbarians and Jews. Jews and Judaism in the Early Medieval West (Diaspora 4), Turnhout 2018, pp. 93–118. On Justinian's anti-Judaism see Steven Bowman, Jews in Byzantium, in: Steven T. Katz (ed.), The Cambridge History of Judaism, Cambridge 2006, pp. 1035–1052 (here pp. 1048–1051) and Nicholas De Lange, Jews in the Age of Justinian, in: Michael Maas (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Justinian, Cambridge 2005, pp. 401–426 (here pp. 420–421).

<sup>9</sup> See Lotter (note 8); Bernard S. Bachrach, The Jewish Community of the Later Roman Empire as Seen in the Codex Theodosianus, in: Jacob Neusner and Ernest S. Frerichs (eds.), "To see ourselves as others see us". Christians, Jews, "Others" in Late Antiquity, Chicago 1985, pp. 399–421 (here p. 401–403) already states that Jewish communities de facto had some privileges and autonomies in the later Roman Empire. "However […], we find Judaism to be the subject of rhetorical abuse in governmental acts." Bachrach then concentrates on explaining the extratextual political reasons for emperors to tolerate the Jewish faith. See also Paula Fredriksen and Oded Irshai, Christian Anti-Judaism. Polemics and Policies, in: Steven T. Katz (ed.), The Cambridge History of Judaism, Cambridge 2006, pp. 977–1034 (here p. 1001): "Harsh rhetoric aside, though, Christian emperors through the fifth century by and large continued and arguably even extended the policies of their pagan predecessors, granting to Jewish communities a significant degree of autonomy, both religious and social."

before Justinian (and in the post-Roman West, it remained stable until the end of the sixth century), but, on the level of form, a growing number of precedents and variations of insults aggregated into an overall grim impression of the imperial opinion on Jewish belief. A similar disharmony can be encountered in Theoderic's letters concerning Jews, which seem quite in line with this imperial tradition.

This coexistence of, all in all, consistently lenient rulings and a slowly escalating tendency to demeaning language is unsurprisingly a cause of confusion. And yet Roman emperors, King Theoderic and their respective advisers have decided to phrase their answers to legal queries and constitutions in such a fashion. The reason for this might lie in the need to adhere to two important narratives that both played a role in late antique lawgiving but were essentially incompatible: that of the just ruler, who protects tradition, public peace and (very importantly) traditional rights of ownership on the one hand, and that of the good Christian ruler, who propagates orthodoxy and smites its opponents on the other. Both of those narratives can be found by themselves in constitutions in Jewish matters, but wherever they meet they cause dissonance.10

Of course, it was difficult for Theoderic to show himself too clearly in the role of the defender of orthodoxy when it came to the two mutually exclusive forms of Christianity among his subjects, as he was a heretic in the eyes of many Romans. Usually, Theoderic avoided the topic of religion in his surviving letters. But even if Goths and Romans did not see eye to eye on the question of how to be a good Christian, all Christians of the time could, it seems, very much agree on not being Jewish. So events pertaining to Jews might even have been a rare opportunity for the king to don a dress he seldom wore and show himself to have a strong opinion in matters of faith, without giving up his carefully crafted neutrality concerning the different Christian confessions of his realm.11

Before Late Antiquity, this problem does not arise because the narrative of the good Christian ruler is much younger than that of the keeper of tradition and law. The latter had always been part of the imperial image, designed to appeal especially to those who were well off and would not want things to change. With the rise of Christianity, however, comes the ideal of an actively orthodox emperor, attractive even to the socially or economically unsatisfied and those who want change in the form of the spread and implementation of Christian ideas around the whole world.12

<sup>10</sup> See Rainer Forst, Zum Begriff eines Rechtfertigungsnarrativs, in: Andreas Fahrmeier (ed.), Rechtfertigungsnarrative. Zur Begründung normativer Ordnung durch Erzählung (Normative Orders 7), Frankfurt, New York 2013, pp. 11–28 (here pp. 19–21), for the observation that narratives seldom appear in unadulterated form and that some narratives go more easily with others than the next.

<sup>11</sup> On the cooperation between the Catholic Church of Italy and Ostrogothic kings see Wiemer (note 4), pp. 503–512.

<sup>12</sup> See Jochen Martin, Das Kaisertum in der Spätantike, in: Francois Paschoud and Joachim Szidat (eds.), Usurpationen in der Spätantike. Akten des Kolloquiums 'Staatsstreich und Staatlichkeit', 6.–10. März 1996, Solothurn, Bern, pp. 47–62 (here pp. 49–52) and Fredriksen and Irshai (note 9), pp. 999–1000.

Often, the two narratives about good rule can be fused without problem, but not when it comes to traditional rights of the Jews, and there was no time-honoured precedent for how to do this. Many constitutions concerning Jews read like the compromise their authors could come up with. A ruler can protect the rights of Jews because the protection of rights is considered the hallmark of a just ruler,13 or he can show disdain for the religious minority,14 but doing both at the same time leaves the text open to interpretation, both by contemporaries and by later historians, concerning which is the more important component: the message or the form.

One circumstance in which the aforementioned dissonance between form and message is often rather obvious is violence against synagogues, a problem that seems to have occurred regularly in Late Antiquity.15 There are seven texts dedicated to the matter in the Theodosian Code, and the essence of imperial rulings there is taken up in the 'Codex Iustinianus': the emperors and later King Theoderic always insist that the law cannot allow acts of theft or vandalism towards synagogues.16 But while

<sup>13</sup> For Theoderic as keeper of traditional order see i.e. Cass. Var. 4, 33, 1 and 2: "Custody of the laws is the hallmark of civilized order" (*Custodia legum civilitatis est indicium*); "to which we gladly agree because we want the laws of the ancients to be guarded for our glory" (*quod nos libenter annuimus, qui iura veterum ad nostram cupimus reverentiam custodiri*). For an example of the 'just ruler' narrative used by emperors see CTh. 16, 8, 9: "It is well enough established that the sect of the Jews is forbidden by no law" (*Iudaeorum sectam nulla lege prohibitam satis constat*); "those, who under pretext of the Christian faith presume to illegal actions and try to destroy and plunder synagogues" (*eorum, qui sub christianae religionis nomine illicita quaeque praesumunt et destruere synagogas adque expoliare conantur*).

<sup>14</sup> For the emperors' demonstrative dislike of the Jewish religion see Roland Delmaire, Theodor Mommsen and Jean Rouge (eds.), Les lois religieuses des empereurs romains de Constantin à Théodose, tome II/1: Code Théodosien livre XVI (312–438) (sources chrétiennes 497), Paris 2005, p. 95. Among the examples quoted are instances where the Jewish belief is called a *secta feralis* (CTh. 16, 8, 1), *sacrilegus coetus* (CTh. 16, 8, 7), *superstitio* (i.a. CTh. 16, 8, 8), or even *superstitio indigna* (CTh. 16, 8, 14) or *detestabilis* (CTh. 16, 9, 4), as well as *turpitudo* and *flagitia* (CTh. 16, 8, 6) and *incredulitas et perversitas* (CTh. 16, 8, 19 and 24). See also Fredriksen and Irshai (note 9), pp. 1000–1001 on pejorative language and legislation trying to prevent the spreading of the Jewish faith.

<sup>15</sup> Another interesting field is that of building measures on synagogues. It was, technically, forbidden for Jews to build new synagogues or to enlarge old ones, but they were allowed to renovate them. Therefore, rulers were sometimes asked whether a particular project on a synagogue was legitimate and gave a renovation their blessing, although not without urgently recalling the prohibition on aggrandisement or beautification in harsh words. Cass. Var. 2, 27, which is often quoted for its conciliatory last sentence, actually ends in a not quite so conciliatory tone if one reads the whole paragraph: "Why do you search what you should flee? We may give our permission, but we laudably disagree with the creeds of the misguided: We cannot impose religion, because nobody can be forced to believe against his will" (*quid appetitis, quae refugere deberetis? damus quidem permissum, sed errantium votum laudabiliter improbamus: religionem imperare non possumus, quia nemo cogitur ut credat invitus*). In other words, if Theoderic could, he would.

<sup>16</sup> For the emperors see CTh. 16, 8, 9, CTh. 16, 8, 12, CTh. 16, 8, 20, CTh. 16, 8, 21, CTh. 16, 8, 25, CTh. 16, 8, 26 and CTh. 16, 8, 27 or CJ 1, 9, 14. For Theoderic see Cass. Var. 4, 43 and Anon. Vales. 81–83.

demanding adherence to the law, they also sometimes sound strangely unwilling to appear protective. Let us have a look at an example:

#### CTh. 16, 8, 21

The same Augustuses to Philippus, praetorian prefect of Illyricum. No person shall be trampled upon when he is innocent, on the ground that he is a Jew, nor shall any religion cause any person to be exposed to contumely. Their synagogues and habitations shall not be burned indiscriminately, nor shall they be injured wrongfully without any reason, since, moreover, even if any person should be implicated in crimes, nevertheless, the vigor of Our courts and the protection of public law appear to have been established in Our midst for the purpose that no person should have the power to seek his own revenge. But just as it is Our will that the foregoing provision shall be made for the persons of the Jews, so We decree that the Jews also shall be admonished that they perchance shall not become insolent and, elated by their own security, commit any rash act in disrespect to the Christian religion.17

Nobody may be harmed, the text states, even if they happen to be Jewish, as long as they are innocent. One's faith does not expose one to insults. Jewish synagogues and quarters may not be burned. Up to this point, the constitution shows no sign of anti-Judaism. The middle part of the text is oddly specific about vigilantism being forbidden even if a Jew might have been implicated in a crime – in the concrete case underlying the constitution, someone must have defended themselves by pointing out the Jews' own actions as the original cause and justification for the act of violence that was committed, which is quite in character for this kind of perpetrator. Honorius and Theodosius II do not mind the shifting of blame; they merely point out that the Jews' offences should have been brought in front of a judge because – and this is very traditionally just of the emperors – nobody was allowed to take justice into their own hands. The laws and courts were, after all, there for a reason.

At the end of the text, the emperors remind the Jews not to get carried away by safety and not to allow anything rash against the reverence for the Christian church. Here, again, one can guess at the guilty party's claim to have acted in defence of the Christian

<sup>17</sup> Translation: Clyde Pharr, The Theodosian Code and Novels and the Sirmondian Constitutions. Translation with Commentary, Glossary, and Bibliography, Princeton 1952. CTh. 16, 8, 21: *Idem aa (Honorius, Theodosius II). Philippo praefecto praetorio per Illyricum. Nullus tamquam Iudaeus, cum sit innocens, obteratur nec expositum eum ad contumeliam religio qualiscumque perficiat. Non passim eorum synagogae vel habitacula concrementur vel perperam sine ulla ratione laedantur, cum alioquin, etiam si sit aliquis sceleribus implicatus, idcirco tamen iudiciorum vigor iurisque publici tutela videtur in medio constituta, ne quisquam sibi ipse permittere valeat ultionem. Sed ut hoc iudaeorum personis volumus esse provisum, ita illud quoque monendum esse censemus, ne iudaei forsitan insolescant elatique sui securitate quicquam praeceps in christianae reverentiam cultionis admittant.*

faith – it seems that Honorius and Theodosius did not want to rule out completely the possibility of a fundamentally justified overreaction. This admonition stayed in the 'Theodosian Code' and gained some degree of universal applicability. If the text is read like a general law, it might be interpreted in a way that is rather unfortunate for Jews, namely that the law guaranteed their safety, but not unconditionally. It certainly ends on a none-too-friendly note from a Jewish perspective if one considers the form of the text.

The idea that Jewish victims of violence must have done something to deserve or provoke it is not new in this text and remains a go-to point of defence for those who committed said violence, probably because it was often rewarded with success. We can find another instance of vigilantism with a religious connotation in the time of the Ostrogothic rule of Italy that pairs nicely with CTh. 16, 8, 21. The background to Cass. Var. 4, 43 goes something like this: some unnamed Jews in the city of Rome had filed a lawsuit with the influential *comes* Arigern concerning slaves who had murdered their master or masters. The slaves must have been Christian and the murder victim or victims Jewish.18 Arigern then proceeded to execute the slaves, as was customary in such cases. This execution caused a riot among some Roman Christians, presumably people from the slaves' parish, during which the complainants' synagogue was burnt down. Now let us look at the equilibrium between condemning arson and distancing the king from his Jewish subjects in Var. 4, 43:

King Theoderic to the Senate of Rome

[…] Indeed, it is not Roman to want the disorder of sedition and to invite arson in that very city. And therefore, discipline of deeds must be preserved among the authors of laws, lest the detestable appearance of arson compel the hearts of the common people to imitating what must be execrated.

And so we have learned from the report of the *illustris comes* Arigern that the complaint of the Jews was roused because the unruliness of slaves had erupted in the slaughter of masters. Although the deed could have been punished for the sake of public discipline, with the contention being immediately enflamed by the populace, they caused the synagogue to be utterly consumed in a reckless fire, punishing the faults of men with the ruin of buildings. If any Jew had been proven to transgress, he himself would have been subject to injury. However, it was not right to rush to the horrible act of rioting, or to hasten to the burning of buildings.

<sup>18</sup> There had been occasions in the past when the execution of a particularly large number of slaves, as discussed in the 'Senatus Consultum Silanianum' (Digesta XXIX, 5) had caused riots without a religious motivation, see Tac. ann. XIV, 42–45 and Plin. ep. 8, 14. But considering that the violence in Cass. Var. 4, 43 is aimed specifically at a synagogue and accusations are made explicitly against "the Jews", not Arigern or the executioners or even the state in general, a religious component is very likely.

But we, whose desire it is to correct wrongly committed acts, by the grace of Gold, have decided in the present dictate that you should become acquainted with the above-mentioned case by lawful inquiry, and that you should restrain with the accustomed punishment the few agents of this conflagration whom you are able to discover [….]

Evaluating the case with equal measure, so that, if anyone will reasonably believe something supports him against the Jews, let him come to be heard at our court, so that whomever the offense will have implicated may be condemned with censure19

The letter begins with a statement that being seditious and setting fire to one's own city is un-Roman and must be punished in order to avoid imitation.20 It then goes on to claim that one cannot burn synagogues, even if a Jew had done something wrong, because the Jew's alleged crime should have been brought to the attention of a court.21 So the senate is asked to rein in vigilantism with appropriate strictness. If, however, something could be brought forward against the Jews in question, that too must be subject to judgment.22 So for one, the letter makes it clear that Theoderic is all about avoiding public unrest, not about protecting the Jewish community as such. Second, Theoderic shows much willingness to accept the shifting of blame onto the Jewish community, despite the fact that only individual Jews can have been involved in the lawsuit and execution originally causing the riot and despite the fact that this execution was legal. Third, the ultimate reference point to which Theoderic keeps returning is what Roman law and custom dictate.

The phrasing that creates distance between the ruler and his Jewish subjects can be more or less subtle. It can appear in the form of open disdain or in the expression of a patronising hope that the Jews might still see reason and convert. For example, in CTh. 16, 8, 26, the Emperors Honorius and Theodosius II grant the Jews (when asked explicitly by a Jewish community to confirm their rights) safety from attacks on or compulsory acquisition of their synagogues *sub praetextu venerandae christianitatis*, but they also stress that their laws were meant to suppress the audacity of the damnable pagans, Jews and heretics. In Cass. Var. 5, 37, the Jews of Milan receive protection from encroachments on their rights and properties by the local church, given that

<sup>19</sup> Translation: Shane Bjornlie, Cassiodorus. The Variae. The Complete Translation, Oakland 2019, pp. 194–195.

<sup>20</sup> Cass. Var. 4, 43, 1: *levitates quippe seditionum et ambire propriae civitatis incendium non est velle Romanum […] ne detestabilis aspectus incendii ad imitationem nefandam vulgi pectora comprehendat.*

<sup>21</sup> Cass. Var. 4, 43, 2: *culpas hominum fabricarum excidio vindicantes, dum, si quis Iudaeorum probaretur excedere, ipse debuisset iniuriae subiacere, non autem iustum fuit ad seditionum foeda concurri aut ad fabricarum incendia festinari.*

<sup>22</sup> Cass. Var. 4, 43, 4: *si aliquid sibi contra Iudaeos rationabiliter quispiam crediderit suffragari.*

they themselves keep their distance from the Christians and do not intermingle. The initial explanation of the letter is interestingly phrased:

Cass. Var. 5, 37, 1:

We have gladly assented to that which is requested without injury to the laws, especially since, for the sake of preserving civic harmony, the benefits of justice must not be denied to those who thus far have been known to err in faith. And in this way may they learn the sweet taste of good conduct, so that those who strife to attain human justice may begin more eagerly to consider divine justice.23

The letter states that, first of all, the Jews are of course erring in their faith, and secondly, are to be granted the benefits of worldly law so that they can see divine justice – and convert.

As already stated above, the emperors repeatedly forbade violence against Jewish property and specifically against synagogues. Officials who knew of any such crime were explicitly not allowed to ignore it. And yet, attacks seem to have kept happening. Maybe the fact that, on the level of form, governmental constitutions kept reinforcing anti-judaistic bias played a role in that. If the emperors or the king called the Jewish faith wrong or associated it with paganism and heresy, if the rulers made sure not to express any sympathy or affiliation with the Jews, surely some people felt their actions against Jews were justified and expected the rulers not to react. Would it not have been clearer and easier to understand, then, if rulers had not insisted on distancing themselves from the people they claimed to protect in the very same text? This must have been confusing not just for modern scholars but for contemporaries as well. Why did the authors of governmental constitutions go to the trouble of forcing together two narratives that could not fit?

That rulers could not always enforce legislation concerning Jewish subjects becomes apparent in the affair around Callinicon, where a bishop had incited the masses to burn down a synagogue and should therefore have paid for repairs, while the arsonists were supposed to have been punished accordingly. This did not happen because emperor Theodosius was browbeaten into pardoning the bishop of Callinicon and his flock of rather aggressive sheep by Ambrosius of Milan, not because Ambrosius denied the deed as such but because he saw it justified in the need to win the religious conflict between Christianity and Judaism.24 Here we have an example of a contemporary quite openly calling out the emperor for serving the narrative

<sup>23</sup> Translation: Bjornlie (note 19), p. 233. Cass. Var. 5, 37, 1: *Libenter annuimus quae sine legum iniuria postulantur, maxime cum pro servanda civilitate nec illis sunt neganda beneficia iustitiae, qui adhuc in fide noscuntur errare, atque ideo discant rerum bonarum suavissimum saporem, ut, qui humanam iustitiam nituntur quaerere, sollicitius incipiant divina iudicia cogitare.*

<sup>24</sup> Ambr. ep. 74 (Maur. 40). Ambrosius criticised Theodosius publicly in his sermons and denied the communion to the emperor until he gave in.

of traditionally just ruler and neglecting – at least in his eyes – to be a properly Christian ruler.

While the arson of Callinicon did not enter the 'Theodosian Code', the phrasing of related constitutions hints at similar occasions for repeating the reminder that the burning of synagogues was, as a matter of fact, not allowed. We can assume that emperors or their judicial advisors knew very well that they might be criticised for not propagating Christianity aggressively enough when Christian attackers of Jewish property, or those sympathising with them, felt unjustly incriminated. That might be the reason the constitutions pertaining to violence against synagogues have to combine the narrative of the keeper of traditional order and the narrative of the defender of orthodoxy in the first place. As long as the emperors wanted to keep the populace from taking the law into their own hands through arson, they had to base their prohibition of vigilantism on the rationale of law, order, and tradition. And in doing so, they had to apply the 'just ruler' narrative. But, probably in order to avoid the impression of favouring Jews over Christians, they often also stressed the point that they did not approve of Judaism in general while announcing the penalties for attacking Jews and synagogues. And by this they reinforced the 'defender of orthodoxy' narrative.

The assumption that there were two conflicting narratives at play in governmental communication with the public helps us understand both why such texts and their implications for the late antique governmental stance towards the Jews have been debated for so long, and why the message of late antique rulers was not always heard. Perhaps mixing those narratives was impossible without also sending mixed signals. This new perspective means that the position of Jews in the Roman Empire and the Ostrogothic realm must be revised, insofar as it was not worsening significantly in legal terms – neither under the last Western emperors nor under Theoderic and his contemporaries – but as it was socially precarious. The constant repetition of a narrative of exclusion and animosity, a narrative wherein a good emperor had to be against his Jewish subjects, must have contributed to an overall sense of religious contention that led to frequent discrimination against Jews.

With this example, I hope to have shown the possibility and indeed value of applying narratological concepts to legal texts. Late antique legal decisions concerning Jews become more accessible by identifying narratives and by discerning the message and form of governmental constitutions and letters. These interpretative tools might help clear the confusion and end the debate about the exact nature and extent of anti-Judaism in Late Antiquity.

The conflict I am postulating here could probably also be described as a conflict of images of self-representation, which is much better established among scholars writing on late antique government. I do think, however, that the term narrative has something new to offer to this field. It might be mostly a matter of perspective, but the term self-representation implies both a strong initiative on the part of the ruler, and a manipulative intention. Self-representation is something the ruler does, on his own account, to the subjects. It is also something that creates an image, and therefore something associated with a certain static nature. A narrative, on the other hand, is something that creates expectations for and connections between the actions of people, so it is in its nature not static; it is not just about what picture is shown, but about what people actually do because it fits the narrative. Besides, it is not something necessarily directed from the ruler at the ruled, but something the whole culture, including the ruler, is subject to or influenced by.

This is not a widespread way to interpret legal texts so far, but it is no longer new to historians in general. A narratological approach to both literary sources and modern literature has become, if not common, then at least widely accepted.25 That narratives can structure the telling and therefore the interpretation of not only fictional texts but also of historiography and other non-fiction is an established concept. Legal historians, though, do not seem to use this approach a lot because their main (and legitimate) interest is in reconstructing the state of the law at a certain point in history. The legal texts I discussed in this paper might not seem to easily lend themselves to such a narratological approach because they are expected to prohibit and order instead of telling a story. However, Roman legal constitutions are, at a closer look, not limited to stating a conflict and proposing a solution - they also contain glimpses of narrations, of storytelling, because Roman law leans heavily on the concepts of precedent and concrete cases.26 Cases, if they are verbally presented, basically are short non-fictional stories. And where there is narration, narratives are seldom far away.

<sup>25</sup> Thus we find narratological approaches to ancient historians like Alfred Lindl, Narrative Technik und Leseraktivierung. Tacitus' Annalen XII–XVI (Hermes Einzelschriften 117), Stuttgart 2020 on Tacitus (see especially pp. 29–42 on his take of narratology and ancient historiography) or expositions of narratives underlying modern interpretations of history like Guy Halsall, Review article: Movers and Shakers: the Barbarians and the Fall of Rome, in: Early Medieval Europe 8 (1999), pp. 131–145.

on the master narratives concerning the fall of Rome. See Ruben Zimmermann, Verschlungenheit und Verschiedenheit von Text und Geschichte. Eine hinführende Skizze, in: Christoph Landmesser and Ruben Zimmermann (eds.), Text und Geschichte. Geschichtswissenschaftliche und literaturwissenschaftliche Beiträge zum Faktizitäts-Fiktionalitäts-Geflecht in antiken Texten, Leipzig 2017, pp. 9–51, especially pp. 13–18, and Albrecht Koschorke, Fact and Fiction. Elements of a General Theory of Narrative (Literature and the Human Sciences 6), Berlin, Boston 2018, especially pp. 10–14 on broader application of narratological concepts.

<sup>26</sup> This is especially true for Late Antiquity because imperial legal habit consisted of more reactive constitutions than edicts; all imperial reactions were decisions in a particular case presented to the emperor, although they could contain generalist measures to be applied in similar cases. See Dario Montovani, More than Codes. Roman Ways of Organising and Giving Access to Legal Information, in: Paul J. du Plessis, Clifford Ando and Kaius Tuori, The Oxford Handbook of Roman Law and Society, Oxford 2016, pp. 23–42 (here pp. 34–36) on the statutory nature of imperial constitutions and on legal codes as collections of exemplary governmental acts, Wolfgang Kunkel and Martin Schermaier (eds.), Römische Rechtsgeschichte, 13th ed., Köln 2013, pp. 198–200, as well as Heinrich Honsell, Römisches Recht, 7th ed., Berlin, Heidelberg 2010, pp. 7–9 on the tradition of precedence before codification, and Frederik J. Vervaet, Magistrates who Made and Applied the Law, in: Paul J. du Plessis, Clifford Ando and Kaius Tuori, The Oxford Handbook of Roman Law and Society, Oxford 2016, pp. 219–233 (here p. 231) on emperors taking over the function of praetors in setting legal precedence.

A constitution by an emperor usually concerns one single actual case, reacts to concrete legal queries, and is supposed to be adapted to similar cases later on. If the document comes down to us complete, it might contain a short introduction to said case. There might also be a description of the subjects' actions and the emperor's reactions, hints to who complained and who is going to be responsible for solving the problem, broader thoughts on the moral and political principles violated, arguments proving the justness, reason and applicability of the verdict and so forth.27 Unfortunately, hardly any constitutions outside the *novellae* and the Sirmondian constitutions survive unabridged, because at some point of the compilation or tradition of the 'Codex Theodosianus' and the 'Codex Iustinianus' editors deleted what they deemed superfluous. Still, there is enough left of this special kind of communication between the rulers and subjects to recognise narratological potential.28 Although the texts are not complete, it is not to be expected that the main body of a constitution would contain anything completely contrary to the lost parts, creating inconsistencies. The use of concrete examples in imperial constitutions integrates a narrating element in these texts. Values are not simply recalled collectively, nor are rules simply stated; rather, they are embedded in a myriad of tiny stories in which, naturally, justice always plays a role. As long as the decisions and argumentative points of the emperors stay more or less consistent, the combinations of agents, actions and correlations in those small narrations should repeat and turn into commonly expected patterns. Certain actions are typically linked with matching reactions and justified with specific values, thus creating expectations in the reader of what an action's outcome is going to be and for what reason.29 These expectations transcend single narrations of cases and apply to the whole genre – structure it – like narratives are known to do in literary (and other) texts. If we can allow ourselves to speak of this as a narrative, we might even go so far as to detect master narratives in the legal codes, main themes recurring throughout the constitutions in many different but still related versions. Examples of such recurring themes would be "a good ruler defends the law even against the

<sup>27</sup> So Dirk Schlinkert, Ordo senatorius und nobilitas. Die Konstitution des Senatsadels in der Spätantike (Hermes Einzelschriften 72), Stuttgart 1996, pp. 57–58 argues when pointing out that legal codes would be perfect sources for a picture of the social standing and essential traits of the senatorial aristocracy. See also Koschorke (note 25), p. 23 on legal decisions as narrative communication.

<sup>28</sup> "[L]aw and literature were practices that, despite different functions and conceptualisations, shared a similar toolkit": Michèle Lowrie, Roman Law and Latin Literature, in: Paul J. du Plessis, Clifford Ando and Kaius Tuori, The Oxford Handbook of Roman Law and Society, Oxford 2016, pp. 70–82 (here p. 70). Also "the importance of smaller and larger stories within politics and law is striking. [… S]ocial conflicts are choreographed along narrative field-lines": Koschorke (note 25), p. 10.

<sup>29</sup> See Koschorke (note 25), pp. 17–24 on narratives and their role in forming expectations and memories. On the connection between the phrasing of legal decisions and moral education, especially the tradition of the *mos maiorum*, see Lowrie (note 28), pp. 75–78.

rich and mighty" 30 or "a good subject seeks justice in court instead of disturbing the peace by excessive vigilantism".31

Contemplating legal texts through a narrative-driven approach leads to more questions. What kind of narrative can a legal text even use? What is unspeakable in this genre? Is the repetition of a law a mistake by the editors, a sign of the subjects' non-compliance, a literary trick? It also leads to new explanations of texts that have so far proven difficult to interpret. In this paper I have tried to show how this approach can clarify the perspective of those working with late antique Roman law.

<sup>30</sup> The emperors' image in their legal texts does not differ much from traditional motives of panegyric, although legal texts cannot of course stress military victories and must put emphasis on an emperor's peace-time qualities: lawfulness, moderation, accessibility, sense of justice, liberality, clemency. See Oswyn Murray, The Classical Traditions of Panegyric and Advice to Princes, in: Geert Roskam and Stefan Schorn (eds.), Concepts of Ideal Rulership from Antiquity to the Renaissance (Studies in the Transmission of Texts & Ideas 7), Turnhout 2018, pp. 217–254 (here p. 221) and Karen Piepenbrink, Zur 'Christianisierung' des 'Fürstenspiegels' in der Spätantike: Überlieferungen zur Ekthesis des Agapetos, in: Geert Roskam and Stefan Schorn (eds.), Concepts of Ideal Rulership from Antiquity to the Renaissance (Studies in the Transmission of Texts & Ideas 7), Turnhout 2018, pp. 329–354.

<sup>31</sup> Narratives are not only used to transport a certain image of the emperor, but also to justify social order and the law that define it. See Rainer Forst (note 10), pp. 11–15.

# Reading the *Adversus Iudaeos* Dialogues Through Narratology

Creating in Writing a Culture of Jewish-Christian Disputations in Late Antiquity

> Abstract Late Antiquity was replete with intense religious antagonisms and disputes. Intra-Christian debates were part of this environment, and the Church's Ecumenical Councils were based on such religious meetings. Although we know much about debates between Christian groups, we know less about debates between late antique Jews and Christians. However, in the Christian literature, the *Adversus* or *Contra Iudaeos* dialogues, a large corpus of dialectical texts against the Jews, portray imaginary discussions between Christians and Jews. This article considers narratology as a methodological framework to read *Adversus Iudaeos* dialogues. By investigating elements of *temporality* in an example text, the 'Dialogue of Grēgentios with Herban the Jew', I analyse three categories of time: *duration*, *order*, and *frequency*. I explain how time creates an effect of realism, which was conducive for the dialogue author to construct an effective rhetorical space that allowed him to give the impression that such debates between a Christian and a Jew were once organised, recorded, and composed as memories of real events, thus propagandising (through their composition) for the correctness of his theological beliefs as outlined in the dialogue.

> Zusammenfassung Die Spätantike ist geprägt von intensiven religiösen Antagonismen und Auseinandersetzungen. Innerchristliche Streitgespräche waren ein Teil dieser Kultur, und auch die ökumenischen Konzile der Epoche bauten auf solchen Debatten auf. Über Streitgespräche zwischen Christen und Juden wissen wir hingegen verhältnismäßig wenig. Mit den *Adversus Iudaeos*-Dialogen gibt es allerdings ein breites Textkorpus, im Grunde ein

#### Contact

Michail Kitsos, Ph.D.,

History of Judaism and Christianity in Late Antiquity, University of Toronto, 170 St. George St., Toronto, michail.kitsos@utoronto.ca https://orcid.org/0000-0002- 0992-2752

Michail Kitsos: Reading the *Adversus Iudaeos* Dialogues Through Narratology: Creating in Writing a Culture of Jewish-Christian Disputations in Late Antiquity. In: Fafinski, Mateusz and Riemenschneider, Jakob (Eds.): The Past Through Narratology, 107–122. Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2022 (Das Mittelalter. Perspektiven mediävistischer Forschung /Beihefte, Band 18). DOI: https://doi.org/10.17885/heiup.921.c13618

ganzes Genre, das solche Diskussionen fingiert, um Argumente gegen den jüdischen Glauben zu verbreiten. Dieser Aufsatz betrachtet die Narratologie als methodologischen Rahmen für die Lektüre der *Adversus Iudaeos-Dialoge*. Anhand der Untersuchung von Elementen der Zeitlichkeit in einem Beispieltext, dem 'Dialog des Grēgentios mit dem Juden Herban', analysiere ich drei Kategorien von Zeit: *Dauer, Reihenfolge* und *Häufigkeit*. Zeitlichkeit wird hier als Mittel interpretiert, das es dem Autor erlaubte, Realismus herzustellen. Im rhetorischen Raum des Dialogs erweckt er den Anschein, dass die Diskussion tatsächlich stattgefunden hat und aufgezeichnet wurde und auf diese Weise die Richtigkeit der theologischen Überzeugungen, wie sie im Dialog dargelegt werden, zu propagieren.

#### Introduction: Narratology and Realism

The *Adversus Iudaeos* dialogues, written between Late Antiquity and the late Middle Ages, comprise a large corpus of multi-topic and lengthy conversations between a 'Christian' and a 'Jew', who are portrayed as meeting in order to discuss matters of Christian belief and practice.1 The dialogue authors present the 'Jews' as challenging the Christian faith of their interlocutors and the 'Christian' disputants as responding to these challenges, giving expositions of their religious beliefs. In the end, the 'Jew' either is portrayed as converting to his interlocutor's Christian dogma, convinced by his theological arguments, or he is depicted as unsatisfied and unconvinced by them.2

This genre of texts can be seen within the broader context of religious antagonisms and public debates in Late Antiquity,3 particularly between Christians and Jews.

<sup>1</sup> Throughout this article, I place the words 'Christian' and 'Jew' inside quotation marks when I refer to them as interlocutors in dialogue(s) to denote that these are not real characters and that we cannot know whether or not they represent real characters. However, when I refer to Jews and Christians as possible interlocutors outside the literary framework of the *Adversus Iudaeos* dialogues or as the subject of Christian theology, I do not place them inside quotation marks.

<sup>2</sup> For recent discussions on an array of questions regarding the *Adversus Iudaeos* dialogues see the excellent collection of articles in the edited volume: Sebastien Morlet, Olivier Munnich and Bernard Pouderon (eds.), Les Dialogues *Adversus Iudaeos*: Permanences et mutations d'une tradition polémique. Actes du colloque international organisé les 7 et 8 décembre 2011 à l'Université de Paris-Sorbonne, Paris 2013.

<sup>3</sup> Peter Van Nuffelen, The End of Open Competition? Religious Disputations in Late Antiquity, in: David Engels and Peter Van Nuffelen (eds.), Religion and Competition in Antiquity (Collection Latomus 343), Bruxelles 2014, pp. 149–172.

The texts can also be seen as part of their authors' effort for "religious orthodoxy" 4 and religious legitimacy of practice and belief.5 At the same time, the *Adversus Iudaeos*  dialogues need to be considered vis-à-vis the broader issue of contacts between late antique Jews and Christians, against which ancient Christian authors inveighed and wrote.6 Even though these works were written to portray disputations and there is scant information from some ecclesiastical writers, such as Origen,7 Severus of Menorca,8 and John Moschus,9 who allude to Jewish–Christian debates,10 by no means could these dialogue texts be considered records of actual discussions between Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity, for, inter alia, it is hard to account with certainty whether late antique Jews and Christians actually held public disputations. Still, accounts of such debates open a window into the interlocutors' world, or, to be more precise, into the dialogue authors' world: that is, a world of disputations to which the readers of these stories could have been able to relate, and which the authors of these texts seem to (re)construct in writing, having in mind 'Jews' and 'Christians' as protagonists.11 In this paper, I suggest that one way to approach and study the *Adversus Iudaeos* dialogues is by treating them as narratives.


<sup>4</sup> Alberto Rigolio, Christians in Conversation. A Guide to Late Antique Dialogues in Greek and Syriac, Oxford 2019, p. 12.

<sup>5</sup> See Michail Kitsos, Speaking as the Other: Late Ancient Jewish and Christian Multivocal Texts and the Creation of Religious Legitimacy, PhD diss., University of Michigan, 2020, in which they argue that Christian and rabbinic authors in their dialogues with 'others' deployed characters as foils whom they impersonated to argue for legitimacy of opinion in matters of practice and belief.

<sup>6</sup> The most representative example of such anti-Jewish rhetoric against contacts between Jews and Christians in fourth century Antioch is John Chrysostom's 'Against the Judaizers'*.* See Robert L. Wilken, John Chrysostom and the Jews. Rhetoric and Reality in the Late 4th Century, Eugene 2004. On Jewish–Christian contacts see Adam H. Becker and Annette Yoshiko Reed (eds.), The Ways That Never Parted. Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, Minneapolis 2007; Lori Baron, Jill Hicks-Keeton and Matthew Thiessen, Introduction, in: Lori Baron, Jill Hicks-Keeton and Matthew Thiessen (eds.), The Ways that Often Parted. Essays in Honor of Joel Marcus, Atlanta 2018; Dan Jaffé (ed.), Juifs et chrétiens aux premiers siècles. Identités, dialogues et dissidences, Paris 2019. On an overview of the Christian anti-Jewish polemics see Samuel Kraus, The Jewish-Christian Controversy, vol. 1: History, ed. by William Horbury, Tübingen 2008, esp. pp. 1–51.

As narratives, the *Adversus Iudaeos* dialogues have a plot or diegesis, and they appear to represent a world that seems plausible to exist. A narrative, as Monika Fludernik explains,

is a representation of a possible world in a linguistic and / or visual medium, at whose centre [sic] there are one or several protagonists of an anthropomorphic nature who are existentially anchored in a temporal and spatial sense and who (mostly) perform goal-directed actions (action and plot structure). […] The narrator or narrative discourse shape the narrated world creatively and individualistically at the level of the text, and this happens particularly through the (re)arrangement of the temporal order in which events are presented and through the choice of perspective (point of view, focalisation).12

The authors of the Christian anti-Jewish dialogues serve as narrators who 'recount' stories of 'lively' meetings and discussions between 'Christians' and 'Jews', during which unexpected incidents occur, such as miracles, divine interventions, (forced) conversions, and even unexpected deaths. In these diegetic or metadiegetic narratives,13 which are developed upon the dogmatic and theological expositions that comprise the thematic backbone of these works, realism seems to play an integral role.

Realism is "a mode of writing that gives the impression of recording or 'reflecting' faithfully an actual way of life".14 Its complexity in narratives hinges on an observation according to which "modern criticism frequently insists that realism is not a direct or simple reproduction of reality (a 'slice of life') but a system of conventions producing a lifelike illusion of some 'real' world outside the text, by processes of selection, exclusion, description, and manners of addressing the reader".15 Thus, we may see the applicability of Ian Watt's observation, as given by Fludernik, concerning realism in novels (this observation applies to the *Adversus Iudaeos* dialogues as well), according to which novels "create [a] vivid world which, to a large extent, replicates that of their real-life readers".16 As Fludernik eloquently explained, the intensity of realism and the power it exercises on the audience stems from incorporating images from real life

<sup>12</sup> Monika Fludernik, An Introduction to Narratology, transl. by Patricia Haüsler-Greenfield and Monika Fludernik, London 2009, p. 6.

<sup>13</sup> Gerard Prince, Diegetic, in: A Dictionary of Narratology, Lincoln 1989, p. 20. According to Prince, the term diegetic pertains "to or part of a given diegesis […] and, more particularly, that diegesis represented by the (primary) narrative." According to the same scholar, "[m]etadiegetic narrative [is] a narrative embedded within another narrative and, more particularly, within the primary narrative; a hypodiegetic narrative", ibid., p. 50. In the dialogue texts, we encounter both diegetic and metadiegetic, as well as extradiegetic, narratives.

<sup>14</sup> Chris Baldick, Realism, in: The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, 3rd ed. (2008), p. 281.

<sup>15</sup> Ibid., p. 282.

<sup>16</sup> Fludernik (note 12), p. 53. See Ian Watt, The Rise of the Novel: Studies in Defoe, Richardson, and Fielding, Berkeley 1957.

or from referring to aspects of reality.17 The illusion of realism does not aim to depict the exact real world through the narrated story but "to make the world of the novel seem like part of the real world".18 Put differently, realistic narratives do not strive to imitate reality but to "refer to aspects of reality which are already familiar to readers; these are then perceived as part of a conceptual frame and ultimately integrated into the world that the readers know".19

Literary realism appears to comprise a principal component of the *Adversus Iudaeos* dialogues, whose authors try to convince their readers that the narrated stories drew from real-life events. Due to these works' structure, content, and literary elements, I propose using (several) narratological concepts, which may help us explore possible reasons why these works were composed.

#### Temporality

*Temporality* is one component that enhances the sense of realism in the *Adversus Iudaeos* dialogues. It manifests in various forms beyond the deictic time, upon which narrated events are described to have occurred. Thus, the study of time in narratives requires considering three aspects of time analysis: *duration*, *order*, and *frequency*.20

*Duration*, a temporal characteristic found in all narratives (both historical and fictional), involves two different categories of time: (1) the story time, which is the length of time the narrated events are portrayed as having occurred, and (2) the discourse or narrative time, which is the time the reader needs to read a text.21 We find story time only in some *Adversus Iudaeos* dialogues in which their authors meticulously inform their readers of how long the dialogues last, when the interlocutors meet, and at what time during the day the discussions end. On the other hand, discourse or narrative time appears in all the *Adversus Iudaeos* dialogues.

*Order* concerns the arrangement of the events in a narrative (including the *Adversus Iudaeos* dialogues), and whether these events follow a linear progression (namely, the events follow chronological order) or occur disjointedly (in which case

<sup>17</sup> Fludernik (note 12), p. 55.

<sup>18</sup> Ibid.

<sup>19</sup> Ibid.

<sup>20</sup> On the different categories of time analysis, that is order, duration, and frequency, see Gérard Genette, Narrative Discourse. An Essay in Method, transl. by Jane E. Lewin, Ithaca 1980, pp. 33–85, 87–112, 113–160; Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan, Narrative Fiction. Contemporary Poetics, London 1983, pp. 43–58; Michael J. Toolan, Narrative. A Critical Linguistic Introduction, London 1988, pp. 48–67.

<sup>21</sup> Manfred Jahn, Narratology. A Guide to the Theory of Narrative, N5.2.2, "Tense, Time, and Narrative", http://www.uni-koeln.de/~ame02/pppn.htm#N5.2 (7 January 2020). See also Genette (note 20), pp. 33–34; Rimmon-Kenan (note 20), pp. 44–45, as quoted by Jahn.

we are dealing with anachrony22 in the form of flashbacks and flashforwards).23 The author determines the order of the described events, and their meticulous arrangement intensifies the realistic parameters of a narrative. Recognising that "sequence is another managed and customised dimension of human temporal experience", as Michael Flaherty puts it, allows us to acknowledge the role it plays in referring to real-life experiences from which a narrative could draw.24

Finally, *frequency* addresses the number of times an event happens within a narrative. Manfred Jahn defines three "frequential modes" of frequency in narratives: "singulative telling, [which refers to] recounting once what happened once; repetitive telling [that is] recounting several times what happened once; [and] iterative telling, [which is] recounting once what happened n [sic] times." 25 In the *Adversus Iudaeos*  dialogues, frequency is seen by the number of times the interlocutors are described as meeting and by the number of times the debaters discuss the same topic.

As a case study from the corpus of the *Adversus Iudaeos* dialogues, I will turn to the 'Dialogue of Grēgentios bishop of Taphar with the Jew Herban' 26 (going forward 'Dialogue of Grēgentios with Herban'). In this text, like in other *Adversus Iudaeos*  dialogues, we find the temporal elements of duration, order, and frequency as deliberate additions by its author. I argue that by manipulating these temporal elements in his dialogue, the author strove to persuade his audience that disputations with Jews were possible events that happened in time, providing opportunities to the Christian participants to demonstrate the 'correct' exposition of their faith so that the outcome would usually justify the Christian rhetoric of orthodoxy. The portrayed efficiency of these dialogues may explain the persistence of their composition from the second until the fifteenth century CE. Namely, by creating realistic accounts of such encounters, the authors of *Adversus Iudaeos* dialogues seem to construct a rhetorical space to propagandise for the correctness of their positions during the different compositional times of their texts.

<sup>22</sup> See Jahn (note 21). Jahn offers a succinct but informative explanation of the different subcategories of anachronism for factual events. See also Genette (note 20), pp. 35–85; Toolan (note 20), pp. 49–50; Rimmon-Kenan (note 20), pp. 46–51; Jiwei Ci, An Alternative to Genette's Theory of Order, in: Style 22, 1 (1988), pp. 18–41, as quoted by Jahn.

<sup>23</sup> See Jahn (note 21).

<sup>24</sup> Michael G. Flaherty, The Textures of Time. Agency and Temporal Experience, Philadelphia 2011, p. 58.

<sup>25</sup> Jahn (note 21); Genette (note 20), pp. 113–160; Rimmon-Kenan (note 20), pp. 46, 56–58; Toolan (note 20), pp. 61–62, as quoted by Jahn.

<sup>26</sup> Grēgentios, The Dialogue of Grēgentios bishop of Tephar with the Jew Herban, in: Albrecht Berger (ed.), Life and Works of Saint Gregentios Archbishop of Taphar. Introduction, Critical Edition and Translation (Millenium-Studien zu Kultur und Geschichte des ersten Jahrtausends n. Chr. 7), Berlin 2006, pp. 450–803.

