the arians of alexandria

8/10/2019 The Arians of Alexandria

1/13

The Arians of Alexandria

Author(s): Christopher HaasSource: Vigiliae Christianae, Vol. 47, No. 3 (Sep., 1993), pp. 234-245Published by: BRILLStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1583805.

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2/13

Vigiliae

Christianae

47

(1993),

234-245,

E.J.

Brill,

Leiden

THE

ARIANS OF

ALEXANDRIA

BY

CHRISTOPHER HAAS

Over the

past

two

decades,

the stream of

scholarly

studies

on the

Arian

controversy

has

risen to

a veritable

floodtide,

resulting

from

sym-

posia

and

book-length

treatments of

Arius's

theology (particularly

his

Thalia),

his

theological

antecedents,

and the

appeal

of his

preaching

as

a

message

of salvation. The

vast

majority

of these valuable studies

treat

the

outbreak of Arianism within

Alexandria

as a

purely

theological

phenomenon.

If

the

Alexandrian context

of the

controversy

is

con-

sidered at

all,

it is

treated as

only

one factor

in the

theological

and

philosophical

climate

which

bred

Arius'

teaching.2

Intellectual

history,

however,

seldom takes

place

in a

vacuum.

Alex-

andria in the

early

fourth

century

was

probably

the second

largest

city

in

the

Roman

Empire,

and served as the commercial

entrepot

for the

entire

eastern Mediterranean.

Tightly

organized

communities of

Jews,

pagans,

and Christians

jostled

one another

in

their

ongoing competition

for

socio-cultural

hegemony

within

this

cosmopolitan

urban milieu.3

Arius'

teaching

gained

its first

popularity

within this

richly-textured,

socially

complex

urban environment.

Consequently,

our

understanding

of

both this

outspoken

Alexandrian

presbyter

and

his

message

may

be

sharpened further by looking closely at the social composition of his

first adherents within the

city.

Early

on,

both sides

in

this local

theological

dispute

appealed

to

authorities outside

Alexandria,

thereby embroiling emperors

and

bishops

in

over a

half-century

of

empire-wide

conflict. The Alexandrian

patriarch,

Alexander

(312-328),

enlisted the

support

of various

bishops

throughout

Palestine and

Syria.

For his

part,

Arius

gained

the

backing

of

several

high-placed

churchmen,

including

Eusebius of Nicomedia.

Henceforth, the focus of the dispute shifted away from the great Egyp-

tian

metropolis.

The

see

of

Alexandria became

just

one of several

prizes

in

the

broader arena of

ecclesiastical

politics fought

over

by

the

adherents of various

factions.

In

time,

the contentious Alexandrian

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3/13

THE ARIANS OF ALEXANDRIA

presbyter

became

something

of a

cipher

in

the

complex theologies

of the

episcopal opponents

of

Nicaea-lumped together

under

the

derisive

epithet,

Ariomaniacs,

by

Athanasius.4 Some have even

argued

that

eventually,

Athanasius' Alexandria became

a

theological

backwater,

with the

intransigent

bishop maintaining

positions

decades

old,

out

of

step

with the

evolving

Trinitarian consensus

forged by

the

Cappadocian

fathers

in the

second

half of the fourth

century.5

Despite

Athanasius'

long

tenure

as

head

of the

city's

Homoousian

community

(albeit

fre-

quently

in

exile),

and his

reputation

for

brutality

in

suppressing

dissent

within his

church,

Arianism continued

on

as

an Alexandrian

phenomenon

for

decades.6

Who

were

these

Alexandrian Arians? And

how did this embattled faction

change

over time?

The

initial focus

of Arianism

in

Alexandria

was Arius'

parish

church

of

Baucalis

or

Boukolou. This

was

a

relatively

minor

church

in

a

parochial organization

which,

by

the

beginning

of

the fourth

century,

included at least nine churches.7

The

city's

most

important

church,

named

for the

beloved former

bishop

Theonas,

was situated

in

an area

largely given

over to

public

buildings

at one end of

Alexandria's

prin-

cipal

boulevard,

the

Via

Canopica.8

Indications are that the

episcopal

residence and its attached church, that of St. Dionysius, were likewise

located

on the

fringes

of

the

city's

center.9

Christian

buildings

on the

urban

periphery

were

common on the eve of the

Peace

of

the

Church,

and

it was left

to later

bishops,

(notably

Athanasius and

Theophilus)

