Paideia and Ascetic Virtues

Ancient paideia was not merely a program of education. Most of all, it was a process of moral formation and a way of life. In this respect, the marks of traditional paideia , including the cultivation of philanthropic and ascetic virtues, came to represent useful defenses against the demanding claims of the dialectical questioners. In stark contrast to the individualistic and confrontational tendencies of the latter ethos , the ascetic way of life shunned dissension. Though an ascetic could periodically exercise his parrhesia on behalf of the just,^[187] or to correct those who had lapsed into error,^[188] he was normally someone who stood above unseemly sectarian rivalry.^[189] When Basil of Caesarea advised Chilo on the proper behavior for a Christian ascetic, he cautioned him especially about the need to shun controversy because someone who wished to find God must be "quiet of demeanour, not hasty in speech, nor contentious (), quarrelsome (), vainglorious, nor given to interpreting of texts ()."^[190]

[182] Sozomen, Hist. eccl . 6.26 (Bidez, ed., 275-76).

[184] Eunapius, VS 500.

[185] See E. Cavalcanti, "Y a-t-il des problèmes eunomiens dans la pensée trinitaire de Synésius.?" SP 13 (1975): 138-44.

[186] Synesius of Cyrene, Dion (PG 66:1128A). See C. H. Coster, "Synesius, a curialis of the Time of the Emperor Arcadius," Byzantion 15 (1940-41): 10-38.

[187] See Sozomen, Hist. eccl . 7.6 (Bidez, ed., 307-8).

[188] See Isidore of Pelusium, Ep . 5.171.

[189] A wise person gives good, uninterested advice, whereas a clever person calculates for his own advantage; see Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 6.13.1144a.

[190] Basil, Ep . 42 (Deferrari, ed., 1:248-49).

The strong opposition between the values of dialectician and ascetic was frequently invoked in the polemic against the former. In his Contra Eunomium , partly an apologia defending his brother Basil against Eunomius' accusations that the Caesarean prelate was lacking in intelligence, Gregory of Nyssa asked his readers to compare the characters of his brother and Eunomius and then to choose between them.^[191] The manner in which the choice was presented left no doubt as to how his readers ought to make their selection: Basil, when not yet a priest, had distributed his inheritance to the poor, while Eunomius had disgraced himself by living a dissolute life in Constantinople;^[192] Basil cultivated an austere and sober way of life, while Eunomius indulged his appetites.^[193] Sozomen later pronounced his judgment that Eunomians in general did not practice philosophy in deed, for they

were not in the habit of praising a good way of life () or manners or mercy toward those in need—unless they should extol the same deeds—as much as someone who would discourse in an eristic fashion and would appear to triumph in syllogistic reasoning. Such a person is considered pious () above all others.^[194]

This portrayal unmistakably served the polemical purpose of deprecating the Anomoeans before an audience unsympathetic to their obsessive cleverness and lack of concern for Christian works.^[195] It would, however, be rash simply to pass by this comment as an entirely unfounded accusation, for ancient polemic often contained a kernel, however small, of truth. Furthermore, I suggest that this alleged social attitude harmonizes with a particular cultural model that can adequately describe the Anomoean movement.

Even within fairly homogenous cultures, people seldom ascribe the same degree of worth to an identical set of cultural values. Thus we cannot assume that the vast majority of late antique Christians appreciated the kinds of "Christian works" cited by Sozomen to an equal extent,

[191] Gregory of Nyssa, Contra Eun . 1.10 (Jaeger, ed., 1:25).

[192] On Basil's activities as a benefactor, see S. Giet, Les idées et l'action sociales de saint Basile (Paris, 1941), esp. 419-23; B. Gain, L'Église de Cappadoce au IV siècle d'après la correspondance de Basile de Césarée 330-379, OCA 225 (Rome, 1985), 277-87.

[193] See Jerome, De viris illustribus 23. In the competition between Justin Martyr and Crescens, gluttony and the fear of death were two faults that discredited a philosopher from consideration.

[194] Sozomen, Hist. eccl . 6.26 (Bidez, ed., 272-73).