### The 'Dialogue of Grēgentios with Herban the Jew'

The 'Dialogue of Grēgentios with Herban' is presented as 'recording' a public debate between Grēgentios, the bishop of Himyar (modern-day Yemen), and a 'Jew' named Herban. Although this is a separate work ('Dialexis'), it is connected to two other texts – Grēgentios's 'Bios' (Life) and his 'Nomoi' (Laws) – all of which are part of a "dossier of texts relating to Grēgentios, a 6th-century saint from Lyplianes (mod. Ljubljana, Slovenia)".27 Although scholars have proposed alternative dates that situate the composition of the text between the sixth and the ninth centuries CE,28 Albrecht Berger has convincingly argued for a post-ninth century compositional date of this dialogue based, among other textual evidence,29 on "allegorical interpretations of passages from the Old Testament […] for which parallels can only be found in sources from the ninth century and later",30 and on a scene that describes praying "with the hands put together",31 a posture which the author of the text seems to consider an acceptable way of praying when in the ninth century such a posture was rejected "by the official Byzantine Orthodox Church".32 Specifically, Berger has suggested the mid-tenth century as the most probable date of the text's composition 33 also on account of strong evidence that suggests identifying the author of the 'Dialogue of Grēgentios with Herban' with the author of the 'Bios' and the 'Nomoi', with both of the two latter texts to have been composed around the same time.34 Given the three texts' authorial association, Constantinople also seems to be the place of the dialogue's composition.35


<sup>27</sup> Sarah Insley, Gregentius, Life of S., in: The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, 1 (2018), p. 683. On the dossier of Grēgentios see also Berger, The Dialexis, in: Berger (note 26), pp. 109–113, and Berger, The Dossier of Saint Gregentios, in: Berger (note 26), pp. 109–113. According to his 'Bios', a text written in Constantinople in the mid-tenth century CE, Grēgentios was born in Lyplianes, Slovenia. From there, he travelled to Italy, North Africa, Asia Minor, and Egypt. In Egypt, he was ordained a priest and then a bishop of Taphar. He continued his travels to Ethiopia, and from there to Taphar, Yemen, the place of his bishopry. Berger, The Bios, in: Berger (note 26), pp. 1–6, 6–47.

<sup>28</sup> These dates are based either on references to theological issues that troubled the Church, such as Monothelētism; or on the absence of any mention to Iconoclasm when the discussions touch on the veneration of the icons; or on allusions to the debate on the filioque. Berger, The Dialexis (note 27), pp. 91–94.

<sup>29</sup> Ibid., pp. 94–95.

<sup>33</sup> Ibid., pp. 100–105.

<sup>34</sup> Ibid., pp. 107, 108, and Berger, The Dossier of Saint Gregentios (note 27), pp. 110–111, where Berger discusses the similarities between the 'Bios' the 'Dialexis' and the 'Nomoi' as works of the same author. For a detailed analysis of the date and origin of this work see Berger, The Dialexis (note 27), pp. 100–109.

<sup>35</sup> Berger, The Dialexis (note 27), p. 105. Berger remarks that the author of this text, a monk of unknown name and identity, used resources from the library of his monastery of Maximina

The 'Dialogue of Grēgentios with Herban' is a text which its author situated "into the fictitious historical context of a remote past" 36 and which by no means is "intend[ed] to mirror the reality of its time of origin in detail".37 However, given the main focus of this dialogue, namely the public debate and the subsequent successful conversion of the Jews to Byzantine Orthodox Christianity, it is plausible that it may reflect incidents near to its compositional date. In particular, the forced conversions of Jews in the last quarter of the ninth century under Emperor Basileios I (867–886),38 as well as Novella 55 by the latter's son, Emperor Leon VI, which demanded that Jews follow the Christian religion,39 need to be considered as having left a deep impression on Byzantine society of the tenth century. So much so that the author's wishful desire for the successful and lasting conversion of the Jews without them returning to their religion found its way into the narrative, in particular at the conclusion of the dialogue, in which Grēgentios is portrayed as suggesting legislation that enforced intermingling ex-Jews with Christians and forbade inter-marriages between ex-Jews.40 Similar echoes of Christian anti-Jewish hostility from a few decades before their composition appear to be reflected by hagiographical texts, such as the 'Life of Saint Andrew the Fool' 41 and the 'Life of Saint Basileios the Younger',42 composed around the same period as the 'Dialogue of Grēgentios with Herban'. It is in such an environment of anti-Jewish hostility that we may situate historically the composition of the 'Dialogue of Grēgentios', as well as the composition of certain tenth-century hagiographical texts, and where anti-Jewish policies and actions of the immediately preceding period appear to have left an imprint on at least some of the literary production of the time.

In the text, the debate between Grēgentios and Herban lasts for five consecutive days (story time), and the participants meet an equivalent number of times. The



in Constantinople "for the life of a ficticious [sic] Christian participant in the discussion. The result of his investigations are the figure of Saint Gregentios and his 'Bios'. For the final part of this text, the author used a source about the mission of Yemen in King Kālēb's time, which provided an ideal pseudo-historical background for the 'Dialexis'. The staging of this event in pre-Islamic Yemen is, therefore, caused only be the sources used for the Bios, and has nothing to do with the theological content of the debate." Ibid., pp. 107–108.

<sup>38</sup> 'Vita Basilii' talks about the conversion of the Jews but in terms of an irenic process through public debates and bribery. However, as Berger states, other sources paint a grim image of the conversion of the Jews, which was not as peaceful as the 'Vita' attempts to give us. See Berger, The Dialexis (note 27), p. 105 esp. nn. 73–75.

narrative begins with the information that forty days predated the formal opening of the debate in order for the 'Jews' to prepare for the event.43 The public dialogue that took place in the palace was held before the king and before a Christian and a Jewish audience,44 including the ecclesiastical hierarchy, scribes, Pharisees, and rabbis.45 Each day of the discussions starts in the morning and ends in the evening of the same calendar day. The king orders the opening of the conversations, with the scene having the formality of an official event. There is an order in the narrative: the king summons the participants; the bishop appears first, followed by the Jews and then by Herban. The last day of the debate is more elaborate than the previous four, with the author mentioning the presence of the senate, the priests, and the rabbis.46 The debate concludes with the baptism of Herban and the whole Jewish congregation. The conversion of the Jews is followed by the law Grēgentios suggested that the king legislate to prohibit the newly converted Jews from marrying people from their community and to force them to mingle with Christians.47 In this story, the duration of the debate coincides with the frequency of the meetings.

In all, the details given in the text regarding the organisation of the event enhance its realistic feeling that such a debate took place. However, it appears that this is a fictional work which its author decided to situate at least four hundred years before its composition, at the time of Grēgentios, using this character to give credibility to

47 Ibid., lines 668–708, pp. 796–799.

<sup>43</sup> Grēgentios, Dialexis A, in: Berger (note 26), lines 1–2, pp. 450–451.

<sup>44</sup> Ibid., lines 2–15, pp. 450–451. In the 'Dialogue of Timothy and Aquila' (The Dialogue of Timothy and Aquila. A Critical Text. Introduction to the Manuscript Evidence, and an Inquiry into the Sources and Literary Relationships, ed. by R. G. Robertson, Th.D. Diss., Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge 1986) the dialogue takes place in an open space (The Dialogue of Timothy and Aquila, ed. by Robertson, para. 3:1a), whereas in the 'Doctrina Jacobi Nuper Baptizati' the discussion between the interlocutors takes place in secret (Doctrina Jacobi Nuper Baptizati, ed. by Vincent Déroche, in: Travaux et mémoirs 11 [1991], I:43, pp. 135–137).

<sup>45</sup> I am thankful to the anonymous reviewer who emphasised to me that the reference in the text to "scribes and Pharisees" who are mentioned as being part the Jewish audience along with rabbis seems to be both an anachronism and a borrowing from the New Testament that the Christian dialogue author did either purposefully or by ignorance. Although this seems to be the most likely scenario, it is virtually impossible to know why the author used these particular groups to identify some of the Jewish audience, and whether behind them the author had in mind Jews of his day. Furthermore, we cannot say with certainty how much knowledge the author of the dialogue had about contemporary Judaism; or whether he had contacts with Jews in Constantinople, and, if he had, whether these Jews did or did not follow rabbinic Judaism and, if they did, to what extent. The arguments the Christian author presents the Jewish interlocutor as using against Christianity seem to make sense from a Jewish perspective, but again these arguments are put in the mouth of a fictitious Jewish character by a Christian author whose manner and degree of acquaintance with his contemporary Judaism is hard, if not impossible, to retrieve. Finally, although the audience of this text appears most probably to have been Christian, it could have also been ex-Jews converts to Judaism. See also Berger, The Dialexis as a Theological Treatise, in: Berger (note 26), pp. 117–119.

<sup>46</sup> Grēgentios, Dialexis E, in: Berger (note 26), lines 1–4, pp. 744–745.

the historicity of the described debate,48 and suggesting that its author could have deployed images of public debates to compose his text.49

#### Duration

The temporal aspect of duration in the 'Dialogue of Grēgentios with Herban' manifests in the number of days the debate is presented to last (story time), and in the brevity of the exposition of the theological topics that are discussed throughout the text (discourse or narrative time).

With regard to discourse or narrative time, I examine it through the discussions on icons,50 which take place on the fourth day of the debate. These discussions are divided into four parts, and they are interrupted by other theological topics.51 They commence with the author portraying Herban as equating icons with idols and accusing Christians of engaging in ritual actions such as worship, the lighting of candles, and the burning of incense before them – rituals that for the 'Jew' fit only to God.52 Grēgentios is presented as responding to these accusations by using two analogies: (1) he equates the 'Jew' with a blind person who cannot see the sunlight, in order to contend that Jews are similarly blind for not having recognised Christ as God; 53 and (2) he equates the wood of Noah's Ark with the wood of Christian icons to underline the icons' sanctity and salvific role.54 The first part of the discussion on icons closes with a short exposition on Jesus's visual depiction to explain the union of the human and divine natures in his person and to argue that by creating and worshipping icons of Christ, the Christians (for whom the author writes) worshipped Jesus the God in whom the two natures are united without confusion.55

In this excerpt of sixty-seven lines of edited text that comprise the first part of Grēgentios's answer to Herban, the author, without engaging in a lengthy theological discussion and without using complex theological language, encapsulated the central tenets of the theology of the worship of icons. These are summarised as follows: (1) the icons of Christ are not idols, and Christians cannot be accused of idol worship because they do not worship the material of the icons but the portrayed image; (2) the material of the icons does not have a salvific power; it is the depicted

50 The discourse or narrative time applies to other topics of discussion as well.


<sup>48</sup> Berger, The Dialexis (note 26), p. 107.

<sup>49</sup> See Van Nuffelen (note 3), pp. 149–172.

<sup>51</sup> Berger, The Dialexis as a Theological Treatise (note 45), p. 115; Grēgentios, Dialexis Δ, in: Berger (note 26), lines 232–289, pp. 674–679; lines 360–394, pp. 682–685; lines 409–492, pp. 686–693; lines 731–779, pp. 708–711.

image that brings salvation through the icon; (3) Christ received flesh; his humanity is united with his divinity, and this union cannot be depicted visually; by depicting Jesus's body, Christians portray his human nature; and (4) despite depicting Jesus's body, Christians worship Jesus the Word of God (a title attributed to Jesus in the text of the dialogue) because his humanity is united with his divinity.

The second part of the discussion on the same topic examines succinctly Jewish aniconism as the outcome of the ethical perdition of the 'Jews' (as the author justifies it). It also explains why the veneration of the saints and their pictorial depiction cannot be considered an idolatrous act.56 The author argues that by venerating the saints, one addresses their adoration towards God as the source of their sanctification.57 In the third part, the author describes the demonic provenance of the accusations against the icons as idols.58 Furthermore, he presents the 'Jewish' position that equated idols with icons on the assumption that they both refer to a prototype,59 and he explains that icons do not have a divine power by themselves, but they are merely receptacles of divine grace.60 Finally, in the last part of these discussions, the author addresses several side-components of the icons' theology: the worship of the celestial powers,61 the transmission of sanctity through objects,62 the veneration of the dead,63 and the performance of miracles through the materiality of icons and relics 64 are equally explained in an epigrammatic manner.

Duration, through story time and discourse or narrative time, may inform us not only about the realistic sense that the *Adversus Iudaeos* dialogues emanate – giving their readers the impression of organised events over a certain period, or the impression that these works comprised records of actual debates – but also about their possible nature as works through which their authors attempted to offer short expositions of central tenets of their Christian faith, presenting them as established and, thus, undisputed. We have seen these, for example, with respect to the 'Dialogue of Grēgentios with Herban' and the topic of the worship of icons. The theology on the icons is presented as crystallised and in the form of instruction on what one could (or should) answer in a conversation on the topic. The language used in the four excerpts


<sup>64</sup> In short, the author explains that: (1) the icons do not have agency; (2) the divine grace is channelled through the icons of the saints owing to them participating in the body of Christ; and (3) by worshipping an icon, one does not worship the material, but through the material and the depicted saint, one addresses one's prayers to Jesus, the source of the divine grace. The Jewish attack regarding the demonic origin of the divine powers of the icons is confuted by a concise elucidation of the relationship between divine grace and the icons of the saints.

(and elsewhere on other theological topics) is not loaded with complex theological terminology. At the same time, the brevity of the discussions may indicate that the author's goal might not be so much to argue dogmatically but to offer a concise summary of the main points of the practice of iconolatry. These features could suggest the possible function of these works as manuals that could / would instruct without verbosity, offering a synopsis of various theological beliefs, and they could also suggest that texts, such as the present one, may have been aimed at knowledgeable readers, who may have needed short answers on specific topics.65

#### Order

In the same work, *order* manifests not in the orderly arrangement of the subjects (many of them are similar in content) but in their random placement dispersed throughout the text. One topic may be interrupted by another, and then the former one may be brought up again for discussion. One of the subjects through which we may examine order is the identity of the chosen people of God. This topic is analysed in four parts: twice on the first day, once on the second, and again on the third day of the debates. Each part provides a different aspect of this topic's theology in a succinct yet comprehensive fashion.

The main points of the first part of the discussion on icons on the first day of the debate can be summarised as follows: the Jews' unbelief in Christ; the equation between the Jews and the Egyptians as seen in their punishment in the desert; the Jews' unworthiness to receive the manna; the transmission of honour from the Jews to the Christians; and a reference to the Christians as the true sons of Abraham by faith.66 Herban's counter-argument to Grēgentios's positions can be summarised as follows: the Christians' rejection of the light of the (old) law; God's performance of miracles to the Israelites; Christians being seen as using the Israelite prophets against the Jews; and defending the Jews' genealogical descendance from Abraham.67

In the second part of the same topic from the same day, the author introduces supersessionist theology. Speaking as Grēgentios, the author argues that Christians replaced the Jews when the latter rejected Jesus, and he parallelises Christians with Jacob and Israel with Esau; on the other hand, speaking as Herban, in response to Grēgentios's previous claims, the author presents the 'Jew' as having recourse to biblical references to Israel being called God's firstborn son.68 In the meantime, other

<sup>65</sup> The brevity of the analysis of the various theological teachings throughout these compositions could facilitate comprehension and memorisation.

<sup>66</sup> Berger, The Dialexis as a Theological Treatise (note 45), p. 114; Grēgentios, Dialexis A (note 43), lines 16–62, pp. 452–455.

<sup>67</sup> Grēgentios, Dialexis A (note 43), lines 16–62, pp. 452–455.

<sup>68</sup> Berger, The Dialexis as a Theological Treatise (note 45), p. 114; Grēgentios, Dialexis A (note 43), lines 112–142, pp. 460–463. See also Kitsos (note 5).

subjects are interwoven between the two parts of the conversation. These subjects are the concept of the Trinity and its justification from the Old Testament, the identity of Jesus as the Messiah, the prefiguration of the Holy Cross in the Old Testament, the coming of Christ, and the transition to the Christians of the gifts that were given to the Israelites.69

In the third part from the second day of the debate, Grēgentios is portrayed as arguing that God rejected the Jews, dispersing them from the land of Israel where the Christians were allowed to dwell.70 Here, the author argues that the punishments which befell the Israelites, and by extension the Jews, such as the expulsion from the land of Israel, the dispersion among the nations, and intermingling with them, prove that the Jews ended up being equated with the gentiles, and that Christians ended up rising to the status of the chosen people of God.71 Similarly, this section is preceded by an array of discussions, such as the Jews' exile among the nations and their loss of Jerusalem, and it is followed by conversations that raise the topic of the coming of Christ and the prefiguration of the Holy Cross in the Old Testament, to name but few.72

Finally, in the fourth part of the discussions on icons from the third day of the debates, Herban emphasises the genealogical connection between the Jews and the biblical Israelites, in contrast to the Christians' gentile origins, to support the idea that his people are the chosen people of God. On the other hand, Grēgentios is presented as differentiating between their former and latter state concerning their status as God's chosen people.73 Not surprisingly, this section is also positioned among topics on the rejection of the Jews, the identification of Christ with the new law, and the worship of God through Jesus.74

This meticulous randomness in the order of topics contributes to the sense of realism that these staged conversations exude. They may remind the reader of thematic interruptions that may occur in real-life discussions, in which discussants may change topics randomly and then return to topics discussed earlier. This feature enhances the possible purpose of these works as manuals of debate-making, showing how discussants may shift from one subject to another. In other words, the dialogue author engages in diegesis (narration of the discussed topics) and mimesis (imitation of how discussions unfold in real conversations), and assumes in his dialogue both the voice of the narrator and (through impersonation) the voice of the personages,

<sup>69</sup> Berger, The Dialexis as a Theological Treatise (note 45), p. 114; Grēgentios, Dialexis A (note 43), lines 63–111, pp. 456–459; lines 143–491, pp. 462–493.

<sup>70</sup> Berger, The Dialexis as a Theological Treatise (note 45), p. 114; Grēgentios, Dialexis B, in: Berger (note 26), lines 412–34, pp. 528–531.

<sup>71</sup> Grēgentios, Dialexis B (note 70), lines 412–434, pp. 528–531.

<sup>72</sup> Berger, The Dialexis as a Theological Treatise (note 45), p. 114; Grēgentios, Dialexis B (note 70), lines 338–411, pp. 522–529; lines 558–583, pp. 538–541; lines 689–694, pp. 548–549.

<sup>73</sup> Berger, The Dialexis as a Theological Treatise (note 45), p. 114; Grēgentios, Dialexis Γ, in: Berger (note 26), lines 624–636, pp. 636–639.

<sup>74</sup> Grēgentios, Dialexis Γ (note 73), lines 633–673, pp. 636–641; lines 674–696, pp. 640–641.

as Karol Berger persuasively discussed with respect to the diegetic and the dramatic modes in a narrative.75 Assuming both voices and basing his narration on a mimicry of real-life debates that we know of, especially those between Christians,76 the dialogue author persuades his readers of the effectiveness of the theological arguments he uses, at the same time preparing them for swift cross-talks between topics.

#### Frequency

Finally, frequency can be analysed through the number of times the same theological topic is discussed. Repeated discussions of the same topics are a characteristic of most *Adversus Iudaeos* dialogues. Here, I will consider the conversations on the rejection of the Jews. This theme, upon which Christians based their supersessionist aspirations, is scrutinised eight times: twice on the second day of the debates, thrice on the third, twice on the fourth, and once on the fifth. For brevity, I will mention the four most prominent references to this subject.77

In the first discussion of the topic on the second day of the debates, the author emphasises several aspects of the theology on the rejection of the Jews: the obsoleteness of the Jewish law and its obscuring of the truth; 78 the scattering of the Jews among the nations as a sign of the rejection of their faith; 79 the disobedience of the Jews and the subsequent coming of Jesus; 80 the juxtaposition between the old and the new law; the accusation against the Jews of keeping the old law despite its obsoleteness; 81 and the juxtaposition between Christians' living in a state of grace through their belief in Jesus and the Jews' falling from that state, as manifested by the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.82

This subject opens the theological conversations on the third day of the debate. Here the argument is grounded on God's rejection of the Jewish rituals.83 The conversation on this topic continues later on with the author analysing the rejection of the Jews and their deception by their teachers, who (per the author's understanding)


<sup>75</sup> Karol Berger, Diegesis and Mimesis. The Poetic Modes and the Matter of Artistic Representation, in: The Journal of Musicology 12, 4 (1994), pp. 407–433. I am grateful to Mateusz Fafinski who brought Karol Berger's article to my attention.

<sup>76</sup> Van Nuffelen (note 3), pp. 156–160.

<sup>77</sup> The other four happen on the second day (Dialexis B, lines 607–641, pp. 542–545), third day (Dialexis Γ, lines 575–618, pp. 634–637), and fourth day of the debates (Dialexis Δ, lines 135–205, pp. 668–673 and lines 1082–1144, pp. 730–735).

promised them their restoration as a nation along with the reclaiming of Jerusalem in order to prevent them from believing in Jesus.84 Finally, the same topic opens the last day of the debates, referring to Christian accusations against the Jews as Christ murderers.85

The author's choice to treat the same theological themes repetitively allows us to see two things: firstly, the importance and centrality of such topics for the author of a dialogue, and, secondly, the sense of realism when the frequency of certain subjects goes in hand with their disorderly arrangement. This frequency creates an effect of a real-life situation where an important topic is brought up for discussion time and again until it has been analysed adequately.

#### Conclusion

By using the 'Dialogue of Grēgentios with Herban' as a case study to examine temporality, I have proposed that we can use narratology as a methodological framework to analyse *Adversus Iudaeos* dialogues (which bridge the late antique Jewish–Christian literary disputation tradition onto the end of the Middle Ages) to help us understand what the function and purpose of these dialogue texts might have been. I showed how time played an integral part in ways that deal with the length of the narratives and the narrated events (duration), the arrangement of the subjects and the style of the topics (order), and the regularity of the narrated events and topics (frequency).

In the 'Dialogue of Grēgentios with Herban' (as well as in other *Adversus Iudaeos*  dialogues), the duration of the scenes and the exposition of the topics may suggest the purpose of these works as manuals, whose objective could have been to give an exposition of their authors' Christianity concisely. The non-systematic arrangement of the subjects in these texts reproduces the sense of real-life conversations in which the interlocutors shift between topics without creating a semantic gap in the discussions. At the same time, this disorderly arrangement of the theological subjects denotes independence within the broader narrative. Each topic may stand alone with its own arguments. As such, they seem to function as predetermined or canned responses to specific theological questions, challenges, and concerns. Finally, the frequency of the topics and of the meetings between Jews and Christians may be indicative of their centrality for the authors of the dialogues. By analysing specific theological topics more than once, the authors emphasised what the important theological subjects were for them, providing, simultaneously, concise instructions on theological matters that played a leading role.

Using narratology, we may see that the dialogue authors deployed temporal features that enhanced the realism of their narratives. The temporal elements of

<sup>84</sup> Ibid., lines 488–556, pp. 628–633.

<sup>85</sup> Grēgentios, Dialexis Ε, in: Berger (note 26), lines 1–53, pp. 744–749.

duration, order, and frequency are interwoven with each other to give a realistic image of debates between Christians and Jews. By narrating debates as if they happened in real life, these authors propagandised for their beliefs, constructing an effective rhetorical space in which they could defeat the 'Jew' and support their correctness of opinion, implying, at the same time, that their texts described what (could have) happened in real life. To create a believable story of a dialogue whose results were in favour of the Christian side has a different register, one that aims to 'show' not merely the triumph of Christianity to the extent that a Jewish community abandoned the faith of their ancestors, but in particular the triumph of the author's Christianity as the correct form of Christian dogma. Through the composition of such works, the anonymous Christian authors created in writing a culture of disputation between Jews and Christians that started in Late Antiquity and continued up to the late Middle Ages.

### Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Ellen Muehlberger and Rachel Rafael Neis who gave me insightful feedback on earlier versions of this paper. I am also very thankful to Mateusz Fafinski and Jakob Riemenschneider for their helpful comments. Finally, I owe thanks to the anonymous reviewers for this journal for their valuable feedback. Any mistakes are solely mine.

# Townspeople, Group Belonging, and Collective Agency in Post-Carolingian Historiography

Abstract This article deals with depictions of townspeople in tenth- and early eleventh-century narratives. It argues that during the tenth century the narrative function of these groups in historiography changed fundamentally. In Carolingian and earlier tenth-century narratives, townspeople tend to play largely tangential and passive roles; from around the middle of the tenth century, authors began to increasingly accord agency and a more central role to townspeople. Although these mentions of townspeople in post-Carolingian histories have traditionally been approached as providing a window into processes of 'embryonic' urbanisation, this paper suggests that the shift in their narrative function must also be understood in the context of the changing nature of diocesan identity politics created through the dissolution of the Carolingian Empire.

Zusammenfassung Dieser Aufsatz widmet sich der Darstellung von Stadtbewohnern in Narrativen des 10. und frühen 11. Jahrhunderts. Die erzählerische Funktion dieser Gruppen in der Geschichtsschreibung hat sich im 10. Jahrhundert grundlegend verändert. In historiographischen Erzählungen aus der Karolingerzeit bis zur ersten Hälfte des 10. Jahrhunderts stehen die Stadtbewohner am Rande des Geschehens; ihre Rolle ist überwiegend passiv. Ab der Mitte des Jahrhunderts beginnen Autoren den Stadtbewohnern zunehmend Handlungsmacht und eine zentralere Rolle in ihren Narrativen einzuräumen. Obwohl diese Erwähnungen von Stadtbewohnern in nachkarolingischen Geschichten traditionell vorrangig als Beleg für einsetzende Urbanisierungsprozesse betrachtet

#### Contact

Dr. Jelle Wassenaar, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Department Geschichte, Lehrstuhl für Geschichte des Mittelalters, Kochstraße 4, 91054 Erlangen, jelle.wassenaar@fau.de

Jelle Wassenaar: Townspeople, Group Belonging, and Collective Agency in Post-Carolingian Historiography. In: Fafinski, Mateusz and Riemenschneider, Jakob (Eds.): The Past Through Narratology, 123–142. Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2022 (Das Mittelalter. Perspektiven mediävistischer Forschung /Beihefte, Band 18). DOI: https://doi.org/10.17885/heiup.921.c13619

wurden, wird in diesem Aufsatz argumentiert, dass die geänderte erzählerische Funktion der Stadtbewohner auch im Zusammenhang mit der veränderten diözesanen Identitätspolitik infolge der Auflösung des Karolingerreichs verstanden werden muss.

### Introduction

The anonymous author of the early eleventh-century 'Gesta pontificum Cameracensium' set off his narrative with a remarkable reflection on the beginnings of cities:

the walls of cities were constructed in order that men could gather together as one and learn to cultivate trust, preserve justice, become accustomed to obey others willingly, and believe not only that labours should be taken upon on behalf of the common good, but even that it might be worth losing their lives in such a cause.1

The Cambrai author portrayed the town as a place especially conducive to the formation of cohesive and assertive groups. This challenges current scholarly assumptions on how collective agency and group belonging functioned in early medieval historical writing. It has recently been suggested that early medieval authors "shifted collective political agency to the *gens*".2 Unlike their predecessors, early medieval historiographers, so it is assumed, no longer envisioned the town as a locus of collective agency.3 As Charles West has noted, medievalists more generally "privilege questions relating

<sup>1</sup> Gesta episcoporum Cameracensium, I, c. 1, ed. by Ludwig Bethmann (MGH SS 7), Hannover 1846, p. 402; English translation: Bernard S. Bachrach, David S. Bachrach and Michael Leese, Deeds of the Bishops of Cambrai. Translation and Commentary, London, New York 2018, p. 33. Throughout this article I refer exclusively to the contents of the first two books of the 'Gesta episcoporum Cameracensium', written by a single author around 1024/1025: Erik van Mingroot, Kritisch onderzoek omtrent de datering van de 'Gesta episcoporum cameracensium', in: Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire 53 (1975), pp. 281–328; Theo Riches, The Function of the 'Gesta Episcoporum' as Archive. Some Reflections on the 'Codex sancti Gisleni' (ms Den Haag kb 75 f 15), in: Jaarboek voor middeleeuwse geschiedenis 10 (2007), pp. 7–46, here esp. pp. 17–23. On the Cambrai author's urban origin narrative see Bachrach et al*.* (this note), n. 9 to the introduction.

<sup>2</sup> Walter Pohl, Historiography and Identity. Methodological Perspectives, in: Walter Pohl and Veronika Wieser (eds.), Historiography and Identity, vol. 1: Ancient and Early Christian Narratives of Community (Cultural Encounters in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages 24), Turnhout 2019, pp. 7–50, here p. 19.

<sup>3</sup> Hans-Werner Goetz, *Gentes*. Zur zeitgenössischen Terminologie und Wahrnehmung ostfränkischer Ethnogenese im 9. Jahrhundert, in: Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung 108 (2000), pp. 85–116, here pp. 94–95.

directly or indirectly to the emergence of national or quasi-national groups".4 This has been particularly true for scholarship on post-Carolingian Europe, which has traditionally been approached as a period of national origins for Germany and France.5

Although cities and their inhabitants have been largely ignored in studies of post-Carolingian historical writing and group identity, another strand of scholarship has paid some attention to mentions of townspeople in tenth-century narratives. Urban historians have long discussed post-Carolingian mentions of urban inhabitants.6 Their studies have focused on the question of what 'actual' groups, socially, economically, or legally defined, might have hidden behind tenth-century depictions of townspeople. Additionally, urban historians have placed mentions of town inhabitants in a longer narrative of medieval urbanisation, debating whether some of these groups were of a 'proto-communal' nature.7 It has, however, proven notoriously difficult to tie historiographical mentions of townspeople to social groups. As a result, modern scholars have found a bewildering variety of groups behind the *cives*  of towns described in single post-Carolingian histories, ranging from "merchants" "Herrenbürger", "proto-communal militias", to "the vassals of the local bishop".8 More importantly, this approach to post-Carolingian mentions of townspeople fails to explain the roles of urban groups in the broader narratives of post-Carolingian authors. Nor does it answer why particular authors chose to frame certain groups in 'urban' terms in the first place.9

Instead of principally trying to pinpoint the economic, social, legal or 'proto-communal' nature of the groups supposedly hiding behind post-Carolingian uses of a term like *cives*, this article aims to trace and then contextualise the salience of 'belonging to the diocesan town' in post-Carolingian historical narrative. The first part of the article discusses a series of annals, chronicles, and 'Gesta' produced in Reims and various

<sup>4</sup> Charles West, Group Formation in the Long Tenth Century. A View From Trier and its Region, in: Christine Kleinjung and Stefan Albrecht (eds.), Das lange 10. Jahrhundert. Struktureller Wandel zwischen Zentralisierung und Fragmentierung, äußerem Druck und innerer Krise (Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum. Tagungen 19). Regensburg 2014, 167–178, here 167–168.

<sup>5</sup> Carlrichard Brühl, Deutschland – Frankreich. Die Geburt zweier Völker, Köln, Wien 1990; Bernd Schneidmüller, *Nomen patriae*. Die Entstehung Frankreichs in der politisch-geographischen Terminologie 10.–13. Jahrhundert (Nationes 7), Sigmaringen 1987.

<sup>6</sup> Peter Johanek, Merchants, Markets and Towns, in: Timothy Reuter (ed.), The New Cambridge Medieval History, Cambridge 2000, pp. 65–94, here p. 83.

<sup>7</sup> See e.g. Frank. G. Hirschmann, Die Anfänge des Städtewesens in Mitteleuropa, 3 vols. (Monographien zur Geschichte des Mittelalters 59, 1–3), Stuttgart 2011, p. 393.

<sup>8</sup> See e.g. the long-running debate on the nature of the 958 Cambrai uprising: Rudi Künzel, Beelden en zelfbeelden van middeleeuwse mensen. Historisch-antropologische studies over groepsculturen in de Nederlanden, 7de–13de eeuw (Memoria. Cultuur- en mentaliteitshistorische studies over de Nederlanden), Nijmegen 1997, pp. 192–193.

<sup>9</sup> For a suggestive study making a similar point but based on eleventh-century charter evidence see Robert Houghton, The Vocabulary of Groups in Eleventh-Century Mantua, in: Early Medieval Europe 24 (2016), pp. 448–477.

Lotharingian dioceses. It suggests that these texts reveal a fundamental shift in the logic of historical writing over the tenth century, through which townspeople acquired newly central and active roles: whereas in earlier texts they functioned as 'patients', as passive groups acted upon by others, in later post-Carolingian historiography they began increasingly to function as 'agents'.10 The second part of the article turns to the question of the relationship between narratives of townspeople and social dynamics. It will be argued that narratives of post-Carolingian townspeople should be seen not only as linked to socio-economic processes of 'urbanisation', but also in the context of the changed nature of diocesan identity politics created by the dissolution of the Carolingian Empire. In the final and third part of the paper, it will then be suggested that narratives of diocesan-urban peoplehood were not only promoted by bishops to further their own authority; some local lay communities pushed their own, competing, narratives of what it meant to belong to the diocesan town.

#### From Patients to Agents

Of all the diocesan centres of historiographical writing discussed below, Reims is the only one that produced multiple annals and chronicles from the late ninth to the early eleventh century, allowing us to trace historiographical change over time in a single locality. The earliest of the Reims texts discussed here, the 'Annales Bertiniani', still originated outside of the diocese.11 Up to 843, they were essentially a 'palace product', first started at Louis the Pious' court and then resumed, after a brief break, by a single annalist or multiple authors at the court of Charles the Bald after Louis the Pious' death.12 In late 843, the recently installed bishop of Troyes, Prudentius (d. 861) left Charles the Bald's court for his see and took the manuscript with him. He then became the sole author of the 'Annales Bertiniani', although he might well already have been involved in the writing of the annals at the court of King Charles before.13 After Prudentius' death in 861, the manuscript was acquired by Hincmar, archbishop of the diocese of Reims, sometime between 861 and late 866.14

In both the parts of the annals written by Prudentius in Troyes, as well as those added by Hincmar in nearby Reims afterwards, the inhabitants of towns are only rarely mentioned. In the few cases where these authors do describe such groups,

<sup>10</sup> On the basic dichotomy between 'patients' and 'agents' see Claude Bremond, The Logic of Narrative Possibilities, in: New Literary History 11, 3 (1989), pp. 387–411, esp. pp. 407–411.

<sup>11</sup> I quote the Latin text of the 'Annales Bertiniani' from the Annales de Saint-Bertin, ed. by Félix Grat, Jeanne Vielliard and Suzanne Clémencet, Paris, 1964, pp. 224–225; the English translation is based on the edition of Janet Nelson, The Annals of St-Bertin, Manchester, York 1991.

<sup>12</sup> On the still disputed earliest authorship of the 'Annales Bertiniani' see Nelson (note 11), pp. 5–7; the term "palace product" is hers.

<sup>13</sup> Ibid., p. 8.

<sup>14</sup> Ibid*.*, p. 10.

the terms used are generally not of a specifically 'civic' nature (as can be the case with the word *cives*, or, as we will see, with group names based on the name of the diocesan town itself), but rather the same as those generally used to refer to those larger collectives understood by contemporaries to have made up Christian society at large: inhabitants of towns are simply the *populus*, or the 'clergy and laity'. Finally, these groups almost always occupy passive roles in the text.15 In 843, a court annalist, perhaps already Prudentius, narrated how "Northmen pirates attacked Nantes, slew the bishop and many clergy and lay people of both sexes, and sacked the *civitas*"; 16 under the year 852, Prudentius describes how the Saracens killed "all Christians" in the *urbs* of Barcelona; 17 and in 859, he wrote that the Norsemen invaded the *civitas* of Noyon, destroying the city and taking its bishop along with *aliis nobilibus*, *tam clericis quam laicis*.18 In his part of the annals, Hincmar similarly describes the inhabitants of towns as victims of the Norsemen's attacks and as passive subjects of the king, who, for example, ordered them to fortify their cities to defend them against the Norsemen.19

After Hincmar's death in 882, it took around 40 years for another annalist to work from Reims. From 922 onwards, Flodoard of Reims started writing his 'Annales'.20 The role of urban inhabitants in this text differs in four ways from the earlier annals of St Bertin. Firstly, where the 'Annales Bertiniani' usually refer to the populations of towns either by using generic terms like "inhabitants" or "laypeople and clerics", Flodoard more often uses words specific to groups inhabiting towns: they are either named *cives* or after the name of the town in question.

Secondly, while the 'Annales Bertiniani' only once describe a Frankish city's population as a collective agent, Flodoard does this quite frequently.21 In Flodoard's account as a whole, the *cives*, more so than the local bishop or count, control access to the city.22 Yet the townspeople appear not only as defenders of the walled town:

<sup>15</sup> A possible exception can perhaps be found in Hincmar's mentions of the 'Beneventans'. This is, however, a community outside of the Frankish *regnum* proper, while Hincmar's use of the term seems to have ducal connotations instead of urban or diocesan ones: Annales Bertiniani (note 11), pp. 182–183.

<sup>16</sup> *Multis clericorum atque laicorum sexusque promiscui*: Annales Bertiniani (note 11), p. 44; English translation: Nelson (note 11), p. 55.

<sup>17</sup> Annales Bertiniani (note 11), p. 64.

<sup>18</sup> Ibid., p. 81; English translation: Nelson (note 11), p. 99.

<sup>19</sup> Annales Bertiniani (note 11), pp. 166–167; English translation: Nelson (note 11), p. 173.

<sup>20</sup> On Flodoard's 'Annales' see now Edward Roberts, Flodoard of Rheims and the Writing of History in the Tenth Century (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought 4,113), Cambridge 2019, pp. 75–103.

<sup>21</sup> Hincmar introduced the *Pictavenses* or townspeople of Poitiers as a collective agent; they drive off a group of Northmen in 868: Annales Bertiniani (note 11), p. 151. On Flodoard's terminology relating to towns see Ryan Lavelle, Controlling and Contesting Urban Spaces. Rulers and Urban Communities in Southern England and Northern France from the Later 9th to 11th Century, in: Hajnalka Herold and Neil J. Christie (eds.), Fortified Settlements in Early Medieval Europe. Defended Communities of the 8th–10th Centuries, Oxford 2016, pp. 158–174.

<sup>22</sup> Ibid., p. 166.

they also function as a group protecting the wider diocese and proper canonical procedure. At times they do this with the help of a group called the *milites*. For example, in his entry for 932 Flodoard narrates that after the Bishop of Noyon died, the local count, Adalelm of Arras, tried to have his own candidate elected as bishop to the see. Although the *milites* of Noyon were driven out of the *urbs* by the count's men, the next day these *milites* collected "some men" from the suburbs and launched a counterattack. Helped by "those inside the walls", they were successful, culminating in their killing of the count and his men. Yet at the end of the narrative, the *cives*, not the *milites*, regained the town: "Thus the *cives* of Noyon regained the *urbs*", so concludes Flodoard.23 He thus implies that the local fighting body of the town, the *milites*, were either themselves simply a subgroup of the *cives* responsible for the town's defence, or perhaps a distinct group that was nevertheless acting in the interests of the *cives*.

Flodoard's *cives* could also defend the town and local diocesan interests without the involvement of *milites*. Flodoard narrates that when King Charles the Simple began "to raid and burn *villae* of the church of Reims", the *cives* of the *urbs* sallied out and stole many of the horses belonging to the king's rapacious army.24 When the king sought to attack the *urbs* in retribution, his forces were repelled with heavy losses. Flodoard thus describes the *cives* of Reims as belonging to the walled *urbs*, even though they also protect the property and rights of the diocese as a whole – much like the *milites / cives* of Noyon in 931 belonged to their walled *urbs* but got into a conflict with the count's forces because the latter violated proper canonical procedure, which pertained to the diocese as a whole.

In addition to his 'Annales', Flodoard wrote a history of the Church of Reims, the 'Historia Remensis ecclesiae', in the middle of the tenth century (948–952).25 At the beginning of his work, Flodoard describes the origins of the *urbs* of Reims and its people, the *Remi*: according to him, the town was founded by the *milites* of Remus. After his death at the hands of his brother, so relates Flodoard, Remus' *milites* were forced into exile, where they would go on to found the *urbs* of Reims and the people named after it.26 Flodoard goes on to describe the military exploits of the *Remi*; they were "mighty warriors" who, in *amicitia* with the Romans, supported the latter in

<sup>23</sup> Flodoard of Reims, Annales, ed. by Philippe Lauer, Paris 1905, p. 52; English translation in: The Annals of Flodoard of Reims, 919–966, edited and translated by Steven C. Fanning and Bernard S. Bachrach (Readings in Medieval Civilizations and Cultures 9), Peterborough 2004, p. 22.

<sup>24</sup> Flodoard, Annales (note 23), p. 9; English translation: Fanning and Bachrach (note 23), p. 6. According to Bernard S. Bachrach and David S. Bachrach, Early Saxon Frontier Warfare. Henry I, Otto I, and Carolingian Military Institutions, in: The Journal of Medieval Military History 10 (2012), pp. 17–60, here p. 38, these *cives* were "the locally based militia forces […] from Reims".

<sup>25</sup> Michel Sot has shown the importance of the local sacral topography in this regard: Un historien et son église. Flodoard de Reims, Paris 1993.

<sup>26</sup> Flodoard of Reims, Historia Remensis ecclesiae, ed. by Martina Stratmann (MGH SS 36), Hannover 1998, I, c. 1, p. 62. The purpose of this story is to connect the history of Reims to that of Rome and thus the papacy. On this see Sot (note 25), pp. 358–360.

their wars against the other peoples of Gaul.27 After having been converted to Christianity, not only the *urbs* and its bishops but also the "people of the *Remi*" enjoyed an excellent reputation amongst both the gentiles and the apostles.28

In the following parts of Flodoard's 'Historia Remensis', however, the town's inhabitants play a more tangential and passive role in the narrative.29 After he discusses the origins of the *urbs* of Reims at the beginning of his 'Historia', Flodoard is more interested in narrating how the ensuing bishops of the diocese acted towards the *populus* of the diocese as a whole, as well as towards the many non-urban groups living within the diocese, primarily the *incolae* of the villages surrounding the *urbs*.30 All these groups, including the population of the *urbs* of Reims proper, are overwhelmingly described passively, specifically as the beneficiaries of episcopal agency.31

The *cives* of Reims again appear as a very different group in the final text produced in the diocese discussed here, Richer of Reims' 'Historiae' (c. 991–998).32 The work builds extensively on Flodoard of Reims' 'Annales', although Richer often modified those parts he took over. Richer's portrayal of the inhabitants of towns differs markedly from Flodoard's in two main ways. For one, townspeople are simply mentioned more often: in many instances, Richer adds the involvement of *cives* or *urbani* to events that in Flodoard's rendering completely lacked mention of these groups.33 A particularly striking example can be found in both authors' narratives of the capture of King Louis IV (r. 936–954) in 945: where Flodoard describes how he was captured by 'Norsemen' in Rouen, to Richer the king was instead captured by 'the *cives*' of Rouen.34 The effect of this is that towns are no longer simply named as places where other agents like kings, bishops, and *gentes* act. Instead, they are now defined by the agency of the local *cives*.

<sup>27</sup> Flodoard, Historia Remensis, I, c. 2 (note 26), pp. 63–64.

<sup>28</sup> Ibid., I, c. 3, p. 66: *Remorum populum*.

<sup>29</sup> On the genre see Michel Sot, Gesta episcoporum, gesta abbatum, vol. 1 (Typologie des sources du Moyen Âge occidental 37), Turnhout 1981, pp. 33–36.

<sup>30</sup> See e.g. Flodoard, Historia Remensis (note 26), I, c. 17, pp. 94–95 (rebellious inhabitants of the village Sault, punished by St Rémi); I, c. 20, p. 108 (St Rémi transported the inhabitants of other villages to two new small villages); pp. 108–109 (St Rémi protects inhabitants of village against rapacious *custodes* of the king); III, c. 8, p. 204 (*incolae* from a village near to the *urbs* suffer bad crops due to one year not having travelled to the city of Reims and paying the respects to the saints, as had been their custom).

<sup>31</sup> See e.g. ibid., I, c. 6, p. 72, and I, c. 2, pp. 115–116.

<sup>32</sup> Richer of Reims, Historiae, ed. by Harmut Hoffmann (MGH SS 38), Hannover 2000; English translation by Justin Lake, Richer of Saint-Rémi. Histories, 2 vols. (Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 10), Harvard 2010.

<sup>33</sup> See e.g. Richer of Reims, Historiae (note 32), I, c. 19, p. 56; II, c. 5, p. 102; II, c. 22, p. 113; II, c. 55, p. 137; II, c. 62, p. 143; III, c. 3, p. 172; and III, c. 5, p. 173.

<sup>34</sup> Flodoard of Reims, Annales (note 23), p. 97: *Cum quo Rodomum veniens comprehensus est ab aliis Nordmannis*, cf. Richer of Reims, Historiae (note 32), p. 132: *Urbemque ingressus, a civibus eo quod cum Baiocensibus conspirassent, captus ac tentus est*.

Secondly, Richer more than Flodoard portrays the *cives* or *urbani* of Reims in particular as collective agents central to the narrative. A poignant example of this can be found in both authors' narratives of King Raoul's successful attempt to force the people and clergy of Reims to elect a new bishop in 931, even though they already had an elected prelate, the young Hugh. The latter had himself been imposed on the *civitas* by his father, Count Heribert II of Vermandois. The context for King Raoul's intervention in Reims was formed by a wider conflict between this count, the king, and several other magnates.35 Flodoard's rendering of the events is very straightforward. The king demanded that the "clergy and people" of Reims elect a new bishop; they refused, but after a short siege were forced to yield. The king then "had ordained as bishop there Artald".36

In his much more elaborate account, Richer pointedly modified the role of the inhabitants of the town as well as the terminology referring to them. In contrast to Flodoard's mention of the "clergy and people", which has stronger diocesan (specifically evoking the language of proper, canonical, episcopal election) than urban associations, Richer exclusively uses the term *cives*, and in one case *urbani*, to refer to the king's opponents in Reims.37 Secondly, where Flodoard suggests that the king simply imposed his will on the *cives*, Richer implies that their eventual election of a new bishop was conditional on their reasoned agreement, in part based on self-interest. After entering Reims, the king gave a speech to the collected *cives* that "private property here within the walls […] is every day diminished by the cruel actions of Heribert".38 Thereafter the *cives* were allowed to deliberate to come to a "common agreement" and were finally "persuaded" by the king's speech. One of the other reasons why the *cives* might have been persuaded by the king, as implied by Richer, is that in his speech the king admitted to having incurred "greater guilt" in his conflict with the town's *cives*.39 This brings us to the third difference between Flodoard's and Richer's version of events, which is that only the latter explicitly posits the agency of the *cives* as morally just in contrast to both that of the king, who is made publicly to repent in front of the gathered *cives*, and to Heribert, who had plundered their property.