to

fill

in the

center

of

the

city

with

large

churches. Baucalis was one of

a

handful of

lesser

churches

which

probably

could

trace their

origins

back

to

private

donations

in

the

previous

two centuries.?1

It

appears

as

though

the

church of Baucalis was

not

in

the

city

at

all,

but ratherwas situated in a nearby extra-muralsuburb, on the opposite

end

of town from

the

bishop's

main

church. The

church took

its

name

from a

larger sparsely

inhabited

region, just beyond

the

suburb and

the

adjacent necropolis,

which was

populated mainly

by

herdsmen and their

flocks of

sheep

and

cattle. This

is

the district

known in

the

sources as

Boukolia or

Boukolion,

that

is,

the

pasturage. Throughout

Anti-

quity, grazing

took

place

all

along

the shores

of

Lake Mareotis and the

canals which criss-crossed this

region.

extending

east

of

the

city

as far

as the Canopic branch of the

Nile.12

This region of pasturage should be

distinguished very carefully

from

the

intensely-cultivated

agricultural

area of

Mareotis to the

city's

southwest.

Augustus

seems to have had

more

than

simple logistics

in

mind

when he

planted

his

garrison camp

235



4/13

CHRISTOPHER HAAS

of

Nicopolis

in

Boukolia,

on the

only

broad landward

approach

to the

city.

For

the

proximity

of

troops

to

this

pasture-land

also served to

police

the

shepherds

and herdsmen

of Boukolia who were

notoriously

rough

characters,

known for

assaulting

travelers

and

murdering

one

another. Palladius

tells us of one Roman

matron,

returning

from her

tour of the

holy places,

who

ordered

her

boats to be tied

up along

the

canal near

Nicopolis

while

she

went

into

Alexandria. Her

entourage

was

attacked

by

locals

who killed

some,

maimed

others,

and tossed one

unfortunate

bishop

into the canal.'3

And

depending

upon

one's trust

in

the information

provided by

Greek romances and

by

a

highly

stylized

passage

in

Cassius

Dio,

the

inhabitants

of Boukolia

may

have even

broken out

in

open

insurrection

against

Roman

authority

in

the late

2nd

century.'4

In

light

of

the

variegated

evidence

for

Baucalis and its

adja-

cent

region,

I

would

place

the

city's

cattle

market

in

this

suburb,

thereby

envisioning

its economic

activity

to be

roughly comparable

to

that

of

early

Rome's

Forum Boarium.

This excursus

into Alexandrian

topography

will

assist

us

in

under-

standing

religious

factionalism

in

Alexandria.

Epiphanius

tells us that

presbyters

were

appointed

in

each

of

the

parish

churches of Alexandria

to serve the needs of

people dwelling

in their immediate

neighborhood.15

This structure was

common

enough

in

the

larger

cities

of

the

empire,

but

he then

goes

on

to

explain

that,

in

Alexandria,

the

parishioners

were

exceptionally

devoted

to the

style

of

Biblical

exposition

practiced

by

their

respective

presbyters-so

much so that a

rivalry

sprung up

between

the

partisans

of these local

pastors.'6

When one

considers that Alexan-

dria had a

long

tradition of barrio

pride

and

competition,

and that the

bishop

of Alexandria

(for

all his

authority

in

the

Egyptian chora)

had

a difficult time asserting his will within his own city, it is not surprising

that

religious

factionalism

in

Alexandria

was

shaped,

at

least

in

part, by

the

city's

topographical

divisions.

Thus,

in

March of

339,

when the

Arian

appointee,

Gregory

the

Cap-

padocian,

made his violent adventus

into

the

city

accompanied

by

Philagrius,

a

veteran

Praefectus

Aegypti,

the Arian mob which

attacked

the

church

of

Quirinus

included herdsmen and

shepherds.

1

Athanasius

even tells us

that

they

were armed

with

clubs-in

this

case

probably

shepherds' staves. Two decades later we find a similar topographical

connection between

Arianism and

Alexandria's

extra-mural

regions.

Before his

appointment

to the throne of

St.