[195] See Gregory of Nyssa, Contra Eun . 3.1-2 (Jaeger, ed., 2:3-4) on people's natural suspicions toward those who were clever in speech. This was already a tired topos; see Socrates' claim not to be deinos legein in Plato's Apologia 1. See M. Girardi, "'Semplicità' e ortodossia nel dibatitto antiariano di Basilio di Cesarea: la raffigurazione dell'eretico," Vetera Christianorum 15 (1978): 51-74.

or that their definitions of a eusebes , a pious person, necessarily agreed. The Anomoeans exemplified a culture of great upward social mobility, particularly in the persons of Aetius and Eunomius, whose status was achieved by the charismatic authority derived from their verbal skills. Their eristic abilities could only be validated in open contests with others: the agon was therefore a necessary part of their world.

The centrality of dialectical prowess to Anomoean culture could in theory find expression in venues less confrontational than out-and-out debates, but this redirection often did not occur during the pioneering generation. Subsequent generations usually took up the agenda of cultivating the aristocratic reserve and philanthropy expected of the upper classes. Further, it is likely that Eunomius and his associates did not sympathize with monastic ideals because the cenobitic form of Christian asceticism had been propagated in Asia Minor by their inveterate enemies, Eustathius of Sebaste and Basil of Caesarea.^[196]

This convoluted conflict continued into the fifth century. In contrast to the orthodox responses in adversarial sources already discussed, the writings of Philostorgius present the Eunomian case.^[197] Philostorgius' family, originally from Cappadocia, embraced the teachings of Eunomius when his father Carterius converted his mother, uncles, and grandfather from a Nicene theological position.^[198] The family's self-conscious choice to depart from the stance of Basil of Caesarea, under whom Carterius' father-in-law served as priest, is a testament to the vital appeal of this sectarian alternative in fifth-century Cappadocia.

As a young man of about twenty, Philostorgius had been deeply impressed by Eunomius during a visit to his estate, to which he had retired from 387 to 390, and had eventually written a laudatory biography (now lost). Later the historian became a partisan in the losing battle against imperial orthodoxy. Indeed, his Historia ecclesiastica , characterized by Photius of Constantinople as an encomium of heretics,^[199] omitted mention of many prominent figures who were unsympathetic to Eunomius' cause, including John Chrysostom, as if to impose on these figures the penalty of damnatio memoriae .

Refuting the charge that Eunomians harbored no love for good deeds or an ascetic way of life, Philostorgius expressed open admiration for certain ascetics who were not Eunomians. His glowing portrayal of

[196] See D. Amand, L'ascèse monastique de saint Basile (Paris, 1949); M. Simonetti, La crisi ariana nel IV secolo (Rome, 1975), 411-18.

[197] See G. Geutz, RE 20:119-22, s.v. "Philostorgius 3."

[198] See Philostorgius, Hist. eccl . 9.8-9.

[199] Photius, Bibliotheca 137-38.

Theophilus Indus, a monk supposed to have converted many inhabitants of India to Christianity, may be attributed to his appreciation for Theophilus as a seasoned traveler and as a successful missionary.^[200]

Philostorgius followed this account by saying that Eunomians too were willing and able to convert others. He pointed to certain early fifth-century Eunomians who were known as rigorous ascetics and performers of miracles. Among his examples was Agapetus, a Eunomian who performed many paradoxa erga , miraculous wonders, causing witnesses to convert to Christianity.^[201] We may reasonably surmise that this decidedly apologetic emphasis arose, at least partly, as a response to criticisms of Anomoeans reviewed earlier.