<sup>35</sup> For the context on this conflict see now Roberts (note 20), pp. 29–47.

<sup>36</sup> Flodoard's account of the same event in his 'Historia Remensis' is slightly different, in that the gates are opened not by "those who were in the city" but specifically by the *milites ecclesiae*: Flodoard, Historia Remensis, IV, c. 24 (note 26), p. 416; Justin Lake, Richer of Saint-Rémi. The Methods and Mentality of a Tenth-Century Historian, Washington DC 2013, p. 106.

<sup>37</sup> For a more recent overview of the early medieval development in the notion of the 'clergy and people' electing the bishop in the early medieval period see Anna M. Ciardi, *Per clerum et populum*? Legal terminology and episcopal appointments in Denmark, 1059–1225, in: Traditio 71 (2016), pp. 143–178, here pp. 147–151; Richer of Reims, Historiae, I, c. 59 (note 32), pp. 91–92; translation by Lake (note 32), pp. 141, 143.

<sup>38</sup> Richer of Reims, Historiae, I, c. 60 (note 32), p. 92; translation by Lake (note 32), pp. 143, 145. This speech specifically is indebted to Richer's knowledge of classical rhetoric, on which see Lake (note 32), pp. 222–224.

<sup>39</sup> Richer of Reims, Historiae, I, c. 60 (note 32), p. 92; translation by Lake (note 32), p. 145.

This episode exemplifies Richer's depiction of the Reims *cives* in his 'Historia' as a whole: they consistently appear as groups endowed with agency and a degree of autonomy in Frankish politics, closely connected to the walled town yet also understood as the main collective associated with the diocese, and are almost exclusively a force for good in the moral economy of the work.40 The notion that townspeople were active participants in Frankish regnal history, much like kings and *gentes*  had traditionally been in earlier Frankish historiography, was already cautiously taken up by Flodoard in his 'Annales', but only came to its full fruition in Richer's 'Historiae'. In post-Carolingian Reims, regnal historiography thus appears to have undergone a fundamental shift: to Richer, and to a lesser degree also to Flodoard, writing the history of the Frankish *regnum* also meant narrating the many deeds of urban collectives, a notion that appears to have been largely foreign to Hincmar and Prudentius.

A similar change in the naming and narrative function of urban inhabitants in the Reims historiography is visible in a number of texts produced in nearby Lotharingian dioceses. In Regino of Prüm's 'Chronicon', written in the first decade of the tenth century (900–908), the inhabitants of towns do not appear all that often. When they do, they normally function as the passive victims of external agents, principally Norsemen and kings.41 Regino also describes the destruction of several bishoprics at the hands of Norse plunderers without naming the fate of the local inhabitants.42 Regino only twice embeds the *cives* as a collective agent in his narrative. In 888 the *cives* of Yonne repulse a Norse attack, and in 890 those of Paris do likewise.43 Although Regino used the term *cives* more often than the authors of the 'Annales Bertiniani', on the whole townspeople are still described passively and occupy a marginal role in regnal politics*.*

Urban inhabitants also function passively in a narrative written only a few years after Regino wrote his 'Chronicon': this is Berthar's short history of the diocese of Verdun, written in that same diocese around 916.44 In Berthar's narrative, the inhabitants of the town function as the passive beneficiaries of just bishops. After the *cives* rebelled against Clovis in the year 500, the *presbyter,* who would become bishop a short

<sup>40</sup> A single exception can be found in Richer, Historiae, II, c. 22 (note 31), p. 210.

<sup>41</sup> Regino of Prüm, Chronicon, s.a. 869, quoted from Reginonis abbatis Prumiensis Chronicon cum continuatione Treverensi, ed. by Friedrich Kurze (MGH SS rer. Germ. 50), Hannover 1890, p. 99; see also ibid., a. 871, p. 103 and a. 888, p. 130.

<sup>42</sup> See e.g. Regino, Chronicon, a. 882 (note 41), p. 186, and the description of the Norse raids on Angers and Tours, ibid., a. 853, pp. 76–77.

<sup>43</sup> Regino, Chronicon. a*.* 890 (note 41), pp. 134–135.

<sup>44</sup> On this source see Theo M. Riches, The Changing Political Horizons of 'gesta episcoporum' from the Ninth to Eleventh Centuries, in: Patterns of Episcopal Power. Bishops in Tenth- and Eleventh-Century Western Europe. Proceedings of a workshop held in April 2009 at the University of Bayreuth and of a session of the International Medieval Congress held in 2009 in Leeds, England (Prinz-Albert-Forschungen 6), Berlin 2011, pp. 51–62, here pp. 55–56.

while later, managed to obtain "peace with the king and prosperity for his *cives*"; 45 and when in the first half of the sixth century the *civitas* was hit by a famine and the citizens "were in the greatest affliction", Bishop Desideratus went to King Theudebert I and borrowed 500 gold coins from him, which he then distributed amongst his *cives* in such a way that its value was multiplied through trade, allowing the bishop to repay the king promptly.46 The *cives* do not at all appear as agents in their own right. Berthar's depiction of the inhabitants of Verdun thus closely resembles how Flodoard portrayed the *cives* of Reims in his 'Historia Remensis': in both histories, the inhabitants of the town proper function as the passive beneficiaries of their bishops, not as agents acting on their own.

A later text produced in the bishopric of Utrecht around 1020, Alpert's 'De diversitate temporum', endows a wholly different role to the inhabitants of the diocesan *civitas*.47 After Bishop Ansfrid of Utrecht (d. 1010) died in a monastery that he had founded outside of the *urbs* (but still within its diocesan territory), so narrates Alpert, the *Traiectenses* or 'Utrechtians' went there to reclaim the corpse of their prelate. Arriving, they demanded that the monks release the bishop's body so that it could be taken back to the *civitas* proper. The monks refused, so the Utrechtians started praying for God's help. When they did so, "either by accident or divine providence", a fire broke out in one of the buildings of the monastic complex. The ensuing confusion allowed the Utrechtians to snatch the body of their prelate and put it on a barge. When the local inhabitants saw this, "they grabbed their weapons" and prepared to prevent the Utrechtians from escaping. Only the timely intervention of the local abbess prevented open combat, upon which the locals miraculously decided to lay down their arms and join the Utrechtians in a joyful procession to the town, where the bishop was buried in the presence of a great crowd.48

Alpert's depiction of the *Traiectenses* differs subtly from that of the local *cives*  in the earlier post-Carolingian texts discussed thus far: in both Flodoard's 'Annales' and Richer's 'Historiae', there is never an indication that the belonging of the inhabitants to their town could potentially conflict with a sense of belonging to the diocese as a whole. Nor are there any similar examples of local challenges, by monastic or rural communities, to the *cives*' claim to belong to and represent the diocese in its entirety. Alpert, conversely, depicts the *Traiectenses* unequivocally as the one collective agent most closely connected to the diocese and its prelates, in contrast to other named groups who clearly belonged to the diocese as well, if not

<sup>45</sup> Berthar, Gesta episcoporum Virdunensium, c. 4, ed. by Georg Waitz (MGH SS 4), Hannover 1841, pp. 36–45, here p. 41.

<sup>46</sup> Ibid., c. 5, p. 41.

<sup>47</sup> Generally on the author and text see Hans van Rij, Alpertus van Metz. Gebeurtenissen van deze tijd. Een fragment over bisschop Diederik I van Metz en de mirakelen van de heilige Walburg in Tiel, Hilversum 1999, pp. 9–34; and for the manuscript context Hans van Rij, Alpertus van Metz, Gebeurtenissen van deze tijd. Een fragment over bisschop Diederik I van Metz en de mirakelen van de heilige Walburg in Tiel, Amsterdam 1980, pp. xlv–lii.

<sup>48</sup> Alpert of Metz, De Diversitate Temporum: ed. by van Rij, 1980, I, c. 16 (note 47), pp. 34–36.

to the walled *civitas*: the *cives*' claim to the body of their bishop was legitimate, even though they attempted to steal it from a nearby monastic community that was itself integral to the diocese, and even founded by the very bishop whose corpse they sought to return to the *civitas*.

What all authors' depictions of the inhabitants of diocesan towns discussed so far again have in common is that the agency of these groups is described in a morally positive light.49 This is very different from the final Lotharingian text discussed here, the 'Gesta Cameracensium' (c. 1025). Only when the *cives* function as the passive beneficiaries of their bishops are they described positively.50 But as soon as they begin to act, the Cambrai author condemns them. In 958, Bishop Berengar of Cambrai (d. 962/3) was faced with a revolt amongst the *cives* of Cambrai, who "bound themselves to keep the bishop from entering the city".51 The standoff would end in a bloodbath. The bishop gained support from Count Arnulf of Flanders and the Archbishop of Cologne; intimidated, the *cives* soon relented and let Berengar back into the town. The latter, feigning forgiveness but seeking revenge for his perceived humiliation at the hands of the *cives*, launched a surprise attack on the former after he had been allowed back in the city. The bishop's men killed many of the *cives*, after which the survivors were blinded.52 Even though Bishop Berengar is the 'Gesta's only unequivocally 'bad bishop', and his act of revenge after the revolt of the townsmen is portrayed as particularly cruel and unjust, the author of the 'Gesta' still ultimately lays the blame with the *cives*: "there is no doubt that we can attribute these troubles to the insolence of his citizens rather than to the bishop because we have heard that they, due to their ferocity, were always disobedient and rebellious toward all of their bishops".53

Besides being framed negatively, the portrayal of the inhabitants of Cambrai as a collective agent differs from how Alpert, Flodoard, and Richer depicted the inhabitants of their own diocesan towns in a second way: more than all these other authors, the Cambrai author describes the Cambrai *cives* as a group with certain innate characteristics. Their agency is timeless in its depravity: the local *cives* had "*always* been" rebellious, "towards *all* their bishops". Moreover, the author's portrayal of the townsmen appears to follow the same narrative strategies that earlier authors had used to identify ethnicised *gentes*. The traits of ferocity and savagery he applies to the inhabitants of Cambrai were a mainstay of Carolingian ethnic vocabulary

<sup>49</sup> For example in Gesta Cameracensium, I, c. 84 (note 1), p. 432, where the *cives* are oppressed by the local castellan, Walter; on this see Künzel (note 8), p. 193.

<sup>50</sup> Ibid., p. 139.

<sup>51</sup> Gesta Cameracensium, I, cc. 80–81 (note 1), p. 431; translation by Bachrach et al. (note 1), p. 89.

<sup>52</sup> Ibid.

<sup>53</sup> Ibid., c. 80, p. 431; translation by Bachrach et al. (note 1), p. 89; on Berengar as the only unequivocally 'bad bishop' in the 'Gesta' see Theo Riches, Bishop Gerard I of Cambrai (1012–51) and the representation of authority in the 'Gesta episcoporum cameracensium'*,* unpublished PhD thesis, University of London, 2005, p. 206.

and continued to be used by authors to stereotype particular *gentes* into the tenth century.54

Here the Cambrai author went beyond prior portrayals of town inhabitants as collective agents. Already in Flodoard's and Richer's works, the inhabitants of towns entered the stage of regnal politics. Yet the Cambrai 'Gesta' take this a step further: by framing the Cambrai *cives* as a quasi-ethnic group, their author also applied a type of collective agency to these townsmen that was formerly reserved for that most archetypical of collective agents in Frankish historiography, the *gens*.55 Where the inhabitants of diocesan towns in earlier Carolingian historiography fell victim to ferocious peoples and had to be protected from such external aggression by their bishops and kings, in the narrative of the Cambrai author the townsmen had now become just such a ferocious people themselves, functioning as a threat to episcopal authority.

#### Diocesan Identity Politics

It is tempting to read the shift in depictions of urban inhabitants sketched above as a textual by-product of processes of tenth-century urbanisation, as a 'proto-communal' phenomenon. Traditionally, scholars have principally seen a link between these groups and the rise of merchant communities.56 Around the time that Alpert and the Cambrai authors wrote their narratives, other texts and archaeological finds do indeed point to the establishment of new merchant communities in both authors' diocesan towns.57

Nevertheless, it is often difficult to draw a direct link between such evidence for the rise of new (or the growth of existing) merchant communities and the shift in tenth-century narratives of townspeople suggested above. First of all, none of the town inhabitants described by the Reims authors, Alpert, or the Cambrai 'Gesta' are clearly identified as merchants (or any other more specific urban group), but rather are described as representing the population of their respective diocesan town as a whole. Secondly, while many post-Carolingian towns certainly saw the rise of

<sup>54</sup> Thus Regino of Prüm called the Hungarians a *gens ferocissima*, and his continuator lauded how King Henry of East Francia pressed back the "savage" Slavs: Regino, Chronicon (note 40), respectively a. 889, p. 131, and Adalbert, Continuatio Reginonis, ed. by Kurze (note 41), a. 921, p. 156.

<sup>55</sup> Walter Pohl, Ethnonyms and Early Medieval Ethnicity. Methodological Reflections, in: The Hungarian Historical Review 7 (2018), pp. 5–17, here p. 11.

<sup>56</sup> See e.g. Adriaan E. Verhulst, The rise of cities in North-West Europe (Themes in International Urban History 4), Cambridge 1999.

<sup>57</sup> Cees van Rooijen, Utrecht in the early medieval period. An archaeological analysis of its topography and a discussion of the location of the Stathe *vicus*, in: Medieval and Modern Matters 1 (2010), pp. 155–196, here esp. p. 164. A charter issued by Otto III in 1001 in Cambrai granted the merchants of Câteau-Cambrés, "the same *pax* of the kind rightly held by the merchants in the market of the *civitas* Cambrai": Otto III, Charter no. 399, ed. by Theodor Sickel (MGH DD O II. / O III.), Hannover 1893, p. 832.

new merchant communities, Carolingian Europe did not lack lively urban centres either.58 Like many other towns in north-west Europe, Cambrai had already been an important trading centre from the eighth century onwards.59 Several ninth-century diocesan towns were clearly populated not only by clergymen and merchants but also by an aristocratic, urban elite.60

However, the Carolingian period constitutes a remarkable caesura in the depiction of townspeople in the historiographical narrative. Up to the seventh century, townspeople still appear very often as political actors in historiography.61 In what follows, it will be argued that the reappearance of townspeople in post-Carolingian writing, while undoubtedly tied up with urbanisation processes, must also be understood in the context of the new political and ideological world spawned by the dissolution of the Carolingian Empire.

In a stimulating study on the changing "political horizons" of the 'Gesta episcoporum' written from the Carolingian period into the eleventh century, Theo Riches has suggested that the collapse of Carolingian authority spurred a fundamental reconceptualisation of the diocese. Whereas earlier Carolingian 'Gesta episcoporum' understood the bishopric and its history in relation to the court and *regnum*, post-Carolingian authors who intended their texts to participate in this genre began to portray it increasingly "as a historical unit autonomous from current wider political concerns".62 This shift was, so suggests Riches, made possible by the new political situation that bishops and the authors writing for them found themselves in: as the Carolingian world fractured, bishops remained "to maintain the roles it had given them".63

It is easy to see how the depiction not only of the diocese and its bishops, but also of the inhabitants of its *civitas* in the sources discussed above might have functioned as part of this process. The Reims *cives* of Flodoard's 'Annales' and Richer's 'Historiae' could be used as a helpful narrative device when, as often happened, the bishop was either absent or deemed unsuitable by the author.64 In these situations, such as in the 931 conflict with their king while their bishop was still underage, the Reims *cives* remain as the agent protecting proper canonical procedure (or at least trying to do

<sup>58</sup> Thomas Lienhard, La royauté et les élites urbaines: Charlemagne face aux villes de Bavière et à Rome, in: François Bougard, Dominique Iogna-Prat and Régine Le Jan (eds.), Hiérarchie et stratification sociale dans l'occident Médiéval (400–1100), Turnhout 2008, pp. 277–292.

<sup>59</sup> Hirschmann (note 7), p. 398; more generally on towns as places of trade in this period see ibid., pp. 1204–1207, pp. 1216–1219.

<sup>60</sup> E.g. Noyon, note 17 above.

<sup>61</sup> On which see Javier Martínez Jiménez, Urban Identity and Citizenship in the West between the Fifth and Seventh Centuries, in: Al-Masaq 32 (2020), pp. 87–108.

<sup>62</sup> Riches (note 44), p. 59.

<sup>63</sup> Ibid., p. 61.

<sup>64</sup> On Flodoard's judgement of the Reims archbishops of his day and age, see Roberts (note 20), pp. 29–35.

so), enabling Flodoard and Richer to portray the diocese as a free-standing organism even when the prelate could not fulfil this role.

Alpert likely attempted to frame the *Traiectenses* as the diocesan collective most tightly connected to the bishops and thus diocesan identity for a more specific reason. In 857, faced with a Viking threat to the town, Bishop Hunger of Utrecht had moved the seat of the diocese from the town of Utrecht to Sint Odiliënberg. Later in the ninth century, one of his successors, again faced with Viking attacks, moved the seat of the bishopric to Deventer, some 80 kilometres to the east of the former metropolitan town of Utrecht.65 By the beginning of the tenth century, this arrangement seems to have acquired something of a permanent character: Deventer began to function more as a cathedral town instead of just a temporary refuge, becoming a centre for saints' cults traditionally cultivated by communities in or near the town of Utrecht.66 Nevertheless, as early as the 920s Bishop Balderik again moved the seat of the diocese back to the walled town of Utrecht.

Despite this, Deventer appears to have continued to function as a rival diocesan town centre to Utrecht. The body of Balderik's predecessor Bishop Radbod had been buried in Deventer after his death in 917, and afterwards he was never translated to Utrecht. The *elevatio* of Radbod still took place in Deventer, sometime between 964 and 975. The 'Vita Radbodi', likely written in the context of the bishop's *elevatio*, nevertheless stressed the enduring connection between the bishop and the inhabitants of the town of Utrecht.67

It was around the time that Alpert wrote his 'De diversitate temporum' that the local bishops appear to have broken with the notion of Deventer as a possible alternative episcopal residence or diocesan *civitas*. As Kaj van Vliet noted, Bishop Folcmar (d. 990) was still described as *Traiectensis seu Dabentrensis aecclesiae pontifex*, yet this nomenclature does not reappear afterwards.68 Alpert therefore likely described the inhabitants of Utrecht proper as the legitimate claimants to the body of their deceased bishop as part of a wider project to support this walled town's now nominally exclusive but still tenuous claim to be the episcopal seat of the diocese against the rival status of Deventer. Alpert's promotion of the Utrechtians as the people representing the bishopric as a whole also points to the wider context of the 'reconceptualisation' of the bishopric in post-Carolingian Europe proposed by Riches. While Utrechtian diocesan identity had before been slightly ambiguous, in Alpert's narrative it acquired a single clear centre, inhabited by a population named after the diocese and closely linked to Utrecht's past and present bishops.

<sup>65</sup> This was probably Odelbald: Kaj van Vliet, In kringen van Kanunniken. Munsters en kapittels in het bisdom Utrecht 695–1227, unpublished PhD diss., University of Amsterdam, 2002, p. 145.

<sup>66</sup> Ibid.

<sup>67</sup> Ibid., p. 177; Vita Radbodi. Het leven van Rabod, ed. and transl. by Peter Nissen and Vincent Hunink, Nijmegen 2004, c. 5, p. 40; hereinafter cited as Vita Radbodi.

<sup>68</sup> Van Vliet (note 65), p. 168.

Notably, Alpert's narrative was also read beyond Utrecht. Alpert had dedicated his 'De diversitate' to Bishop Burchard of Worms, and the latter praised it in a letter he sent back to Alpert after having read the work.69 Alpert's construction of the *Traiectenses* as the 'bishop's people' would have been of particular interest to Burchard: just after or during the time that he read Alpert's text, he himself drew up a well-known law tract for the episcopal *familia* dealing in some detail with the inhabitants of the diocesan town of Worms. While this 'Lex familiae' (c. 1023) is a source very different from Alpert's 'De diversitate', it does suggest that Burchard was pursuing a kind of diocesan identity politics not dissimilar to those promoted by Alpert in Utrecht.

The *familia* of Worms consisted of people living throughout the entire diocese, and thus encompassed both rural and urban populations.70 Nevertheless, some regulations pertain only to the town and its population.71 One chapter of the 'Lex familiae' accords a set of inhabitants of the town a *lex* of their own.72 The stipulation in question starts by noting that "[t]his should be the law for the *concives*".73 The latter term, it becomes clear, here refers to all the inhabitants who were in possession of heritable rights to property within the town.74 Burchard granted this group considerable privileges: the *concives* were only at risk of losing their rights to property in the city if they had failed to render their dues to the bishop for at least three years, and only after three court proceedings.75 Burchard also appears to have granted the *concives* a role in judicial proceedings.76

These *concives* have traditionally been placed in the context of the longer history of urbanisation in Worms and been seen as an early form of 'proto-communal' urban solidarity.77 Gerold Bönnen has in this context drawn attention to the many

72 Dilcher (note 70), p. 82.


<sup>69</sup> Alpert, De Diversitate Temporum: ed. by van Rij, 1980 (note 47), pp. 1–4.

<sup>70</sup> Gerold Bönnen, Bischof, Stifte, Stadt, Bevölkerung. Burchard von Worms und seine *Civitas* am Beginn des 11. Jahrhunderts, in: Wilfried Hartmann (ed.), Bischof Burchard von Worms 1000–1025 (Quellen und Abhandlungen zur mittelrheinischen Kirchengeschichte 100), Mainz 2000, pp. 311–348, here pp. 339–345; Gerhard Dilcher, Die genossenschaftliche Struktur von Gilden und Zünften, in: Gerhard Dilcher, Bürgerrecht und Stadtverfassung im europäischen Mittelalter, Köln 1996, pp. 183–242.

<sup>71</sup> Bönnen (note 70), p. 340, with older literature in note 77 there; Knut Schulz, Das Wormser Hofrecht Bischof Burchards, in: Wilfried Hartmann (ed.), Bischof Burchard von Worms 1000–1025 (Quellen und Abhandlungen zur mittelrheinischen Kirchengeschichte 100), Mainz 2000, pp. 251–278; Burchard of Worms, Lex familiae Wormatiensis ecclesiae, ed. by Ludwig Weiland (MGH Const. 1), Hannover 1893, pp. 96, 98.

<sup>73</sup> Burchard, Lex familiae Wormatiensis (note 71), p. 643; Schulz (note 71), p. 30.

<sup>76</sup> On this see Bönnen (note 70), p. 344. It is unclear whether a reference to a *conventus concivium* refers to a regular meeting of the *concives* or to the marketplace: Schulz (note 71), p. 30; cf. however Bönnen (note 70), p. 344.

<sup>77</sup> See e.g. Schulz (note 71); Bönnen (note 70), p. 192; see also the references to older literature provided by Christian Henkes, Lex *familiae Wormatiensis ecclesiae*. Das Hofrecht des Bischofs

building projects organised by Burchard, of which his rebuilding and expansion of the cathedral is probably the most notable. The building projects themselves would, so suggests Bönnen, have fostered a new sense of community amongst the elites of the *familia* through the long-term cooperation required.78 Moreover, Bönnen has noted that Burchard's cathedral became an important centre for a newly invigorated sense of urban-diocesan solidarity even before construction was finished.79 This is implied by a 1016 charter, recording a property grant from Burchard to the monastery of Nonnenmünster near Worms.80 The proceedings, so describes the charter, took place in the cathedral on its patron saint's feast day, and present were not only Burchard, various named clerics and lay notables, but also "almost all of the *urbani*".81

It is indeed likely, as suggested by Bönnen, that the appearance of the *concives* and *urbani* in the 'Lex familiae' and the 1016 charter relate to urbanisation, more specifically to the socio-economic effects of Burchard's building projects. That the *concives* were given a set of far-reaching rights certainly suggests the rise of an increasingly assertive urban elite, able to plead for their shared interests, in Worms at this time.82 But, like other legal texts, Burchard's 'Lex familiae' and his 1016 charter can also be read "as skilful translations of irreducibly specific circumstances into a schematic and universalised form of narrative".83 In both texts, the townspeople of Worms are portrayed as a cohesive group while being particularly privileged by, or close to, the bishop.

The context for this construction of the *urbani/ concives* can likely be found not only in 'urbanisation', but also and perhaps more specifically in the context of a long-running political conflict between the bishops of Worms and the Salian counts. The bishops of Worms had officially been granted comital rights, traditionally held by the Salian count of the Wormsgau, over the *civitas* in 979, but this was still contested at the time Burchard took over the episcopate in March 1000. During Burchard's episcopate, this conflict between the Salian counts and the bishops of Worms played itself out dramatically within the *civitas* proper. With the support of Henry II, Burchard managed essentially to expel Salian influence from the town in 1002. That same year, he had the old comital palace in the town destroyed and started


Burchard von Worms, unpublished Inauguraldissertation, Universität Mannheim, 2012, p. 35, n. 182.

<sup>78</sup> Bönnen (note 70), p. 344; more generally beyond Worms see also Hirschmann (note 7), p. 1199.

<sup>83</sup> Charles West, Meaning and Context: Moringus the Lay Scribe and Charter Formulation in Late Carolingian Burgundy, in: Jonathan Jarrett and Allan S. McKinley (eds.), Problems and Possibilities of Early Medieval Charters (International Medieval Research 19), Turnhout 2013, pp. 71–88, here p. 81.

building a new church in its place.84 However, still in 1014, Henry II appears to have seen the need to again confirm the limitation to the Salian count's jurisdiction within the *civitas*, suggesting that tensions had continued to simmer within the city walls long into Burchard's episcopate.85 The same is implied by the great concern shown by Burchard in his 'Lex familiae' for the issue of episcopal and comital jurisdiction in cases where violence had been committed within the town.86 Finally, as noted by Bönnen, the 1002 transfer of Salian property and subjects to the Church of Worms would itself have created new potential for conflicts and disunity.87

Seen from this context, the *concives/ urbani* of Burchard's episcopate certainly tie into socio-economic processes relating to the town's expansion. We should, however, also be careful not to read the appearance of these groups exclusively as evidence of the emergence of a new, wholly cohesive 'proto-communal' body of citizens. Conflict appears to have simmered in the town of Worms, both as a result of Salian–episcopal conflicts concerning comital rights within the town and the transfer of property and people to the Church of Worms in 1002. In light of this, particularly the 1016 charter recording the presence of the *urbani* in the cathedral can be read as a narrative "constructed deliberately and carefully in order to supersede recollection".88 It suggests an orchestrated performance of diocesan-urban unity in a time of potential division and conflict. Burchard's *concives* and *urbani* can therefore not only be linked to 'urbanisation'; they also point to Burchard's attempts at defining and solidifying an in reality likely still slightly fragile and divided urban community as the 'bishop's people'.

#### Competing Narratives

To Riches, the fracturing of secular authority after the dissolution of the Carolingian Empire above all brought new chances to bishops, in that it "left the bishops to create instead an imagined self-identity where they each stood at the centre of their historical narrative".89 However, as the example of Burchard's granting of rights to the *concives* of Worms suggests, lay groups might themselves also have become more assertive and powerful at this time, and benefited from the diocesan identity politics pursued by their bishops. More than that, they could construe their own narratives

<sup>84</sup> This is not only suggested by the slightly later 'Vita Burchardi', but also by archaeological finds. For this and further context see Bönnen (note 70), p. 329.

<sup>85</sup> Die Urkunden Heinrichs II. und Arduins (Heinrici II. et Arduini Diplomata), ed. by Harry Bresslau and Hermann Bloch et al. (MGH DD H II.), Hannover 1903, no. 319, pp. 399–400; Schulz (note 71), p. 28.

<sup>86</sup> Burchard, Lex familiae Wormatiensis (note 71), p. 643; on this see Schulz (note 71), p. 28.

<sup>87</sup> Bönnen (note 70), p. 340, also for further context.

<sup>88</sup> Sarah Foot, Reading Anglo-Saxon Charters. Memory, Record, or Story?, in: Elizabeth M. Tyler and Ross Balzaretti (eds.), Narrative and History in the Early Medieval West (Studies in the Early Middle Ages 16), Turnhout 2006, pp. 39–66, here p. 65.

<sup>89</sup> Riches (note 44), p. 60.

of diocesan-urban peoplehood, which could potentially compete with the 'official narrative' promoted by diocesan authors. This should perhaps also be placed in a wider context of changed, post-Carolingian, identity politics. Simon MacLean has suggested that the dissolution of the Carolingian empire, specifically the dilution of the authority traditionally tied to the concept of Frankishness, intensified the search by rulers, bishops, and regional power brokers for "new identifications […] to describe and shape a rapidly changing world".90

One such new identification appears to have been claimed by some amongst the townspeople of post-Carolingian Utrecht. Alpert's narrative of the return of Bishop Ansfrid's body to Utrecht by the *Traiectenses* seems to have been aimed at other, competing, stories, spread by the *Traiectenses* themselves. This is suggested by Thietmar of Merseburg's (d. 1018) recounting of this episode, which he penned some years before Alpert wrote his 'De diversitate'. Thietmar's version of the story presents a markedly different view of what took place when the *Traiectenses* attempted to return the body of their deceased bishop to the town:

the *Traiectenses* arrived, tearful and barefoot but with weapons in their hands […]. Matters went so far that armed men from both sides confronted each other threateningly. Many would have lost their lives if the abbess had not prostrated herself in their midst and asked God to establish peace among them, at least for the moment. Meanwhile, the *milites* [belonging to the abbey] wanted to carry his sarcophagus from the outbuildings of the brothers in the Eembach to the mountain above. But while they were engaged in this, the body was seized by the *Traiectenses*, and, as they still swear, easily transported across the water. So, with the Lord's agreement, the stronger party of the *milites* was tricked.91

Thietmar's narrative differs from Alpert's in two main ways. First of all, Alpert portrayed the Utrechtians as a peaceful crowd who acquired the body of their bishop through praying and divine intervention. In Thietmar's version of events, however, the Utrechtians appear as an armed crowd who manage to seize the body just as the local *milites* tried to carry it away. In this they do not make use of confusion caused by a fire, as in Alpert's narrative, but by abusing the well-meant intervention of the local abbess. Secondly, where Alpert attempts to turn the culmination of the episode into a vision of diocesan solidarity, having both the Utrechtians and the inhabitants of

<sup>90</sup> Simon MacLean, Who were the Lotharingians? Defining Political Community after the End of the Carolingian Empire, in: Walter Pohl and Daniel Mahoney (eds.), Historiography and Identity IV. Writing History Across Medieval Eurasia (Cultural Encounters in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages 30), forthcoming 2021.

<sup>91</sup> Thietmar of Merseburg, Chronicon sive Gesta Saxonum, ed. by Robert Holtzmann (MGH SS rer. Germ. N. S. 9), Berlin 1935, p. 175; translation by David A. Warner, Ottonian Germany. The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg (Manchester Medieval Sources Series), Manchester 2001, p. 178.

the monastery and its environs freely join together to bring the body of their bishop to the *civitas* in a joyful procession, Thietmar instead suggests that the Utrechtians managed to trick the monks and their "stronger party" of *milites*. The conflict between the two diocesan groups is not, as in Alpert's narrative, resolved by divine providence and peaceful agreement, but by brave, near-violent action on the part of the outnumbered Utrechtians.

Thietmar's remark that the Utrechtians "still swear" that the body of their bishop was easily taken to the town certainly implies that this narrative originated there, among the inhabitants of the walled town proper and its immediate environs. Alpert sought to portray the Utrechtians as the one group symbolising the identity of the diocese of Utrecht while still maintaining an ideal of diocesan-wide solidarity, yet some of the Utrechtians appear to have had a much less harmonious – and at the same time arguably more heroic – memory of what they had done.

A similar rivalry between a diocesan author's view of the history of the townspeople and competing narratives promoted by some amongst the local laity themselves might also have played a role in the writing of the Cambrai 'Gesta'. The author's positive depiction of the town as a place of solidarity and collective agency in his urban origin narrative at the beginning of his text stands in stark contrast to the moralised invectives against the misdeeds of the Cambrai *cives* that follow in the ensuing chapters. To the Cambrai author, the local townspeople had clearly failed to live up to the original function of cities as places of mutual support, trust, obedience, and the preservation of justice. In this he was probably reacting to (or perhaps anticipating) the very different narratives some of the inhabitants of Cambrai would have formed about their past opposition to a 'bad bishop' like Berengar. Yet instead of attempting to co-opt their agency as Alpert did with the Utrechtians, the Cambrai author sought to subvert the agency of the *cives* wholesale by stereotyping it as inherently corrupt. Only when channelled through the diocese and its bishop could their actions be just.

#### Conclusion

Over the course of the tenth century, the role of the town and its inhabitants in historical writing changed fundamentally. In early tenth-century histories, they functioned as passive victims, peripheral to regnal politics. By the early eleventh century, townspeople had acquired a completely different role in Reimsian and Lotharingian historiography. The local *cives* were no longer passive victims of kings and *gentes* but had become central collective agents, who themselves now influenced diocesan and regnal politics.

As the example of Burchard's *concives* and *urbani* suggests, this shift can at least in part be seen as an attempt on the part of bishops and their clergy to deal with socio-economic processes in their dioceses. Yet at the same time, these group names do not in themselves offer an unproblematic reflection of 'actual', perhaps 'proto-communal', collectives living in post-Carolingian towns. Peter Johanek was thus probably right when he wrote that when post-Carolingian authors portrayed townspeople as a cohesive group "we are not yet dealing with an incipient citizens' collective. We must reckon rather with different groups, legally distinct from one another, even within the *civitas*".92 This observation does not, however, answer why authors like Alpert and Burchard chose to apply terms such as *Traiectenses* and *cives*  to "different groups, legally distinct from one another" in the first place.

Alpert's careful rewriting of local narratives in vogue among the *Traiectenses*, Burchard's promotion of the *concives/ urbani* as the 'bishop's people', and the Cambrai author's attempts at discrediting the agency of the local *cives* suggest that by the early eleventh century 'belonging to the town' had become a matter of acute political importance to bishops and other diocesan authors. Whatever their legal or social background might have been, some inhabitants began to be imagined and probably imagine themselves as groups bound first and foremost through their shared belonging to the diocesan town. Post-Carolingian narratives and their contexts suggest that in many situations – particularly in the context of diocesan politics – laying claim to these local diocesan-civic identities could well bring more political clout or simply make more sense than an appeal to ethnicised identities. To Alpert, 'Utrechtian-ness' certainly appears to have been as meaningful and politically controversial as 'Lotharingian-ness' or 'Frankish-ness' were to other contemporary authors.

### Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Mateusz Fafinski, Andreas Fischer, Simon MacLean, Jakob Riemenschneider and the two anonymous reviewers for their comments on earlier versions of this paper. All remaining errors are my own.

<sup>92</sup> Johanek (note 6), p. 83.

# Narrating Frontiers of Geographical Imagination

Remembering Alexander the Great in the 'Peutinger Table'

Contact

#### Dr. Salvatore Liccardo, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Hollandstraße 11–13, 1020 Vienna, salvatore.liccardo@oeaw.ac.at https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0863-6591

Abstract Within the 'spatial turn', in the course of the last three decades a new theorisation of maps and mapping has fundamentally changed the way we look at maps and their production today. This rethinking of maps has paved the way to an innovative interaction between cartographers and literary scholars. If maps function within a communicative act, they can not only be 'read' but also 'narrated'. The type of maps that seems the most suitable to study from a narratological perspective is itinerary maps. Such maps, in fact, reflect more clearly how space is experienced, thus allowing us to detect the dialectic between place and narrative. They might present a scaled representation of space, but the main attribute of itineraries is to mirror a specific 'lived space', one made significant by the movement of people. This contribution focuses on a few details of the 'Peutinger Table' – the references to Alexander the Great and his campaigns in Central Asia and India – with the purpose of highlighting how such textual and iconographic elements assisted the imaginations of Roman and medieval observers and provided stories associated with these places. These map's elements reflect and preserve the emotional ties and intellectual engagement that map-readers might develop with these particular locations. They show the participation of political ideologies and ethnic discourse in the creation and representation of a distinct sense of place.

Zusammenfassung Der *spatial turn* hat im Laufe der letzten drei Jahrzehnte zur Ausbildung neuer Theorien über Karten und Kartierung geführt und unsere Sichtweise auf Karten und deren Herstellung grundlegend verändert. Das

Salvatore Liccardo: Narrating Frontiers of Geographical Imagination. Remembering Alexander the Great in the 'Peutinger Table'. In: Fafinski, Mateusz and Riemenschneider, Jakob (Eds.): The Past Through Narratology, 143–160. Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2022 (Das Mittelalter. Perspektiven mediävistischer Forschung /Beihefte, Band 18). DOI: https://doi.org/10.17885/heiup.921.c13620

neue Verständnis von Karten ebnete den Weg für eine innovative Interaktion zwischen Kartographen und Literaturwissenschaftlern. Wenn Karten innerhalb eines kommunikativen Aktes funktionieren, können sie nicht nur 'gelesen', sondern auch 'erzählt' werden. Besonders gut eignet sich dafür aus narratologischer Sicht das Studium von Routenkarten. Tatsächlich machen sie deutlicher als andere Kartentypen sichtbar, wie Raum erlebt wird, und erlauben uns so, die Dialektik zwischen Ort und Erzählung zu erkennen. Auch wenn sie eine maßstabsgetreue Darstellung des Raums bieten, besteht das Hauptattribut von Reiserouten dennoch darin, einen bestimmten "gelebten Raum" widerzuspiegeln, der durch die Bewegung der Menschen bedeutsam wird. Dieser Aufsatz fokussiert auf einige Details der 'Tabula Peutingeriana' – die darin vorkommenden Hinweise auf Alexander den Großen und seine Feldzüge in Zentralasien und Indien –, um zu zeigen, wie solche textuellen und ikonographischen Elemente die Vorstellungskraft römischer und mittelalterlicher Beobachter unterstützten und Geschichten implizierten, die mit diesen Orten in Verbindung gebracht wurden. Diese Hinweise reflektieren und bewahren die emotionalen Bindungen, welche die Menschen durch das Studium der Karten zu diesen Orten entwickelt haben, und die intellektuelle Anregung, die sie erfahren haben könnten. Sie zeigen die Beteiligung politischer Ideologien und ethnischer Diskurse an der Schaffung und Repräsentation eines ausgeprägten Ortsgefühls.

*Now when I was a little chap I had a passion for maps. I would look for hours at South America, or Africa, or Australia, and lose myself in all the glories of exploration. At that time there were many blank spaces on the earth, and when I saw one that looked particularly inviting on a map (but they all look that) I would put my finger on it and say, 'When I grow up I will go there.'*1

#### Introduction – Narrating Spaces and Mapping Narratives

At first glance, it might seem odd to include in a volume dedicated to narratology a contribution that revolves around a map rather than a text. After all, what we usually define as a map – the scaled representation of a section of earth's surface 2 – has nothing to do with the concepts of discourse or narrative structure. However, the now more than a half-century-old assertion of space into modern consciousness makes such a choice more justifiable.

Propelled by the work of Henri Lefebvre and Michel Foucault,3 this 'spatial turn' has determined a new theorisation of space. According to this new paradigm, rather than being conceived as a given, material and somewhat external object, space is the product of the incessant reshaping act of ideologies, practices of power and life experiences.4 In the light of this innovative and more nuanced understanding of space, critical geographers, such as David Harvey, Edward Soja and Derek Gregory, have progressively erased disciplinary boundaries and firmly anchored space and geography in history and social sciences.5

Within the 'spatial turn' in the course of the last three decades a new theorisation of maps and mapping, a sort of 'cartographic turn', has fundamentally changed the

<sup>1</sup> Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer, New York 1950, pp. 70–71.

<sup>2</sup> For the tradition of this definition and an introduction to the history of mapping, Denis Wood and John Krygier, Maps, in: International Encyclopedia of Human Geography (2009), cols. 421–430.

<sup>3</sup> Particularly significant for the following studies, Henri Lefebvre, The Production of Space, Oxford 1974; Michel Foucault, Questions on geography, in: Power / Knowledge. Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972–1977, transl. by Colin Gordon, New York 1980, pp. 63–77. For an English translation of some of the major works of Foucault on spatiality and a number of essays analysing the impact that the French thinker had on the study of geography, Jeremy Crampton and Stuart Elden (eds.), Space, Knowledge and Power. Foucault and Geography, Aldershot, Burlington 2007.

<sup>4</sup> For a detailed overview of the 'spatial turn', its origins and multidisciplinary effects, Barney Warf and Santa Arias (eds.), The Spatial Turn. Interdisciplinary Perspectives, London, New York 2009.

<sup>5</sup> Among the many influential publications of these geographers it suffices to mention David Harvey, On the History and Present Condition of Geography. An Historical Materialist Manifesto, in: Professional Geographer 36, 1 (1984), pp. 1–11; Edward Soja, Postmodern Geographies. The Reassertion of Space in Critical Social Theory, New York 1989; Derek Gregory, Geographical Imaginations, Cambridge MA, Oxford 1994.

way we look at maps and their production today. Pioneered by Brian Harley's 1989 article 'Deconstructing the Map',6 this interpretation of cartography challenges its claims of objectivity, neutrality, and rationality and unmasked maps as ideologically laden representations. These studies have highlighted the reciprocal relationship between power and knowledge in modern theory and practice of mapping, analysing how power is captured and communicated through maps with the intent of exerting control over territories and social relations.7 Although certainly not an absolute prerogative of modern Western societies, such use of maps has been a central factor for the formation of European nation-states and colonial empires.8 Furthermore, examining maps as both products and symbolic representations of power has contributed to creating innovative forms of counter- and more participative mappings. Often voicing minorities' demands, these types of maps aim to create emancipatory cartographies and defy current socio-spatial relations.9 The disclosure of the politics of mapping has promoted the development of a non-progressivist history of cartography.10 Since all maps, even the most reliable and technologically driven ones of today, are nonetheless expressions of the ideology of their makers, they are not necessarily better than those that precede them. If maps are not only a matter of geometrically defined geographic data, it is useful to follow a contingent history of cartography and to analyse maps in their social, cultural and political contexts.

This understanding of maps has fostered a further epistemological shift, which questions the 'ontological security' of maps.11 In other words, in addition to a critique of the existing maps, it has become necessary to re-evaluate the nature of cartography. Maps are not self-evident, objective and neutral products of science. Not only are they products of the here-and-now, but they are never fully formed because they

9 Cf. Nancy Peluso, Whose Woods are These? Counter Mapping Forest Territories in Kalimantan Indonesia, in: Antipode 27, 4 (1995), pp. 383–405.

10 Cf. Matthew Edney, Cartography without 'Progress'. Reinterpreting the Nature and Historical Development of Mapaking, in: Cartographica, 30, 2 & 3 (1993), pp. 54–68.

<sup>6</sup> Cf. Brian Harley, Deconstructing the Map, in: Cartographica 26, 2 (1989), pp. 1–20.

<sup>7</sup> Cf. Brian Harley, Maps, Knowledge and Power, in Denis Cosgrove and Stephen Daniels (eds.), The Iconography of Landscape, Cambridge 1989, pp. 277–312; Denis Wood, The Power of Maps, London 1992; Mark Monmonier, How to Lie with Maps, 2nd ed., Chicago 1996. For an overview of the subject, Martin Dodge, Rob Kitchin and Chris Perkins, Introductory Essay. Power and Politics of Mapping, in: The Map Reader. Theories of Mapping Practice and Cartographic Representation, Oxford 2011, pp. 388–394.

<sup>8</sup> Cf. the map-as-logo in Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, London, New York 1991, pp. 170–178.

<sup>11</sup> Two overviews of such change of paradigm are in Martin Dodge and Rob Kitchin, Rethinking Maps, in: Progress in Human Geography 31, 3 (2007), pp. 331–344; Martin Dodge, Justin Gleeson and Rob Kitchin, Unfolding Mapping Practices. A New Epistemology for Cartography, in: Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 38, 3 (2013), pp. 480–496. See also Jeremy Crampton and John Krygier, An Introduction to Critical Cartography, in: ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies 4, 1 (2006), pp. 11–33. Very influential in this context, Jeremy Crampton, The Political Mapping of Cyberspace, Edinburgh 2003; John Pickles, A History of Spaces. Cartographic Reason, Mapping and the Geo-coded World, London 2004.

are constantly recreated every time they are engaged with. Cartography is therefore processual. It entails a communication system between perceived reality, map-maker, map-reader and the map itself that rests on a specific code, the cartographic language, and the capacity of the individual interlocutors to transmit and decipher it. In conclusion, maps are always mappings – practices that address relational problems through the representation of space.