Mark,

the

Arian

bishop

George

of

Cappadocia

had

spent

a

portion

of his

career

as a

urcoexrSq

236



5/13

THE ARIANS

OF

ALEXANDRIA

Tx,tax)ov

(treasury

contractor)

in

Constantinople,

and

had

acquired

thereby

a measure

of

business acumen and

a

reputation

for

ruthlessness.18

It is

instructive to

note

that

during

his ill-fated

tenure

in

Alexandria,

George sought monopolies

on

papyrus

manufacture

and

reed

cutting,

as

well as a

special

tax on the

extraction

of

nitre-

economic

activities concentrated in

Alexandria's suburbs. This

reliance

on the

city's

peripheral regions

is confirmed

by

George's

control

over

the

city's

collegium

of

grave-diggers

and

coffin-bearers,

who

seemed

content

with

giving George

a

portion

of their

profits

in

exchange

for

the

bishop's patronage.19

Arius'

congregation

at Baucalis also included

large

numbers

of

ascetically-minded

Alexandrians. This association

between Alexandrian

asceticism

and

early

Arianism can be accounted

for

by

several factors.

The church

at

Baucalis

appears

to

have been

adjacent

to the

martyrium

of

St.

Mark,

since all the various

recensions

of

Mark's

passion

place

his

execution

and

eventual burial at

a site known as

Boukolou.20

If

one dis-

counts the

disputed

testimony

of

the

Passio of

bishop

Peter,

who was

said to

have

prayed

at the tomb

of Mark

in

Boukolou

prior

to

his

execu-

tion

in

311,

the

earliest mention

we have of the

evangelist's martyrium

dates from the end of the fourth

century.2'

It is

probable,

however,

that

there was some sort

of commemorative shrine for

the

founder of the

Alexandrian

church at

least as

early

as

the time of

Arius,

if

not

before.

Several mid-

to late fourth

century

canons attributed

to

Athanasius

carefully

regulate

the

behavior of ascetics

(especially virgins)

who

fre-

quented

the

shrines

of

Alexandrian

martyrs.22

The

clear inference

from

these detailed

canons is that the

most famous

martyrium

in

the

city

must

have

attracted

monastic devotees. This connection between

Alexandrian

asceticism and the Evangelist's martyrium continued until the time of

the

Arab

conquest,

when

both the shrine and its

neighboring

monasteries were

burned

during

the

city's

siege.23

Besides

this

link between

ascetics and

St.

Mark's

martyrium,

we

find

that

many

of

Alexandria's

earliest ascetics retired to the

suburban

regions just

east of the

city.

It

was here

that

some of

Alexandria's most

extensive cemeteries were

located,

known

today by

the

names of

Chatby, Ibrahimiya,

and el

Hadra.24

During

the

middle

years

of the

fourth century, these tombs became the hermitages of numerous Alex-

andrian

ascetics.25

The

necropoleis

in

and around

Boukolia

continued

to

appeal

to

ascetics

until the

founding

of

Alexandria's

suburban

monasteries

towards

the

end of

the fouth

century.26

St.

Antony

himself

237



6/13

CHRISTOPHER HAAS

considered

settling

in

the

region

of Boukolia

before he withdrew to his

inner mountain.27 Boukolia

also served as a

recruiting ground

for

monasticism,

as seen

especially by

the

conversion of a

young shepherd

named

Macarius,

who

murdered one of his

comrades

along

the

shore

of Lake

Mareotis

and then

fled to the desert as a

hermit.28Given this

context,

we find

that

Arius,

the

presbyter charged

with the

pastoral

oversight

of this

region,

was noted for his

ascetic demeanor and even

a

style

of dress which was

characteristic of

early Egyptian

monks.29 At

the time of his

excommunication,

over 700

virgins

were

expelled along

with him-a

graphic testimony

to the

appeal

of Arianism

among

Alex-

andrian ascetics.30

In

addition,

there is also the

testimony

of

bishop

Alexander

who,

in

a letter to his namesake

in

Thessalonica,

speaks

of

Arians

troubling

us

in

the lawcourts

by

the

pleas

of

disorderly

women

whom

they

have

duped

and also

discrediting

Christianity

by

the

way

in

which the

younger

women

among

them

immodestly

frequent

every

public

street -

precisely

the same immodest behavior

addressed

by

the

Alexandrian canons.3'

A

letter of

Athanasius,

preserved

in

part by

Theodoret,

complains

of,

the

impiety

of the

Arians,

[who]

block

up

the

gates,

and sit like so

many

demons around the

tombs,

in

order

to

hinder the dead from

being

interred. 32The

dating

of this

fragment

is

uncertain and

may

refer to

George's

monopoly

of

the

funerary

collegia.