But Philostorgius' interest in asceticism did not extend to the institution of organized monasticism featured prominently in the accounts of Theodoret, Socrates, and Sozomen. The modem editors of Philostorgius' Historia ecclesiastica , comparing Theodoret's exaggerated reverence toward monks, propose convincingly that Philostorgius should not be expected to approve of an institution that received its impetus from Eunomius' enemies, Eustathius of Sebaste and Basil of Caesarea.^[202]

Monks were drawn predominantly from the ranks of the humiliores ; these unkempt souls found little favor with urban elites. Pagan disdain for illiterate black-robed monks was faintly echoed by the lay Christian Sozomen, an admirer of ascetics who nevertheless recognized their ignorance of civilized conduct, including the settling of differences. In his account of the Origenist controversy, Sozomen related that

a certain terrible conflict () reigned among the monks out of this. They did not think that they should persuade each other by conducting debates () among themselves in an orderly fashion (), but they turned to deeds of outrage ().^[203]

The crude, barbaric "simplicity" of the desert monks did not commend itself to Philostorgius. Like Socrates and Sozomen after him, he was an educated layman who valued culture. Judging from his work, both his learning and his range of interests exceeded those of his anti-Eunomian counterparts. Philostorgius was conversant in biblical studies and was keenly interested in the intricacies of dogmatic controversies,

[200] See Philostorgius, Hist. eccl . 2.6; 3.4-5.

[201] See Philostorgius, Hist. eccl . 2.8.

[202] Bidez and Winkelmann, eds., cxii-cxiii. See C. A. Frazee, "Anatolian Asceticism in the Fourth Century: Eustathios of Sebastea and Basil of Caesarea," Catholic Historical Review 66 (1980): 16-33; L. Lèbe, "Saint Basile et ses règles morales," Revue Bénédictine 75 (1965): 193-200.

[203] Sozomen, Hist. eccl . 8.12 (Bidez, ed., 366).

which he described with a familiarity noticeably missing from Socrates' and Sozomen's narratives.^[204]

Philostorgius possessed many other admirable qualities. Like Cosmas Indicopleustes, he was a sectarian layman well-traveled and well-informed about contemporary scientific theories regarding earthquakes, meteorites, astronomy, cosmography, and similar phenomena.^[205] He also had some knowledge of medicine.^[206] Allusions in the Historia ecclesiastica indicate a grasp of ancient learning comparable to that of the classicizing historians writing at around the same time.^[207] Yet at heart Philostorgius was resolutely Christian, to the extent of composing refutations to Porphyry's attacks on Christianity.^[208]

It is remarkable that the Eunomian interpretation of Christianity continued to attract strong devotion within the intellectual circles of an imperial state that had tried repeatedly to stamp it out through public humiliation^[209] and stiff legal penalties, including the imposition of the infamia of an intestabilis , the deprivation of one's competence to make a legally binding testament.^[210] Clearly, the intellectual rigor of Eunomian Christianity appealed to Philostorgius and many like him.

In Philostorgius the new wine had aged in the span of a generation. Skill in debate still figured significantly in his work, but the charisma of being deinos legein now stood as one among many virtues. The uncompromising sharpness of the first generation of dialectical questioners had mellowed into a culturally more established, and more rounded, form of habitus . It may not be too much to say that in Philostorgius a synthesis was achieved between the values of the Cappadocians and those of the early Anomoeans.

[204] Philostorgius' Hist. eccl . 9.14, 9.14a; contrast Sozomen, Hist. eccl . 6.27, where the author explained that he neither understood well nor could easily explain the dogmatic controversies.

[205] See Bidez and Winkelmann, eds., cix.

[206] See Philostorgius, Hist. eccl . 3.15.

[207] See R. C. Blockley, The Fragmentary Classicising Historians of the Later Roman Empire: Eunapius, Olympiodorus, Priscus and Malchus , ARCA. Classical and Medieval Texts, Papers and Monographs 6 (Liverpool, 1981), 86-94.

[208] Philostorgius, Hist. eccl . 10.10.

[209] According to Parastaseis syntomai chronikai 39, Theodosius II erected in the forum of Constantinople statues of Eunomius, Arius, Sabellius, and Macedonius, so that passersby could "shit, piss, and spit" on them. These were still visible in the eighth century.

[210] E.g., Codex Theod. 16.5.17, 21-23, 25, 27, 31-32, 34, 36, 49, 58, 61, 65; 16.6.7. On the implications of the imposition of infamia on individuals, see A. H. J. Greenidge, Infamia: Its Place in Roman Public and Private Law (Oxford, 1894), 144-53, 186-99.