This rethinking of maps, and now I come to 'narratology', has paved the way for an innovative interaction between cartographers and literary scholars. If maps function within a communicative act, they can not only be 'read' but also 'narrated'. This map–literature relation has often been studied to emphasise the role of maps and cartographic thinking in literature.12 However, especially in the last ten years, this intellectual exchange has started to be relevant for researchers of cartography as well.13 The interactive nature of maps – i.e. their being an element of a broader communication system – allows us to study them through the lenses of narratology. In comparison to the usual narrative triangle, maps function somewhat similarly to the narrated world, while map-maker and map-reader act as the narrator and the narratee. Moreover, maps should be considered novels rather than reference works because they encourage readers' curiosity, require a certain degree of intellectual and emotional absorption, and facilitate narrative processes.14

If these assumptions are valid for any kind of map, pre-modern ones reveal their narrative content more explicitly. The interwoven nature of stories and maps pre-exists their creation. Ancient and medieval map-makers relied on stories from merchants, ambassadors and explorers to complete their artefacts and especially for filling in the blanks in the peripheral areas on their maps. In some cases, the core message of these maps is so pervasive as to be expressed by the mere shape and overarching structure of the map. Some of the so-called T-O maps – sketched representations of the earth

<sup>12</sup> Ground-breaking in this sense, Phillip Muehrcke and Juliana Muehrcke, Maps in Literature, in: Geographical Review 64, 3 (1974), pp. 317–338. More recently, Marie-Laure Ryan, Narrative Cartography. Toward a Visual Narratology, in: Tom Kindt and Hans-Harald Müller, What Is Narratology? Questions and Answers Regarding the Status of a Theory, Berlin, New York 2003, pp. 333–364; Adam Burrows, Time, Literature, and Cartography After the Spatial Turn, New York 2016; Marie-Laure Ryan, Narrative Mapping as Cognitive Activity and as Participation in Storyworlds, in: Frontiers of Narrative Studies 4, 2 (2018), pp. 232–247. For an example of a literary work pervaded by cartographic imagination, Davide Papotti, Il fiume e la sua mappa. La carta geografica come principio narrativo in *Danubio* di Claudio Magris, in: Bollettino dell'Associazione Italiana di Cartografia 139–140 (2010), pp. 287–302.

<sup>13</sup> Particularly insightful is the overview provided in Tania Rossetto, Theorizing Maps with Literature, in: Progress in Human Geography 38, 4 (2014), pp. 513–530. "The Cartographic Journal" has dedicated a special issue to the subject, which provides the reader with a thorough debate of the theoretical background and thought-provoking case studies, Cartography and Narratives, in: The Cartographic Journal 51, 2 (2014). See also Sébastien Caquard, Cartography I: Mapping Narrative Cartography, in: Progress in Human Geography 37, 1 (2011), pp. 135–144.

<sup>14</sup> For an example of 'narrative turn' with regard to the study of medieval maps, Ingrid Baumgärtner, Erzählungen kartieren. Jerusalem in mittelalterlichen Kartenräumen, in: Annette Hoffmann and Gerhard Wolf (eds.), Jerusalem as Narrative Space, Leiden 2012, pp. 231–261.

depicted as a circle divided into three parts – contain for each section the names of the sons of Noah (Shem, Cham and Japheth) and thus combine the classical division of the earth into three continents with the Christian narrative regarding the origin and the geographical location of ethnicities.15 Furthermore, some of the most famous medieval *mappae mundi*, such as the Psalter Map and the Hereford Map, display around a world, whose centre corresponds to the city of Jerusalem, a plethora of both textual and figurative elements, e. g. Christ in majesty and censing angels, that serve to convey a distinctively Christian worldview.16

However, the type of map that seems the most suitable to study from a narratological perspective is the itinerary map. Such maps, in fact, reflect more clearly how space is experienced, thus allowing us to detect the dialectic between place and narrative. They might present a scaled representation of space, but the main attribute of itineraries is to mirror a specific 'lived space', one made significant by the movement of people.17 These journeys not only connect different places but also engage the readers in a certain understanding of space. In the following pages I will focus on a few details of the only map to survive from Greco-Roman antiquity, the 'Peutinger Table', highlighting how narratives shared by map-makers and map-readers shaped both imagination and representation of the eastern frontiers of the Oikumene.

### The 'Peutinger Table' and the Alexander Romance

Composed of eleven leaves originally bound together, the 'Peutinger Table' is a long and narrow parchment roll (6.75 meters long and 32.8–33.7 centimetres high) intended

<sup>15</sup> The bibliography on the subject is extremely vast and this is not the place to indulge in citing it. However, although somewhat outdated, a detailed introduction to the study of this type of maps is David Woodward, Medieval *Mappaemundi*, in: Brian Harley and David Woodward (eds.), History of Cartography. Cartography in Prehistoric, Ancient, and Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean, Chicago 1987, pp. 286–370. On the mixture of biblical and classical traditions in the geographical conceptions of early medieval thinkers, especially Isidore of Seville, Silke Diederich, Oikumene im Wandel – Isidor von Sevilla, in: Klaus Geus and Michael Rathmann (eds.), Vermessung der Oikumene, Berlin, Boston 2013, pp. 255–263; Andy Merrills, Geography and Memory in Isidore's Etymologies, in: Keith D. Lilley (ed.), Mapping Medieval Geographies. Geographical Encounters in the Latin West and Beyond, 300–1600, Cambridge 2013, pp. 45–64.

<sup>16</sup> As a useful summary of the creation of such medieval worldview and its constant engagement with the Classics, Mark Humphries, A new created world: classical geographical texts and Christian contexts in Late Antiquity, in: David Scourfield (ed.), Texts and Culture in Late Antiquity: Inheritance, Authority, and Change, Swansea 2007, pp. 33–67. On the interplay between narratives and images in medieval world maps, Ingrid Baumgärtner, Die Welt als Erzählraum im späten Mittelalter, in: Ingrid Baumgärtner, Paul-Gerhard Klumbies and Franziska Sick (eds.), Raumkonzepte. Disziplinäre Zugänge, Göttingen 2009, pp. 145–177.

<sup>17</sup> For a particularly remarkable study of this subject, and an ingenious method for representing narratives in cartographic language, Margaret Wickens Pearce, Framing the Days: Place and Narrative in Cartography, in: Cartography and Geographic Information Science 35, 1 (2008), pp. 17–32.

to represent the inhabited world.18 Even though it survives in a medieval copy (late twelfth to early thirteenth century), its final revision dates to the first half of the fifth century.19 Because of its elongated shape, the landmasses appear heavily distorted. The representation of the Mediterranean Sea is dominated by the Italian peninsula, which occupies roughly a third of the map and lies flat, extending from west to east. While the western extremity of the map, which arguably corresponded to the British Isles, the Iberian peninsula and present-day Morocco, did not survive, its eastern end is occupied by a downsized depiction of Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Although many of its characteristics suggest that the main purpose of the map was ideological rather than practical,20 most of the data comes from Roman itineraries, and the route network represents the basic structure of the 'Peutinger Table'. The whole map is covered by a dense network of red lines marking the routes that connect most of the settlements and also stretch outside of the Roman Empire.21 This organisation of space emphasises the narrative value of the map because, just as narratives are temporally ordered, the itineraries of the 'Peutinger Table' translate distances into temporal units. Toponyms are not in the nominative but in various oblique cases and are therefore articulated as elements of a sentence (from X to Y, Z miles). These relative rather than absolute spatial relationships conceive of places not as absolute locations of a homogeneous space but as points of departure or arrival of potentially infinite journeys.

However, there is one section in which this impressive bundle of lines progressively thins out, and the number of cities shrinks: the eastern end of the map. Itineraries also spread across this part of the 'Peutinger Table', but here the map-makers had a limited number of sources at their disposal. With the help of a few symbols and longer captions, they turned to a narrative known by their audience to trigger the imagination of map-readers and fill with meaning an area of the map that would have otherwise remained empty. This narrative is the life and the myth of Alexander

<sup>18</sup> Fundamental for the study of the Tabula, Richard Talbert, Rome's World. The Peutinger Map Reconsidered, Cambridge 2010. For an introduction to the digital edition of the map, Tom Elliott, Constructing a Digital Publication for the Peutinger Map, in: Richard Talbert and Richard Unger (eds.), Cartography in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, Leiden, Boston 2008, pp. 99–110. See also Benet Salway, The Nature and Genesis of the Peutinger Map, in: Imago Mundi 57, 2 (2005), pp. 119–135; Michael Rathmann, Tabula Peutingeriana. Die einzige Weltkarte aus der Antike, Darmstadt, 2016. Currently, the DFG-funded project "Kommentar zur Tabula Peutigneriana" is assembling a new and improved database of the map's inscriptions. See https://tp-online.ku.de/ (10 December 2021).

<sup>19</sup> On the dating of the map see Ekkehard Weber, Die Datierung des antiken Originals der Tabula Peutingeriana, in: Orbis Terrarum 14 (2016), pp. 229–258; Michael Rathmann, New Perspectives on the Tabula Peutingeriana II, in: Orbis Terrarum 18 (2020), pp. 197–251.

<sup>20</sup> E.g. the subject of the map (no one uses a world map to travel), its lack of scale, its extreme distortion, the clear interest shown by the map-makers in its aesthetic appearance, the unsystematic use of measurement units, as well as the lack of gridlines or axes.

<sup>21</sup> Specifically on the road network, Manlio Magini, In viaggio lungo le strade della Tabula Peutingeriana, in: Francesco Prontera (ed.), Tabula Peutingeriana. Le antiche vie del mondo, Firenze 2003, pp. 7–15.

the Great. References to Alexander's deeds play a central role in the map's portrayal of the eastern lands. The campaigns of the Macedonian king are evoked through a series of iconographic and textual elements. The more explicit references are the numerous cities that bear his name,22 the mention of the Indian elephants,23 and two isolated symbols, the so-called 'altars of Alexander'.

The figure of Alexander had, and still has today, a rich evocative power. Relatively soon after his death, his already impressive biography started to be modified and enriched by later traditions, quickly assuming the lineaments of a myth. The so-called Alexander Romance, of which a large number of different redactions and translations survive,24 testifies to hundreds of years of interest in and fascination with this figure. Alexander lived in the memory and imagination of humans of very different periods and contexts, influencing subsequent imperial propaganda and political agendas. In the period in which the extant version of the 'Peutinger Table' was drafted, recalling Alexander's campaigns could provoke a whole spectrum of different thoughts and emotional reactions. Although the figure of Alexander presented a series of sinister nuances, which came in handy while depicting the vices of contemporary rulers,25 the *imitatio Alexandri* became a recurrent element of the late Roman political message.

Beloved by the emperors of the Severan dynasty, in particular by Caracalla, who is described by Cassius Dio as obsessed with Alexander,26 the Macedonian became the


<sup>22</sup> E.g. *Alexandria* (name, no symbol) 11A4; *Alexandria Bvcefalos* (symbol, named) 11B3; *Alexandria catisson* (symbol, named) 9B4.

<sup>23</sup> *In his locis elephanti nascvntvr* (special feature / notice) 11C4.

primary model to emulate for fourth-century Roman emperors involved in military actions against the Persians. After his triumph over Licinius, Constantine, who spent the last months of his life planning a campaign against the Sasanians, fashioned his image after Alexander adorning himself with Hellenistic symbols of authority, such as the diadem, and minting coins where he was depicted with the so-called heavenly gaze, mimicking this popularised pose of Alexander.27 To one of Constantine's sons, Constantius II, is dedicated the so-called *Itinerarium Alexandri,*28 a mixture of historiographical and panegyrical prose, in which the campaigns of Alexander are a prefiguration of and a model for the emperor's upcoming expedition against the Persians.29

However, the largest body of evidence attesting admiration for Alexander the Great involves Emperor Julian.30 Although Alexander's lack of mercy, even towards his *hetairoi*, casts a disturbing light on his reign, in Julian's own writings Alexander is second only to Marcus Aurelius as the model of an excellent leader.31 As attested by the writings of the emperor and his contemporaries, both Julian's and Shapur II's rationale behind their foreign policy was to reassert their respective powers over one another, which was once exercised by their respective predecessors Alexander and Xerxes.32 Finally, although his intent is polemic, it is nonetheless significant that

<sup>27</sup> On this aspect of Constantine's political discourse, Frank Kolb, Herrscherideologie in der Spätantike, Berlin 2001, pp. 201–204; Jonathan Bardill, Constantine, Divine Emperor of the Christian Golden Age, Cambridge 2012, pp. 11–27. This "heavenly gaze" could be interpreted in a Christian context as mimicking the posture of the prayer, Eusebius of Caesarea, Vita Constantini 4, 15, transl. by Averil Cameron and Stuart Hall, Oxford 1999, pp. 158–159.

<sup>28</sup> The original title might have been *Itinerarium Alexandri Magni Traianioque*, but the Codex Ambrosianus P 49, which preserves the work, contains neither the final accomplishments of Alexander nor the campaign of Trajan. Cf. Raffaella Tabacco, Itinerarium Alexandri. Testo, apparato critico, introduzione, traduzione e commento, Firenze 2000. For the question of its authorship and the use of this text in the contemporary political discourse, see Lane Fox, The Itinerary of Alexander. Constantius to Julian, in: The Classical Quarterly 47, 1 (1997), pp. 239–252.

<sup>29</sup> On the political implications of this work, in the context of Roman–Persian relations at the time of Constantine and his immediate successors, Timothy Barnes, Constantine and the Christians of Persia, in: The Journal of Roman Studies 75 (1985), pp. 126–136, here pp. 135–136.

<sup>30</sup> On this, Carlo Franco, L'immagine di Alessandro in Giuliano imperatore, in: Studi Classici e Orientali 46, 2 (1998), pp. 637–658; Rowland Smith, The Casting of Julian the Apostate "in the Likeness" of Alexander the Great: a Topos in Antique Historiography and its Modern Echoes, in: Histos 5 (2011), pp. 44–106.

<sup>31</sup> E.g. Julian, Epistula ad Themistium philosophum 253a, transl. by Wilmer Cave Wright, London 1913, pp. 202–203; Julian, The Caesars 316b–316c, transl. by Wilmer Cave Wright, London 1913, pp. 366–369. On Julian's use of the myth of Alexander and the narrative of the Greco-Persian wars, with a focus on the fate of Nisibis, Kyle Smith, Constantine and the Captive Christians of Persia. Martyrdom and Religious Identity in Late Antiquity, Oakland 2016, pp. 49–50.

<sup>32</sup> For an examination of Julian's intentions, Arnaldo Marcone, Il significato della spedizione di Giuliano contro la Persia, in: Athenaeum 57 (1979), pp. 334–356; David Frendo, Dangerous Ideas. Julian's Persian Campaign, Its Historical Background, Motivation, and Objectives, in: Bulletin of the Asia Institute 21 (2007), pp. 79–96. On Shapur's goals, Rahim Shayegan, On the Rationale behind the Roman Wars of Šābuhr II the Great, in: Bulletin of the Asia Institute 18 (2004), pp. 111–133.

Socrates of Constantinople could describe Julian's desire to emulate Alexander as the consequence of his belief that he was the reincarnation of the Macedonian.33

In addition to these political implications, the references to Alexander had a broader impact on the understanding of these peripheral areas of the maps. Particularly telling is the case of the 'altars of Alexander'. These three drawings, one located east of the Caspian Sea and the other two paired north of the Himalayas, consist of two concentric squares, with the inner one containing four triangle shapes that have the shortest side near the centre and stretch towards the angles. Even though only the lonely one is explicitly named *ara*, all represent altars marking the north-eastern and eastern limits of Alexander's campaigns.34

Determining the exact location of the altars is an arduous task. The single altar matched with the inscription *Ara alexandri* (Fig. 1) is far away from any route, so in order to suggest its position, one has to take into account the surrounding elements of both the physical and human landscape. A river called Oxus (today known as the Amu Darya) flows north of the altar, while a small unnamed mountain chain and the river Sygris (identified as the river Iaxartes, nowadays the Syr Darya) are depicted right beneath it.35 West of the altar, one finds the inscription *ATRAPATENE* (region) 11A2, referring to the north-western part of Media,36 while east of the symbol there is the ethnonym *ESSEDONES SCYTHAE* (people) 11A3.37 The viewers could use these physical and ethnic elements as reference points in order to contextualise the altar in their own mental map. Unlike the road network, however, these details do not provide particularly accurate information. The portrayal of this area presents some rather clumsy mistakes. First, either the map-makers or the copyists inverted the position of the names of the rivers Oxus and Iaxartes. Second, they shifted the region of Atropatene eastward from the south-western to the south-eastern shores of the Caspian Sea. Moreover, the mention of the Essedones does not clarify the position of the altars since the dwelling place of this nomadic group was not known to ancient

<sup>33</sup> More specifically, the author refers to the Pythagorean and Platonic doctrine of the metempsychosis. On the image of Julian in Socrates of Constantinople, who describes the Persian campaign essentially as the consequence of his megalomania, David Buck, Socrates Scholasticus on Julian the Apostate, in: Byzantion 73, 2 (2003), pp. 301–318, here p. 314.

<sup>34</sup> For a short note on these symbols, Wilhelm Tomaschek, Arae Alexandri, in: Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, vol. 2, 1 (1895), cols. 339–340. See also Alexander Podossinov, Vostochnaya Evropa v rimskoi kartograficheskoi traditsii, Moskva 2002, pp. 375–376. For allusions to the altars in the literary sources, e. g. Arrian, Anabasis Alexandri 5, 29, 1–2, transl. by Iliff Robson, Cambridge MA 1933, pp. 96–97; Curtius Rufus, Historiae Alexandri Magni 9, 3, 9, ed. by Henry Crosby, London 1854, pp. 223–224; Solinus, Collectanea rerum memorabilium 52, 7, ed. by Theodor Mommsen, Berlin 1864, p. 204.

<sup>35</sup> The entries I am referring to are *Fl. Oxvs* (river, no. 132) 11A2–11A4 and *Fl. Sygris* (river, no. 133) 11A2–11A3.

<sup>36</sup> On this, Franz Heinrich Weissbach, Atropatene, in: Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft 2, 2 (1896), cols. 2149–2150.

<sup>37</sup> For an introduction to this ethnic group, Albert Herrmann, Issedoi, in: Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft 9, 2 (1916), cols. 2235–2246.

Fig. 1| *Ara alexandri* (isolated symbol, named) 11A3.

geographers and historians. In other words, the 'Peutinger Table' does not give enough information to guide a hypothetical traveller who wanted to visit the famous altar. However, creating a detailed map of this remote area was not the main goal of the map-makers. The altar does not function as a practical landmark but rather as a historical and literary point of reference. Despite their geographical vagueness, the surrounding elements of physical and human landscape serve to hint at the narrative of Alexander's campaigns in the East.

These allusions could have been fully understood by a well-informed viewer who was able to match them with information provided by ancient geographers, such as Pomponius Mela, Pliny the Elder or Solinus. Integrating these sources of information, one is able to understand the complex meaning behind this symbol and caption. The position of the altar next to the river Iaxartes recalls a passage of Pliny's 'Naturalis Historia',38 which refers to certain *arae* located near this river, built by famous historical and mythical figures, such as Hercules, Dionysus (called *Liber Pater*  in the work of the Roman geographer), Cyrus, Semiramis and, indeed, Alexander the Great. While Pliny helps to localise the drawing and contextualise Alexander's altars in a longstanding geographical tradition, knowledge of Solinus' work would have helped any map-reader to better appreciate the savage and uncivilised nature of this particular borderland. A reader familiar with Solinus' text would have recognised in the *Essedones* a barbarian group, which practised cannibalism. According to Solinus, the *Essedones* were accustomed to eating the bodies of their relatives in the course of their funeral ceremony. They organised banquets in which they mixed the limbs of the relatives with animal flesh and used the skulls of the dear departed as cups to drink from.39 While the altar's precise location does not seem to be at stake, and

<sup>38</sup> Cf. Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 6, 49, ed. and transl. by Roderich König and Gerhard Winkler, Zürich, Düsseldorf 1996, pp. 42–43.

<sup>39</sup> Cf. Solinus, Collectanea rerum memorabilium 15, 13, ed. by Theodor Mommsen, Berlin 1864, p. 95: *Inter Anthropophagos in Asiatica parte numerantur Essedones qui et ipsi nefandis funestantur* 

an ignorant viewer would have perceived this illustration and inscription simply as hints at unspecified exotic scenery, a well-informed reader could judge them as a clear reminder of Alexander's achievements and as the marker of the extreme limit of the civilised world.40

Analogous conclusions can be drawn from examining the second altar related to Alexander (Fig. 2). Regarding the physical landscape, the altars are located near the edge of the Asian continent, close to the shore of the Eastern Ocean, and right above a mountain chain named *MONS IMEVS* (mountain, no. 109A) 11B3. Contrary to the previous example, these altars are placed near a road itinerary. Above the caption, one can recognise the last stops of a route that heads eastward, namely *Asbana* (name, no symbol) 11A4, *Alexandria* (name, no symbol) 11A4, and *+ntiochia* (symbol, named) 11A5.41 While the distribution of these toponyms on the map appears somewhat approximate,42 the vicinity of a city bearing the name of the Macedonian king alludes to Alexander's campaign in Central Asia. It allows the viewer to link this double altar to Alexander's renowned policy of founding new cities. The long caption makes it clear how to contextualise this symbol in the Alexander narrative. It reads "*Hic Alexander Responsvm accepit Vsq(ve) qvo Alexander*". Any learned viewer would have recognised the drawings as the altars that Alexander ordered to be built when, heeding the pleas of his soldiers, he decided to interrupt his expansion eastwards.

But when situated within the framework of Alexander's campaign, the place that the altars occupy on the map is very peculiar. Instead of placing them in India next to the Hyphasis (modern Beas River) – the river on whose shores Alexander stopped his journey – the map-makers put the altars north of the Hindu Kush, next to the Eastern Ocean and far away from any Indian river. The relocation of the altar is the result of rudimentary knowledge of Central Asian geography 43 and the extreme compression of the illustration in this particular area. However, despite the undeniable lack of information, one can also recognise in the map-makers' choice


*inter se cibis. Essedonum mos est parentum funera prosequi cantibus et proximorum corrogatis coetibus corpora ipsa dentibus lancinare ac pecudum mixta carnibus dapes facere; capitum etiam ossa auro incincta in poculorum tradere ministerium*. See also Mela, De chorographia 2, 1, 9, ed. and transl. by Alain Silberman, Paris 1988, pp. 36–37.

<sup>40</sup> Richard Stoneman sees in this altar an early echo of the tradition of Alexander's enclosure of Gog and Magog. Cf. Richard Stoneman, India in the Tabula Peutingeriana, in: Orbis Terrarum 18 (2020), pp. 253–265, here pp. 262–264.

Fig. 2| *Hic Alexander Responsvm accepit Vsq(ve) qvo Alexander* (special feature / notice) 11B4–11B5.

their peculiar visual strategies. Although the altars are not in India, around them one can read two versions of the same ethnonym that directly refers to India: *CIRRABE INDI* (people) 11B4 and *CIRRIBE INDI* (people) 11B4. Leaving aside the question of the correct identification of this lesser-known group,44 these inscriptions provide two clear pieces of information: first, the people in question dwelt on both sides of the *mons Imeus*, and second, they were considered a sub-group of the larger ethnicity of the Indians.

One can also elucidate both the caption and the unusual location of this double altar by comparing the map with a few late antique and early medieval texts. Regarding the content of the inscription, the closest example is found in the 'Ravenna Cosmography'. Compared to the map, this text also indicates from whom Alexander received the response, i. e. "not only from Indian Stoics, but also from demons, who even when they do not want to utter the truth are accustomed to say it".45 Although the map does not include this detail, the inscription mentions a *responsum*. This alludes to an external intervention that admonished Alexander

<sup>44</sup> On this, see Konrad Miller, Itineraria Romana, Stuttgart 1916, pp. 626–627.

<sup>45</sup> Ravenna Cosmographer, Cosmographia 1, 8, ed. by Joseph Schnetz, Berlin, Boston 1990, p. 7: *non solum a Stoicis ex Indorum genere hominibus sed et a demonibus qui etiam nolentes proferre veritatem ut assolent*.

from travelling further east, thus reflecting a narrative spread by the Alexander Romance.46

In addition to the caption, the proximity of the altars to the ocean seems to hint at the tradition of the Alexander Romance rather than at the historical figure of Alexander alone. Even though the altars are not on the Asian coast, nothing divides them from the eastern edge of the world so that no other symbol, city or road is located east of the altars' latitude. In other words, on the 'Peutinger Table' the ocean appears as the only limit that Alexander did not cross. Pushing the limit of Alexander's campaigns eastwards is characteristic of the late antique and medieval tradition.47 By placing the altars near the eastern edge of the Oikumene, the map enhances their meaning from a geographical point of view. The altars mark the end of the inhabited world and, at the same time, are both a warning about human limitations and an encouragement to world domination.

The intellectual conceptualisation of these distant places and the creation of a sense of otherness could not come without extraordinary natural phenomena. The 'Far East' is the only section of the map where the landscape swarms with exotic animals (Fig. 3). Near the south-eastern corner of the 'Peutinger Table' one finds the captions "*In his locis scorpiones nascvntvr*" (special feature / notice) 11C3 and "*In his locis elephanti nascvntvr*" (special feature / notice) 11C4.48 Although these inscriptions

<sup>46</sup> According to Richard Stoneman, the caption is almost a direct quotation from a specific episode of the Romance (2.41). This describes Alexander encountering a flying creature, who prevents him from exploring the heavens. Cf. Stoneman (note 40), pp. 261–262. For a comprehensive commentary on the passages of the Romance dealing with Alexander's expedition to India, Krzysztof Nawotka, The Alexander Romance by Ps.-Callisthenes: a Historical Commentary, Leiden, Boston 2017, pp. 189–201. Similar information is found in the 'Life of Apollonius of Tyana'. This text – a largely fictionalised account of the travels of Apollonius – contains two valuable details. First, the dedication to the gods affixed on the altars, which contained a peculiar mixture of Greek and Hellenised divinities. These are Father Ammon, Heracles, Athena Providence, Zeus of Olympus, the Cabeiri of Samothrace, the Indian Sun and the Delphian Apollo. Second, it attests to an inscription not so dissimilar from the one found on the map. Placed on a brass column it went: "Alexander stayed his steps at this point". The author expresses two possible interpretations for this monument. Either it was erected by Alexander to honour the limits of the empire, or by the local Indians who wanted to express their pride in having remained unconquered by Alexander. Cf. Philostratus, Vita Apollonii 2, 43, transl. by Frederick Conybeare, Cambridge MA 1912, pp. 228–229. On this, Balbina Bäbler and Heinz-Günther Nesselrath, Philostrats Apollonios und seine Welt, Berlin, Boston 2016, pp. 92–95. Although I am inclined to recognise in the caption an echo of a late antique tradition, it is not impossible to connect it to an older cultural framework, such as the time of Augustus. In this sense, Alexander Podossinov, Northern Asia on the Tabula Peutingeriana, in: Orbis Terrarum 18 (2020), pp. 167–196, here pp. 187–189.

<sup>47</sup> The Greek Alexander Romance is reluctant to describe Alexander giving up on his project of conquering the rest of India down to the outer ocean, while the Syrian and the Ethiopian versions of the Romance, as well as the Romance-derivate Persian and Arabic traditions, see Alexander waging war even further east, in China, cf. Gósciwit Malinowski, Alexander the Great and China, in: Krzysztof Nawotka and Agnieszka Wojciechowska (eds.), Alexander the Great and the East, Wiesbaden 2016, pp. 151–157.

<sup>48</sup> For an introduction to the Roman perception of Central Asia, Giusto Traina, Central Asia in the Late Roman Mental Map, Second to Sixth Century, in: Nicola Di Cosmo and Michael Maas

Fig. 3| *In his locis scorpiones nascvntvr* (special feature / notice) 11C3, *In his locis elephanti nascvntvr*  (special feature / notice) 11C4.

had a strong suggestive power, it is misleading to reduce them to a simple manifestation of ignorance or naivety. A more romantic view would still imagine Roman and medieval observers fearing the unknown and, according to the common preconception, labelling it with the words *hic sunt leones.*49 Legends referring to exotic lands were surely fascinating and sometimes terrifying, but what is important here is that they were, in fact, narratives. To write these concise and apparently dry captions, the various hands that created the map resorted to a broad spectrum of literary traditions, arousing opposing sentiments in the observers. First of all, these two notes contain a core of geographical truth. The regions described as the dwelling-places of scorpions (roughly corresponding to the Indus valley) and elephants (northern India) were, and essentially still are, habitats of said animals. Finally, the mention of the elephants might also provide information of commercial nature, alluding to ivory production.

<sup>(</sup>eds.), Empire and Exchanges in Eurasian Late Antiquity. Rome, China, Iran and the Steppe, ca. 250–750, Cambridge 2018, pp. 123–132. A detailed account of the Indian fauna can be found in the 'De natura animalium' of Claudius Aelianus, Steven D. Smith, Man and Animal in Severan Rome, Cambridge 2014, pp. 165–178. A recent and insightful analysis of the depiction of India, and its rivers, is in Monika Schuol, Indien und die großen Flüsse auf der Tabula Peutingeriana: die östliche Oikumene zwischen paganer und christlicher Kartographie, in: Orbis Terrarum 14 (2016), pp. 92–154.

<sup>49</sup> Matched by a drawing of a lion, the caption *hic abundant leones* on the Cotton world map (first half of the eleventh century) is the oldest historical evidence of this practice. On the well-known and often quoted similar expression *hic sunt dracones* and, more generally, on the monstrous imaginary used for describing the edges of the world, Chet Van Duzer, Hic sunt dracones: The Geography and Cartography of Monsters, in: Peter Dendle and Asa Mittman (eds.), The Ashgate Research Companion to Monsters and the Monstrous, Farnham, Burlington 2012, pp. 387–435.

However, these terms acquire an even larger range of meaning if one connects them with the references to Alexander's travels placed nearby. When Alexander led his army back from India through the deserted region of Gedrosia, he encountered an extremely inhospitable environment. It goes without saying that elephants were a central feature in the Alexander narrative. The fear of fighting elephants, employed by Indian armies, was among the main factors behind the mutiny of Macedonian soldiers before the crossing of the Hyphasis in 326 BCE.50 As said before, in relation to the altar and the ocean, one could say that the elephants also marked the limits of Alexander's adventure as well as being one of the most eastern details depicted on the 'Peutinger Table'. The campaigns of Alexander served as a model for Roman expeditions against the Persians but could also act as an archetype for the relationship between man and nature. According to Pliny the Elder, Alexander was "inflamed with the desire to know the qualities of the animals" 51 and the later romance tradition emphasised this sort of scientific purpose of his campaigns, especially regarding his stay in India. In other words, in the coeval and later accounts, his conquest was described as a political as much as a cultural enterprise.52 Crossing the Hindu Kush, invading the Indus Valley or marching through the Lut Desert, Alexander was not pursuing any specific strategic goal but was instead driven by his knowledge of mythology, his claim of divine ancestry, and his will to augment Greek scientific knowledge.53 Alexander lived on a boundless yearning for glory (in Greek φιλοτιμία or πόθος),54 which made him challenge human as well as natural dangers. Hence, the accounts of Alexander's travels combine history, fable and science. On the one hand, Alexander had been portrayed as attempting to bring the wonders of nature under the control of Greek philosophy, and, on the other, these wonders provided his deeds with an extraordinary evocative symbolic landscape.

53 Cf. Richard Stoneman, Alexander the Great: A Life in Legend, New Haven, London 2008, p. 68.

<sup>50</sup> E.g. Plutarch, Life of Alexander 62, 1–4, transl. by Bernadotte Perrin, Cambridge MA 1919, pp. 399–402; Curtius Rufus, Historiae Alexandri Magni 9, 2, 6, ed. by Henry Crosby, London 1854, pp. 219–220. On this famous episode, Lee Brice, Military Unrest in the Age of Philip and Alexander of Macedon: Defining the Terms of Debate, in: Waldemar Heckel and Timothy Howe (eds.), Greece, Macedon and Persia. Studies in Social, Political and Military History in Honour of Waldemar Heckel, Oxford 2015, pp. 69–76.

<sup>51</sup> Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 8, 17, 44, ed. and transl. by Roderich König and Gerhard Winkler, Zürich, Düsseldorf 2007, pp. 42–43: *inflammato cupidine animalium naturas noscendi*.

<sup>52</sup> Cf. Hans-Joachim Gehrke, Alexander der Große – Welteroberung als Welterkundung, in: Klio 93, 1 (2011), pp. 52–65. For an introduction to the wonders of the East, James Romm, The Edges of the Earth in Ancient Thought, Princeton 1992, pp. 82–120.

<sup>54</sup> Cf. Andrew Stewart, Faces of Power: Alexander's Image and Hellenistic Politics, Berkeley 2007, p. 84.

#### Conclusions

The altars of Alexander and the captions on the exotic animals reveal the presence of narrative discourse embedded in the 'Peutinger Table'. In comparison to medieval *mappae mundi*, such as the Hereford Map, the Ebstorf Map and the Catalan Atlas, the figure of Alexander has a significant but relatively delimited impact on the 'Peutinger Table'. These later world maps contain dozens of direct and indirect allusions to the deeds of Alexander, which not only contribute to the portrayal of the Far East but are also an integral part of the image of all three continents and, by the connection with the narrative of Gog and Magog, acquire an eschatological value.55 On the contrary, the references to Alexander the Great found in the 'Peutinger Table' are numerically limited and visually sober.56 However, they represent bits and pieces of stories that invite the reader to interact with the map. They foster performativity and can create a certain intimacy between the map and the viewer (the same one we feel when we recognise a specific place on a map and start associating it with our memories or future plans). Potentially unknown spaces are transformed into fascinating, maybe horrifying, but familiar places.57 The words and lines of the 'Peutinger Table', as well as their interpretation by the map-readers, confer meanings and certain feelings on distant spaces that nearly no one could directly experience.

While the "blank spaces on earth" intrigue the protagonist of 'Heart of Darkness', the altars and the captions assisted the imagination of Roman and medieval observers, providing stories to associate with these places. They both reflect and preserve the emotive bonds and intellectual engagements that people could develop with those particular locations and environments. They display the involvement of political ideologies and ethnic discourse in the creation and representation of a distinct sense of place.58 Just as Rome was the centre of the world, these elements from the outer eastern edge of the map are a vivid signal of the end of the earth and, at the same time, an indication of the limits of the road network, and thus of civilisation. In the following centuries, the map was preserved and copied, becoming a relic of the Roman worldview, which influenced medieval cartography. Made with the primary intent of transmitting authoritative knowledge, rather than recent

<sup>55</sup> On the influence of the Alexander Romance on medieval geography and cartography, Hartmut Kugler, Der Alexanderroman und die literarische Universalgeographie, in: Udo Schöning (ed.), Internationalität nationaler Literaturen. Beiträge zum ersten Symposion des Göttinger Sonderforschungsbereichs 529, Göttingen 2000, pp. 102–120; Danielle Lecoq, L'image de Alexandre à travers les mappemondes medievales XIIe–XIIIe siecles, in: Geographia antiqua 2 (1993), pp. 63–111.

<sup>56</sup> Just to give an example of the later lavish representations, in the Catalan Atlas Alexander is depicted enlisting Satan's help to enclose the unclean nations.

<sup>57</sup> For a definition of place, Tim Cresswell, Place. A Short Introduction, Malden 2011, pp. 1–14.

<sup>58</sup> On the meaning and applications of sense of place, Kenneth Foote and Maoz Azaryahu, Sense of Place, in: International Encyclopedia of Human Geography (2009), cols. 96–100.

experiences, medieval maps incorporated and manipulated this Roman, imperial, organisation of space and shaped a new image of the world integrating classical and biblical geographical knowledge.59

Finally, in a volume dedicated to the use of narratology for the study of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, it seems fitting to conclude with the words of a contemporary narrator. As this analysis of the 'Peutinger Table' has hopefully shown, while studying maps one should always bear in mind that "LA CARTE EST PLUS INTÉRESSANTE QUE LE TERRITOIRE".60

#### Acknowledgements

This article evolved from a paper I have presented at the conference Narratology for Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (15–17 November 2019, Innsbruck). I am very grateful to Jakob Riemenschneider and Mateusz Fafinski for having organised that marvellous gathering of researchers and to the participants for their productive observations. I would like to thank the anonymous reviewers, Walter Pohl, Danuta Shanzer and the colleagues participating with me at her Privatissimum for their invaluable advice and stimulating criticisms.

<sup>59</sup> Cf. Alfred Hiatt, Mapping the Ends of Empire, in: Ananya Jahanara Kabir and Deanne Williams (eds.), Postcolonial Approaches to the European Middle Ages. Translating cultures, Cambridge 2005, pp. 48–76.

<sup>60</sup> Michel Houllebecq, La carte et le territoire, Paris 2010, p. 82. The sentence is in capital letters in the original.

# Aramaic Stories of Wandering in the High Seas of Late Antiquity

Abstract This paper analyses both Jewish and Christian travel narratives of Late Antiquity, arguing for common mythological tropes that fused into new stories with adapted meaning and morality. The Syriac 'Life of Barsauma' and several stories in the Babylonian Talmud feature a sea that is home to threats and wondrous creatures that need to be dealt with. At the roots of this phenomenon lies a shared mythological storyworld. Be it the taming of the waves, magical birds, or treasures in the depths, there seem to exist narrative patterns ready to be picked up by Christian and Jewish authors in the late antique Near East. The way in which these authors handled the arsenal of traditional stories, tells us about the evolution of their classical storyworlds and late antique perception of the sea in general, as well as the intercultural exchanges of the epoch.

Zusammenfassung Im vorliegenden Aufsatz wird ausgehend von einer Analyse jüdischer und christlicher Reisenarrative der Spätantike dafür argumentiert, dass sich in ihnen gemeinsame mythologische Archetypen erkennen lassen, die im jeweiligen Kontext adaptiert und mit neuer Bedeutung und Moralität ausgestattet wurden. Sowohl im syrischen 'Leben des Barsauma' als auch in mehreren Geschichten aus dem babylonischen Talmud ist die See von Meeresungeheuern und anderen mysteriösen Kreaturen bevölkert, was darauf hindeutet, dass den Texten ein gemeinsames Korpus an Erzählelementen zugrunde liegt. Sei es das Zähmen der Wellen, seien es magische Vögel oder Schätze auf dem Grund des Meeres – christliche und jüdische Autoren des spätantiken Nahen Ostens griffen offenbar auf bekannte narrative Muster zurück. Wie diese

#### Contact

#### Dr. Reuven Kiperwasser,

Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of Comparative Religion, reuven.kiperwasser@gmail.com

#### Dr. Serge Ruzer,

Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of Comparative Religion, Mt. Scopus, 9190501 Jerusalem, serge.ruzer@mail.huji.ac.il

Reuven Kiperwasser and Serge Ruzer: Aramaic Stories of Wandering in the High Seas of Late Antiquity. In: Fafinski, Mateusz and Riemenschneider, Jakob (Eds.): The Past Through Narratology, 161–177. Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2022 (Das Mittelalter. Perspektiven mediävistischer Forschung /Beihefte, Band 18). DOI: https://doi.org/10.17885/heiup.921.c13621

Autoren mit den Vorlagen umgingen, erlaubt Rückschlüsse auf die spätantike Entwicklung erzählerischer Welten, auf die Wahrnehmung des Meeres (in Regionen, die nicht selbst am Meer lagen) und auf den interkulturellen Austausch in dieser Region.

#### Introduction

According to a typical pattern of ancient shipwreck stories, when a storm breaks out and the sailors' skills prove inadequate, they turn for help to the patron deity – for the storm is deemed to be a sign of divine displeasure. The adventures of the biblical prophet Jonah provide a well-known example of this pattern, and they are often replayed in stories told by Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity.1 With the dramatic tempest motif, the sea voyage was likewise a well-known topos in Greco-Roman storytelling, exemplified inter alia in the mythological encounters of Odysseus during his travels.2 Jewish and Christian narrators would sometimes invoke it too – with or without the shadow of Jonah's narrative.

Whereas in the biblical story God intervenes in the course of the sea voyage but does not reveal himself to travellers, in the sea voyages of Greco-Roman mythology gods do appear to seafarers against the background of a mighty tempest. One finds Bacchus (Dionysus) sailing incognito through the Mediterranean with Tyrrhenian pirates and transforming his troublesome fellow travellers into dolphins (Pseudo--Hyginus, 'Fabulae' 134). Of comparable fame is the story of a shipwreck, with sailors being miraculously saved by the goddess Isis (Apuleius, 'The Golden Ass' 11). It appears that in the Mediterranean mythological context, sea travel afforded ample opportunity to introduce a benevolent deity into the narrative.

The Jewish and Christian sea voyage narratives turn out to be a hybrid creation, combining references to both biblical and broader mythological patterns of narration. Leaving aside biblical allusions, we turn here to stories composed primarily of mythological elements. We will analyse comparatively a selection of roughly contemporaneous rabbinic and Christian texts, recounting miraculous encounters on the high seas.

On the Jewish side, the Babylonian Talmud, the literary monument of the Jews living in late antique Sasanian Babylonia (southern Iraq), will offer the main reference points. In its tractate Baba Bathra 73a–75b, in the section introduced with the opening formula "one who sells a ship", after a short halachic discussion, there is an

<sup>1</sup> See discussion in Reuven Kiperwasser and Serge Ruzer, Sea Voyages Tales in Conversation with the Jonah Story. Intertextuality and the Art of Narrative Bricolage, in: Journeys: The International Journal of Travel and Travel Writing 20 (2019), pp. 39–57.

<sup>2</sup> See Robert Foulke, The Sea Voyage Narrative, London 2001, pp. 33, 40, 58.

extensive collection of aggadic sources. Abraham Weiss dubbed this section – because of its stylistic and linguistic homogeneity – the "tractate of wonders and visions". It contains Babylonian aggadic material, as well as traditions originating in the Land of Israel, reworked by Babylonian redactors.3 Whereas the Land of Israel substratum seems to go back to the fourth century, the later redaction may be tentatively dated to the sixth to seventh centuries.4

The main Christian witness will be the sea voyage story appearing in the 'Life of Barsauma' – probably a late fifth-century composition, written in Syriac, which relates to early fifth-century events.5 According to the 'Vita', Barsauma may have been born in the village of Beth Awton in the district of Samosata around 384 CE and probably died on 1 February 456 in his monastery south-east of Melitene. The 'Vita' was composed by Barsauma's disciple Samuel, shortly after the death of his master. Andrew Palmer suggested recently that the text could be "as early as 456".6 The protagonist here is one of the so-called 'wandering monks' and, consequently, this very long composition contains chains of travel stories, some of them sea voyages with plenty of miracles and adventures.

These late antique texts are discussed together based on the following criteria. First, they share the Aramaic-Syriac language of narration,7 which indicates a cultural proximity. Second, there is a geographical proximity too, as they were all produced by Talmudic and Christian storytellers residing in Mesopotamia, a terrestrial region far removed from the sea. To these one may add that the two communities lived in

<sup>3</sup> The appearance of sailors' 'tall tales' inserted in the halachic discourse on 'one who sells a ship' was probably meant to provide justification for the mention of a ship in the opening line of the Talmudic section. See Abraham Weiss, The Literary Creation of Amoraim, New York 1962, p. 273.

<sup>4</sup> Weiss (note 3) divided the haggadic material there into five or six sub-sections; cf. Reuven Kiperwasser, Rabba bar Bar Channa's Voyages, in: Jerusalem Studies in Hebrew Literature 22 (2007–2008), pp. 215–242 (in Hebrew).

<sup>5</sup> See Reuven Kiperwasser and Serge Ruzer, The Holy Land and Its Inhabitants in the Pilgrimage Narrative of the Persian Monk Barsauma, in: Cathedra 148 (2013), pp. 41–70 (in Hebrew); Aryeh Kofsky, Serge Ruzer and Reuven Kiperwasser, Reshaping Identities in Late Antique Syria-Mesopotamia. Christian and Jewish Hermeneutics and Narrative Strategies, Piscataway NJ 2016, pp. 181–216. For the Syriac text of the 'Vita', see Andrew Palmer (ed.), Life of Barsauma, forthcoming (henceforth 'Vita'). Thanks are due to Andrew Palmer for generously sharing the text, and to Johannes Hahn for first drawing our attention to this project of publishing the new full edition of the 'Vita'. For an earlier edition, see François Nau, Résumé de monographies syriaques, in: Revue de l'Orient Chrétien 18 (1913), pp. 270–276, 379–389; 19 (1914), pp. 113–134, 278–289. See also François Nau, Deux épisodes de l'histoire juive sous Théodose II (423 et 438) d'après la vie de Barsauma le Syrien, in: Revue des études juives 83–84 (1927), pp. 194–199.

<sup>6</sup> See Andrew Palmer, A Tale of Two Synods. The Archimandrite Barsumas at Ephesus in 449 and at Chalcedon in 451, in: Journal of Eastern Christian Studies 66 (2014), p. 39.

<sup>7</sup> It is generally supposed that we are dealing here with two related dialects, Jewish Babylonian Aramaic and Christian Syriac – another branch of Eastern Aramaic. However, how exactly to understand Syriac's relationship to other Late Aramaic dialects, inter alia to Western Aramaic, is still debated, see Aaron M. Butts, The Classical Syriac Language, in: Daniel King (ed.), The Syriac World, New York 2019, pp. 224–225.

the shadow of Iranian cultural presence.8 The Sasanian-Persian context, which had already attracted the attention of the Wissenschaft des Judenthum scholars,9 was later abandoned in the second half of the twentieth century; it has, however, undergone a fruitful revival in recent years.10 In addition to the previous observations, we are inclined to think that the inhabitants of those inland areas, who rarely sail out, would be even more prone to embrace existing mythological models of the sea and / or to present the sea voyage in terms of its symbolic meaning. In other words, whether Christians or Jews, they would readily adopt the inherited contours of the imaginary picture of the sea as a vast threatening space with its bitter and hostile waves, mysterious treasures in its depths and wondrous creatures – monsters and gods – whom the sailors are destined to encounter.

In parallel to the enchantment with the wonders of the watery abyss, narrators are eager to send their protagonists for trials and tribulations on the high seas to allow the cherished values of their religious outlook to be tested and reconfirmed. In light of the geographical and cultural affinity highlighted above, recent research has paid due attention to the possibility of actual or indirect links between Babylonian Jewry of the Talmudic period and contemporaneous Syriac Christianity. Yet we refrain from setting the axis line of this inquiry on supposed Christian influence on rabbinic narrators or vice versa.11 In distinction to that, we view the texts under

<sup>8</sup> The shared Iranian cultural background was recently elaborated upon in Geoffrey Herman and Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, Introduction, in: Geoffrey Herman and Jeffrey L. Rubenstein (eds.), The Aggada of the Bavli and Its Cultural World, BJS 362, Providence RI 2018, pp. xii–xvii.