However,

it

could

easily

be read as an

indictment

of Arian

ascetics,

in

a vein

not unlike the

anti-monastic

diatribes of a

Libanius

or a Rutilius

Namatianus.

Of

course,

the bonds between

Alexandrian asceticism and

Arianism

were

decisively

broken

by

Athanasius'

vigorous

courting

of the

monks,

begun

as

early

as the

330's.33The clearest

expression

of this

alliance

between Athanasius' Homoousion

party

and the ascetics, both in Alex-

andria and

in

the

chora,

was the

celebrated visit of

Antony

to

the

city

in

338.34

Though

the

vita

gives

the

impression

that

Antony

came to

Alexandria

in

order to

refute

publicly

the rumors that he

secretly

espoused

Arian

doctrines,

a

close

reading

makes

it

clear that

Antony's

sojourn

was

orchestrated

by

Athanasius,

doubtless with the

intention of

enlisting

a revered

holy

man on the

side

of

the Homoousian

party.3

This

appears

to have

become a

regular

policy

of

Athanasius,

since

under

similar circumstances he also brought Abba Pambo to Alexandria from

Nitria.36 These

high profile

monastic

endorsements

of

Athanasius

in

Alexandria

suggest

that his

cultivation of the monks

was

a

more multi-

faceted

policy

than is

usually

presented,

i.e.,

that the

bishop

sought

to

238



7/13

THE ARIANS OF

ALEXANDRIA

invoke

monastic

aid to

counterbalance

Melitian

influence

in

the chora

and also

prepare

a

strategic

retreat

for

himself

during

moments

of

imperial

displeasure.

In

light

of the

make-up

of the initial

Arian faction

in

Alexandria,

it

seems

likely

that Athanasius also felt a

specific

need

to thwart

Arian

sentiments

among

the

city's

ascetic communities.

However,

the

complexion

of the Alexandrian Arian faction was also

changing during

the decades

following

Nicaea.

Although

Arius' con-

gregation

at

Baucalis was the most visible center of

opposition

to

the

bishop's

authority,

(in

part,

a function

of

the

literary

sources'

pre-

occupation

with

Arius),

it

is

worth

noting

that

during

the

episcopate

of

Alexander

(ca.

312-328)

at least five

presbyters

and

five

deacons were

excommunicated

by

the

bishop,

and that each

presbyter

was

likely

to

have

had

authority

over an individual church.

Given

the often-fractious

nature of

the Alexandrian

clergy,

there is

no

more reason to

believe

that

these Arians

formed a monolithic

party

than that

the

bishop's party

formed a solid

phalanx

of

support.

In

this

context,

Athanasius'

allegedly

brutal methods

for

enforcing

ecclesiastical

discipline

and doc-

trinal

conformity

become

much more

comprehensible.37 Despite

Epiphanius'

enthusiasm

for

Athanasius,

he tells

us that

Athanasius

kept

trying accusations, threats, and admonitions, and no one

paid

attention.

38

Among

the

Arians,

there are hints that a more

distinctly

urban ele-

ment came

to the fore

in the

thirty

some

years

between

Nicaea

and the

episcopate

of

George

of

Cappadocia.

Alexander's excommunication of

various

Alexandrian

clergymen suggests

that Arian doctrines had found

a

hearing

in

several

of the

city's

parishes.

In

addition,

several

sources,

including

a letter

of Constantine

to the

Alexandrians,

speak

of

the

spread of Arian sentiments via multi-class urban institutions where the

populace

would

gather,

notably

the

marketplaces,

the

theatres,

and

(most frequently)

unspecified

public

assemblies.39

This

may

provide

at

least

a

partial

backdrop

for

understanding

Arius'

Thalia,

and also the

well-known

comment

of

Philostorgius

on

Arius'

composition

of

popular

songs

designed

for

sailors,

millers,

travellers,

and others.40

Perhaps

the most

telling

indication of Athanasius'

lack of

unquestioned

support

among

the

urban

populace

was the use

that his

opponents

at the

Synod of Tyre made of a formal document listing complaints by the

Alexandrian demos.41

During

the

340's,

when

imperial

coercion

was

increasingly brought

to

bear

upon

the issue

of ecclesiastical

factionalism

in

Alexandria,

the

239



8/13

CHRISTOPHER HAAS

urban

complexion

of the diffuse

community

labeled as

Arians

by

our

hostile

sources continued to

grow.

Indeed,

there

is

a

direct correlation

between official

pressure

and

the

morphology

of the Arian

community,

as

groups especially

vulnerable to outside influence

increasingly

identify

themselves

as Arian. These

groups

tend to cluster

at

opposite

ends of

the Alexandrian

social

spectrum,

and

their

shifting allegiance

indicates

that the

primary

issue at stake was

patronage,

not

theology.

With

their wealth and status at

risk,

it is not

surprising

that

large

numbers

of the

so-called

bouleutic

class took

up

the Arian

cause.

These

bouleutai were

members of a

hereditary

urban elite who

made

up

the

Alexandrian senate/council

(pouX;l).42

On

several

occasions,

the

bouleutai

of

the

city

were

specifically

singled

out in

imperial

directives

and

threatened

with

fines,

confiscations,

and

imprisonment

if

they

did

not

renounce

Athanasius

and

accept

the

imperial

nominee.43

For those

who

did

comply,

there were

tangible

benefits,

most

importantly,

the

prospect

of ordination as

bishop

and its attendant

privilege

of

exemp-

tion from

public

duties.44

By

and

large,

it

seems that the

bouleutic class

was

eager

to

embrace

positions

which would be

deemed

inoffensive

during

an

age

of

frequent

reversals

in

imperial

policy.

No

wonder

Athanasius denounces so

bitterly

these

upper

class

chameleons;

the

political

realities

of the

day

called for

easy-natured

men

(uxoXoL).45

Their

non-confrontational

stance

was bound to

raise

the ire

of

a fac-

tious

patriarch

who

had

been exiled several times for

his views.

At the

same

time,

there is also

evidence that the

Alexandrian

upper

classes

hardly

constituted

a

unified bloc.46

As

with

the curiales

of

other

large

cities,

considerable

diversity

of

religious allegiance persisted throughout

the

entire Late

Antique period-provided

that

dissenting

opinions

were

not publicly expressed.

During

the summer and fall

of

356,

in the

period just

prior

to

the

installation of

George

of

Cappadocia

as

Arian

bishop

of

Alexandria,

groups

of Alexandrian

young

men

took a

leading

role in

the

violence

directed

against

the

supporters

of

Athanasius. These

youths

are

depicted

vandalizing

churches,

assaulting clergy,

and

shouting

obscenities

at

virgins.47

Athanasius

attempts

to

paint

these

young

men

as

thoroughgoing pagans, claiming

that

they

cast incense on

bonfires of

church furniture, sang praises to pagan gods, and even waved tree

branches in

the church

sanctuaries-perhaps

an

indication

of

Dionysiac

behavior.

Yet,

some of these

same

youths

are

ordained,

in

short

order,

as

Arian

bishops

throughout

Egypt.48

Despite

Athanasius'

characteriza-

240



9/13

THE

ARIANS OF ALEXANDRIA

tion

of

them as

belonging

to the

&yopXoi,

(i.e.,

the lower

class fre-

quenters

of the

agora),

t

is

more

plausible

o

believe hat

they

belonged

to

the

same class

as

the other

Arian

nominees-the

Alexandrian

bouleutic

class.

These

youths

are

simply

styled

ve&6Tpot

n the

sources,

and this

may

be an

echo

of

upper

class

youth

organizations

known

in

the

earlyEmpire

as the neoi. The

neoi wereclubsof

young

men

just

past

the

age

for

ephebes

17),

and often

wereconnected

with the

gymnasium,

electing

heir

own

officers

and

even

maintaining

lub

treasuries.49 heir

upper

class

origins

are

strongly

suggestedby

a

letter

of

Constantius o

the

senateand

people

of

Alexandria,

whereinhe

requires

he

young

men

to

assemble

ogether,

and eitherto

persecute

Athanasius,

or

consider

themselvesas

(the emperor's)

enemies. 50Formal

groups

of Alexan-

drian

youths

appear

to

have taken an

active role

in

political

brawling

as far back as the

Ptolemaic

period.