<sup>9</sup> This was then part of a broader trend among scholars of rabbinic literature to pay attention to Middle Persian texts pertaining to such areas as philology, law, theology, and more generally the history of the Sasanian Empire. Regarding narratives, a number of significant parallels were identified, particularly in the realms of mythology, angelology and demonology, see Alexander Kohut, Ueber die jüdische Angelologie und Daemonologie in ihrer Abhängigkeit vom Parsismus, Leipzig 1866. For a brief overview of this period, see Geoffrey Herman, Ahasuerus, the Former Stable-Master of Belshazzar and the Wicked Alexander of Macedon: Two Parallels between the Babylonian Talmud and Persian Sources, in: AJS Review 29 (2005), pp. 284–288.

<sup>10</sup> For a review of early research on these questions, see Herman, Ahasuerus, The Former Stable--Master of Belshazzar (note 9), pp. 283–285. See also Yaakov Elman, Dualistic Elements in Babylonian Aggada, in: Herman and Rubenstein (note 7), pp. 273–311; Yaakov Elman, 'He in His Cloak and She in Her Cloak': Conflicting Images of Sexuality in Sasanian Mesopotamia, in: Rivka Ulmer (ed.), Discussing Cultural Influences: Text, Context, and Non-Text in Rabbinic Judaism, Studies in Judaism, Lanham 2007, pp. 129–164; Shai Secunda, The Iranian Talmud: Reading the Bavli in Its Sasanian Context, Philadelphia 2014. Cf. Richard Kalmin, Migrating Tales: The Talmud's Narratives and Their Historical Context, Berkeley 2014.

<sup>11</sup> For the influential paradigm of Christian influence on rabbinic traditions, see, for example, Michal Bar-Asher Siegal, Early Christian Monastic Literature and the Babylonian Talmud, New York 2013; for suggestion of a Jewish influence on Christian authors, see Jacob Neusner, Aphrahat and Judaism: The Christian Jewish Argument in Fourth-Century Iran, Leiden 1971, pp. 150–195; Sebastian Brock, Jewish Traditions in Syriac Sources, in: Journal of Jewish Studies 30 (1979), pp. 212–32; Naomi Koltun-Fromm, A Jewish-Christian Conversation in Fourth-Century Persian Mesopotamia, in: Journal of Jewish Studies 47 (1996), pp. 45–63; Aphrahat and the Rabbis on Noah's Righteousness in Light of Jewish-Christian Polemic, in: Judith Frishman and Lucas Van Rompay (eds.), The Book of Genesis in Jewish and Oriental Christian

discussion, which by no means exhaust the topic, as providing a road map of sorts for the two alternative, and complementary, directions of investigation: recovering the underlying – neither Christian nor Jewish – narrative patterns behind our late antique narratives and outlining the strategies of their adaptation to a Christian or Jewish religious agenda correspondingly.

This study also aims to go beyond the classical narratology, which is interested mainly in the synchronic dimension of the poetics of narrative, to an interdisciplinary approach that focuses on the changing forms and functions of a wide range of narratives and the dialogical negotiation of meanings pertaining to issues of culture and context.12

### Waters and Protective Patrons

The long passage from 'b. Baba Bathra' 73a–74b contains several stories that can be viewed as travel fiction, some of which take place in the desert, some in other terrestrial locations and, finally, some on the high seas. We will start from one of the latter, distinguished by a puzzling motif of subduing the waves with sticks with magic powers. The feat is described as routinely performed by the sailors themselves ('b. Baba Bathra' 73a):13

Raba b. Barhana said: Seafarers told me: the top of the wave coming to sink the ship is shaped as the fringe of a white fire (חיוורתא דנורא צוציתא(. We strike it with tree-branches with 'I am who I am, the Yah Lord of Hosts, Amen, Amen, Selah' engraved on them.

The paraphrase of Exod. 3:14 (RSV: "God said to Moses, 'I am who I am .' And he said, 'Say this to the people of Israel, I am has sent me to you.'") is apparently used here as a magic formula proclaiming the God of Israel's dominion over the powers of nature, including the sea. One may suggest that the fiery light of the threatening wave is to be restrained by the light of God's countenance, which equals the light of

Interpretations, Louvain 1997, pp. 57–72; Serge Ruzer and Aryeh Kofsky, Syriac Idiosyncrasies. Theology and Hermeneutics in Early Syriac Literature, Leiden 2010, pp. 30–31, 43–48, 50, 56–59, 97–107; Elena Narinskaya, Ephrem, a 'Jewish Sage'. A Comparison of the Exegetical Writings of St. Ephrem the Syrian and Jewish Traditions, Turnhout 2010. For discussion of the existing appraisals of these links (from actual influence all the way to the Zeitgeist), see Adam Becker, The Comparative Study of 'Scholasticism' in Late Antique Mesopotamia. Rabbis and East Syrians, in: AJS Review 34, 1 (2010), pp. 91–113.

<sup>12</sup> Ansgar Nũnning, Narratology or Narratologies? Taking Stock of Recent Developments, Critique and Modest Proposals for Future Usages of the Term, in: Tom Kindt and Hans-Harald Müller (eds.), What Is Narratology? Questions and Answers Regarding the Status of a Theory, Berlin 2003, pp. 243–246.

<sup>13</sup> The texts of the Babylonian Talmud quoted here are according to Ms. Paris 1337 with some emendations. Throughout this study, the English translation of rabbinic sources is ours.

the Torah. A passage from Herodotus, which, following Mary Boyce and others, we are inclined to view as adopting a pattern from ancient Persian culture,14 indicates that the rabbinic story might have adopted a motif of broader circulation:15

When Xerxes heard it he was exceedingly enraged, and bade them scourge the Hellespont with three hundred strokes of the lash and let down into the sea a pair of fetters. Nay, I have heard further that he sent branders also with them to brand the Hellespont. In any case, he enjoined them, as they were beating, to say barbarian and presumptuous words as follows: 'You bitter water, your master lays upon you this penalty, because you did wrong him not having suffered any wrong from him; and Xerxes the king will pass over you whether you be willing or no, but with right, as it seems, no man does sacrifice to you, seeing that you are a treacherous and briny stream.' The sea he enjoined them to chastise thus and he also bade them to cut off the heads of those who were appointed to have charge over the bridging of the Hellespont.

It may be supposed that the additional magic-tinged motif of engraving God's name is designed in the Talmud to provide a specific Jewish flavour to the common narrative pattern. One notes that writing the name of the God of Israel on any object would grant this object some magical power, which is a recurrent motif in the Babylonian Talmud and magical texts from Babylonia.16 It seems that in the Jewish context the power of the Divine Name would be sufficient to calm the waves; therefore, the lingering necessity of flogging them seems to represent one more sub-motif inherited from the general mythological context. We will see, however, that the motif of physically punishing the waves is not exclusive to Jewish and Iranian compositions.

<sup>14</sup> Mary Boyce, A History of Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism under Macedonian and Roman Rule, vol. 2, Leiden, Köln 1982, pp. 165–167. For a recent discussion of this Greek witness to ancient Iranian heritage, see Touraj Daryaee, Whipping the Sea and the Earth. Xerxes at the Hellespont and Yima at the Vara, in: Dabir 2 (2016), pp. 4–9. Daryaee compares the story in Herodotus to the one told about Yima the mythical king, who, according to Widewdat II, whipped the earth.

<sup>15</sup> Herodotus, Histories 7, transl. by George C. Macaulay, New York 2004.

<sup>16</sup> A paraphrase of Exod. 3:14 seems to be used there as a magic formula establishing the dominion of the God of Israel over the powers of nature; see 'b. Shevuʻot 35a', 'b. B. Batra 73a'. For an example of its usage in a magic bowl 1911/1 (5–7 CE) from the Schøven collection, see https:// www.schoyencollection.com/palaeography-collection-introduction/aramaic-hebrew-syriac/4-6-3-jewish-aramaic/ms-1911-1 (29 October 2021). See Christa Müller-Kessler, The Use of Biblical Quotations in Jewish Aramaic Incantation Bowls, in: Helen R. Jacobus, Anne Katrine de Hemmer Gudme and Philippe Guillaume (eds.), Studies on Magic and Divination in the Biblical World, Piscataway NJ 2013, pp. 227–245, esp. pp. 243–244. On magic in rabbinic lore, see also Yuval Harari, Moses, the Sword and 'The Sword of Moses': Between Rabbinical and Magical Traditions, in: Jewish Studies Quarterly 12, 4 (2005), pp. 293–329; cf. Naama Vilozny, Magic Art Between Judaism and Christianity: Aramaic Incantation Bowls and Christian Amuletic Pendants, in: Filip Vukosavović (ed.), Angels and Demons. Jewish Magic through the Ages, Jerusalem 2010, pp. 154–159.

Let us now turn to the 'Vita' of Barsauma, an accomplished ascetic and miracle worker travelling from the East to the Holy Land to repair the spiritual deterioration that plagued the Christian communities under the instigation of demons.17 Our protagonist's mostly terrestrial travel is interrupted by the necessity to cover the last part of the expedition by sea, sailing from Laodicea on the northern Syrian Coast via Cyprus to the shores of the Promised Land. It is during this journey that a tempest ensues. The dramatic tempest episode in the 'Vita' is of a composite nature with various transmitters, all of them Barsauma's disciples, offering their versions of the miraculous event. Here is the segment of the story where the motifs previously discerned in 'b. Baba Bathra' also appears ('Vita' 78.2, 5):18

[2] At sea a great storm broke over them and many ships which were voyaging were lost. As for the ship on which the blessed Barṣauma was standing, the waves passed over her and hid her from view, but no water fell inside the ship herself.19 The way the waves were spread out over that ship was like a tabernacle.20

[…]

[5] The disciple who first saw a vision now looked out ahead of the ship. He was watching the sea: there, large as life, on the surface of the water, two angels were striding ahead of the ship, hauling it along with white ropes. Each held a staff of cornelian in his hand with which he pushed down the ocean waves in front of the ship. From that moment onwards not one of the sea's waves reared up to cover the ship; and yet it was still blowing a raging gale.

The motif of a sea tempest, well attested in late antique sources,21 appears in the 'Vita' twice, providing two versions of the event in which the storm is miraculously subdued.22 In the current episode,23 Barsauma, the miracle worker, although present,


<sup>17</sup> See note 6 above.

<sup>18</sup> English translation follows that of Andrew Palmer, Appendix: The Life of Barsauma, in: Johannes Hahn and Volker Menze (eds.), The Wandering Holy Man. The Life of Barsauma, Christian Asceticism, and Religious Conflict in Late Antique Palestine (Transformation of the Classical Heritage Series), Oakland 2020.

<sup>22</sup> In a later instance (Sign 53), it is the presence of Barsauma, the ascetic wearing an iron *chiton* authority the whom to ,)ܓܒܪܐ ܣܡܩܪܝܐ ܕܠܒܝܫ ܟܬܝܢܐ ܕܦܪܙܐܠ ܘܡܟܣܝ ܣܩܐ ܡܢ ܠܒܪ) cloak his under is given "over the land and sea and everything" (ܕܘܟ ܘܒܟܠ ܘܒܝܡܐ ܘܒܫܡܝܐ ܒܐܪܥܐ...ܝܬܝܪ ܫܘܠܛܢܐ(, that saves the travellers from shipwreck. See 'Vita' 79. Cf. Nau, Deux épisodes (note 5), pp. 188–191.

<sup>23</sup> 'Vita' 78.

remains, for the most part, a silent observer of the tremendous forces intervening on his and his disciples' behalf.24

The narrative, however, clearly portrays this wondrous protection as insufficient, since Barsauma's companions remain frightened and continue to weep (78.3), which justifies introducing more dramatic episodes in sections 78.3 and 78.4. We will return to them later on. In 'Vita' 78.5 quoted above, the angels pushed the gigantic waves away with the red staffs they held in their hands. The angelic vision is, of course, <sup>a</sup> typical feature of Christian *mirabilia*. Yet mysterious red staffs (ܕܣܘܡܩܐ ܬܐ̈ (ܫܒܘܩ are puzzling. It is not possible to establish with certainty their meaning or whether they reflect a link to the branches mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud and / or in Herodotus' tale (see above). It may, however, be tentatively suggested that they are all related to the Persian cultic procedure of punishing the "bad water" – the rebellious element of nature that wickedly participated with Ahariman in the battle against the believers of the true religion. According to the Iranian doctrine, the saltwater had formerly been sweet but was then contaminated by the assault of the hostile spirit.25 We may see the common pattern in the stories under discussion as conversing with backdrop mythological perceptions of hostile sea waves representing the powers of evil and chaos, destined to be overcome by the heroic voyager.

#### Winged Creatures

Its multi-staged plan distinguishes Barsauma's story: the narrator repeatedly emphasises the incomplete nature of the victory over the storm – a raging gale was still ̈ܝܬܐ) blowing ܩܫ ܕܝܢ ܪܘܚܐ̈ ܢܫܒܢܪܘ ܥܕܟܝܠ(.26 One can see here the deliberately chosen narrative strategy of manipulation of gaps and ambiguities which enables the transition to an alternative avenue of rescue provided by the intervention of a mysterious winged creature ('Vita' 78.8–9):27

[8] Then the disciples of the champion [of faith] Barṣauma looked up and saw, right in front of their eyes, what looked like a bird flying towards them just above the surface of the sea; and set upon the head of that bird was what looked like a crown of cornelian (ܣܘܡܩܐ ܟܠܝܐܠ(.

<sup>24</sup> A salient feature of the narrative here is its composite character, with a number of seemingly independent sea-voyage redemption motifs collated together. The first of these motifs highlights Barsauma's presence as the true merit and reason for redemptive miraculous action: thanks to his standing in the middle of the ship, the gigantic waves though overarching the vessel did not flood ̈ܐ ܐܠ ܢܚܬܝܢ ܗܘܘ) it ܡܝ ܕܐܠܦܐ ݁ ܘܒܓܘܗ' Vita' 78.2; cf. Exod. 14:22, 29). See also the development of the protecting walls of water motif in 'Midrash Psalms' 114.7, ed. by Salomon Buber, Vilna 1891.

<sup>25</sup> On the passage from Herodotus, quoted above, see Boyce (note 14), pp. 165–167.

<sup>26</sup> 'Vita' 78.5.

<sup>27</sup> On these narrative strategies, see Meir Sternberg, Expositional Modes and Temporal Ordering in Fiction, Bloomington 1978, pp. 104–106.

[9] That bird came and circled the ship three times, then turned to go back in the direction from which it had come. At this, the ship changed course and turned to follow the bird towards its destination. 'In my opinion, this is not even a bird, but a sign of peace sent by God,' one of the blessed Barṣauma's disciples remarked, 'We are going to reach land safe and sound.'

The winged creature, which the ascetic's disciples witness descending and circling the ship, is depicted as wearing a red crown. It is difficult to trace this image's origin and exact function, but it can be surmised that it indicates a high position in some mythological hierarchy. When the creature finally turned around, the ship immediately "changed its course and turned to follow the bird toward its destination".28 When a mighty tempest threatens a ship, the salvific appearance of the heavenly bird is likewise attested, for instance, in 'b. Baba Bathra', in a story related by r. Yehudah Hindu'a (the Indian), a character unknown to us from any other rabbinic tradition ('b. Baba Bathra' 74b):29


<sup>28</sup> 'Vita' 78.9.

<sup>29</sup> His nickname could be translated as 'Indian' – but apparently, in the sense of 'one who travelled to India.' See the new Sokoloff edition of the Brokelmann dictionary (Michael Sokoloff, A Syriac Lexicon, Winona Lake 2009, p. 346, and Michael Sokoloff, A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic of the Talmudic and Geonic Periods, Ramat Gan 2002, p. 380). It may, alternatively, indicate his ethnic background (cf. Syriac g*abra hindua* mentioned in Julius Landsberger, Die Fabeln des Sophos. Syrisches Original der griechischen Fabeln des Syntipas, Posen 1859, pp. 1–2, where it serves as a substitute for the 'African' in the Greek version). On the navigation to India in ancient times, see Lionel Casson, Ancient Naval Technology and the Route to India, in: Vimala Begley and Richard D. De Puma (eds.), Rome and India. The Ancient Sea-Trade, Madison 1991, pp. 8–11. This and the following story from the Babylonian Talmud were recently analysed by Daniel J. Frim, 'Those Who Descend upon the Sea Told Me'. Myth and Tall Tale in Baba Batra 73a–74b, in: Jewish Quarterly Review 107, 1 (2017), pp. 1–37. Our understanding of the story, however, as well as its translation, are different.


According to the Talmudic narrative, sailors, who believed it to be a common gemstone, accidentally discovered a mysterious object in the depths of the sea. Although it was guarded by a monster, *tanina*, thus indicating that it was destined for an extraordinary assignment, the daring diver,30 trained in his craft, plunged into the sea to get it. Apparently considering it insufficient merely to swallow the diver, the angry monster tried to take in the entire vessel. Then, however, a winged creature, Paškeza,31 killed the sea monster, thus saving the ship, which had come dangerously close to the location of the precious stone. Paškeza has already appeared earlier in this 'b. Baba Bathra' chain of stories, where it swallowed the giant serpent that had previously swallowed a giant toad, and after finishing its feast settled down on a gigantic tree.32

At first, this creature in the Babylonian Talmud was identified by Henning as a metamorphosis of the mythical Iranian Baškuč bird,33 which in Persian lore

<sup>30</sup> Sokoloff (note 4), p. 234.

<sup>31</sup> On this creature in the Babylonian Talmud, see Kiperwasser (note 4), p. 232 (in Hebrew).

<sup>32</sup> See Kiperwasser (note 4), p. 233–234. Talmudic commentators identify פשקנצא as a gigantic raven and this understanding was recorded by Sokoloff in his dictionary – to be emended in the new edition.

<sup>33</sup> Walter B. Henning, Two Manichean Magical Texts with an Excursus on the Parthian Ending -ēndēh, in: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 12, 1 (1947), pp. 39–66, esp. pp. 42–43. The identification proposed by Henning was accepted by others, see Hans-Peter Schmidt, The Sēnmurw of Birds and Dogs and Bats, in: Persica 8 (1980), pp. 1–86; Daniel E. Gershenson, Understanding Puškansa, in: Acta Orientalia 55 (1994),

resembles the griffon.34 A vision of the wondrous stone that is revealed to the eyes of the stunned seafarers from under the seawaters is also known to us from the 'Song of the Pearl', arguably a remnant of ancient Syro-Mesopotamian voyage poetry, later incorporated into the 'Acts of Thomas' (AoT): 35

'If [you would go] down into Egypt and bring [back] the one pearl [ܡܖܓܢܝܬܐ[, which is in the middle of the sea [ܝܡܐ ܒܓܒ[, surrounded by the hissing serpent [ܣܝܩܐ ܚܘܝܐ[, then you will put on your glorious garment and your toga which rests [is laid] over it […]'

I passed through the borders of Maishan, the meeting-place of the merchants of the East, and I reached the land of Babel, and I entered the walls of Sarbug. I then went down into Egypt, and my companions parted from me. I went straight to the serpent [ܣܝܩܐ ܠܚܘܝܐ[, around its lodging I settled until it was going to slumber and sleep, that I might snatch my pearl from it. Then I became alone and lonely, to my fellow-lodgers I became a stranger [ܢܘܟܖܝ[.

The function of the poem in the general outline of the AoT is unclear. Some scholars who think that the AoT is a Gnostic composition and hence interpret the hymn along the lines of the Gnostic outlook, assume that the pearl is an allegory of either the

pp. 23–36; David Buyaner, On the Etymology of Middle Persian baškuč (Winged Monster), in: Studia Iranica 34, 1 (2005), pp. 19–30.

<sup>34</sup> On its occurrence in Iranian lore, see L. C. Casartelli, Çyena – Simrgh – Roc, in: Congrès scientifique international des catholiques 6 (1891), pp. 79–86; C. V. Trever, The Dog-Bird: Senmurw-Paskudj, Leningrad 1938; Wolfgang Fauth, Der persische Simurg und der Gabriel-Melek Tāwūs der Jeziden, in: Persica 12 (1987), pp. 123–147; Schmidt (note 33); Hans-Peter Schmidt, Simorgh, in: Encyclopaedia Iranica, forthcoming. There is a closeness between Baškuč פשקנצא and Sēnmurw / Simurgh, also an Iranian mythical bird, who is viewed as the king of all winged creatures.

<sup>35</sup> The Syriac version translated here is that of Taeke Jansma, A Selection from the Acts of Judas Thomas, Leiden 1952, pp. 35–40. For the summary of different scholarly approaches to this composition, see Gerard P. Luttikhuizen, The Hymn of Jude Thomas, the Apostle, in the Country of the Indians, in: Jan N. Bremmer (ed.), The Apocryphal Acts of Thomas, Leuven, Paris 2001, pp. 108–113.

hidden light or of the soul's descent into this world.36 Others discern here a didactic or just a rhetorical stratagem. However, the likelihood that this poetic fragment was inserted into the AoT induces us to analyse it as a separate unit.37 Therefore, if we approach the poem as a product of an independent setting, it seems likely that it was based on a sailor story prototype. That prototype would be initially transmitted without its present narrative frame and would only eventually be put into the mouth of Thomas by the compiler of the AoT. Disconnected from the context of AoT, the story would read like a Babylonian fairy tale.38 In such a tale, the stone could have possibly functioned as part of the royal regalia snatched from the Parthian court – hence the need to bring it back.

In the Talmudic narrative, however, the precious stone obtains a new meaning, correlative with some ideas of rabbinic eschatology. The stone there has the power to bring the dead back to life and is hidden in anticipation of the end of time. The winged creature appeared to act as the guardian of the sailors, placed under the special protection of God. The wondrous nature of the stone became manifest when the first monster's companion emerged from the bloodied waters and revived his killed mate. The resuscitated monster tried one more time to swallow the ship, ostensibly motivated by revenge and the desire to guard the stone. To properly deal with the danger, the winged creature had to kill the *tanina* again. It then seized the stone and carried it away to a new hiding place where it would be safely kept until the ordained time. Yet before that could happen, the stone, evidently on purpose, was dropped on the ship, with the result that the carcasses of the birds salted by the sailors came back to life. The birds, now alive, took possession of the stone and flew away, seemingly following their leader Paškeza.

#### Excursus

Although detached there from the sea-travel context, the motif of dead birds suddenly coming to life and flying away is known from the Infancy Gospel of Thomas (IGT), usually dated to the first half of the second century.39 At the beginning of

<sup>36</sup> See the summary of these scholarly evaluations in Luttikhuizen (note 35), pp. 103–108 and Gerard Luttikhuizen, A Gnostic Reading of the Acts of John, in: Jan N. Bremmer (ed.), The Apocryphal Acts of Thomas, Leuven 2001, pp. 119–152, esp. pp. 133 ff.

<sup>37</sup> Klaus Beyer, Das syrische Perlenlied: Ein Erlösungsmythos als Märchengedicht, in: Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 140 (1990), pp. 234–235.

<sup>38</sup> This assumption is derived from the discussion by Beyer (note 37), pp. 238–240.

<sup>39</sup> Regarding the history of research of this remarkable text, see Reidar Aasgaard, The Childhood of Jesus. Decoding the Apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Eugene OR 2009, pp. 1–13. For discussion of later medieval reception of the tradition, see Mary Dzon, Jesus and the Birds in Medieval Abrahamic Traditions, in: Traditio 66 (2011), pp. 189–230. Having completed this study, we came across an interesting parallel of Jesus resurrecting a fried rooster in the apocryphal Book of the Cock (ca sixth century CE). We hope to address it in the future.

the composition, we are told how the five-year-old Jesus was playing with other "Hebrew boys" next to a running stream and made the muddy waters clean by the power of his word. This display of the child's miraculous powers is complemented by the following (IGT 2):

He was playing at the ford of a stream […] [Then] he made soft clay and formed twelve sparrows out of it 40 […] [But] a certain Jew saw what Jesus did […] on the Sabbath [day]; he immediately went and announced to his father Joseph: 'See, your child […] has profaned the Sabbath.' Then Joseph came to the place, and seeing what Jesus did, he cried out: 'Why do you do on the Sabbath what it is not lawful to do?' [Then] Jesus clapped his hands and cried to the sparrows: 'Be [alive and] gone!' And the sparrows flew off chirping.41

When the other Jews saw Jesus bringing clay birds to life, they were first offended by what seemed like a violation of the Sabbath, but then mostly flabbergasted and told the leaders of the community about the miracle they had witnessed.

#### ◆

It may be suggested that the rabbinic narrator in the Babylonian Talmud adopted the circulating mythical motif of the miraculously revived birds – the one also underlying the IGT – to embellish and reinforce the main idea of the story concerning the wondrous stone. Far away from human eyes, a stone with abilities to restore life remains a well-kept secret, until the dawn of the eschatological era. It would then be employed for reviving the dead of Israel. It can be noticed that there are a few speculations in rabbinic literature about how, and with the help of which agent, God will perform the ultimate miracle of resurrection.42 Our story in 'b. Baba Bathra' represents one such speculation: here the vast dimensions of the sea, the place of primordial chaos in mythological thought, became a storage place for the keys to the eschatological future. In his Babylonian didactic tale, the rabbinic narrator mobilised the two

<sup>40</sup> For a suggestion that the number twelve here may hint at the mission of the twelve apostles, see Dzon (note 39), p. 198. However, this motif – as well as other possible meanings of the typological number of twelve – is nowhere spelled out in the composition.

<sup>41</sup> English translation is indebted to Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament and Other Early Christian Writings. A Reader, New York, Oxford 1998, pp. 127–128.

<sup>42</sup> A common view among Palestinian rabbis is that at the end of time, God will resurrect the deceased with the help of the miraculous dew, an indication of which is found in a verse from Isaiah 26:19. See for example 'y. Berakhot' 5, 2 [9b] and 'Taanit' 1, 1 [63b]. However, in addition there also existed a belief that some secret agents able to revive the deceased were dispersed out in the mundane world. See for example Leviticus Rabbah 22.4. See also our discussion on 'b. Baba Bathra' 74b further on.

complementing motifs – a miraculous stone being retrieved by a diver and a miraculous bird rescuing the sailors.

These two motifs are not collated in the Christian narratives. The Acts of Thomas incorporated the diver motif as an obscure parable without elaborating on its meaning. The author of Barsauma's 'Vita' adopted only that of a salvific bird. It is instructive that he felt necessary to add a descriptive comment, that in his opinion: "this is not, in fact, a bird, but a sign of peace sent by God". This remark wraps up the strategy of adoption through adaptation / Christianisation inaugurated with the call to "give glory to God" at the beginning of the tempest episode.

All these disconnected narratives rely on the same miracle story prototype, where the depths of the sea are home to marvellous treasures guarded by winged creatures and to be recovered by the sailors. Whereas in the 'Song of the Pearl' the function of the treasure remains unclear, in the rabbinic versions it is destined to be kept there until the days of eschatological redemption and then bring about the resurrection of the dead. In the next section, we will discuss additional evidence for this eschatologically flavoured motif.

#### Treasure in the Sea

Having followed our travellers through the sea of Talmud up until now, we arrive at another example of the adoption strategy in the context of a rabbinic narrative, which belongs to a sequence of stories about wondrous objects found in the depths of the sea ('b. Baba Bathra' 74b):43


<sup>43</sup> The text is according to Ms. Paris 1337 with some emendations according to other manuscripts, see note 8 above.


This story should be read in the light of other variants of the sea-voyage plot,44 especially the one concerning Rav Yehudah the Indian, quoted above.45 Here the narrator relates that when sailing, he and his companions saw in the water a small basket studded with precious stones and pearls and guarded by a shoal of giant *Kara* fish.46 Having descended into the water to retrieve the basket and the stones, the diver succeeds in outsmarting the guardian sea creatures. However, the heavenly voice (*bath-qōl*) comes forth and demands the seafarers to keep away from the basket, which, as it turns out, is destined to be in the post-resurrection era in possession of rabbi Hanina ben Dosa's wife. "Purple-blue" here is the dye used to colour the fringes of the traditional prayer cloak (*talith*); as for the long-lost secret of its preparation,47 it will be, according to a popular belief, revealed anew in eschatological times.48 It was once derived from a marine creature named *hillazon* on the seashores of the Land

<sup>44</sup> See Raphael Patai, The Children of Noah. Jewish Seafaring in Ancient Times, Princeton 1999, pp. 126–127.

<sup>45</sup> 'B. Baba Bathra' 74b.

<sup>46</sup> See Reuven Kiperwasser and Dan Y. Shapira, Irano-Talmudica I: The Three-Legged Ass and Ridyā in B. Taanith. Some Observations About Mythic Hydrology in the Babylonian Talmud and in Ancient Iran, in: Association for Jewish Studies Review 32, 1 (2008), p. 103, n. 38; Reuven Kiperwasser and Dan Y. Shapira, Irano-Talmudica II: Leviathan, Behemoth and the 'Domestication' of Iranian Mythological Creatures in Eschatological Narratives of the Babylonian Talmud, in: Steven Fine and Shai Secunda (eds.), Shoshanat Yaakov: Ancient Jewish and Iranian Studies in Honor of Yaakov Elman, Leiden 2012, p. 216.

<sup>47</sup> See R. Isaac Herzog, Hebrew Porphyrology, in: Ehud Spanier (ed.), The Royal Purple and the Biblical Blue, Jerusalem 1987, pp. 44, 110–112. Chronologically, the last mention of *tekhelet* in rabbinic literature of Palestinian provenance is found in the Midrash 'Tanhuma' (Shelah 28, on Num. 17:5), with the lament "and now we have no 'tekhelet', only white". Herzog hypothesised that that it was the Arab conquest of the Land of Israel that brought an end to the snail-based dyeing industry among the Jews.

<sup>48</sup> This belief is not emphatically pronounced, but it can be derived from some sources. For example, in the 'Tanhuma' mentioned above, explaining that *tekhelet* is no longer available, the *midrashist* uses the expression *nignaz* (stored away or hidden), see Shamma Friedman, The Primacy of Tosefta in Mishnah–Tosefta Parallels (Shabbat 16.1), in: Tarbiz 62 (1993), pp. 313–338 (in Hebrew). He has shown that the verb *g-n-z* is primarily used in the negative sense of making an item unusable without destroying it (pp. 323–324), so that whereas it is currently impossible to fulfil the precept, it will become feasible in the future. Even more explicit in this regard is the passage from 'b. B. Bathra' addressed above.

of Israel and probably exported to other countries.49 The idea that the "purple-blue" will be rediscovered in the eschatological era seems to have been an innovation of the Babylonian Jewry.50 It deserves notice that for the narrator both r. Hanina b. Dosa, a charismatic miracle worker,51 and his wife have long been dead and thus the mention of them here refers the audience to the future age of resurrection. It stands to reason that the end-of-days focus of the story should inform our understanding of the function of the precious stones in this narrative.

We can see how in the two rabbinic stories a backdrop tall tale of the guarded sea treasure discovered by unaware sailors, originally devoid of explicitly religious markers, is subjected to an attempt to infuse it with the adopted eschatological meaning. The basic underlying plot brings the protagonist to explore the depths of the sea, relating the wondrous finds and the encounters with miraculous creatures. Its reworking establishes a link to specific rabbinic ideas: resurrection, ritual demands transferred to the hereafter, and involvement of prominent rabbinic figures

As for the elaboration of Barsauma's 'Vita' above, the central element of the supposed background folk story – the treasure hidden in the sea – is absent. The lack of interest in this topic is in agreement with the difference in focus: whereas in the Talmud the emphasis is on the wonders of the sea adventure, in the 'Vita' the sea travel is only a preface to the true climax of the protagonist's heroic sojourn in the Holy Land. However, both use the meaningful space of the sea as – to borrow the especially useful expression introduced by Joshua Levenson to illustrate the journey as a process of obtaining meaning – the locus of intense semiotic traffic,52 in which nothing is thrown into the sea as unnecessary baggage, but everything finds its place among the building blocks of the narrative bricolage.

<sup>49</sup> A number of archaeological sites along the northern coast of Israel and extending up to the port city of Sidon attest to a well-developed murex-based dyeing industry in the region; see Nira Karmon and Ehud Spanier, Archaeological Evidence of the Purple Dye Industry from Israel, in: Ehud Spanier (ed.), The Royal Purple and the Biblical Blue, Jerusalem 1987, pp. 149–157; Israel A. Ziderman, Reinstitution of the Mitzvah of Tekhelet in Tzitzit, in: Tehumin 9 (1988), p. 438 (in Hebrew).

<sup>50</sup> See 'b. Sotah' 46b and Reuven Kiperwasser, Elihoref and Ahia. The Metamorphosis of the Narrative Tradition from the Land of Israel to the Sassanian Babylonia, in: Tal Ilan and Ronit Nikolsky (eds.), Rabbinic Traditions between Palestine and Babylonia. From There to Here, Leiden 2014, pp. 268–269.

<sup>51</sup> See Joseph Blenkinsopp, Miracles: Elisha and Hanina Ben Dosa, in: John C. Cavadini (ed.), Miracles in Jewish and Christian Antiquity, Notre Dame IN 1999, pp. 57–81; David Levine, Holy Men and Rabbis in Talmudic Antiquity, in: Joshua Schwartz and Marcel Poorthuis (eds.), Saints and Role Models in Judaism and Christianity, Leiden 2004, pp. 45–58; Chanah Safrai and Zeev Safrai, Rabbinic Holy Men, in: Ibid., pp. 59–78.

<sup>52</sup> See Joshua Levinson, Travel Tales of Captivity in Rabbinic Literature, in: Journeys: The International Journal of Travel and Travel Writing 17, 1 (2016), pp. 75–95, esp. p. 76.

#### Summing Up

We have discussed a number of wondrous-sea-voyage traditions exemplifying a variety of balancing acts between the inherited backdrop of mythological motifs and their reworking in light of the specific religious agendas – either Christian or Jewish – of late antique narrators. Three mythological patterns were singled out: divine intervention calming down the mighty tempest; a treasure hidden in the depths of the sea, guarded by a monstrous creature; and wondrous birds coming to the sailors' rescue. We have observed that for our Syro-Mesopotamian Aramaic-speaking narrators, the sea retains its threatening appeal and therefore the sea voyages provide for a meaningful liminal experience that challenges the narrators' religious outlook. For them all, undeniable differences notwithstanding, the sea represents the chaos embodied in the universe according to its mythical perception. Subsequently, various strategies for dealing with the tension inherent in the liminal sea adventure have been discerned – inter alia, alleviating the mythic flavour of the background tradition.

With some overlap in the basic strategies, one notes the distinguishing Jewish motif of the sea as the storage place for the treasure that is destined to serve during the era of eschatological resurrection. Christian narrators, with their own foundational resurrection-centred notions, seem to lack interest in that motif. Both Jewish and Christian sea adventures discussed in this study remain focused on adjusting the traditional sailors' tall tales to their new – either Christian or Jewish – religious agenda. Exemplifying the adjustment strategies, late antique Jewish and Christian sources also seem to reflect the underlying shared myths. They thus have the potential to complement our picture of such mythological perceptions of the sea and sea voyages.

#### NARRATOLOGY AND THE META-LEVEL

### *Soldiers of Rome?*

# Ein Forschungsnarrativ über die Haßleben-Leuna-Gruppe und dessen Entstehung

Abstract Post-war archaeological research in Germany has created a narrative of Germanic auxiliary troops fighting for the Gallic emperors in the third century CE and later returning to their 'native land'. These soldiers were identified as the buried of the so-called Haßleben-Leuna group, an elite grave group in modern Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt that is distinguished by rich metal finds of supposedly Roman and non-Roman origin. Therefore, it provides insight into the formation process of non-Roman elites in this region. Numismatic finds within the graves (third century CE) as well as "mercenaries" mentioned as *ingentia auxilia Germanorum* in the 'Historia Augusta' (fourth / fifth century CE) seemed to substantiate this theory. More recent analyses of this narrative show that former and even current archaeologists assessed the Roman sources in an extremely positivistic way. Historians then used this line of reasoning and created a circular argument. The original assumption that tied the formation of the elite grave horizons to the so-called Gallic Empire is disproved today. The question remains how modern research should deal with the complicated and complex narrative of Roman grave goods and supposedly former Roman soldiers in the Haßleben-Leuna graves.

Zusammenfassung Die archäologische Nachkriegsforschung in Deutschland verfolgt bis heute das Narrativ von germanischen Hilfstruppen, die im 3. Jahrhundert n. Chr. für die gallischen Kaiser gekämpft hätten und später in ihre 'Heimat' zurückgekehrt seien. Die Soldaten dieser Hilfstruppen wurden lange Zeit in der archäologischen Forschung mit den Bestatteten der sogenannten

#### Kontakt

Philipp Margreiter, MA, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Lehrstuhl für Christliche Archäologie, Kochstraße 6, 91054 Erlangen, philipp.margreiter@fau.de

Haßleben-Leuna-Gruppe im heutigen Thüringen und Sachsen-Anhalt gleichgesetzt. Diese Prunkgräbergruppe zeichnet sich besonders durch reiche Artefakte vermeintlich römischer oder nicht-römischer Herkunft aus. Sie kann daher Aufschluss über den Entstehungsprozess der nichtrömischen Eliten in dieser Region geben. Numismatische Funde innerhalb der Gräber (3. Jahrhundert n. Chr.) und die Tatsache, dass *ingentia auxilia Germanorum,* 'Söldner', in der 'Historia Augusta' (4./5. Jahrhundert n. Chr.) erwähnt werden, schienen diese These zu stützen. Neuere Untersuchungen zeigen allerdings, dass frühere und sogar noch zeitgenössische Archäologinnen und Archäologen die römischen Quellen ausgesprochen positivistisch bewerteten. Nachfolgende Historikerinnen und Historiker stützten sich auf diese Argumentation und unterlagen einem Zirkelschluss. Die ursprüngliche Annahme, die die Entstehung der elitären Grabhorizonte an das sogenannte Gallische Sonderreich band, gilt heute allgemein als widerlegt. Es stellt sich somit die Frage, wie die moderne Forschung mit dem komplizierten und vielschichtigen Narrativ von römischen Grabausstattungen und den vermeintlich ehemaligen römischen Soldaten in den Gräbern von Haßleben-Leuna umzugehen hat.

Die Prunkgräber der älteren und jüngeren römischen Kaiserzeit in Nord-, Mittelund Osteuropa – insbesondere die sogenannte Haßleben-Leuna-Gruppe – sind für ihre kostbaren Prestigegüter römischer Provenienz bekannt. Die Gruppe umfasst eine Reihe von Gräberfeldern und Einzelgräbern aus der zweiten Hälfte des 3. sowie dem frühen 4. Jahrhundert im heutigen Thüringen und Sachsen-Anhalt (Abb. 1).1 Prunkgräber dieses Ausmaßes lassen sich entlang der nordöstlichen Peripherie des Römischen Reiches zwischen dem 2. und 4. Jahrhundert n. Chr. beobachten. Das Aufkommen dieser Bestattungspraktiken wird von der Forschung bisweilen in einen direkten oder indirekten Zusammenhang mit dem Imperium Romanum gestellt.2 Die namensgebenden Grabfunde von Haßleben und Leuna, um die es im Folgenden gehen soll, wurden 1933 und 1953 von Walter Schulz publiziert.3 Schulz folgerte

<sup>1</sup> Dieter Quast, Frühgeschichtliche Prunkgräberhorizonte, in: Markus Egg u. Dieter Quast (Hgg.), Aufstieg und Untergang. Zwischenbilanz des Forschungsschwerpunktes "Studien zur Genese und Struktur von Eliten in vor- und frühgeschichtlichen Gesellschaften" (Monographien des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums 82), Mainz 2009, S. 107–142, hier S. 113–114.

<sup>2</sup> Als Überblick dazu: Quast (Anm. 1), S. 107–114, 122–124.

<sup>3</sup> Walter Schulz, Das Fürstengrab und das Gräberfeld von Haßleben (Römisch-Germanische Forschungen 7), Berlin 1933; Walter Schulz, Leuna. Ein germanischer Bestattungsplatz der spätrömischen Kaiserzeit, Berlin 1953.

Abb. 1 | Prunkgräber der jüngeren römischen Kaiserzeit in Mittel-, Nord- und Osteuropa (aus: Thomas Fischer [Hg.], Die Krise des 3. Jahrhunderts n.Chr. und das Gallische Sonderreich, Wiesbaden 2012, S. 352).

angesichts der reichen "römischen Importe" 4, dass es weitreichende Beziehungen zwischen Mitteldeutschland und dem Imperium Romanum gegeben haben muss. Die Herkunft dieser Beigaben erklärte er durch Beutezüge und Handel.5

In der Forschung wurden bisher mehrere Vorschläge gemacht, um die Verbreitung der römischen Fundgüter zu erklären. Diese reichen von einfachen Handelsbeziehungen über Tributzahlungen sowie Raubgut heimgekehrter Krieger aus der römischen Armee hin zu militärischen Eliten, die von Rom bei der Strukturierung seiner Peripherie gezielt gefördert wurden.6 Der kontinuierliche Transfer von Gütern und Personen förderte in den Randgebieten des Imperiums soziale Ausdifferenzierungsprozesse, die ökonomisch einflussreiche und militärisch geprägte Eliten hervorbrachten.7

Heiko Steuer verwies darauf, dass die Prunkgräber vom Lübsow- und Haßleben-Leuna-Typ nicht nur aufgrund der Beigaben mit dem Imperium verbunden waren, sondern dass auch die Bestattungsform selbst mit den reich ausgestatteten Körpergräbern "im Germanischen" wegen der dort vorwiegenden Brandbestattung "fremd wirke". Steuer kam zu dem Schluss, dass es sich hierbei um eine "neue, durch Rom beeinflusste oder gar ohne Rom nicht denkbare Führungsgruppe" handeln müsse.8

6 Zur Strukturierung des römischen Vorfelds aus historischer Perspektive siehe: u. a. Roland Steinacher, Rom und die Barbaren. Völker im Alpen- und Donauraum 300–600, Stuttgart 2017, S. 17, 23–25.

8 Heiko Steuer, Archäologie und germanische Sozialgeschichte – Forschungstendenzen in den 1990er Jahren, in: Klaus Düwel (Hg.), Runische Schriftkultur in kontinental-skandinavischer und -angelsächsischer Wechselbeziehung (Ergänzungsbände zum Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde 10), Berlin 1994, S. 10–55, hier S. 21.

<sup>4</sup> Die Bezeichnung materieller Kultur als 'typisch römisch' wurde in den letzten Jahren stark hinterfragt. 'Römisch' als Analysekategorie für Materialität, Ethnizität, Identität oder Kultur tendiert dazu, unpräzise und unweigerlich mit dem Konzept der 'Romanisierung' verbunden zu sein. Petra Wodtke exemplifiziert dies an den materiellen Hinterlassenschaften der Provinz Epirus und Stefan Schreiber anhand der Haßleben-Leuna-Gruppe für "römische Importe" in Mitteldeutschland, siehe: Petra Wodtke, Dies ist kein römisches Objekt. Ein archäologischsemiotischer Zugang zur materiellen Kultur der römischen Provinz Epirus (Berlin Studies of the Ancient World 54), Berlin 2018, insbesondere 216–219; Stefan Schreiber, Wandelnde Dinge als Assemblagen. Neo-materialistische Perspektiven zum "römischen Import" im "mitteldeutschen Barbaricum" (Berlin Studies of the Ancient World 52), Berlin 2018, insbesondere S. 233–237. Eine Diskussion über Ethnizität findet sich zuletzt bei Otávio Luiz Vieira Pinto, What Can Cultural Anthropology Do for Medievalists? A Methodological Discussion of Ethnicity Applied to Late Antique and Early Medieval History, in: James M. Harland u. Matthias Friedrich (Hgg.), Interrogating the 'Germanic'. A Category and its Use in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (Ergänzungsbände zum Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 123), Berlin 2021, S. 111–125.

<sup>5</sup> Schulz, Haßleben (Anm. 3), S. 45; Schulz, Leuna (Anm. 3), S. 66, 72. Für die restlichen Gräber der Haßleben-Leuna-Gruppe siehe: Matthias Becker (Hg.), Das Fürstengrab von Gommern (Veröffentlichungen des Landesamtes für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt – Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte 63), Halle a. d. Saale 2010; Jan Bemmann u. Berthold Schmidt, Körperbestattungen der jüngeren Römischen Kaiserzeit und der Völkerwanderungszeit Mitteldeutschlands. Katalog (Veröffentlichungen des Landesamtes für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalts – Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte 61), Halle a. d. Saale 2008.

<sup>7</sup> Mischa Meier, Geschichte der Völkerwanderung. Europa, Asien und Afrika vom 3. bis zum 8. Jahrhundert n. Chr., München 2019, S. 126, 130.

Auch Sebastian Brather betonte, dass sich der Habitus der peripheren Eliten durch römische Prestigeobjekte ausdrückte und ohne eine Anknüpfung an das römische Imperium nicht möglich gewesen wäre.9

Das Narrativ der aus dem römischen Dienst heimgekehrten Krieger hat bisher großen Zuspruch erfahren, da derartige Ereignisse in den historischen Berichten römischer Autoren, wie u. a. jenen des Ammianus Marcellinus bei den Alemannen, erwähnt werden.10 Die Haßleben-Leuna-Gruppe, im Gebiet der mittleren Elbe und Saale, wurde wiederholt für die archäologische Untermauerung dieser These herangezogen. Die Annahme, dass es sich bei den Bestatteten der Haßleben-Leuna-Prunkgräber ausschließlich um Krieger handele, die in römischen Diensten standen, sowie deren Angehörige, ist allerdings ein teilweise hinfälliges Narrativ der frühgeschichtlichen Forschung, dessen Entstehung und Argumentation im Folgenden beleuchtet werden soll.11

#### Narrativität und Archäologie

Wie entsteht Geschichte? Wie entstehen Narrative? Die historische Forschung erkannte in den 1980er Jahren den Zusammenhang zwischen Geschichte und Erzählen und damit deren Abhängigkeit von den jeweiligen Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftlern. Die Bedeutung dieser Erzählstrukturen sollte nicht unterschätzt werden, denn sie tragen zusätzlich zu Argumenten und Belegen zur Plausibilität der jeweiligen Darstellung bei. Informationen aus den Quellen werden meist methodisch entlang bereits etablierter Erzählschemata angeordnet. Der Wissenschaftler oder die Wissenschaftlerin muss dies bei seiner Arbeit mitreflektieren und den Rezipienten und Rezipientinnen entsprechend offenlegen.12

<sup>9</sup> Sebastian Brather, Acculturation and Ethnogenesis along the Frontier: Rome and the Ancient Germans in an Archaeological Perspective, in: Florin Curta (Hg.), Borders, Barriers, and Ethnogenesis. Frontiers in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages (Studies in the Early Middle Ages 12), Tournhout 2005, S. 139–172, hier S. 148.

<sup>10</sup> Zur Diskussion über die Nachweisbarkeit von Migration / Mobilität von Gruppen und Gütern siehe: Sebastian Brather, Ethnic Identities as Constructions of Archaeology. The Case of the *Alamanni*, in: Andrew Gillet (Hg.), On Barbarian Identity. Critical Approaches to Ethnicity in the Early Middle Ages (Studies in the Early Middle Ages 4), Turnhout 2002, S. 149–175, hier S. 161–162, 170.

<sup>11</sup> Sabine Riekhoff bezeichnet die Überschneidung von Narratologie und Archäologie als ein zentrales Analysewerkzeug für eine archäologische Historiographie, siehe: Sabine Riekhoff, Keltische Vergangenheit: Erzählung, Metapher, Stereotyp. Überlegungen zu einer Methodologie der archäologischen Historiographie, in: Stefan Burmeister, Heidrun Derks u. Jasper von Richthofen (Hgg.), Zweiundvierzig: Festschrift für Michael Gebühr zum 65. Geburtstag (Internationale Archäologie– Studia honoraria 25), Leidorf 2007.

<sup>12</sup> Mischa Meier u. Steffen Patzold, Gene und Geschichte. Was die Archäogenetik zur Geschichtsforschung beitragen kann, Stuttgart 2021, S. 19, 24–27.

Narrativität oder archäologische Historiographie sind seit den 1990er Jahren auch in den archäologischen Wissenschaften als Konzepte aus dem *linguistic turn* übernommen worden. Für den englischsprachigen Raum beklagte Mark Pluciennik, dass die Rolle von Narrativen in der dortigen Archäologie nur wenig untersucht wurde. Gleichzeitig hob der Autor hervor, dass im Unterschied zur Geschichtswissenschaft die archäologische Forschung zusätzlich auch auf nicht-narrative Untersuchungsmethoden wie naturwissenschaftliche Analysen, Typologien und Stratigraphie zurückgreifen kann.13 Auch im deutschsprachigen Raum wurden Narrative in der Archäologie bisher kaum berücksichtigt. Eine Reihe von Archäologen und Archäologinnen der frühen 2000er Jahre setzte sich mit dem Konzept auseinander, ihre Arbeiten wurden jedoch kaum rezipiert.14 Grund hierfür dürfte die Tatsache sein, dass einige archäologische Teildisziplinen die geschichtstheoretischen Diskurse bisher ausgeblendet oder wie Hayden White15 bisher schlichtweg nicht wahrgenommen haben.16 Narrative Konzepte wurden teilweise – obwohl diese Einschätzung auf einem groben Missverständnis der Grundaussage des Konzeptes beruht – als "das Ende der Geschichte als Wissenschaft" wahrgenommen.17

Welche Bedeutung hat Narrativität für die archäologische Forschung? Eine narrative Ordnung ist vergangenen Ereignissen nicht immanent. Sie wird von Historikern, Historikerinnen, Archäologen und Archäologinnen hergestellt, indem sie einzelne Fakten in einen neuen Sinnzusammenhang stellen. Das grundlegende Missverständnis liegt darin, dass White nicht behaupten wollte, historische oder archäologische Forschungen seien fiktive Literatur, sondern dass die "Art der Sinnstiftung die gleiche ist".18 Folglich kann auch das Prinzip der historischen Meistererzählung auf die

<sup>13</sup> Mark Pluciennik, Archaeological Narratives and Other Way of Telling, in: Current Anthropology 40, 5 (1999), S. 653–678, hier S. 653–654.

<sup>14</sup> Für einen Überblick zur deutschsprachigen Debatte um Narratologie und Archäologie siehe Felix Wiedemann, Stones and Stories. On the Use of Narratological Approaches for Writing the History of Archaeology, in: Gisela Eberhard u. Fabian Link (Hgg.), Historical Approaches to Past Archaeological Research (Berlin Studies of the Ancient World 32), Berlin 2015, S. 165–189, hier S. 171–172.

<sup>15</sup> Hayden White, Metahistory: The Historical Imagination in Nineteenth Century Europe, Baltimore 1973.

<sup>16</sup> Riekhoff (Anm. 11), S. 20. Gemeint sind vor allem die ur- und frühgeschichtliche Archäologie sowie die Disziplinen, die sich methodisch an dieser orientieren wie zum Beispiel die Mittelalterarchäologie. Die Klassische Archäologie steht methodisch in einer anderen Tradition, siehe Tonio Hölscher, Klassische Archäologie am Ende des 20. Jahrhunderts: Theorien, Defizite, Illusionen, in: Ernst Schwinge (Hg.), Die Wissenschaften vom Altertum am Ende des 2. Jahrtausends n. Chr., Stuttgart 1995, S. 197–228, und hat narrative Konzepte bereits früher aufgenommen, siehe Ulrich Veit, Der Archäologe als Erzähler, in: Hans-Peter Wotzka (Hg.), Grundlegungen. Beiträge zur europäischen und afrikanischen Archäologie für Manfred K. H. Eggert, Tübingen 2006, S. 201–2013, hier S. 201.

<sup>17</sup> Georg Iggers, Geschichtswissenschaft im 20. Jahrhundert, Göttingen 1993, S. 87.

<sup>18</sup> Hayden White, Der historische Text als literarisches Kunstwerk, in: Christoph Conrad u. Martina Kessel (Hgg.), Geschichte schreiben in der Postmoderne, Stuttgart 1994, S. 123–155, hier S. 136, 154.

Archäologie übertragen werden. Geschichte und Archäologie bleiben immer Erzählungen von Ereignissen und unterliegen narrativen Strategien.19 Auch wenn beide Disziplinen unterschiedliche Quellengattungen untersuchen, nutzen sie Erzählung und Text als Verbreitungsmittel und folgen damit den wesentlichen Kriterien von Narrativität: Ereignisse und Personen wurden von einem Erzähler / von einer Erzählerin ausgewählt bzw. – im Fall der Archäologie – durch die Materialität bestimmt, die Erzählung hat einen theoretisch-methodischen Aufbau und folgt einer bestimmten Logik, sie lässt narrative Strategien erkennen und sie ist in soziale, kulturelle und historische Kontexte diskursiv eingebettet. Unterschiedliche Diskurse führen dabei zu unterschiedlichen Meistererzählungen, die miteinander konkurrieren können.20

Doch worin liegt nun der Erkenntniswert für eine archäologische Historiographie, nach *grand narratives*21 und *master narratives* zu fragen? Zum einen macht es dieser Zugang zur archäologischen Literatur möglich, historiographische Einzeldarstellungen und alternative Entwürfe auf Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede hin zu analysieren. Zudem können nicht nur konkurrierende Geschichtsbilder, sondern auch Geschichtssysteme interdisziplinär und länderübergreifend untersucht werden, z. B. die Frage, wie Germanen in der frankophonen Forschung betrachtet werden. Meistererzählungen stehen in einem sozialen Kontext, in dem sie etabliert, verteidigt oder aufgegeben werden. Sie werden konstruiert und konstruieren gleichzeitig Identität und Alterität.22

Die Beziehungen zwischen den Bestatteten der Haßleben-Leuna-Gruppe und dem sogenannten Gallischen Sonderreich stellen ein *grand narrative* dar, das in mehrere große Meistererzählungen der Spätantike und des Frühmittelalters wie jene der sogenannten Völkerwanderungszeit oder des *Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire* einzubetten ist.23 Ein neues Großnarrativ über das Ende des Römischen Reiches und der Antike durch die Völkerwanderung und seine germanischen Nachfolgereiche hat sich bisher noch nicht herausgebildet. Erst seit den 1990er Jahren wird dieses Erzählschema aufgebrochen. Das Narrativ vom "Untergang des Römischen Reiches" fokussierte fast ausschließlich auf Westeuropa, die Dichotomie von Römern und Germanen, und vernachlässigte das oströmische bzw. byzantinische Reich (das bis

<sup>19</sup> Veit (Anm. 16), S. 210.

<sup>20</sup> Riekhoff (Anm. 11), S. 22.

<sup>21</sup> Bei einem *grand narrative*, auch Großerzählung genannt, handelt es sich um einen Bestandteil oder einen speziellen Ausschnitt einer Meistererzählung (ebd.).

<sup>22</sup> Ebd., S. 22–23.

<sup>23</sup> Walter Pohl, Ursprungserzählungen und Gegenbilder. Das archaische Frühmittelalter, in: Frank Rexroth (Hg.), Meistererzählungen vom Mittelalter. Epochenimaginationen und Verlaufsmuster in der Praxis mediävistischer Disziplinen (Historische Zeitschrift. Beihefte, N. F. 46), Oldenburg 2007, S. 23–43; Wiedemann (Anm. 14), S. 177; James M. Harland u. Matthias Friedrich, Introduction: The 'Germanic' and its Discontents, in: James M. Harland u. Matthias Friedrich (Hgg.), Interrogating the 'Germanic'. A Category and its Use in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (Ergänzungsbände zum Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 123), Berlin 2021, S. 2–18, hier S. 2.

1453 weiterexistierte) sowie andere Gruppen wie Araber, Hunnen und Awaren, die zur Umgestaltung der post-römischen Welt zwischen dem 4. und 5. Jahrhundert beitrugen.24

#### Die historischen Quellen

Joachim Werner brachte 1938 die Prunkgräber von Haßleben-Leuna mit den in der 'Historia Augusta' erwähnten *ingentia auxilia Germanorum* in Verbindung, die für den Usurpator Postumus bei der Etablierung des Gallischen Sonderreiches kämpften: 25

Als der ältere Postumus erkannte, dass Gallienus eine beträchtliche Streitmacht gegen ihn aufbot, und erkannte, dass er selbst nicht nur militärischer Hilfe, sondern auch des Beistandes eines weiteren Herrschers bedurfte, berief er den Victorinus, einen rührigen Kriegsmann, als Mitregenten und kämpfte mit ihm gegen Gallienus. Als sie durch Heranziehen gewaltiger germanischer Hilfstruppen (*ingentia auxilia Germanorum*) die Kämpfe lange hinausgezogen hatten, wurden sie besiegt.26

Die konkrete Herkunft dieser germanischen Auxiliareinheiten wird von den anonymen Verfassern / dem anonymen Verfasser in der 'Vita Victorini' nicht erwähnt. Eine Verbindung in den mitteldeutschen Raum kann anhand der römischen Quellen nicht rekonstruiert werden. Etwaige andere Autoren können zu diesen nur singulär erwähnten *auxilia Germanorum* nicht hinzugezogen werden, da die historiographische Überlieferung des 3. Jahrhunderts zu fragmentiert ist. Erschwerend kommt hinzu, dass zwischen den Ereignissen in den 260er Jahren und der Niederschrift mehr als einhundert Jahre liegen. Nach der gegenwärtigen Auffassung entstand die 'Historia Augusta' nach dem Tod des Kaisers Theodosius Ende des 4. oder zu Beginn des 5. Jahrhunderts.27 Die dreißig Tyrannen (*tyranni triginta*) aus der Zeit des Gallienus nehmen innerhalb der 'Historia Augusta' zudem eine Sonderstellung ein, da zahlreiche fiktive Elemente – darunter auch erfundene Gegenkaiser (wie etwa

<sup>24</sup> Meier u. Patzold (Anm. 12), S. 29–30.

<sup>25</sup> Joachim Werner, Die römischen Bronzegeschirrdepots des 3. Jahrhunderts und die mitteldeutsche Skelettgräbergruppe, in: Ernst Sprokhoff (Hg.), Marburger Studien, Darmstadt 1938, S. 259–267.; Joachim Werner, Bemerkungen zur mitteldeutschen Skelettgräbergruppe Haßleben-Leuna. Zur Herkunft der *ingentia auxilia Germanorum* des gallischen Sonderreiches in den Jahren 259–274 n. Chr. in: Helmut Beumann (Hg.), Festschrift für Walter Schlesinger (Mitteldeutsche Forschungen 74, 1), Köln 1973, S. 1–30.

<sup>26</sup> Script. Hist. Aug. tyr. Trig. 6,2 (Vita Victorini), in: Historia Augusta. Römische Herrschergestalten, übers. v. Ernst Hohl, Bd. 2, Zürich 1985.

<sup>27</sup> Unter anderem Holger Sonnabend, Geschichte der antiken Biographie. Von Isokrates bis zur Historia Augusta, Stuttgart, Weimar 2002, S. 216–217; Mark Thomson, Studies in the Historia Augusta (Collection Latomus 337), Brüssel 2012, S. 53.

Censorinus) – eingeflochten wurden.28 Die Viten des Postumus und Victorinus in den 'Tyranni Triginta' diskreditieren ihre Protagonisten als Usurpatoren, deren Erfolg durch germanische Hilfstruppen gestützt worden sei. Fiktive Elemente und Ausschmückungen innerhalb der 'Tyranni Triginta' hatten eine vorwiegend narrative Funktion und dienten dem Autor / den Autoren als literarische Strategie, um die Herrschaft des Gallienus als Zeit der dreißig Usurpatoren negativ zu kennzeichnen.29 Die Intention des Werkes liegt demnach nicht in der Darstellung der Truppenaufstellungen des Gallienus und ist folglich für eine Verbindung der mitteldeutschen Prunkgräber mit dem Imperium Galliarum argumentativ nicht geeignet.

### Die archäologischen Befunde

Die mitteldeutschen Prunkgräber werden aufgrund ihrer isolierten Lage, weit abseits von den Prunkgräbern Nord- und Osteuropas, in der Forschung als eigenständige Gruppe angesehen. Dabei weist das Beigabenspektrum der meisten spätkaiserzeitlichen Prunkgräber eine große Homogenität auf. Zu den Prunkgräbern werden auch die Körpergräber gezählt – Brandgräber werden nicht berücksichtigt –, die oftmals einen aufwendigen Grabbau aus Holz oder Stein aufweisen. Zu den Beigaben zählen goldene Finger-, Arm- und Halsringe sowie aufwendig produzierte Artefakte wie Silberlöffel, Holzeimer mit Metallbeschlägen, Glasgefäße, Tabletts, Kelle-Sieb-Garnituren, sogenannte Hemmoorer Eimer, römische Münzen, 'Import'- und Drehscheibenkeramik. Vereinzelt finden sich in Männergräbern Silbersporen, silberne Pfeilspitzen und Spielbretter.30

Bei der Definition, welche Gräber zur Haßleben-Leuna-Gruppe gezählt werden, stellen römische Sachgüter ein konstitutives Merkmal dar. Darüber hinaus ist es generell schwierig zu klären, welche Gräber in diese Kategorie fallen, da bis heute weder

<sup>28</sup> Klaus-Peter Johne, Zum Geschichtsbild in der Historia Augusta, in: Klio 66, 2 (1984), S. 631–640, hier S. 632–634; Sonnabend (Anm. 27), S. 220; zu Fakten und fiktiven Elementen siehe: Hartwin Brandt, *Facts and Fiction* – Die *Historia Augusta* und das 3. Jahrhundert, in: Klaus-Peter Johne, Thomas Gerhardt u. Udo Hartmann (Hgg.), Deleto paene imperio Romano. Transformationsprozesse des Römischen Reiches im 3. Jahrhundert und ihre Rezeption in der Neuzeit, Stuttgart 2006, S. 11–24.

<sup>29</sup> Matthias Haake, 'In Search of Good Emperors'. Emperors, Caesars, and Usurpers in the Mirror of Antimonarchic Patterns in the Historia Augusta – Some Considerations, in: Henning Börm (Hg.), Antimonarchic Discourse in Antiquity (Studies in Ancient Monarchies 3), Stuttgart 2015, S. 269–304, hier S. 286–289.

<sup>30</sup> Michael Gebühr, Fürstengräber. § 4 Römische Kaiserzeit, in: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, Bd. 10 (1998), S. 185–195, hier S. 191; Matthias Becker, Metallgefäße aus Siedlungsfunden Mitteldeutschlands im Vergleich mit den Fundspektren der Brand- und Körpergräber – Methodische Anmerkungen zur Fundüberlieferung, Chronologie und Befundstrukturen, in: Hans-Ulrich Voss u. Nils Müller-Scheessel (Hgg.), Archäologie zwischen Römern und Barbaren. Zur Datierung und Verbreitung römischer Metallarbeiten des 2. und 3. Jahrhunderts n. Chr. im Reich und im Barbaricum – ausgewählte Beispiele (Gefäße, Fibeln, Bestandteile militärischer Ausrüstung, Kleingerät, Münzen), Bd. 1, Bonn 2016, S. 5–24.

eine schlüssige und anerkannte Definition kaiserzeitlicher Prunkgräber existiert noch eine vergleichende Materialbearbeitung vorliegt. Dies liegt daran, dass einerseits die Abgrenzung zu weniger reich ausgestatteten Gräbern – oftmals innerhalb desselben Gräberfeldes wie z. B. Leuna – nicht eindeutig ist und andererseits Brandbestattungen von den Archäologen und Archäologinnen nicht berücksichtigt werden. Der Sonderfall des 'Fürstengrabs' von Hagenow aus dem 2. Jahrhundert veranschaulicht, dass auch Brandbestattungen exzeptionelle Beigaben aufweisen können. Die Verbrennung der Toten und ihrer Ausstattung trägt wesentlich dazu bei, dass diese Gräber 'ärmer' wirken, als sie es eigentlich waren. Der vermeintlich unterschiedliche Reichtum bei den Brand- und Körperbestattungen ist nicht zuletzt auf die Grabungstechnik sowie die Einwirkung des Scheiterhaufens auf die Beigaben zurückzuführen und dürfte das heutige Gesamtbild verzerren, da bei der Brandbestattung ähnlich aufwändige Beigaben im Prozess der Kremation zerstört wurden.31

Es ist fast ausschließlich die geographische Isolation von den anderen Prunkgräbern der späten Kaiserzeit, die die Haßleben-Leuna-Gruppe definiert. 'Typische' Beigaben wie Hemmoorer Eimer, Kelle-Sieb-Garnituren oder römische Münzen sind auch in anderen Grabkontexten an der Ostsee oder im Elbe-, Weser- oder Rheingebiet zu finden (Abb. 2).

Aladár Radnóti vertrat 1965 in einem Aufsatz erstmals die Ansicht, dass es sich um "Söldner"-Gräber handele,32 und erklärte das Fundspektrum römischer Sachgüter in den Gräbern als Soldzahlungen, die germanische Verbände von den gallischen Kaisern erhalten hatten.33 Später griff Joachim Werner diese These auf und schlussfolgerte, dass sich das Beigabenspektrum aus der "Zugehörigkeit elbgermanischer Nobiles und ihrer Gefolgschaften zu den Heeren der gallischen Usurpatoren" erklären

<sup>31</sup> Schreiber (Anm. 4), S. 70; Sebastian Brather, Germanen als Kategorie der Forschung? Römischer Blickwinkel und kulturelle Praxis, in: Gabriele Uelsberg u. Matthias Wemhoff (Hgg.), Germanen. Eine archäologische Bestandsaufnahme. Begleitband zur Ausstellung, Stuttgart 2020, S. 401–415, hier S. 406; Jan Bemmann u. Hans-Ulrich Voss, Anmerkungen zur Körpergrabsitte in den Regionen zwischen Rhein und Oder vom 1. bis zur Mitte des 5. Jahrhunderts n. Chr., in: Andrea Faber u. a. (Hgg.), Körpergräber des 1.–3. Jahrhunderts in der römischen Welt. Internationales Kolloquium Frankfurt am Main, 19.–20.11.2004 (Schriften des Archäologischen Museums Frankfurt 21), Frankfurt a. M. 2007, S. 153–183, hier S. 162.

<sup>32</sup> Aladár Radnóti, Eine ovale Bronzeplatte aus Regensburg, in: Bayrische Vorgeschichtsblätter 30 (1965), S. 188–244, hier S. 243.

<sup>33</sup> Der Söldnerbegriff, wie er von Radnóti und Werner in den Diskurs eingebracht wurde, spiegelt nur teilweise die komplexe Organisation des römischen Heeres wider. *Auxilia –* wie die in der 'Historia Augusta' erwähnten *auxilia Germanorum –* waren reguläre Einheiten der römischen Armee, deren Soldaten nach dem Ende der Dienstzeit das Bürgerrecht erhielten. Die Kommandeure solcher Auxiliareinheiten waren fast ausnahmslos römische Bürger und Legionsoffiziere. Söldner und damit angeworbene, befristet dienende und durch Vertrag gebundene Soldaten sind eher mit den *foederati* des 4. und 5. Jh. vergleichbar. An dieser Stelle zeigt sich somit wieder, dass die 'Historia Augusta' erst Ende des 4. Jh. entstanden ist und nur unter Vorbehalt für das 3. Jh. herangezogen werden kann, siehe: Timo Stickler, The Foederati, in: Paul Erdkamp (Hg.): The Blackwell Companion to the Roman Army, Oxford 2007, S. 495–514, hier S. 495–499; Kate Gilliver, The Augustan Reform and the Structure of the Imperial Army, in: Paul Erdkamp (Hg.): The Blackwell Companion to the Roman Army, Oxford 2007, S. 184–200, hier S. 193–197.

Abb. 2 | Verbreitung der sogenannten Hemmoorer Eimer (aus: Thomas Fischer [Hg.], Die Krise des 3. Jahrhunderts n.Chr. und das Gallische Sonderreich, Wiesbaden 2012, S. 349).

lasse. Seine Argumentation untermauerte er mit den beiden Mantelfibeln aus den Leuna-Gräbern 2/1917 und 5/1926 (Abb. 3), die er als Teile eines römischen Offiziersmantels charakterisierte.34

Die Bedeutung der Zwiebelknopffibel innerhalb des Reiches als Statussymbol und Hierarchieabzeichen für hohe Beamte und Würdenträger, römische Offiziere oder den Kaiser selbst ist durch eine Reihe von bildlichen Darstellungen – vorwiegend auf Grabsteinen, Mosaiken und Diptychen – bekannt. Die Höhe des Ranges wurde durch die Metallart gekennzeichnet.35 Die Verteilung von Zwiebelknopffibeln außerhalb des Reiches wird hingegen anders erklärt.36 Steuer folgt der Argumentation Werners, dass die Mantelfibeln aus den Gräbern von Leuna zu römischen Offiziersausrüstungen gehörten, die dem Centurionenrang zugeordnet werden können.37 Eine entsprechende Verbindung zwischen silbernen Zwiebelknopffibeln und konkreten Offiziersrängen lässt sich jedoch – auch wenn dies in der Vergangenheit oft versucht worden ist – weder historisch noch archäologisch belegen. Nicht nur als Föderatenauszeichnungen könnten Zwiebelknopffibeln Verbreitung gefunden haben,38 sondern auch, indem sie über den Handel, als Raubgut oder als Geschenkgaben in Umlauf kamen ,39 ohne dass sie archäologisch differenziert werden könnten.40


<sup>34</sup> Joachim Werner, Zu den römischen Mantelfibeln zweier Kriegergräber von Leuna, in: Jahresschrift für mitteldeutsche Vorgeschichte 72 (1989), S. 121–134, hier S. 121. Die Silberfibel aus Grab 2/1917 gehört dem Typus der Scharnierfibeln an, einem Vorläufer der Zwiebelknopffibel Typ 1. Sie besitzt auf dem Bügel eine Verzierung von kleinen Dreiecken und niellierte, paragraphenartige Muster auf den Seiten. Die vergoldete Bronzefibel aus Grab 5/1926 ist einer frühen Form des Typs 2 zuzuordnen, siehe Heiko Steuer, Zwiebelknopffibel, in: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, Bd. 34 (2007), S. 605–623, hier S. 618.

<sup>35</sup> Barbara Theune-Grosskopf, Zwiebelknopffibeln und ihre Träger – Schmuck und Rangabzeichen, in: Reinhold Würth u. Dieter Plack (Hgg.), Die Schraube zwischen Macht und Pracht. Das Gewinde in der Antike, Sigmaringen 1995, S. 77–112, hier S. 83–95; Steuer (Anm. 34), S. 316–618.

<sup>36</sup> Außerhalb des römischen Reichsgebietes sind bisher 125 Exemplare aus 83 Fundorten bekannt (Schwerpunkt mittlere und untere Donau). Dieter Quast sah in den Verbreitungsgebieten Regionen römischen Einflusses oder Rekrutierungsgebiete, siehe: Theune-Grosskopf (Anm. 35), S. 95–96; Dieter Quast, Zwiebelknopffibeln im Barbaricum nördlich der mittleren und unteren Donau, in: Tivadar Vida (Hg.), Romania Gothica II. The Frontier World. Romans, Barbarians and Military Culture, Budapest 2015, S. 305–328, hier S. 306, 308, 313.

<sup>37</sup> Steuer (Anm. 34), S. 126.

<sup>38</sup> Horst-Wolfgang Böhme, Germanische Grabfunde des 4. bis 5. Jahrtausends zwischen unterer Elbe und Loire. Studien zur Chronologie und Bevölkerungsgeschichte (Münchner Beiträge zur Vor- und Frühgeschichte 19), München 1974, S. 202–203; Mathias Seidl, Das Südharzvorland von der vorrömischen Eisenzeit bis zur Völkerwanderungszeit. Zur Besiedlungsgeschichte einer Altsiedellandschaft im nördlichen Thüringen (Weimarer Monographien zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte 41), Weimar 2006, S. 40.

Abb. 3 | Oben: Silberfibel aus Leuna, Grab 2/1917. Unten: Vergoldete Bronzefibel aus Leuna, Grab 5/1926 (aus: Joachim Werner, Zu den römischen Mantelfibeln zweier Kriegergräber von Leuna, in: Jahresschrift für mitteldeutsche Vorgeschichte 72 [1989], S. 125).

Dass es nicht unproblematisch ist, aufgrund der archäologischen Befunde und historischer Quellen zu schlussfolgern, dass es sich bei der Haßleben-Leuna-Gruppe um die Gräber von Auxiliartruppen handele, räumte Werner selbst ein: "Die von mir 1973 zur Diskussion gestellte These, daß die Goldmünzen des gallischen Sonderreichs in mitteldeutschen Adelsgräbern auf ein zeitweiliges 'Söldnertum' von in ihre Heimat zurückgekehrten und mit diesen Münzen bestatteten Männern schließen lassen, beruht auf historischer, nicht auf archäologischer Kombination." Weiters seien der archäologische Befund und die historischen Berichte nicht deckungsgleich, da "die *ingentia auxilia Germanorum* in den Heeren der gallischen Usurpatoren […] berittene Krieger [waren], die, mit eigener Bewaffnung ausgerüstet, von den Kaisern angeworben und besoldet wurden. Von dieser Bewaffnung ist in den Adelsgräbern der Gruppe Haßleben-Leuna nichts vorhanden." Dieser Umstand ist laut Werner auf den Bestattungsritus zurückzuführen, der eine Waffenbeigabe ausschloss. Die silbernen Sporen und Pfeile werden von ihm zudem als reine Statussymbole angesprochen, "das "kriegerische Element" sei in der Gruppe Haßleben-Leuna also archäologisch nicht nachzuweisen."41 Die in der 'Vita Victorini' erwähnten Hilfstruppen werden in diesen Passagen nicht als Reitertruppen beschrieben.42 Zudem zeichnen sich die Gräber der Haßleben-Leuna-Gruppe gerade durch ein konsequentes Fehlen von Offensivwaffen aus. Lediglich Defensivwaffen, wie der Schild aus dem Prunkgrab von Gommern, bilden eine Ausnahme. Das Fehlen von Waffen – dem "kriegerischen Element" schlechthin – widerspricht einer Befundansprache als Kriegergrab aus archäologischer Perspektive, wie es Werner selbst zugibt. Die Existenz von politischen Beziehungen zwischen dem *Imperium Galliarum* und den mitteldeutschen Eliten der Haßleben-Leuna-Gruppe sah er durch den Fund von Münzbeigaben bestätigt. Er wertete sie als "den Sold des Kaisers", den die Generation, die in den Jahren 260–273 in den *auxilia Germanorum* diente, "ins Grab mitnahm".43

Michael Erdrich konnte allerdings aufzeigen, dass das Verhältnis zwischen gallischen und zentralkaiserlichen *Aurei* in Mitteldeutschland im Fundspektrum beinahe ausgeglichen ist. Eine ausschließliche Verbindung nach Westen ist aus numismatischer Perspektive nicht ersichtlich.44 Jan Bemmann zeigte in einer umfassenden Studie zu Mittel- und Norddeutschland, dass sich bei der Verbreitung der *Aurei* in der zweiten Hälfte des 3. Jahrhunderts zwei Zonen ergeben (Abb. 4). Eine nördlich des Harzes und der Mittelgebirge mit *Aurei* der gallischen Kaiser und eine weitere, südlich davon, mit *Aurei* und Medaillons der Zentralkaiser aus dem italischen Raum. Das Thüringer Becken bildet eine Überlappungszone. Aus dem mitteldeutschen Gebiet stammen sieben Münzen (aus sieben Fundorten) aus den zentralkaiserlichen Prägungsreihen

<sup>41</sup> Werner (Anm. 34), S. 122.

<sup>42</sup> Script. Hist. Aug. tyr. Trig. 6,1–2 (Vita Victorini) (Anm. 26).

<sup>43</sup> Werner, Bemerkungen (Anm. 25), S. 27.

<sup>44</sup> Michael Erdrich, Rom und die Barbaren. Das Verhältnis zwischen dem Imperium Romanum und den germanischen Stämmen vor seiner Nordwestgrenze von der späten römischen Republik bis zum Gallischen Sonderreich (Römisch-Germanische Forschungen 58), Mainz 2001, S. 133–134.

Abb. 4 | Verbreitungskarte der *Aurei* zur Zeit des Gallischen Sonderreiches: ★ Prägungen gallischer Kaiser, ■ Prägungen der Zentralkaiser (aus: Jan Bemmann, Mitteldeutschland und das Gallische Sonderreich 260–274. Eine liebgewonnene These auf dem Prüfstand, in: Kölner Jahrbuch 47 [2014], S. 182).

der Kaiser Gallienus bis Aurelian. Zehn weitere Münzen (aus fünf Fundorten) wurden von gallischen Kaisern geprägt. Für die Goldmünzen aus den mitteldeutschen Grabfunden kann sogar ein Gleichgewicht ermittelt werden. Aufgrund der Verbreitung der Goldmünzen kann eine 'intensivere' Beziehung zwischen Norddeutschland und dem Gallischen Sonderreich angenommen werden. Die Verbreitung der Münzhorte im 3. Jahrhundert (Abb. 5) zeigt ein ähnliches Bild. Das Gebiet zwischen Rhein, Lippe, Werra, Thüringer Wald und Donau ist frei von Funden. Depots wurden östlich der Leine und südlich der Havel gefunden. Der Zustrom von Münzen aus dem Gallischen Sonderreich ist in den Niederlanden und Nordwestdeutschland sichtbar. Die Analysen Bemmanns zu den gallischen Sonderreichsprägungen korrigieren das bisherige Bild. Sie verdeutlichen, dass es einen intensiven Kontakt des Tieflandes zwischen Rhein und Elbe mit den weströmischen Provinzen gab und nicht, wie bislang angenommen, mit dem mitteldeutschen Raum. Die These einer ausschließlichen Verbindung zwischen den Haßleben-Leuna-Gräbern und dem Gallischen Sonderreich lässt sich demnach nicht aufrechterhalten. Enge Kontakte gab es auch zwischen den mitteldeutschen Eliten und der Zentralregierung in Italien.45

<sup>45</sup> Jan Bemmann, Mitteldeutschland und das Gallische Sonderreich 260–274. Eine liebgewonnene These auf dem Prüfstand, in: Kölner Jahrbuch 47 (2014), S. 179–213, hier S. 181–184, 205; Jan Bemmann, Romanisierte Barbaren oder erfolgreiche Plünderer? Anmerkungen zur Intensität, Form und Dauer des provinzialrömischen Einflusses auf Mitteldeutschland während der jüngeren Römischen Kaiserzeit und der Völkerwanderungszeit, in: Aleksander Bursche u. Renaty Ciołek (Hgg.), Antyk i Barbarzyńcy. Księga dedykowana Profesorowi Jerzemu Kolendo w siedemdziesiątą rocznicę urodzin, Warszawa 2003, S. 53–108.

Abb. 5 | Verbreitungskarte von Münzdepots aus der Zeit des Gallischen Sonderreiches: ★ Prägungen gallischer Kaiser, ■ Prägungen der Zentralkaiser (aus: Jan Bemmann, Mitteldeutschland und das Gallische Sonderreich 260–274. Eine liebgewonnene These auf dem Prüfstand, in: Kölner Jahrbuch 47 [2014], S. 184).

Andreas Rau entwickelte auf Basis der Sporentypen (Abb. 6) in den Männergräbern, der Fibeln in den Frauengräbern und den Münzbeigaben eine neue Chronologie für die spätkaiserzeitlichen Prunkgräber in Mittel- und Norddeutschland. Dabei unterteilte er die Grabfunde in eine ältere 46 und eine jüngere Phase 47 (Tab. 1). Die Laufzeiten der älteren Gruppe setzte Rau von 245/255 bis 275/285 n. Chr. an, die der jüngeren von 270/280 bis 300/320 n. Chr. Der Übergang zwischen den beiden Gruppen sei um 270 n. Chr. erfolgt, wobei aufgrund der relativchronologischen Unterscheidung anhand der Grabbeigaben Überschneidungen beider Gruppen möglich seien.48 Die

<sup>46</sup> Die ältere Gruppe definiert er aufgrund der Sporen von Typ Leuna mit der Dornvariante 3, aufgrund der Glasschalen der Typen E 215–219,der Hemmoorer Eimer, der Sigillaten aus Rheinzabern, der großen Bronzebecken der Formen E 79, 81–83 sowie der Bronzetabletts mit Volutengriffen der Form E 121. Gräber der älteren Gruppe enthalten Münzen, die zwischen 223–267 n. Chr. geprägt wurden. Hierzu zählen: Emersleben 1 und 2, Flurstedt, Gommern, Grabow, Leubingen, Leuna 1834, Leuna 1/1926, Nordhausen und Voigtstedt 1, siehe: Andreas Rau, Nydam Mose. Die personengebundenen Gegenstände. Grabungen 1989–1999, Bd. 1: Text, Aarhus 2010, S. 113–115; Bemmann, Barbaren (Anm. 45), S. 188–191.

<sup>47</sup> Die jüngere Gruppe definiert Rau durch Sporen vom Typ Leuna mit der Dornvariante 2, durch Glasbecher der Formen E 202, 205/206, 222–223, die geringe Zahl großer Becken der Typen E 89 und 68 und Teller der Typen E 117 und 118. In der jüngeren Gruppe fehlen Sigillaten und Hemmoorer Eimer. Die Münzen der jüngeren Gruppen besitzen eine Prägezeit zwischen 268–274 n. Chr. Hierzu zählen: Haßleben 4, Häven 1/1967 und 1968, Leuna 2/1917 und 3/1926 sowie Neudorf-Bornstein; siehe Rau (Anm. 46), S. 113–115; Bemmann, Mitteldeutschland (Anm. 45), S. 188–191.

<sup>48</sup> Rau (Anm. 46), S. 113–115; Bemmann, Mitteldeutschland (Anm. 45) S. 188–191.

a

b

Abb. 6a und b | Nietsporen Typ Leuna, Variante B: Spornform 3 (oben) und 2 (unten) (aus: Hans-Ulrich Voss, Peter Hammer u. Joachim Lutz, Römische und germanische Bunt- und Edelmetallfunde im Vergleich, in: Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen-Kommission 79 [1998], Taf. 7, Abb. D, Taf. 8, Abb. 1d).




Tab. 1 | *Fortsetzung* differenzierte Betrachtung der spätkaiserzeitlichen Prunkgräberhorizonte führt dazu, dass die frühesten Prunkgräber wie Gommern oder Emersleben 1 noch in die Zeit vor dem Gallischen Sonderreich (260–274 n. Chr.) zu datieren sind. Aufgrund der Frühdatierung einiger Prunkgräber in die erste Hälfte des 3. Jahrhunderts wird deren Entstehung im Kontext des sogenannten Harzhornereignis um das Jahr 235/236 n. Chr. angesetzt.49

Die einheitliche Kombination in den Grabinventaren in Mittel- und Norddeutschland ist ein Indiz für einen intensiven Austausch der römischen Prestigeobjekte zwischen den Eliten im mitteldeutschen Raum.50 Das hohe Vorkommen römischer Prestigegüter in Mitteldeutschland kann jedoch nicht nur auf den Militärdienst im Römischen Reich zurückgeführt werden. Quast erklärt das Wegbrechen der römischen Fundobjekte ab dem 4. Jahrhundert und das damit verbundene Ende der Prunkgräber mit Versorgungsschwierigkeiten und veränderten Zufuhrwegen.51 Ihr Verschwinden in Mitteldeutschland wird aber auch damit erklärt, dass sich ab dieser Zeit eine Oberschicht etabliert hatte, die ihren sozialen Status nicht mehr durch prunkvolle Bestattungen zur Schau stellen musste.52 Quast vermutet hingegen eine Elitenmigration (,brain drain') an die Reichsgrenzen, wo allerdings keine entsprechenden Prunkgräber vorzufinden sind. Ralph Mathisen hingegen geht von einem dauerhaften Verbleib des nicht-römischen Militärs innerhalb des römischen Reichsgebiets aus.53

Die neueste Forschung zeichnet sich insgesamt durch eine differenzierte Betrachtung und weniger monokausale Erklärung der römisch-mitteldeutschen Kontakte im 3. Jahrhundert aus. Die Verteilung römischer Fremdobjekte in Mitteleuropa lässt sich einerseits mit der Mobilität einzelner Personen erklären. Alltagsobjekte wie Rasiermesser, Fibeln, Gürtelbeschläge oder Essgeschirr aus den Provinzen sind hierfür ein Hinweis. Brettspiele, Münzbeigaben in vielen Gräbern oder Reibschalen sind zudem


<sup>49</sup> Auf die entsprechende Diskussion kann an dieser Stelle nicht eingegangen werden. Es sei daher lediglich auf die Artikel von Hans-Jörg Nüsse, Babette Ludowici u. Reinhard Wolters in Heike Pöppelmann, Korana Deppmeyer u. Wolf-Dieter Steinmetz (Hgg.), Roms vergessener Feldzug? Die Schlacht am Harzhorn. Katalog zur Niedersächsischen Landesausstellung (Veröffentlichungen des Braunschweigischen Landesmuseums 115), Stuttgart 2013 verwiesen.

<sup>52</sup> Jörg Kleemann u. Sarah Plietzsch, Archäologie des Abwesenden. Untersuchungen zu römischen Münzen tetrarchischer bis valentinianisch-theodosianischer Zeit aus Nordostdeutschland nebst einigen Anmerkungen zu Waffengräbern des 4. Jahrhunderts im Saale-Gebiet, in: Michael Meyer (Hg.), "…trans Albim fluvium". Forschungen zur vorrömischen, kaiserzeitlichen und mittelalterlichen Archäologie. Festschrift für Achim Leube zum 65. Geburtstag, Berlin 2001, S. 307–320, hier S. 308–309.

<sup>53</sup> Quast (Anm. 1), S. 126; Ralph Mathisen, *Peregrini, Barbari*, and *Cives Romani*. Concepts of Citizenship and the Legal Identity of Barbarians in the Later Roman Empire, in: The American Historical Review 111 (2006), S. 1011–1040, hier S. 1022. Für entsprechende epigraphische Hinweise zu Soldaten nicht-römischer Herkunft innerhalb des Reichsgebiets siehe u. a. Quast (Anm. 1), S. 124–125.

Anzeichen für einen direkten Wissenstransfer. Konsens in der Forschung bleibt weiterhin auch die These, dass in den Prunkgräbern im außerrömischen Kontext entlang der Reichperipherie Angehörige von Eliten bestattet wurden, die in interne und externe Konflikte Roms verwickelt waren. *Dona militaria* in den peripheren Fundkontexten wie *Aurei*, Silbergeschirr oder Goldringe werden direkt den Anführern dieser Militärgruppen zugeordnet.54

Die scheinbar eindeutige Verbindung zwischen den Bestatteten der Haßleben-Leuna-Gruppe und dem Gallischen Sonderreich ist ein Narrativ der nachkriegszeitlichen archäologischen Forschung im deutschsprachigen Raum. Es konnte aufgezeigt werden, wie dieses Narrativ entstand und auf welchen Grundlagen es basiert. Die Interpretation der Prunkgräber im mitteldeutschen Raum als Bestattungen von Föderaten des Imperium Galliarum ist jedoch ein Fehlschluss. Bereits die historischen Quellen weisen aus historiographischer Sicht einige Probleme auf. Der zeitliche Abstand zwischen der Usurpation des Postumus und der Niederschrift der 'Historia Augusta' sowie die Intention der Autoren / des Autors – mit den teilweise fiktiven Elementen der 'Tyranni triginta' – machen dieses Werk zu einer höchst kritisch zu hinterfragenden Quelle in Bezug auf die Ereignisse des 3. Jahrhunderts innerhalb des Reiches.55 Die Herkunft der nur einmalig erwähnten *auxilia Germanorum* geht aus der 'Vita Victorini' nicht hervor und kann – wie bereits erwähnt – somit argumentativ nicht für eine Interpretation der Prunkgräber im heutigen Thüringen und Sachsen-Anhalt herangezogen werden.

Auch das archäologische Fundmaterial ist als Indiz für einen ausschließlich direkten Kontakt zum Gallischen Sonderreich nicht eindeutig. Bemmann konnte durch die Münzbeigaben in den Gräbern und den Horten darstellen, dass der norddeutsche und niederländische Raum zwar in einem intensiveren Austausch mit Gallien stand, die Regionen der Mittelgebirge jedoch ein ausgeglichenes Verhältnis von gallischen und zentralkaiserlichen Münzen aufweisen. Eine Entstehung der Haßleben-Leuna-Gruppe kann – wie es der numismatische Befund zeigt – weder auf einen ausschließlichen Kontakt mit den gallischen noch den Zentralkaisern zurückgeführt werden. Es sollte auch nicht außer Acht gelassen werden, dass einzelne Grabbefunde aufgrund von Geschlecht und Alter der Toten nicht direkt mit einem Militärdienst im Römischen Heer in Verbindung gebracht werden können. Drei Prunkgräber der Gruppe konnten anthropologisch als Frauengräber bestimmt werden, darunter das Grab in Großörner

<sup>54</sup> Zuletzt u. a. bei Hans-Ulrich Voss u. David Wigg-Wolf, Romans and Roman Finds in the Central European Barbaricum: A New View on Romano-Germanic Relations?, in: Sergio González Sánchez u. Alexandra Guglielmi (Hgg.), Romans and barbarians beyond the frontiers. Archaeology, ideology and identities in the North, Oxford 2017, S. 105–124; Babette Ludowici, Das vergessene Jahrhundert. Was geschah in Niedersachsen zwischen 200 und 300 n. Chr.?, in: Babette Ludowici (Hg.), Saxones. Eine neue Geschichte der alten Sachsen. Ausstellungskatalog zur Niedersächsischen Landesausstellung 2019 (Neue Studien zu Sachsenforschung 7), Darmstadt 2019, S. 66–75; Matthias Becker, Im Zentrum des Geschehens? Mitteldeutschland im 3. Jahrhundert, in: Babette Ludowici (diese Anm.), Darmstadt 2019, S. 91–100.

<sup>55</sup> Unter anderem Sonnabend (Anm. 27), S. 216–217.

sowie die Gräber von Haßleben 1 und 8. Die Frauengräber von Haßleben (matur) und Bielefeld-Sieker (juvenil), zeigen außerdem, dass nicht nur 'Kriegergräber' eine Münzbeigabe aufweisen. Der juvenile Tote aus Leuna Grab 2/1917 wiederum konnte aufgrund seines jungen Alters nicht als Söldner gedient und damit auch die römische Militärfibel nicht als Soldat bzw. Offizier erworben haben. Die Mantelfibel gelangte möglicherweise erst im Zuge der Bestattungsrituale an den Verstorbenen.56

Die Verbreitung römischer Sachgüter wie Keramik oder Silber- und Goldobjekte der Rheinregion bezeugen zusätzlich, dass ein intensiver Austausch bereits vor 260 n. Chr. vorhanden war und nicht nur durch angeworbene Kriegerverbände von außerhalb des Reiches zu erklären ist.57 Unabhängig von der Chronologie Andreas Raus sprechen auch der Fund von Münzen des Severus Alexander in den Gräbern von Gommern und Emersleben 1 dafür, bei beiden Prunkgräbern von einem früheren *terminus post quem* ab den 230er Jahren auszugehen (Tab. 2).58

Waffen, die ein kriegerisches Element archäologisch nachweisen würden, gehören – mit Ausnahme großer Prunkschilde – nicht zu den Grabbeigaben der Verstorbenen. Eine ausschließliche Interpretation der Bestatteten als Krieger erweist sich problematisch. Das "kriegerische Element", um Werner zu zitieren, "ist in der Gruppe Haßleben-Leuna also archäologisch nicht nachzuweisen".59

Die Wirkmächtigkeit des Narrativs zeigt sich allerdings erst in seiner Rezeption durch Historiker und Historikerinnen. Sie berufen sich auf die "Eindeutigkeit" des Fundmaterials, um die Validität der Beschreibung in der 'Historia Augusta' zu belegen, und komplettieren so den Zirkelschluss. Denn Archäologen und Archäologinnen berufen sich konsequenterweise auf die Sicherheit der Historiker und Historikerinnen, wenn sie versuchen, ihre Grabbefunde mit singulären Erwähnungen in spätantiker Historiographie mit Föderaten in Verbindung zu bringen.60 Dieser Zirkelschluss des Narrativs der römischen Söldner, Krieger oder Auxiliartruppen in den Haßleben-Leuna-Gräbern ist also nur ein besonderes Beispiel für die Abhängigkeit – sowohl der Archäologie als auch der Geschichtswissenschaft – von den Narrativen ihrer jeweiligen Nachbardisziplin.

<sup>56</sup> Bemmann, Mitteldeutschland (Anm. 45), S. 182–183.

<sup>57</sup> Ebd., S. 205.

<sup>58</sup> Dieter Quast, Wanderer zwischen den Welten. Die germanischen Prunkgräber von Stráže und Zakrzów (Forschungen am Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseum 6), Mainz 2009, S. 11; Bemmann, Mitteldeutschland (Anm. 45), S. 205. Aufgrund des Grabungsstandes war Werner (Anm. 25) 1973 das Grab von Gommern noch nicht bekannt.

<sup>59</sup> Werner (Anm. 34), S. 122.

<sup>60</sup> Unter anderem John F. Drinkwater, The Alamanni and Rome 213–496 (Caracalla to Clovis), New York 2007, S. 73, 75, 81; Andreas Luther, Das gallische Sonderreich, in: Klaus-Peter Johne (Hg.), Die Zeit der Soldatenkaiser. Krise und Transformation des Römischen Reiches im 3. Jahrhundert n. Chr. (235–284), Berlin 2008, S. 325–342, hier S. 332; Michael Schmauder, Germanen. Eine archäologische Bestandsaufnahme, in: Gabriele Uelsberg u. Matthias Wemhoff (Hgg.), Germanen. Eine archäologische Bestandsaufnahme. Begleitband zur Ausstellung, Stuttgart 2020, S. 19–39, hier S. 30.

Tab. 2 | Münzdatierte Gräber des 3. Jahrhunderts n.Chr. Die schwarzen Balken zeigen die Regierungsjahre der Kaiser, die grauen die Prägejahre der Münzen (aus: Dieter Quast, Wanderer zwischen den Welten. Die germanischen Prunkgräber von Stráže und Zakrzów [Forschungen am Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseum 6], Mainz 2009, S. 11).


Zukünftig ist für differenziertere Interpretationen zu plädieren, die die Verbreitung römischer Prestigegüter nicht ausschließlich auf ein Kriegertum zurückführt. Denn objektiv betrachtet zeigt der archäologische Befund 'nur' regionale Eliten im mitteldeutschen Raum mit weitreichenden Kontakten in das Römische Reich. Sebastian Brather argumentierte zuletzt schlüssig, dass zukünftig Studien zu kulturellen Veränderungen sich um komplexere Erklärungsmöglichkeiten bemühen sollten, die Mobilität und Migration und Prozesse wie Transformation, Niedergang, Akkulturation und Assimilation oder Transfer und Kommunikation miteinschließen – Kategorien wie materielle Kultur oder Identität aber als getrennte Kategorien begreifen. Ergänzend dazu müssen diese Beobachtungen auf lokaler, regionaler oder supraregionaler Ebene untersucht werden, um Entwicklungen präziser nachverfolgen zu können.61 Die Adaption und Übernahme römischer Gefäßformen in die lokale Keramikproduktion, wie sie im Töpferbetrieb von Haarhausen und den Grabbeigaben zu finden sind, wäre ein solches Untersuchungsfeld. Die zukünftige Forschung muss demnach lokale und regionale Adaptionsmechanismen in Betracht ziehen, die Objekte aus einem

<sup>61</sup> Sebastian Brather, Germanic or Slavic? Reconstructing the Transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages in East Central Europe, in: James M. Harland u. Matthias Friedrich (Hgg.), Interrogating the 'Germanic'. A Category and its Use in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (Ergänzungsbände zum Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 123), Berlin 2021, S. 211–224, hier S. 222.

ursprünglich "römischen" oder militärischen Kontext mit einer neuen Bedeutung versahen, die spezifische lokale oder regionale Ausdruckformen widerspiegelten.

Einen entsprechenden Ansatz verfolgt beispielsweise Christoph Schmidt für den Fundplatz Frienstedt, wo eine bewusste Anbindung der neuen Elite der Haßleben-Leuna-Gruppe an ältere bronzezeitliche Grabhügel im Sinne einer *invented tradition* zu erkennen ist. Zukunftsweisend für die Forschung sind auch die Erkenntnisse, die aus der Genanalyse der Bestatteten in Frienstedt gewonnen werden konnten. Diese Gruppe bildete nachweislich keinen engen Familienverband. Nur zwei mal zwei der zwölf bestatteten Personen waren miteinander verwandt. Darunter befinden sich zwei Halbschwestern und zwei entfernt miteinander verwandte Männer, deren Strontiumisotopenwerte darauf hindeuten, dass diese in verschiedenen Regionen Mitteleuropas oder Südskandinaviens aufgewachsen waren. Ein weiteres, allerdings schlechter erhaltenes Grab eines ca. 40-jährigen Mannes zeugt ebenfalls von der erhöhten Mobilität. Humangentische Analysen lassen vermuten, dass dieser entweder direkt oder zumindest über die mütterliche Linie aus dem Nahen Osten und damit aus dem Römischen Reich stammte. Es zeigt sich damit deutlich die individuelle Mobilität einer hier bestatteten, heterogenen und kaum miteinander verwandten Elite, mit deutlichen Verbindungen zwischen dem römischen Reichsgebiet und dem mitteleuropäischen und südskandinavischen Raum.62

Das Fundspektrum römischer Sachgüter zeugt – als gesamteuropäisches Phänomen der römischen Kaiserzeit – von strukturellen Verbindungen zwischen dem römisch-imperialen Raum und den Eliten seiner Peripherie sowie von einem überregionalen Austausch dieser Gruppen untereinander, der neue Forschungsmöglichkeiten bietet.63 Das kriegerische Element in den Prunkgräbern der Haßleben-Leuna-Gruppe ist dabei nur eine Interpretation von mehreren, die zwar plausibel ist, deren Ursprung jedoch auf die Thesen Radnótis und Werners zurückgeführt werden kann und deren Komplexität und Problematik in diesem Aufsatz nochmals für den gegenwärtigen Diskurs veranschaulicht werden sollte.

<sup>62</sup> Christoph Schmidt, Totengedenken und Identität. Beobachtungen am jüngerkaiserzeitlichen Fundplatz Frienstedt in Thüringen, in: Melanie Augstein u. Matthias Hardt (Hgg.), Sächsische Leute und Länder. Benennung und Lokalisierung von Gruppenidentitäten im ersten Jahrtausend (Neue Studien zur Sachsenforschung 10), Wendeburg 2019, S. 237–248, hier S. 243–246; Christoph Schmidt, Vorbild Feind? Der mitteldeutsche Fundplatz Frienstedt – Germanische Elite unter römischem Einfluss, Kiel 2014, S. 65, 79, 163–164.

<sup>63</sup> Unter anderem Hans-Ulrich Voß, Die Beziehungsgeflechte germanischer Eliten vor und nach den Markomannenkriegen, in: Slovenska archeológia: casopis Archeologického Ustavu Slovenskej Akadémie Vied v Nitre 65 (2017), S. 321–342, hier S. 321–338; Ulla Lund Hansen, Römischer Import im Norden. Warenaustausch zwischen dem Römischen Reich und dem freien Germanien während der Kaiserzeit unter besonderer Berücksichtigung Nordeuropas (Nordiske Fortidsminder 10), Kopenhagen 1987, S. 193, 220–222; Bemmann, Mitteldeutschland (Anm. 45), S. 203.

Rutger Kramer and Ekaterina Novokhatko

# Dead Authors and Living Saints Community, Sanctity, and the Reader Experience in Medieval Hagiographical Narratives

for Jan Westerbos – teller of stories, seeker of God

Abstract In this paper, the 'Gesta Sanctorum Rotonensium', a ninth-century foundation legend of the Breton monastery of Redon, and the 'Vita Geraldi', a hagiography of St Gerald of Aurillac, serve as a point of departure for a discussion of how the experience of reading shaped early medieval communities. By realigning communal forms of hagiographic texts as media, the authors identify and analyse the parts of those texts where the meta-narrative is carefully inserted. By calling into question the ideas of both authorship and audience in the hagiographical context, this paper shows how the use of topoi in those texts created a reading experience that was rooted in the local small worlds of the monastic communities and also connected them to the universal world of Christendom. Finally, the authors show that a narratological analysis of community-creation in early medieval hagiographic texts can also help us better understand how those communities experienced their relationship with God.

Contact

#### Dr. Rutger Kramer,

Utrecht University, Department of History and Art History, Drift 6, 3512BS Utrecht, R.D.Kramer@uu.nl https://orcid.org/0000-0002- 9165-4880

Dr. Ekaterina Novokhatko, TU Dresden, Forschungsstelle für vergleichende Ordensgeschichte (FOVOG), Helmholtzstraße 10, 01069 Dresden, ekaterina.novokhatko@mailbox. tu-dresden.de https://orcid.org/0000-0002- 3808-0646

Zusammenfassung Im vorliegenden Aufsatz dienen die ,Gesta Sanctorum Rotonensium', eine Gründungslegende des bretonischen Klosters Redon aus dem 9. Jahrhundert, und die ,Vita Geraldi', eine Hagiographie des Heiligen Gerald von Aurillac, als Ausgangspunkt für eine Diskussion darüber, wie die Erfahrung eines Textes durch Lesen oder Zuhören frühmittelalterliche Gemeinschaften prägte. Die Autoren identifizieren die für die mönchische Gemeinschaft gedachten Stilmittel der hagiographischen Texte und verbinden ihre Analyse mit denjenigen Textstellen, die die Meta-Erzählung vorantreiben. Auf diese Weise stellen sie Vorstellungen von Autorschaft und Publikum in der

Rutger Kramer and Ekaterina Novokhatko: Dead Authors and Living Saints: Community, Sanctity, and the Reader Experience in Medieval Hagiographical Narratives. In: Fafinski, Mateusz and Riemenschneider, Jakob (Eds.): The Past Through Narratology, 205–226. Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2022 (Das Mittelalter. Perspektiven mediävistischer Forschung /Beihefte, Band 18). DOI: https://doi.org/10.17885/heiup.921.c13624 Hagiographie in Frage. Darüber hinaus zeigt der Aufsatz, wie die Verwendung von Topoi im hagiographischen Kontext eine Leseerfahrung schuf, die in den lokalen Welten der klösterlichen Gemeinschaften verwurzelt war, diese aber auch mit der universellen Welt der Christenheit verband. Schließlich behaupten die Autoren, dass eine narratologische Analyse der Gemeinschaftsbildung in frühmittelalterlichen hagiographischen Texten uns auch helfen kann, die Art und Weise besser zu verstehen, in der diese Gemeinschaften ihre Beziehung zu Gott erlebten.

#### Introduction

*From the beginning God chose not eloquent philosophers, or fluent rhetoricians, but untaught fishermen to save the world by their teaching, and instructed them, saying, 'Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creatures'. These words were said not to Virgil, or to Cicero, or to the wisest Homer, but to St Peter the Fisherman. This, dear brothers, I have said for this reason, that none of you should despise my stupidity [insipientia], particularly as I knew these holy men well, who brought me up from my boyhood and taught me in the knowledge [scientia] of God. And to strengthen your faith and love in the Lord Jesus Christ, I must not hide what I saw and heard from them.*

With these words, the anonymous author of the 'Gesta Sanctorum Rotonensium' (GSR) prefaces the second book of his work, a late ninth-century foundation legend of the monastery of Redon in present-day Bretagne.1 This work sets up the story of the monastery to ensure that Redon would become and remain more than a monastic institution: it was written to turn every subsequent generation of monks into a veritable community, more than just a gathering of cloistered individuals, but a group moved by their affection towards one another to work towards the same goal, eager to emulate and mirror the deeds of the "founding fathers" of the monastery. 2

<sup>1</sup> Gesta Sanctorum Rotonensium, ed. and trans. Caroline Brett, Woodbridge 1989, pp. 106–219, at pp. 144–145.

<sup>2</sup> Christina Lutter, Social Groups, Personal Relations, and the Making of Communities in Medieval *vita monastica*, in: Jörg Rogge (ed.), Making Sense as Cultural Practice. Historical Perspectives (Mainzer historische Kulturwissenschaften 17), Bielefeld 2013, pp. 45–61. It is useful in this regard to consider the membership of a community as a kind of "affirmative freedom" as explained by Roberto Esposito; see Greg Bird and Jonathan Short, Community, Immunity, and the Proper. An Introduction to the Political Theory of Roberto Esposito, in: Angelaki 18 (2013), pp. 1–12.

It is difficult to say anything with certainty about the intentions behind the GSR, as the beginning and the end are missing. The only clue about authorship is given by the hints dropped throughout the narrative in the first person singular; the only clue about its importance is that the oldest manuscript shows that the stories had remained part of the monastic community after the monks had been driven into exile under the pressure of Viking attacks, and were recopied after the monastery was 're-founded' in the late tenth century.3 Around that time, the GSR was also subject to a *réécriture*, resulting in the early eleventh-century 'Vita Conwoionis'. This *vita* presents a re-interpretation of the role of the community within the Breton political landscape in the post-Viking era. It follows a different narrative structure and appears to have a different audience, so it will, unfortunately, be left out of the equation for this article.4

From the intra- and contextual clues in the GSR, we can infer that this author intended the learning process to start not from the saints themselves, nor from himself as an author, but from the text that would be copied and reused through the ages without his agency. The use of a classic *humilitas* topos addresses the audience – and allows the author to forge a direct connection between the readers / listeners and the saints described.5 The author presents himself as *insipiens* but also as an active conduit between the "holy men" who trained him and the people hoping to be educated by reading or listening to these words.6 More importantly, the author pushes the audience to reflect on what exactly constitutes that lack of wisdom.7 The explicit

<sup>3</sup> On the composition and transmission of the GSR, see Caroline Brett, The Deeds of the Saints of Redon, pp. 20–62 and Caroline Brett, Redon, abbaye carolingienne, in: Daniel Pichot and Georges Provost (eds.), Histoire de Redon. De l'abbaye à la ville, Rennes 2015, pp. 50–65; Rutger Kramer, Many Lives, One Story. The 'Gesta Sanctorum Rotonensium and the Making of Redon', in: Medieval Worlds, forthcoming.

<sup>4</sup> Vita Conwoionis, in: The Monks of Redon. Gesta Sanctorum Rotonensium and Vita Conuuoionis, ed. by Caroline Brett, Woodbridge 1989, pp. 226–245; on this text, see Claire Garault, L'abbaye de Redon, entre horizon local et ouverture culturelle (IXe–XIIe siècle), in: Daniel Pichot and Georges Provost (eds.), Histoire de Redon. De l'abbaye à la ville, Rennes 2015, pp. 82–97.

<sup>5</sup> This article relies on the theories of audience by Peter J. Rabinowitz, Truth in Fiction. A Reexamination of Audiences, in: Critical Inquiry 4, 1 (1977), pp. 121–141, which, for narrative reasons, we will explain below. On interactions between author and audience, especially in a monastic setting, see Hugh Magennis, Audience(s), Reception, Literacy, in: Phillip Pulsiano and Elaine M. Treharne (eds.), A Companion to Anglo-Saxon Literature, Oxford 2001, pp. 84–101. On the use of *humilitas* to efface one's role as author, see Elisabeth Gössmann, Die Selbstverfremdung weiblichen Schreibens im Mittelalter. Bescheidenheitspolitik und Erzählungsbewusstsein: Hrotsvith von Gandersheim, Frau Ava, Hildegard von Bingen, in: Akten des internationalen Germanistenkongresses 10, München 1990, pp. 193–200.

<sup>6</sup> For a recent reflection on the nature of teaching and learning in the Carolingian and post-Carolingian era, see John J. Contreni, Learning for God. Education in the Carolingian Age, in: The Journal of Medieval Latin 24 (2014), pp. 89–129, who on p. 104 characterises monastic learning as "culminating in the ability to speak to God correctly".

<sup>7</sup> Brett has translated this as "stupid", but in the context of the narrative it also carries connotations of being unwise due to a lack of education. The only other time the word occurs in the GSR is in c. 3.7, at pp. 204–205, where the author approvingly quotes (a slightly modified

reference to the text gives the audience an incentive to develop their own perspective on the narrative.8 Thus, the author provides the audience with a reason to become a monastic community.9

In another, slightly later text, we see a similar strategy. The early tenth-century *vita* of the aristocrat-turned-ascetic Gerald of Aurillac, written by Abbot Odo of Cluny (VG), starts with the following question to the audience:

Many doubt whether the things that are said about the blessed Gerald are true, and some think that they are certainly not true but fantastic. Others, as though seeking excuses for their sins, extol him indiscreetly, saying that Gerald was powerful and rich, and lived well, and is certainly a saint. They strive indeed to excuse their luxurious lives by his example. It seemed to me therefore that I ought to reply a little to these according to my ability. For I too, formerly, hearing the fame of his miracles, was nevertheless in doubt, and for this reason chiefly, that stories get about here and there, though I know not what channels, and are then gradually discredited as empty.10

By opening like this, readers or listeners are invited to consider several things simultaneously. Firstly, they wonder if they are among the "many" who know enough about St Gerald to even doubt his sanctity. Secondly, they reflect on whether they counted as a doubter, a believer, or someone waiting to be convinced by the following story. While the text presents an answer to these questions – the fact that a *vita* was written in the first place is a clear indication as to the sanctity of the protagonist – the author's implication that doubt was an option engaged the audience more fully with the *vita*'s message.11 By presenting himself as a doubting Thomas, Odo invited the audience to lay bare their vulnerabilities. This, in turn, could be the start of a conversation that would strengthen rather than diminish their faith – in God, but also in their fellow believers, who would help them achieve certainty.12

8 Fredrik Barth, An Anthropology of Knowledge, in: Current Anthropology 43, 1 (2002), pp. 1–18.


version of) Prov. 12:1: "He who hates reproofs is foolish" (*Qui increpationes odit insipiens est*). Its counterpart in the introduction quoted above, *scientia*, also only occurs in one other point, in c. 2.10 at pp. 178–179, indicating that lack of knowledge does not preclude piety.

<sup>9</sup> See also Pierre RichÉ, En relisant l'*Histoire des Saints de Redon*, in: Landévennec et le Monachisme Breton dans le Haut Moyen Âge, Landévennec 1986, pp. 13–18.

<sup>10</sup> Vita Geraldi, Prefatio, in: Odo of Cluny, Vita sancti Geraldi Auriliacensis. Édition critique, traduction française, introduction et commentaires, ed. and transl. by A. M. Bultot-Verleysen (Subsidia Hagiographica 89), Bruxelles 2009, pp. 130−132. For an English translation, see St. Odo of Cluny. Being the Life of St. Odo of Cluny by John of Salerno and the Life of St. Gerald of Aurillac by St. Odo, transl. and ed. by Gerard Sitwell, London, New York 1958, p. 91.

The link between hagiographical narratives and community formation has been the subject of many studies.13 However, the actual relationship between the two is often taken for granted. It is assumed that the collective experience of a narrative leads to a 'community', and subsequently the text is probed for the mechanisms behind this process.14 Drawing a direct connection between the composition of a narrative and the formation of a stable community, however, is a leap of faith.15 Even if we adjust for scale and exclude Benedict Anderson's "imagined communities" – nations in which feelings of togetherness clash with the fact that most inhabitants have no personal acquaintance – communities are more than people who happen to live together or who may be defined by geographic or demographic factors.16 Affection for the other members of the in-group and feelings of mutual obligation play a role as well as, for instance, the shared memory of specific rituals, a specific version of the past, or implicit agreements to deal with future challenges collectively.17

A community may be bound together by rules, by shared intellectual interests or by doctrines. In either case, the fabric of a community is shaped by the idea, held by its members, that memory and calamity – present, past and future – affect those on the inside differently from those on the outside. This internal conviction need not be spoken out loud or made explicit in a text.18 Therefore, when looking at the construction of a community in a written narrative, the question is whether it presents a community

14 Rutger Kramer, Introduction. Spiritual Communities across Medieval Eurasia, in: Eirik Hovden, Christina Lutter and Walter Pohl (eds.), Meanings of Community across Medieval Eurasia. Comparative Approaches, Leiden 2016, pp. 271–288.

16 Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities. Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, London, New York 1983; extended and rev. ed. 1991.

Shaping Identity – Angevin Dynastic Legend ('Gesta consulum Andegavorum'), in: Andrzej Pleszczynski et al. (eds.), Imagined Communities. Constructing Collective Identities in Medieval Europe, Leiden 2018, pp. 144−151.

<sup>13</sup> Examples from the medieval West include Janneke Raaijmakers, The Making of the Monastic Community of Fulda, c.744–c.900, Cambridge 2012; Thomas Head, Hagiography and the Cult of Saints. The Diocese of Orléans 800–1200, Cambridge 2005; Christina Pössel, The Consolation of Community. Innovation and Ideas of History in Ratpert's 'Casus Sancti Galli', in: The Journal of Ecclesiastical History 65 (2014), pp. 1–24.

<sup>15</sup> On this dynamic, see Emma Campbell, Medieval Saints' Lives. The Gift, Kinship and Community in Old French Hagiography, Woodbridge 2008, esp. pp. 1–24 and 223–230, where she explains how hagiographical narratives are a tool for renegotiating an existing system of (reciprocal) relations within a community.

<sup>17</sup> Walter Pohl, Comparing Communities. The Limits of Typology, in: History and Anthropology 26, 1 (2015), pp. 18–35; Walter Pohl, Introduction: Meanings of Community in Medieval Eurasia, in: Eirik Hovden, Christina Lutter and Walter Pohl (eds.), Meanings of Community across Medieval Eurasia. Comparative Approaches, Leiden 2016, pp. 1–23. See also Victor Turner, Liminality and Communitas, in: Victor Turner, The Ritual Process. Structure and Anti-Structure, Chicago 1969, pp. 94–130.

<sup>18</sup> The idea of "silential relations" as a way in which (non-)use of language establishes relations between people was put forward by A. L. Becker, Biography of a Sentence. A Burmese Proverb, in: A. L. Becker, Beyond Translation. Essays towards a Modern Philology, Ann Arbor 2000, pp. 185–210, at p. 186.

that is already there or if the author intended their work to be a stepping-stone towards building a sense of togetherness. The community-building aspects inherent in a text are not a given. Instead, they reflect potential modes of interaction catalysed by a narrative which, as a product of the same kind of communal thinking that it hoped to catalyse, instilled a sense of togetherness among the audience.

A text like the GSR catered to a face-to-face community. The identity of the intended audience was tied up with the 'saints of Redon' in the monastic burial ground.19 The VG was composed to establish the authority of a recently deceased abbot – and to assure the monks that life could continue as their founder intended (under the auspices of the text's author) – but also to link together ideals of aristocratic and saintly behaviour in order to educate a lay audience and further elevate the ascetic ideals represented by the community.20 In either case, justifying the existence – and explaining the persistence – of a monastery was never the sole *raison d'être* for such narratives. The predictability of the genre and the way authors manipulated their audience by playing with those conventions open up creative means for the author to interact with audiences across time and space.

This essay represents a meta-modern reflection on the authorial choices underpinning hagiographical narratives: a way to react to certain all-encompassing assumptions about hagiography as a genre and use those assumptions productively by speculating that our authors were as aware of them as we are.21 Going beyond post-modern critiques of grand narratives, our approach demonstrates how the choices made by an author may amplify ongoing affective community formation processes. We are looking at the 'embeddedness' of these texts: how they represent a relation between the way individuals imagine the world while being part of that same world; how narrative structures affect worldviews and vice versa; and how this interplay, in turn, influences our interpretation.22

Both these texts present specific ideals of religious life in small, restricted communities but also show the challenge of remaining virtuous and holy within the turbulent, emergent and highly public community of 'the Church' between the late ninth and

<sup>19</sup> Julia M. H. Smith, *Aedificatio sancti loci.* The Making of a Ninth-Century Holy Place, in: Mayke de Jong, Frans Theuws and Carine van Rhijn (eds.), Topographies of Power in the Early Middle Ages (Transformation of the Roman World 6), Leiden 2001, pp. 361–396.

<sup>20</sup> Andrew J. Romig, Be a Perfect Man. Christian Masculinity and the Carolingian Aristocracy, Philadelphia 2017, pp. 132–154.

<sup>21</sup> See David James and Urmila Seshagiri, Metamodernism. Narratives of Continuity and Revolution, in: PMLA 129, 1 (2014), pp. 87–100; Michial Farmer, 'Cloaked In, Like, Fifteen Layers of Irony'. The Metamodernist Sensibility of 'Parks and Recreation', in: Studies in Popular Culture 37, 2 (2015), pp. 103–120; and, most fundamentally, Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker, Notes on Metamodernism, in: Journal of Aesthetics and Culture 2, 1 (2010), https:// www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3402/jac.v2i0.5677 (29 October 2021).

<sup>22</sup> Jibu Mathew George, Philosophical Meta-Reflections on Literary Studies. Why Do Things with Texts, and What To Do with Them?, London 2020, esp. pp. 53–92.

early eleventh century.23 These narratives, in short, address one or several levels of community: face-to-face communities; mid-level communities that transcend local boundaries without claims to universality; (idealised) universal communities based on the idea that certain ideological norms apply to all of humankind.24 We focus here on several narrative strategies the authors used to engage with their actual audience and affect their ideal audience while bearing in mind all possible 'audiences' of a text. The authorial intention thus overcomes the contextual framework of medieval authors and inсludes us as readers in their potential audience reacting to the ideas the authors wanted us to believe.25 Hagiographical texts shape relations between the author, the audience (and its shared memories), and God. In studying these intersections, it is all too easily forgotten that we, as the potential audience, become part of the same super-structure – at least as the author envisaged it. The stories of the lives of saints and how their deeds mirrored the ideal set by Christ in the Gospels provide great test cases for studying interactive structures, as their predictability allows the author to signal the message – the Truth – to the intended audience.26 Analysing them shows how the application of narratological concepts to the field of medieval hagiography can be helpful,27 for instance when studying the longer (meta-)history of the genre or, as we will do in what follows, to explore how texts connect authors and audiences.28


<sup>23</sup> Mayke de Jong, The Two Republics. *Ecclesia* and the Public Domain in the Carolingian World, in: Ross Balzaretti, Julia Barrow and Patricia Skinner (eds.), Italy and Early Medieval Europe. Papers for Chris Wickham, Oxford 2018, pp. 486–500.

<sup>24</sup> Andrew Mason, Community, Solidarity and Belonging. Levels of Community and their Normative Significance, Cambridge 2000.

<sup>25</sup> Carlo Ginzburg, Clues. Roots of an Evidential Paradigm, in: Carlo Ginzburg, Clues, Myths and the Historical Method, transl. by John Tedeschi and Anne C. Tedeschi, Baltimore MA 1989, pp. 96–125.

<sup>26</sup> See James T. Palmer, Early Medieval Hagiography, Leeds 2018; Rico G. Monge, Saints, Truth and the 'Use and Abuse' of Hagiography, in: Rico G. Monge, Kerry P. C. San Chirico and Rachel J. Smith (eds.), Hagiography and Religious Truth. Case Studies in the Abrahamic and Dharmic Traditions, London 2016, pp. 7–22; and, in the same volume, Rachel J. Smith, Devotion, Critique, and the Reading of Christian Saints' Lives, pp. 23–36.

#### Narratology and Mediality

Both our authors employ the humility topoi in their texts in order to connect with the audience by being at the same time creative and predictable. As tools of authorial intentions, these topoi become structural elements. The act of engaging the audience like this raises questions in their minds. Are they supposed merely to look at (or listen to) words, or should they imagine a story? And if their imagination was to be spurred by predictable structures, what purpose is there for breaking the mould and adding surprising words, sentences, or chapters? 29 Or should there be no surprises at all, and is the community best served by predictability? 30

Both our narratives are dedicated to local saints and address a primarily monastic audience while also catering to the laity. In all cases, the primary aim of the texts would have been to discuss ideals of sanctity and norms for life at a local level, meaning they would have been structured in such a way as to resonate with an intended local audience.31 This audience would share memories, contexts and ideals and therefore could be regarded, analytically, as a "discourse community",32 a "textual community",33 or a "reading community".34


the remarks on pp. 276–300 about "Everyday life as a narrative process". Methodologically we rely on Gabrielle Spiegel, History, Historicism and the Social Logic of the text, in: Speculum 65 (1990), pp. 59–86; see also J. M. Bryant, On Sources and Narratives in Historical Social Science. A Realist Critique of Positivist and Postmodernist Epistemologies, in: British Journal of Sociology 51 (2000), pp. 489–523

Three elements are essential for our analysis of this intersection between narrative conventions, community interests, and authorial intent. First, the correlation between author, audience and text; second, the way the context influenced the 'shared experience' of the collective audience; and third, the universalising or equalising function of God, whose influence was believed to be present in author, audience, text and protagonist alike. In going over these elements, we will assess the role of the hagiographer in shaping a meta-narrative of sanctity while also looking at how the resulting text served – and influenced – the perceived needs of the communities addressed.

All of this becomes more understandable if we consider hagiography as media. Whether intended to be read in silence or as the basis of sermons or *lectiones* during mealtimes, the immersive nature of hagiographic narratives engenders the affection and experience needed to forge a community.35 It is the act of recognising the mediality of stories as a tool that invites communication between author and audience, facilitating community formation processes – not their mere existence or that somebody recorded them.36 Hagiographic media thus becomes 'immanent': formulas and recognisable patterns take on a life of their own when the audience engages with them. The use of traditional, predictable patterns dictates the aesthetics of the story and steers the imagination of the audience.37 Alicia Spencer-Hall takes this one step further by stating that hagiography is an inherently immersive or 'cinematic' genre: "they solicit interactions with readers, and open up spaces of virtuality in which their hagiographic personas live and into which the reader can project themselves".38 Moreover, she explains, the experience of hagiography is by definition multi-modal, invoking all the senses to tap into a process of collective memory-making.

Ideally, local hagiographical narratives manage to 'install' this mediality in a way determined by each audience member individually: the delivery method (everybody asynchronously read the same text or simultaneously experienced the same story)

<sup>35</sup> Alicia Spencer-Hall, Medieval Saints and Modern Screens. Divine Visions as Cinematic Experience, Amsterdam 2017, p. 44.

<sup>36</sup> On this phenomenon (from an anthropological approach to modern media): Birgit Meyer, Religious revelation. Secrecy and the Limits of Representation, in: Anthropological Theory 6, 4 (2006), pp. 431–453. See also Jørgen BRUHN, The Intermediality of Narrative Literature. Medialities Matter, London 2016, pp. 13–37, esp. p. 17, where he explains "medialities" as "specified clusters of communicative forms […] seen in relation to the fact that human beings exist in a fundamentally mediating and communicating relationship with the world and other human beings", and p. 30, where he proposes that focusing on such (inter- or hetero-)medialities provides "a method of analyzing narrative written literature that is […] sufficiently open toward improvisation and creativity to be useful when analyzing the individual complexities of specific narrative texts".

<sup>37</sup> John Miles Foley, Immanent Art. From Structure to Meaning in Traditional Oral Epic, Bloomington 1991, especially pp. 38–60, and John Miles Foley and Peter Ramey, Oral Theory and Medieval Literature, in: Karl Reichl (ed.), Medieval Oral Literature, Berlin 2012, pp. 71–102.

<sup>38</sup> Spencer-Hall (note 35), p. 13, invoking W. J. T. Mitchell, What do Pictures Want? The Lives and Loves of Images, Chicago 2005, pp. 201−221.

Fig. 1 | Media and Mediality (Jørgen Bruhn, The Intermediality of Narrative Literature. Medialities Matter, London 2016, p. 17).

meant that everybody had an equal chance to formulate their own thoughts on the matter and share these with the other members of the community: the author's role was to give direction to these thoughts, not prescribe them altogether (Fig. 1).39 For this to happen, the message contained in the medium is made visible by invoking a shared past within the story and creating a new shared memory through the collective immersive experience of partaking in the story. The evocation of narrative structures ensured that everybody would get, and be able to explain, the point. Despite – or even because of – this, we must assume that the authors were aware of the impact of their writing on their audience.

#### Dead or Alive: The Author

It is complicated to think of medieval hagiographic narratives – or indeed any text – in terms of their authorship. Many medieval texts have been transmitted to us anonymously, and even if we can identify an author, authorial intentions remain elusive.40 The assumption is that (monastic) authors are intrinsically linked to the audience in that the texts they produce represent a potential horizon of expectations for their community. For example, in the VG, the author, Odo of Cluny, is explicitly present throughout the text through a series of meta-narrative insertions that guide readers

<sup>39</sup> On this aspect of mediality: Cornelia Epping-Jäger, Voice Politics. Establishing the 'Loud/ Speaker' in the Political Communication of National Socialism, in: Ludwig Jäger, Erika Linz and Irmela Schneider (eds.), Media, Culture, and Mediality. New Insights into the Current State of Research, Bielefeld 2010, pp. 161–186, esp. pp. 179–180. Writing on the performative context of Dudo of Saint-Quentin's Historia Normannorum, Benjamin Pohl, Poetry, Punctuation and Performance. Was there an Aural Context for Dudo of Saint-Quentin's 'Historia Normannorum'?, in: Tabularia 15 (2016), points out that manuscripts may also contain clues as to the way the texts would usually be experienced by a given audience.

<sup>40</sup> Stuart Airlie, 'Sad stories of the death of kings'. Narrative Patterns and Structures of Authority in Regino of Prüm's *Chronicle*, in: Elizabeth M. Tyler and Ross Balzaretti (eds.), Narrative History in the Early Medieval West, Turnhout 2006, pp. 105–131, at pp. 109–119; Walter Pohl, Introduction. Ego trouble?, in: Richard Corradini et al. (eds.), Ego Trouble. Authors and Their Identities in the Early Middle Ages (Forschungen zur Geschichte des Mittelalters 15), Wien 2010, pp. 9–23.

or listeners intent on understanding the saint's holiness. As seen in Table 1, each insertion acts as a type of commentary on the sanctity of the protagonist – a kind of 'epic' voice-over (in a Brechtian sense) or running commentary as the plot unfolds.41


Tab. 1 | Meta-narrative insertions on sanctity in the VG

i *Nonnulli namque patrum, cum et sanctissimi et pacientissimi essent, iusticie tamen causa exigente, viriliter in aduersariis arma corripiebant, ut Abraham qui pro eruendo nepote ingentem hostium nultitudime, fudit, et rex David qui etiam contra filium legiones direxit.* Vita Geraldi I, 8 (note 10), p. 146.

ii *Nam si fortasse prophetie spiritum habuisset, nullus eum, ut puto, sanctum esse negaret.* Ibid. II, 34, p. 240.

iii *Iam vero spiritalis virtus que pleniter in eo succreverat corporeas vires poene trucidaverat; quippe cum iste mos sanctorum sit, quia virtus divina minus in eis valida fuisset, si corporeum robur non extenuasset* and also *Cum ergo his et huiusmodi virtutibus anima saginaretur, corporis efficaciam amittebat.* Ibid. III, p. 244.

iv *Id credimus quod ita per sancta pignora sanitatem beneficia tribuuntur, ut virtus quoque beati Geraldi cooperatrix non negetur*. Ibid. IV, 9, p. 272.

Table 1 lists the narrative insertions used in the VG to signal the sanctity of the protagonist. At its core, these features simply constitute an informative message designed by the author to represent the criteria of sanctity so his intended audience would understand. It shows how Odo used narrative insertions similar to the GSR, where individual chapters are used to highlight features of sanctity. However, this list goes beyond convincing the audience what it means to be a saint. These insertions emerge from ideas rooted in beliefs evolving within Christendom and therefore do not depend exclusively on the author expressing them. Moreover, once formulated, these ideals shape the author's intentions rather than being shaped by them. A text like the VG thus unifies past and present by mapping 'common' models of sanctity

<sup>41</sup> On Brecht's use of "epic theatre" as a means to "exploiting creatively its self-conscious awareness of being a theatre" (which, we contend below, applies to reading hagiographical stories), see Phoebe von Held, Alienation and Theatricality. Diderot After Brecht, Abingdon 2010, pp. 76–90. On reading hagiography see Wolfert van Egmond, The Audience of Early Medieval Hagiographical texts. Some Questions Revisited, in: Marco Mostert (ed.), New Approaches to Medieval Communication, Turnhout 1999, pp. 41–67.

onto a person that contemporaries could believe in and emulate. These models, in turn, reflect the beliefs held by those same people and thus are also expected by them. As much as such narratives did not represent any specified agenda planned by its author; they were part of a complex skein of notions, beliefs and ideas formed by, and catering to, society.42

The schema above, of the meta-narrative insertions in the VG, demonstrates how author and audience belong to the same community, not because of any shared historical realities, but because the expectations of his audience steered the narrative created by Odo.43 When Odo takes a step back to comment on the events described, he signals to the audience he is aware of his status as a storyteller. The author of the GSR also relies on the more highly educated members in the audience – the senior monks – to understand the biblical references and use this as a pretext to explain the moral of a given chapter.44 Both authors have made their self-insertions explicit. Such instances of *mise en abyme* are what makes texts work, inviting the audience to engage without breaking the immersive spell or suspending their (dis)belief.45 In this vein, an author's significance is due less to the composition itself than to the sense of familiarity they created among the audience.

In both cases, the realistic depictions of life in the ninth and tenth century represent a choice. Knowing these were texts meant for repeated consumption, they emphasised the familiarity between the saints, the collective audience (including past audiences), and individual media consumers. The GSR is exemplary in this regard: not only does the author insert himself on several occasions, he also shows the monks working and travelling together, and in one instance even has a saint (in a vision) postpone a miracle so that the whole community may be present to witness it.46 Even if all such instances were one-time occurrences, the message contained in the medium was one of nostalgia, a memory of a time when piety and saintliness

<sup>42</sup> Jamie Kreiner, The Social Life of Hagiography in the Merovingian Kingdom, Cambridge 2014. See Yitzhak Hen, Religious Culture and the Power of Tradition in the Early Medieval West, in: Carol Lansing and Edward D. English (eds.), A Companion to the Medieval World, Chichester 2009, pp. 67–85.

<sup>43</sup> Proposed in 1967 by H. R. Jauss as the *Erwartungshorizont* of the audience: Hans Robert Jauss, Literaturgeschichte als Provokation der Literaturwissenschaft, Konstanz 1967. See also Jens Westemeier, Hans Robert Jauss: Jugend, Krieg und Internierung, Konstanz 2016, on Jauss' controversial and problematic past. See also Hannelore Link, Rezeptionsforschung. Eine Einführung in Methoden und Probleme, Stuttgart 1975, for a different take on the interaction between author and audience.

<sup>44</sup> Rutger Kramer, *In divinis scripturis legitur.* Monastieke idealen en het gebruik van de Bijbel in de 'Gesta Sanctorum Rotonensium', in: Millennium: Tijdschrift voor Middeleeuwse Geschiedenis 22, 1 (2008), pp. 24–44: it should not be assumed that all members of a monastic community are homogeneous in their education and intellectual prowess.

<sup>45</sup> For instance in GSR II.5 (note 1), pp. 162–163, where the author tells how the monk Fidweten cured him of a severe toothache: *Quale uero meritum ille sanctus uir habuerit cum Deo in memetipso bene expertus sum*.

<sup>46</sup> Ibid. 2.9, 3.8, etc.

Fig. 2 | Flow of Ideas between Author, Text and Audience (Fig: Kramer /Novokhatko).

were seen to knit together the community. Throughout all this, the author remained present to remind the audience that, while real people had lived through the events depicted, the message was universal.47 The average hagiographer would have been aware of this effect on the intended authorial audience, which in turn signifies that this phenomenon was crucial for the whole genre and not for a single text and its single author; reading *and* writing hagiography meant engaging with the expectations of both writers and readers.48

Thus, it is important for researchers to acknowledge this reciprocal effect between ideas circulated in society, the author's ideas committed to parchment, and the audience's expectations of the medium.49 Summarised in Figure 2, this means that researchers dealing with the interaction between author and audience have to be aware where their own starting point is located. Who, in the terms provided by Barthes' famous article on the "death of the author", is 'alive', and who is 'dead'? Are the audience members the prime movers behind the interpretation of the narrative – the *auctores* of its meaning? 50 Or were the monks in medieval Redon or Aurillac as aware of authorial intentions as we are today?

#### Strangely Familiar Saints: Shared Hagiographic Experiences

Moving on from a (hypothetical) author to the text itself, its structure could tell us volumes about its audience. The division proposed by Peter J. Rabinowitz is helpful in this regard, as it explicitly incorporates the author's imagination of the audience – something that allows us to project the audiences into the past as well. According to Rabinowitz, there are four types of audience: the actual audience ("the fleshand-blood people who read the book"); the authorial audience (intended audience,

<sup>47</sup> M. A. Mayeski, New Voices in the Tradition. Medieval Hagiography Revisited, in: Theological Studies 63 (2002), pp. 690–710.

<sup>48</sup> Amy K. Bosworth, Learning from the Saints. Ninth-Century Hagiography and the Carolingian Renaissance, in: History Compass 8/9 (2010), pp. 1055–1066.

<sup>49</sup> See Jorge J. E. Gracia, A Theory of Textuality. The Logic and Epistemology, New York 1995, pp. 23–24.

<sup>50</sup> In the GSR, the abbot Conwoion is described as the *auctor* of the monastery.

for whom the author makes "certain assumptions about [their] beliefs, knowledge, and familiarity with conventions"); the narrative audience (an "imitation audience" to whom the author is speaking in the voice of the in-story narrator); and finally, the ideal narrative audience ("for which the narrator wishes he were writing").51 It is seldom possible to classify individuals as belonging to a single category, but this should not stop modern scholars from trying. Everyone reading this – and indeed everyone reading the GSR or the VG – is at least part of the actual audience of these respective texts.

As mentioned, the authorial audience of these texts was likely not purely monastic. The readings contained in *vitae sanctorum* and miracle stories could easily reach a secular audience.52 If monks and nuns represented an "ideal Christian", the authorial and the narrative audience of any hagiography would encompass the whole of Christendom: the lessons contained within were universal. Anyone could – in theory – learn them and attain perfection by practicing what was preached.53

Nevertheless, as much as the message of a hagiographical narrative was intended to be universal and timeless, these narratives were localised and adapted to the audience's needs known as they were known to the author. In the case of the GSR, individual chapters seem to have been intended as kernels of sermons and could have been read during mealtimes at the monastery.54 If the miracle stories were meant as *lectiones*, their power over the imagination of the immediate authorial intended audience would have been considerable, but only to the extent that they had enough starting points to relate to the stories, their protagonists, and their setting.55 Thus, the GSR's author also used the landscape by depicting a monk walking across a local river; referred to local people and places by their Breton names; and inserted scenes from everyday life, for instance when a local farmer is gravely injured (and miraculously cured) while renovating a house.56 The instances where the author self-consciously plays with the medium, such as when explicit moral lessons are (diegetically) added to the narrative or biblical quotations are quoted throughout the chapters, made

<sup>51</sup> Rabinowitz (note 5), p. 126.

<sup>52</sup> Bernard Merdrignac, The Process and Significance of Rewriting in Breton Hagiography, in: J. Cartwright (ed.), Celtic Hagiography and Saints' Cults, Cardiff 2003, pp. 177–197.

<sup>53</sup> Ilana Friedrich Silber, Virtuosity, Charisma and Social Order. A Comparative Sociological Study of Monasticism in Theravada Buddhism and Medieval Catholicism, Cambridge 1995, pp. 1–56; the reference was found in Steven Vanderputten, Imagining Religious Leadership in the Middle Ages. Richard of Saint-Vannes and the Politics of Reform, Ithaca 2015, pp. 1–13.

<sup>54</sup> Often, the death dates of the saints are given, indicating commemorative purposes similar to a *legendarium*. GSR, lib. II, chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8; lib III, chapters 3, 4, and 8. See E. Ann Matter and Thomas J. Heffernan, The Liturgy of the Medieval Church, Kalamazoo 2005, p. 408.

<sup>55</sup> Noted, albeit specifically for the martial aspects of monastic spirituality, by Katherine Allen Smith, War and the Making of Medieval Monastic Culture, Woodbridge 2011, pp. 156–157.

<sup>56</sup> GSR, lib. II, c. 2 (note 1), pp. 150–153 and c. 8, pp. 166–171. The strong ties between Redon and its immediate surroundings are also evident in the famous Redon Cartulary: Wendy Davies, The Composition of the Redon Cartulary, in: Francia 17, 1 (1990), pp. 69–90.

these stories timeless.57 The local detail and the authorial self-insertion reminded the audience that "this could happen to you".

The audience was subjected to the full array of the common topoi of hagiography. These topoi are non-original narrative units,58 common among all saints' lives (e.g. birth and childhood; supportive or obstructive families of saints; death-bed scenes with the subsequent burial and miracles on the tomb).59 They were used to flatter and entertain the audience – but also guided their expectations, making the message easier to digest.60 Through the power of these timeless elements, combined with other mutually agreed-upon, meta-narrative insertions about sanctity, a type of 'perfection' emerged that would have been seen as crucial to contemporaries. Thus, the VG constructs Gerald's sainthood in a way that made sense in the tenth and eleventh centuries: the emphasis on pilgrimages, illustrated by Gerald's journey to Rome to visit the tombs of martyrs;61 the promotion of a pious and fair secular governor, as an idealised reflection of the Peace of God;62 and propaganda for the improvement of monkish behaviour – pre-empting the so-called 'Gregorian' reforms proposed in the later eleventh century. Ostensibly mere topoi, they should nonetheless be read as contextualised effects of sanctity. The depiction of his saintly behaviour – the deeds of the protagonist – demonstrates that holiness, while timeless in principle, retains a certain degree of historicity by never losing sight of chronological specificities. They reflect current issues and the narratives are fitted to the (mental and actual) landscapes surrounding the audience. To harness this flexibility and strengthen the structures they wanted to remain inviolate, hagiographers needed to walk a fine line between universal Christian values and localised narratives.63

<sup>57</sup> Heinz Meyer, *Intentio auctoris, utilitas libri*. Wirkungsabsicht und Nutzen literarischer Werke nach Accessus-Prologen des 11. bis 13. Jahrhunderts, in: Frühmittelalterliche Studien 31, 1 (1997), pp. 390–413.

<sup>58</sup> Hahn (note 27), pp. 41–42 and Ernst R. Curtius, European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages, New York 1963 [1948], pp. 79–105.

<sup>59</sup> Robert Bartlett, Why Can the Dead Do Such Great Things? Saints and Worshippers from the Martyrs to the Reformation, Princeton 2013, pp. 523–535.

<sup>60</sup> Lynda L. Coon, Sacred Fictions. Holy Women and Hagiography in Late Antiquity, Philadelphia 1997, pp. 1–27.

<sup>61</sup> *Consuetudinem sibi fecerat ut Romam frequentibus adiret. […] Vir iste, cum esset spiritualis, illa duo mundi luminaria – Petrum scilicet et Paulum – spiritaliter ambiebat spectare*. Vita Geraldi II, 17 (note 1), p. 220. This journey can be reconstructed through the places mentioned in the text. Diana Webb, Medieval European Pilgrimage c.700–c.1500, Basingstoke 2002, pp. 15–16; Chris Wickham, Medieval Rome. Stability and Crisis of a City, 900–1150, Oxford 2015, p. 169. Both the GSR and the 'Vita Conwoionis' prominently feature a pilgrimage to Rome, here meant mostly as a pretext for furnishing the community with papal relics: GSR, lib. II, c. 10 (note 1), pp. 174–183; 'Vita Conwoionis', cc. 9–10 (note 4), pp. 238–241.

<sup>62</sup> Geoffrey Koziol, The Peace of God, Leeds 2018.

<sup>63</sup> Ellen F. Arnold, Negotiating the Landscape. Environment and Monastic Identity in the Medieval Ardennes, Philadelphia 2013, p. 212.

However, contextualising the hagiographical narrative does not necessarily 'historicise' it. On the contrary, this contextualised sanctity helps structure a fictionalised reality, allowing the readers / listeners to become part of the narrative through a shared immersive experience. For the Breton monks partaking in the miraculous stories in the GSR, historicity was relevant mostly to justify the longevity of the community and its renaissance after a period of Viking-induced exile.64 It is a reflection of 'reality', but also a utopia based on imagination – an attractive fantasy due to its appeal to accuracy.65 Still, the GSR appealed to an audience belonging to the 'small worlds' around a specific monastery in early medieval Bretagne.66 The same happens in the VG, where miracles, battles, and Gerald's pilgrimage occur in a world the intended audience could recognise.

In both cases, the hagiographical world is 'real' in that it is familiar through specific names and places, but it is also subject to the different imaginations of authors and audiences because it is the setting of a narrative which does not first and foremost aim at reproducing 'reality'.67 In the end, it could become 'real' again, as the audience experiences a 'new real' world enriched with the holy presence of Gerald or the Saints of Redon. The saints walked the roads and traversed the rivers known to the audience. Their stories focused not on monasteries but on communities of people living in and near them. References to 'historical reality' become rhetorical tools meant to evoke patterns: creating a landscape within the text for the community around it.68

The repetition of such structural elements, the appeal to topoi, and the invocation of a world that was both historical and utopian turned hagiographic reading into an almost cinematic experience.69 Immersing oneself into the hagiographic text made the saints familiar, easy to imagine even if they remain unknowable as people who actually existed. This was less important to an audience guided by their own beliefs and prompted by the shared knowledge of narrative conventions, allowing them to 'fill in the gaps' left by the text.70 If authors read their (authorial, narrative, ideal) audience right, individual readers / listeners would experience a positive emotional


<sup>64</sup> See Wendy Davies, Small Worlds. The Village Community in Early Medieval Brittany, London 1988, pp. 22–23.

<sup>65</sup> Implied by Peter Seyferth, Neither Fact nor Fiction. *Made in Secret* as a Utopian Education in Desire, in: Simon Spiegel, Andrea Reiter and Marcy Goldberg (eds.), Utopia and Reality. Documentary, Activism and Imagined Worlds, Chicago 2020, pp. 56–84.

Fig. 3 | 'Shared Experience' at the Core of the Correlation between Author, Audience and Text (Fig: Kramer/Novokhatko).

response to the familiar as well as the extraordinary – the world they lived in and the lives of the saints they knew.

These two reinforce one another. The familiar in both stories is, paradoxically, rooted in the observation that sanctity is both normal and extraordinary – like hagiographical world-building is simultaneously utopian and realistic. The aim is not to personally know the saints, but to establish a parasocial relationship through their stories: a relationship with characters only known from media which "can be experienced and also continues to exist even if the mediated other is not present".71 This is an effect, if not a goal, of narratives such as the (repetitive) GSR or the (immersive) VG: by turning the saintly protagonists into 'familiar strangers', their extraordinariness is normalised. This leads to an imbalance between the real-life audience and the ideal protagonist and, *ipso facto*, a confrontation with one's own failings, hopefully stimulating a conversation with fellow audience members about these shortcomings.72

This confrontation within the individual and with the community occurs at the intersection between author, audience and text, forming the 'core' of the cinematic experience. The synergy between textual patterns, authorial intentions and the expectations of the audience produces a 'shared experience' (Fig. 3) among those open to its immersive effect: the experience of the story, but also the *experience* of the (shared) cinematic experience: the awareness that you are not the only person in the audience – and that nobody is perfect.73

(6 December 2021). The authors take to heart Shelton's recommendation, on p. 149 and repeated on p. 245, that scholars "revel in the messiness that complex storytelling can achieve".

<sup>71</sup> Tilo Hartmann, Parasocial Interaction, Parasocial Relationships, and Well-Being, in: Leonard Reinecke and Mary Beth Oliver (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Media Use and Well-Being, New York 2017, pp 131–144, at pp. 132–133.

<sup>72</sup> Borrowed from Stanley Milgram and John Sabini, On Maintaining Social Norms. A Field Experiment in the Subway, in: A. Baum, J. E. Singer and S. Vallins (eds.), Advances in Environmental Psychology, vol. 1, New Jersey 1979, pp. 31–40; see the "long history" of these ideas in Tim Madigan and Anastasia Malakhova, "Familiar Strangers" Versus Friends, in: Tim Delaney and Tim Madigan (eds.), A Global Perspective on Friendship and Happiness, Wilmington 2019, pp. 9–17.

<sup>73</sup> See Patrick Phillips, Spectator, Audience and Response, in: Jill Nelmes (ed.), An Introduction to Film Studies, 3rd ed., London 2003, pp. 91–128, esp. pp. 92–95 and 108–116.

#### The Perpetuum Mobile: God

The boundaries of the 'collective audience' established by shared experience are fluid. Limited to a single local community in practice, in theory the narrative audience would be the entire Christian community. To reflect this, our diagram lacks one more structural element, which is crucial for understanding medieval hagiographic narratives such as the ones analysed here.

It is important to realise that, from an anthropological point of view, medieval discourse communities would define saints' lives as a model for the Truth – that was, in a way, their point.74 Simultaneously, the operationalisation of Truth lay at the heart of the intended narrative effect of hagiographies.75 This implies that such texts were media meant to engage through the audience's emotions with the message borne by its protagonists by creating a compunctive effect among readers / listeners.76 Ideally, feelings of compunction would open people's hearts to conversion or reform.77 But compunction also functions as a structural element in medieval narratives: as an expression of emotion, it was an aspect of the patterns enhancing the 'shared experience'. It encouraged the collective audience to empathise with the characters and thereby work through their hopes and fears, internalising their faith.78 For texts like the GSR or the VG, featuring people whose level of sanctity seems impossible to attain, this was the main point. Considering that the didactic goal of hagiography was to inspire imitation or emulation – *imitatio sancti* or *imitatio Christi* – what should be emulated were not the protagonist's actions but their motivations.79 Authors used their texts to inspire audiences by tapping into their shared experiences. The object of that inspiration was the relationship between the saints – local heroes, historical actors – and the timeless, immutable-yet-dynamic

<sup>74</sup> Talal Asad, Genealogies of Religion. Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam, Baltimore, London 1993, pp. 37−38.

<sup>75</sup> Hahn (note 27), p. 32.

<sup>76</sup> See Susan E. Wilson, The Life and After-life of St. John of Beverley. The Evolution of the Cult of an Anglo-Saxon Saint, Aldershot 2006, p. 82: Barbara Rosenwein, Emotional Communities in the Middle Ages, Ithaca 2006, pp. 26–29.

<sup>77</sup> Katie Barclay and Bronwyn Reddan, The Feeling Heart. Meaning, Embodiment, and Making, in: Katie Barclay and Bronwyn Reddan (eds.), The Feeling Heart in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Meaning, Embodiment, and Making, Berlin 2019, pp. 1–17; Piroska Nagy, Le don des larmes. Un instrument spirituel en quête d'institution au Moyen Âge (Ve–XIIIe siècle)*,* Paris 2000; Michel Zink, L'humiliation, le Moyen Âge et nous, Paris 2017.

<sup>78</sup> See Frances McCormack, Those Bloody Trees. The Affectivity of Christ, in: Alice Jorgensen, Frances McCormack and Jonathan Wilcox (eds.), Anglo-Saxon Emotions. Reading the Heart in Old English Language, Literature and Culture, London 2016, pp. 143–162, at pp. 144–145.

<sup>79</sup> See Catherine M. Mooney, *Imitatio Christi* or *Imitatio Mariae*? Clare of Assisi and Her Interpreters, in: Catherine M. Mooney and Caroline Walker Bynum (eds.), Gendered Voices. Medieval Saints and Their Interpreters, Philadelphia 1999, pp. 53–77.

presence of God: a relationship that meant that the protagonists are already out of this world and in the heavenly realm.80

While the saints take many actions in their stories, their agency depends on their role as conduits of God's grace. The characters in the narration enact God's will, and by acting embed this will into the text. God's influence was thus implicitly interpreted by the author, who effectively communicated His message. For instance, in the GSR, the Breton names of Redon's monks may have identified actual individuals, but their main purpose was to anchor divine providence to lived experience. While the author of a medieval narrative was one of the creators of the world on the pages, nobody in the community would forget that it took place in the real world, which was created by God. God was responsible for both the world of the story and the world in which it was narrated. The implication always was that if a story was too good to be true, it was never too good to be told.

Hagiographies represent a vital medium between the human world, the monastic 'internal cloister' that monks built to protect their relation to the Divine, and the Heavenly City they aspired to reach after death.81 As Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel, a ninth-century abbot and courtier declared in his 'Diadema Monachorum': "When we pray, we talk to God; but when we read, God speaks to us".82 And God's voice was heard by all, his omnipresence enhancing the cinematic experience of hagiography.83 The audience would partake in the same words, listening to God, who thus became an active participant in the storytelling exchange. This was a first step towards the kind of relationship with God experienced by the saints.

In the VG the plot is defined by expressions of divine actions. Miraculous dreams sent to Gerald's parents (retroactively) predicted his holy future.84 God challenges Gerald, blinds him to strengthen his faith, allows the devil to tempt him, and grants him miraculous powers.85 God is in the background, organising the plot structure in lieu of the author. He is the catalyst for the story. As suggested by the author,

84 *Quadam vero nocte monitus in sompnio perhibetur quatinus uxorem cognosceret quia filium generaturus esset. Aiunt etiam quod ei iussum sit ut illum nomine suo Geraldum vocaret, dictum quoque quoniam futurus magni meriti foret*. Vita Geraldi I, 2 (note 10), p. 136.

<sup>80</sup> Campbell (note 15), p. 20, describes this as "a form of alternative, inherently excessive kinship that replaces and redefines the saint's relationships in the human world".

<sup>81</sup> Mayke de Jong, Internal cloisters. The case of Ekkehard's *Casus sancti Galli*, in: Walter Pohl and Helmut Reimitz (eds.), Grenze und Differenz im frühen Mittelalter, Wien 2000, pp. 209–221.

<sup>82</sup> Smaragdus, Diadema Monachorum, c. 3: *Nam quam oramus, ipsi cum Deo loquimur: cum vero legimus, Deus nobiscum loquitur*; translation quoted from David Barry, Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel. Diadema Monachorum – The Crown of Monks (Cistercian Studies Series 245), Kalamazoo 2013.

<sup>83</sup> Bernard McGinn, The Flowering of Mysticism. Men and Women in the New Mysticism (1200–1350), New York 1998, pp. 20; summarised by Spencer-Hall (note 35), pp. 43–47.

<sup>85</sup> *Itaque per septem et eo amplius annos lumen oculorum ammisit, quos tamen ita perspicaces habebat ut nichil cecitatis pati crederetur*. Vita Geraldi III, 3 (note 10), p. 246. For the miracles see ibid., II, 26–34, pp. 230–240). For the temptations of the Devil see, for example, how Gerald resists lust in ibid., I, 9, pp. 146–150).

"the divine dispensation, which glorifies holy men, sometimes makes them known against their will".86 The GSR invokes a similar idea, invoking an explanatory model presented in Gregory the Great's 'Dialogues'.87 Good deeds, Gregory writes, should be performed out of love for one's fellow man, in unquestioning humility; if God wants your deeds to be known, He will make it so. The very existence of a hagiographical narrative proves that the story was deemed to be worth telling.88 Divine omnipresence is obvious for the narrative audience, but also for the authorial, enhancing the emotional engagement and the desire to imitate the character, in turn affecting the flesh-and-blood audience.

Authorial self-insertions, appeal to a shared world, and familiar topoi about familiar saints all enhanced the immersive effect of a good story, but God was never part of that process. He stood above it as the ultimate Author of the story of storytelling.

The presence of God in the story and as the purveyor of holiness in the world thus complicates Gérard Genette's influential tripartite focalisation model.89 On the surface, hagiographical narratives fit with his category of "zero focalisation", meaning that we are reading the words of an omniscient narrator who controls every move of the characters in the story. This changes, however, if we consider how God is inserted in our narratives as an active presence: to what extent is the character of God, as narrated by the author, a product of a human mind, impinging on the experience? To what extent is the God inside the narrative the same as the God who (presumably according to the author) provided the inspiration for the story in the first place? To what extent is the narrative God the same as the one who, according to the audience, caused the actual events to happen in the first place? Wondering about God enables a kind of "internal focalisation", in which the divine presence in the narrative is all-knowing. Within the confines of the story, this means that He knows exactly as much as the author. The author, meanwhile, must deal with the actual God in the 'actual audience'. The focalisation thereby transforms into 'external focalisation', meaning that the narrator knows less than even the characters in the story. Understanding this God as the creator of all the stories is a *conditio sine qua non* to understanding the narrative. For a medieval audience, God is not only a character but also the author, and the creator of the author (Fig. 4). As such, the exteriority of God interacts with the way belief has been internalised within specific communities: God in the story is only universal in the minds of the audience present. Reading hagiography presents a way of coping with this realisation, by channelling this divine presence to move towards a shared experience that would cement a Christian community.

<sup>86</sup> *Sed eadem res pluribus paulatim innotuit quoniam divina dispensatio, que sanctos quosque glorificat, eos etiam contra suum velle nonnumquam manifestat*. Ibid., II, 30 (note 10), p. 236.

<sup>87</sup> GSR, lib. 2, c. 4 (note 1), pp. 156–161, at p. 157.

<sup>88</sup> Gregory the Great's views are explained in his Dialogues, lib. 4, c. 1.9; see also Conrad Leyser, Authority and Asceticism from Augustine to Gregory the Great, Oxford 2000, pp. 131–188.

<sup>89</sup> Gérard Genette, Narrative Discourse. An Essay in Method, transl. by J. E. Lewin, Ithaca 1983 (originally: Figures, III: Discours du récit, 1972), pp. 189–194.

Fig. 4 | God Above All, an Omniscient Narrator (Fig: Kramer /Novokhatko).

#### Alienation: An Epilogue

This essay aimed to explore medieval hagiography using narratological prompts, including an audacious suggestion that anyone reading these texts is also part of their intended audience. We have outlined three factors underpinning the idea that a text strengthens a community: the controversial role of the author as a living presence within and behind the narrative; the cinematic 'shared experience' established through the interplay between audience expectations and narrative structures; and the crucial factor of God organising the plot and installing the mediality between author and audience. Awareness of the synergy between these three elements is a necessary step to explore hagiographies beyond their historical context. Texts like those considered here should be understood as a body of ideas forged in a particular way to memorialise the past and appeal to any (contextualised) present.

As researchers, we are not immune to this. Whereas a hagiographical text could be seen as a historical *opus*, a structured package transmitting the expectations of its audience, the intentions and strategies of the author defined its structural aims. The function of any hagiographical narrative was to be a timeless medium, and as such it was suffused with established (i.e. patriarchal) discursive structures at the time.90 As far as medieval monastic authors are concerned, their narratives still fulfil that function if we read them today. Regardless of personal beliefs, we are part of their intended audience, and any attempts to study them requires us to be aware of this simple observation.

Perceived as a medium, medieval hagiographical narratives were – and still are – tools to enable their recipients to share emotions and ideas, discuss patterns, and compare experiences. This communicative aspect is important, as it allows the audience to disentangle itself from the universe shaped in, by, and through the narrative. In embracing alienation and accepting that being a spectator to the story is

<sup>90</sup> Gail Ashton, The Generation of Identity in Late Medieval Hagiography. Speaking the Saint, London 2000, pp. 1–13. Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Congress of Wo/men. Religion, Gender, and Kyriarchal Power, Indianapolis 2016.

Fig. 5 | Researchers, Estranged (Fig.: Kramer/Novokhatko).

different from watching how the story is being communicated, it may become possible to set up new modes of communication about the mediality of the narrative: not taking its role in establishing a community or pushing a specific set of beliefs onto a contemporary audience for granted, but taking into account the active role of said audience as well.91 Awareness of structure means defamiliarising yourself with the story or loosening yourself from the audience. Defamiliarisation helps with finding your own place *vis-à-vis* your research object, establish your own focalisation: what exactly do you want Odo of Cluny or the anonymous author of the GSR to tell you? What do you want them to tell others? Like the discussion of holiness within the stories would have strengthened the communities formed by the authorial audience, answering this question would help us figure out new methods of reading medieval hagiography in the twenty-first century (Fig. 5).

### Acknowledgements

We want to thank Mateusz Fafinski and Jakob Riemenschneider, as well as the members of the Radboud Institute for Culture and History, for their help improving this article in various stages of its development. Many thanks also to Pieter Westerbos for his help with the illustrations.

<sup>91</sup> See Rutger Kramer and Eirik Hovden, Wondering about Comparison. Enclaves of Learning in Medieval Europe and South Arabia, Prolegomena to an Intercultural Comparative Research Project, in: Networks and Neighbours 2, 1 (2014), pp. 20–45.

# Meaning and Believing in a Narrative A Coda

Every collection of medieval manuscripts contains at least one mystery – a text, or textual fragment whose secrets have not yet unfurled into understanding – and often those mysteries are legion. A text is anonymous and its authorship or context difficult to situate, even in broad terms, or an exemplar contains copyist's errors which hold indispensable clues to the scriptorium that produced it – if only we know how to read them. In another case, there is something not quite right about the provenance; the manuscript was smuggled, or stolen, or seized by a colonial power, and precious clues to its meaning were erased or simply forgotten. In some cases, such as the dazzling gospel-books preserved at Garima in what is now Ethiopia, an ancient legend turns out, in light of new techniques of analysis, to contain more truth than European scholars had been willing to believe.1

In each of these cases, the material object – a book that has been handed down for centuries – offers more questions than answers, inviting the reader to face a profound uncertainty. Do we know enough about this book to be ready for the stories we will find there? Every library is a treasure-house over-flowing with stories launched out onto the waters of time by kindred spirits of another era, messages of uncertain status that nonetheless exert an undeniable hold on our minds.

#### Prof. Kate Cooper,

Royal Holloway, University of London, Department of History, Egham TW 20 0EX, Kate.Cooper@rhul.ac.uk https://orcid.org/0000-0001- 6687-7911

Kate Cooper: Meaning and Believing in a Narrative. A Coda. In: Fafinski, Mateusz and Riemenschneider, Jakob (Eds.): The Past Through Narratology, 227–231. Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2022 (Das Mittelalter. Perspektiven mediävistischer Forschung /Beihefte, Band 18). DOI: https://doi.org/10.17885/heiup.921.c13625

Contact

<sup>1</sup> Cf. Judith McKenzie and Francis Watson, The Garima Gospels: Early Illuminated Gospel Books from Ethiopia, Oxford 2016.

As Ekaterina Novokhatko and Rutger Kramer remind us, this cautious and yet hopeful feeling was one that medieval readers knew all too well. Already in the tenth century Odo of Cluny was wrestling with the status of the stories he had received, and wanted to tell. In his 'Life' of the warrior-saint Gerald of Aurillac, Odo considers the problem of the conflicting and unreliable narratives in circulation about his hero, and proposes that his own task will be one of bringing order.

Many doubt whether the things that are said about the blessed Gerald are true, and some think that they are certainly not true but fantastic […] I too, formerly, hearing the fame of his miracles, was nevertheless in doubt, and for this reason chiefly, that stories get about here and there, through I know not what channels, and are then gradually discredited as empty.2

But as Odo well knew, the need to bring order to a welter of stories of uncertain status is one that reaches back even farther, to the beginning of Christian historiography. The preface to the 'Gospel of Luke' contains a similar claim, written at the end of the first century CE, at a time when the women and men who had known Jesus during his lifetime had only recently departed to join him in the afterlife.

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the Word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. ('Luke' 1:1–4, New International Version)

This "orderly account" was of course the 'Gospel of Luke' and 'Acts of the Apostles', the paired books providing a seamless narrative to carry the story of Jesus and his followers forward to encompass the missionary efforts of the Greek-speaking Rabbi Paul of Tarsus, whose vision of the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus led to the re-invention of the Jesus movement into Christianity, a faith aimed at gentiles as well as Jews.

Mateusz Fafinski and Jakob Riemenschneider have invoked Todorov's idea of the "Fear of the Barbarians" 3 as a point of reference to account for the discursive field of Late Antiquity, with "literalisation" its dominant mode of practice. A valuable complement can now be found in the notion of "preposterous poetics" mooted by

<sup>2</sup> Vita Geraldi, Prefatio, in: Odo of Cluny, Vita sancti Geraldi Auriliacensis. Édition critique, traduction française, introduction et commentaires, ed. and transl. by A. M. Bultot-Verleysen (Subsidia Hagiographica 89), Bruxelles 2009, pp. 130−132.

<sup>3</sup> Mateusz Fafinski and Jakob Riemenschneider, Literarised Spaces. Towards a Narratological Framework for Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, in this volume, pp. 7–23.

Simon Goldhill in an evocative recent study, 'Preposterous Poetics: The Politics and Aesthetics of Form in Late Antiquity'.4 Goldhill's idea of the "preposterous" turns on the central role played by the re-telling and adaptation of inherited stories in Late Antiquity and by extension early Byzantium and the Early Middle Ages. Though the habit itself was not new, it was newly important at a time when the writers of a multicultural empire were re-assessing the value of rival cultural traditions, and giving greater value to the myriad voices of stakeholders who might or might not want to defend the imperial project as Roman control began to unravel. Some of what began as marginal cultural traditions would outlast the empire itself – one need only think of the rabbis, the many Christian churches, or the adherents of Islam. It was the fact of embracing and incorporating these voices from the provinces – with strategies of appropriation and re-purposing playing a critical role – that made Late Antiquity so culturally vibrant.

Central to both the ancient and modern developments were new strategies of reading, which offered a way to appropriate, consolidate, and re-focus the elements of cultural inheritance. A beloved story was a living organism, repeatedly shifting shape and unfolding new meanings to ring true for new hearers. The result was sometimes a collapsing of time and difference. Here we come to the "preposterousness" of Goldhill's title – the sense that what is before and what is after have somehow been switched or undone. This dissolving of time held a special resonance, Goldhill argues, for Christian and Jewish writers who looked forward to a coming end-time when all things would be reversed.

As Jas Elsner has brilliantly argued, the nineteenth- and twentieth-century scholarly "discovery" of Late Antiquity owed a great deal to comparable pressures, in particular the Austro-Hungarian Empire's need to understand how a vast multicultural empire could evoke a sense of continuity and shared identity when facing unprecedented political and social change. The art historians of the Vienna School – notably Franz Wickhoff (1853–1909) and Alois Riegl (1858–1905) – celebrated the Christian transformation of the Roman Empire as having created a shared community of the imagination even as the multilingual and multicultural Roman state began to splinter.5

Augustine of Hippo it was who formulated most famously the idea, in his 'De Doctrina Christiana', of "Spoiling the Egyptians" – the subversive take-over of elements from the dominant culture by scavengers from the minority.6 The late antique culture of spoliation and bricolage built on traditions that reached back to the Hellenistic and early Roman empires. For the profoundly Hellenised Jewish writers of the high Empire, Philo and Josephus, or the frequently rewritten anonymous romance

<sup>4</sup> Simon Goldhill, Preposterous Poetics: The Politics and Aesthetics of Form in Late Antiquity, Cambridge 2020.

<sup>5</sup> Jan Elsner, The Viennese Invention of Late Antiquity: Between Politics and Religion in the Forms of Late Roman Art, in: J. Elsner (ed.), Empires of Faith in Late Antiquity: Histories of Art and Religion from India to Ireland, Cambridge 2019, pp. 110–127.

<sup>6</sup> Aug., doct. christ. 2.40.60.

'Joseph and Aseneth' at the cosmopolitan end of the spectrum, being Jewish under gentile rulers posed challenges but also spurs to cultural invention. ('Joseph and Aseneth' hits so many inter-cultural notes that modern scholars have been divided over whether its author was Jewish or not.)7

These writers showed a new interest in the stories of women, slaves, and children – people who from that point on had been seen as viable protagonists. In some cases, this reflected displacements and reversals of fortune experienced by the writers themselves: Josephus for example was carried away from Jerusalem as a captive and served the future Emperor Vespasian as a slave; when Vespasian's son Titus destroyed the city and with it Herod's Temple in 70 CE, the recently freed Josephus was there as his translator. Also carried away as a slave was the hero of 'Joseph and Aseneth', he of the many-coloured coat, although in his case it was his brothers who had sold him to merchants bound for Egypt. We know from 'Genesis' that Joseph eventually thrived there, and was given as wife the radiant Aseneth, whose father was priest in the Temple of the Sun. Much ink has been spilt on the fact that this mother of Israel was an idol-worshipper, but 'Joseph and Aseneth' puts paid to the problem. Moved by her beloved's incredible beauty, Aseneth threw down her idols and began to worship his God of her own accord.

But the Bible was not the only source for these appropriative re-inventions and re-writings: since the time of Herodotus, Greek writers had wrestled vigorously over what had really happened to Helen of Troy and the men who fought for her. The most troubling attempt to make sense of her story may be that of the Byzantine poet Colluthus, who stopped to wonder how Helen's daughter Hermione reacted to her mother's departure. Left with her grandparents after Helen's disappearance, the girl was terrified by the thought of her mother's fate. Even more distressing, Helen came to her in a dream to describe her despair as she was carried unwilling away from her beloved child.

Penelope too was the subject of alternative traditions, and, as Sabina Tuzzo reminds us, the monks of Bobbio preserved a Latin ekphrastic epigram, 'De Penelope' – possibly an exercise of the rhetorical schools – which weighed on the side of those who believed she was by no means an exemplar of conjugal fidelity.8 So Hermione's dream and Penelope's longings find their place in the kaleidoscope of stories told from unexpected points of view, many using inventive narrative forms. As Michael Roberts and others have shown, the writers and artists of Late Antiquity were masters of formal invention as well as appropriation. Lines from older texts and fragments of sculpture were re-set into striking new designs, amounting in both art and literature to a new "jewelled style" built around inherited gems re-purposed in new settings.

If Jewish, Christian, and Muslim writers brought something distinctive to the idea of reading, it was a third, complicating element in the relation between the teller

<sup>7</sup> For example in Rivkah Nir, Joseph and Aseneth: A Christian Book, Sheffield 2012.

<sup>8</sup> Sabina Tuzzo, The Erotic Dreams of Penelope ('Epigr. Bob.' 36 Sp.), in this volume, pp. 41–55.

of stories and the reader or audience. This element is of course God, who features as creator, as Word, and also as witness to the reader / listener's engagement with the narrative. Novokhatko and Kramer capture this well: "sanctity helps structure a fictionalised reality, allowing the readers / listeners to become a part of the narrative through a shared immersive experience." 9 At the same time, the community of discourse is an eschatological community, and the wise foolishness of the storyteller allows him or her to pose as an undistorted conductor of the energy that flows through the story, a living conduit between the 'holy men' who trained him or her, and the people reading or listening to these words.10

Religious faith is, after all, a kind of falling in love, followed by the sometimes difficult challenge of building a life with the beloved at its centre, and yet it is a love mediated by the example of those who came before. This is where the epic tradition gives way to the lives of the saints and the rabbinic disputations of the Talmud. With its elucidations of the Mishnah, the oral traditions that supplemented the Torah given to Moses, the Talmud was revered as a guide to daily life, captured in a treasury of stories illustrating the disputes and interpretations of the rabbis. Each story offered insight on how large and small acts of attention might re-orient the heart toward the Beloved. Of course, the protagonists are themselves readers – enactors – of the sacred text. The narrative becomes a hall of mirrors, multiplying and magnifying the story around the teller and listener, so each can be located within the infinite reflection from the first word of Creation to the end of time.

Reuven Kiperwasser and Serge Ruzer have called our attention to how both the rabbis and the Christian monks of Late Antiquity brought the sense of textual discovery to that most evocative of narrative motifs touching on the problem of identity, the sea journey.11 Brilliantly exploring its topoi – whether of dangerous and miraculous creatures, divine intervention to calm the dangerous waters, or the hidden treasure at the bottom of the sea – they show how the sea itself became a book from which to read the story of creation, from God's life-giving Word to his intervention and protection, to the mysterious promise of a time when all will be revealed and made new.

In this way of seeing, the hall of mirrors reveals itself to be an unfolding revelation, making visible the connection between the end and the beginning, between heaven and earth. The book is itself a worm-hole, a portal through which the reader can amble confidently back and forth between the past, present, and future. For such a prize, it was only right, medieval readers knew, to wrestle with uncertainty. We can only be the wiser if we learn to view the problems these narratives contain with the same unflinching sense of expectation.

<sup>9</sup> Kramer and Novokhatko, Dead Authors and Living Saints: Community, Sanctity, and the Reader Experience in Medieval Hagiographical Narratives, in this volume, pp. 205–226.

<sup>10</sup> Ibid.

<sup>11</sup> Reuven Kiperwasser and Serge Ruzer, Aramaic Stories of Wandering in the High Seas of Late Antiquity, in this volume, pp. 161–177.

### Index of Places

Africa 145, 169 Alexandria 154 Alps 57, 63–66, 71 Amu Darya/Oxus 152 Antiochia 154 Arabia 156, 175 Arras 128 Asbana 154 Asia 154, 156 Asia Minor 11, 113 Atropatene 152 Aurillac 205, 208, 217, 228 Australia 145 Austrasia 37 Austro-Hungarian Empire 229 Auvergne 76, 86, 89 Babylonia 161–166, 168–173, 176 Balkans, the 10 Baltic Sea 190 Barcelona 127 Beas River /Hyphasis 154, 158 Benevento 127 Beth Awton 163 Bielefeld-Sieker 202 Black Sea 10 Bobbio 42, 230 Bornstein 199 Bretagne 3, 205, 207, 218, 220, 223 British Isles 149 Burgundy 30, 32, 76, 86

Callinicon 102–103 Cambrai 124–125, 133–135, 141–142 Carolingian Empire 123–124, 126, 135, 139–140 Caspian Sea 152 Câteau-Cambrés 134 Central Asia 143–144, 149, 154, 156 Chalcedon 17 Chalon-sur-Saône 32 China 156 Clermont-Ferrand 88–90 Cluny 208, 214, 226, 228 Cologne 133 Constantinople 31–33, 35, 38, 113–115, 152 Cyprus 167 Damascus 228 Danube 192, 195 Deventer 136 East Francia 134 Ebstorf 159 Eembach 140 Egypt 10, 18, 35, 113, 118, 171, 229–230 Elbe 185, 190, 195 Emersleben 196, 198, 200, 202–203 England 38 Epirus 184 Ethiopia 113, 156, 227

Europe 125, 135–136, 182–183, 187, 189, 200, 204, 227 Flanders 133 Flurstedt 196, 198, 203 France 61, 125 Frankish Kingdom 127, 131, 134, 140, 142 Frienstedt 203, 204 Gaul 2, 9, 30–31, 34–36, 65–66, 68, 76, 79, 85–87, 92, 129, 190, 194–196, 201 Gallic Empire 181, 187–189, 194–196, 200–201 Garima 227 Gedrosia 158 Genoa 95 Germania (province) 181–182, 184, 187–190, 194, 201 Germany 125, 181, 184, 189, 194–196, 200–201 Gommern 194, 198, 200, 202–203 Grabow 198 Hagenow 190 Harz 194 Harzhorn 200 Haßleben 181–182, 184–185, 187–190, 194–195, 199, 201–204 Havel 195 Häven 196, 199 Hellespont 166 Herat 154 Hereford 148, 159 Himyar / Jemen 113, 114 Himalayas 152 Hindu Kush 154, 158 Hippo Regius 229 Hungary 64 Iaxartes /Sygris /Syr Darya 152–153

Iberian Peninsula 149

Illyricum 99 India 143–144, 149–150, 154–158, 169, 175 Indus valley 157–158 Iraq 3, 162 Iran 164, 166, 168, 170–171 Israel 118, 119, 163, 165–166, 173, 175–176, 230 Italy 31, 71, 94–97, 100, 113, 149, 195 Jerusalem 119–121, 148, 230 Krottdorf 203 Leine 195 Lesbos 50 Leubingen 196, 198 Leuna 181–182, 184–185, 187–190, 192–199, 201–204 Ligugé 66 Lippe 195 Lyon 71 Lotharingia 126, 133, 141–142 Lübsow 184 Lut Desert 158 Macedonia 150, 152, 154, 158 Maishan 171 Mantinea 44 Marmoutier 66 Media 152 Mediterranean Sea 28–29, 31, 39, 149, 162 Melitene 163 Menorca 109 Merseburg 140 Merv 154 Mesopotamia 163, 171, 177 Metz 132 Milan 71, 95, 101–102 Mont Cenis Pass 71 Mons Imeus 154–155

Nantes 127 Naples 95 Near East 161, 204 Netherlands 195, 201 Neustria-Burgundy 30, 32–33 Nonnenmünster 138 Nordhausen 196, 198 North Africa 31, 113 Northumbria 38 Noyon 2, 27–29, 127–128, 135 Ostrovany 203 Oxus /Amu Darya 152 Palestina 173, 175 Pannonia 64 Paris 131 Persia 150–151, 158, 164, 166, 168, 170 Piacenza 43 Plotiště 203 Poitiers 63, 65–66, 71 Prüm 131, 134, 214 Pyrzyce 203 Ravenna 95, 155 Rebenstorf 203 Redon 205–206, 210, 217–218, 220, 223 Reims 125–132, 134–135, 141 Rhine 190, 195, 198, 202 Rome 15, 29–34, 36–38, 88, 95, 104, 128, 143–144, 149, 151, 157–159, 181–182, 184–185, 187–190, 192, 195, 200–204, 219, 229 Rouen 30, 129 Saale 185 Saint Bernard Pass 71 Saint Mihiel 223 Saint-Quentin 214

Samosata 163 Samothrace 156 Sault 129 Saxony-Anhalt 181–182, 201 Scandinavia 204 Seville 148 Sidon 176 South America 145 Sint Odiliënberg 136 Spain 95 Sparta 44 Syria 3, 156, 165, 167, 171, 177 Szombathely 64 Taphar 112, 113 Tarsus 228 Thessalonica 32 Thuringia 181–182, 194–195, 201 Tours 34, 61, 87 Troy 230 Troyes 126 Tyana 156 Tyrrhenian Sea 162 Utrecht 132, 136–137, 140–142 Varpelev 203 Venosa 95 Verdun 131–132 Vienna 229 Voigtstedt 196, 198 Werra 195 Weser 190 Worms 137–139 Wormsgau 138 Yonne 131 Zakrzów 203

## Index of Persons

Index of names contains only ancient and medieval figures as well as literary characters.

Abraham 118, 215 Adalelm of Arras 128 Aeneas 46, 55 Ahariman 168 Alexander III (the Great) 3, 143–144, 148–156, 158–159 Alpert of Metz 132–134, 136–137, 140–142 Amalasuntha 94 Amandus of Maastricht 37 Ambrosius of Milan 102 Ammianus Marcellinus 10, 185 Ammon 156 Amphinomus 43 Andrew (saint) 114 Anna (sister of Dido) 49, 55 Ansfrid of Utrecht 132, 140 Antinous (Homeric) 43 Antoninus Pius 12 Apollo 156 Apollodorus 43 Apollonius of Tyana 156 Apuleius 162 Ariadne 51 Arigern 100 Aristotle 13, 77, 79–80, 82–85, 92 Arnulf of Flanders 133 Artald of Reims 130

Aseneth 230 Atticus 89 Audoin of Rouen 30–38 Augustine of Hippo 15, 229 Augustus 156 Aurelian 195 Ausonius 51 Avitus 88–90 Bacchus 162 Balderik of Utrecht 136 Barsauma 161, 163, 167–169, 174, 176 Basileios I 114 Basileios (saint) 114 Berengar of Cambrai 133, 141 Berthar of Verdun 131–132 Boniface (archdeacon) 38 Burchard of Worms 137–139, 141–142 Byblis 50, 54

Calminius 86, 87 Capillutus 90, 91 Caracalla 150 Cassiodorus 94, 95 Cassius Dio 150 Catullus 52 Caunus (brother of Byblis) 50 Censorinus 189

Cham 148 Charles II (the Bald) 126, 128 Cicero 41–43, 89, 206 Claudian 48 Claudius Aelianus 157 Claudius Gothicus 203 Clovis I 131 Clovis II 30–34, 36 Colluthus 230 Columbanus 42 Constans II 30–31, 33, 37–38 Constantine I 30, 96, 151 Constantius I 80–81, 83 Constantius II 151 Conwoion 217, 219 Cornelius Laelianus 203 Cynthia (Propertius) 53 Cyril of Scythopolis 18 Cyrus II 153 Dagobert I 30, 34 David 215 Desideratus 132 Dido 46, 49, 55 Diocletian 14 Dionysius Exiguus 65 Dionysus 10, 153, 162 Dosa 175–176 Dudo of Saint-Quentin 214 Eligius of Noyon 2, 27, 29–39 Ephrem (saint) 165 Esau 118 Eugenius (pope) 38 Faustus of Riez 81–83 Flodoard of Reims 127–136 Folcmar of Utrecht 136 Fredegar 30–31, 33–34, 37 Galenus 45

Gallienus 188–189, 195, 203

Gerald of Aurillac 205, 208, 215, 219–220, 223, 228 Genette, Gérard 62, 224 Gildas 12 Gog 154, 159 Grēgentios /Gregentios (saint) 107, 112–119, 121 Gregory I (the Great) 12, 224 Hadrian 12 Hanina 175–176 Helen of Troy 230 Henry II 138–139 Henry of East Francia 134 Heracles 153, 156 Heraclius 33, 37 Herban 107, 112–119, 121 Herennia Etruscilla 203 Heribert II of Vermandois 130 Hermes 43 Hermione (daughter of Helen) 230 Herodotus 11, 41, 43, 166, 168, 230 Hesperius 87 Hilary of Poitiers 63–65, 72 Hincmar of Reims 126–127, 131 Homer 11, 41, 43, 48–49, 58 Honorius 99–101 Horace 13 Hugh of Reims 130 Hunger of Utrecht 136 Iarba 46 Icarius 43 Isidore of Seville 148 Isis 162 Jacob (prophet) 118 Japheth 149

Jesus Christ 29, 64, 68, 70–71, 87, 116, 117, 119–121, 173, 228 John Moschus 109 Jonah 162 Jordanes 11

Joseph (son of Jacob and Rachel) 230 Joseph of Nazareth 173 Josephus 229–230 Julian (the Apostate) 151–152 Justinian 96–97 Kālēb 114 Leon VI 114 Licinius 151 Louis I (the Pious) 126 Louis IV 129 Luke (apostle) 228 Magog 154, 159 Martialis 51, 57, 61, 63–72 Martin I (pope) 27–38 Martin of Tours 2, 3, 57, 60–72 Mary of Egypt 35 Moses 165, 231 Noah 116, 148 Odelbald 136 Odo of Cluny 208, 214–216, 226, 228 Origen 17, 109 Orosius 9–10 Otto III 134 Ovid 45, 47, 50–52, 54, 65 Paškeza 169–170, 172 Paul (apostle) 66, 219, 228 Pausanias 41–43 Penelope 41–55, 230 Peter (apostle) 219 Phaon 50 Philippus (praetor of Illyricum) 99 Philip Arab 203 Philo of Alexandria 17, 229 Plato 13 Pliny the Elder 153, 158 Pliny the Younger 100 Polybius 45

Pomponius Mela 153 Postumus 188–189, 201, 203 Probus 203 Procopius 10–14, 95 Propertius 48–49, 53 Prudentius of Troyes 126–127, 131 Pseudo-Hyginus 162 Quintilian 82–85, 91, 92 Raba b. Barhana 165 Radbod of Utrecht 136 Raoul of France 130 Rav Yehudah/Yehudah Hindu 169, 175 Regino of Prüm 131, 134, 214 Remigius (saint) 129 Remus 128 Richer of Reims 129–136 Ruricius of Limoges 2, 75–92 Rutilius Namatianus 21 Samuel (disciple of Barsauma) 163 Sappho 50 Semiramis 153 Seneca 45, 64 Sēnmurw/Simurgh 171 Servius Danielinus 43, 46 Severans 150 Severus Alexander 202–203 Severus of Menorca 109 Shapur II 151 Shem 148 Sidonius Apollinaris 2, 75–92 Sigibert III 37 Smaragdus of Saint Mihiel 223 Socrates of Constantinople 152 Solinus 153 Stephen of Liège 38 Sulpicia 45, 46 Sulpicius Severus 2, 57, 59–61, 66, 68, 72 Sychaeus 55 Symmachus 42

Tacitus 100 Telemachus 43–44, 47, 48 Tertullian 78 Tetricus 203 Theoderic (king) 94–101, 103 Theodosius I 188 Theodosius II 99–102 Thersites 45 Theseus 51 Theudebert I 132 Thietmar of Merseburg 140–141 Thomas (apostle) 208 Tiberius Donatus 54 Tibullus 52 Titus 230 Vespasian 230 Victor of Vita 9 Victorinus 188–189, 194, 201, 203 Virgil 46, 49, 55 Vitalian (pope) 38 Volusianus of Tours 87, 203 Widewdat II 166 Wilfrid of York 38 Xerxes I 151, 166 Yima 166 Zeus 156

Ulysses 41, 43, 45, 48, 49, 52, 162

### Das Mittelalter Beihefte MABH 18

"The Past through Narratology" proposes a fresh approach to various types of texts from Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Starting from a broad definition of what a text can be – ranging from hagiographic narratives and maps to archaeological remains – this book proposes narrativity and narratology as frameworks for exploring sources and exchanging opinions. The various contributions in this volume investigate how late antique and early medieval authors and movements used narrative as a vehicle for their ideas and how they operated in literarised spaces. At the same time, this book also examines how we as researchers construct narratives about our periods of study.

### About the Series

This open-access series offers a forum for double-blind peerreviewed, interdisciplinary and intercultural monographs and anthologies that are thematically focussed on topics from the field of medieval studies. It aims at integrating different methodological approaches and innovative perspectives within the interdisciplinary discourse, yet without neglecting basic research.