Their

mportance

n

urban

power

politics

was

tacitly

recognizedby

Caracalla,

who

assembled

hem and

then ordered heir

massacre

n

215.51Like

their

uppercrust

lders,

the

youth

of Alexandriamade

up

an

easily

distinguished

ocial

group

which

could be

threatened and

mobilized

by imperial

directives.

By

all

appearances,

hey

had no

abiding

concern

with

theological

ssues,

but

weremotivatedby class interestsand civic

pride.

At the other end of the

social

scale,

the

recipients

f

public

assistance

were

also

susceptible

o the coercive

powers

of

imperial

officials.

One

method of

coercion

employed

ime

and

again

was

simply

to limit

the

grain

dole to those

who

conformed

o

imperial

dictates.52

n

addition,

there is

evidence

hat oil and other

regular

alms were

confiscated rom

Athanasius'

supporters.53

his

may,

in

part,

reflect the

government's

wish

to

disrupt

he

patriarchate's

laborate

networkof

patronage

within

the city. Widowsand the city'sdestitute &vgo8ot)ufferedmostunder

these measures.54

thanasius

gives

us the

impression

hat

despite

these

coercive

methods,

the lower

orders remained

faithful

Homoousians.

However,

the

veracity

of

his claim

is difficult

to

determine,

especially

given

the

wide

success

enjoyed

by

the Prefect

Florus

a

century

ater,

when

rioting

n

the

city

was

promptlyextinguished

fter the

Prefectcut

off

the

bread dole.55

There are hints

that other

groups

within

Alexandrian

ociety gave

their allegianceto the Arian (or more precisely,the imperial)cause

during

he 340'sand

the 350's.

One

cryptic

remark

f

Athanasius

peaks

of

certain

unspecified

collegia

who

were

incited

to

anti-Homoousion

violence

by imperial

agents.56

In

addition,

we also hear of the

ayopoaot,

241



10/13

CHRISTOPHER

HAAS

i.e.,

otherwise

unoccupied

lower class

frequenters

of the

agora,

who

are

enlisted

in

pagan

and Arian

mobs.57

Given the attractions of the Arian

cause

to

certain sections of Alexan-

drian

society,

one

can more

easily

understand how it was

possible

for

Gregory

the

Cappodocian

to find a

viable local

community

of

co-

religionists

when,

in

339,

he

entered Alexandria backed

by

imperial

troops.58Though

diffuse,

this Arian

community possessed

enough

of

a

self-identity

to insist on the

ailing

Gregory's

replacement

in

346

with

someone who would

promote

their

interests more

vigorously.59

These

Alexandrian Arians wished to

present

a clear alternative to

Athanasius,

who had incurred both

imperial

and ecclesiastical

ill-will

through

his

violent methods.

Consequently,

the Arians found

Gregory

to

be

a

liability,

since his tenure

as

bishop

was

marked

by

violence and arson.

The

next Arian

occupant

of

the

throne of St. Mark was

Gregory's

coun-

tryman,

George.

It

is

only

with the

disastrous

episcopate

of

George

of

Cappadocia (357-361)

that Arianism

loses

all

appeal among

the

Alexan-

drians,

due to the association of the Arian

cause

with this

unpopular

and

inept imperial appointee. George

instituted a brutal

regime

which

indiscriminately persecuted

pagans,

Jews,

and Homoousian Christians.

These methods led to

George's

death at the hand of a mob in December

of

361.60

The

collapse

of

the Arian cause

in

Alexandria is

clearly

evidenced some

15

years

after

George's

murder,

when the

support

for

the Arian Lucius

(himself

an

Alexandrian)

extends

only

as far as the

coercion

bought by

the Prefect's

spears.6'

NOTES

'

As a mere

sampling

of this

extensive

literature,

consult M.

Simonetti,

La crisi ariana

del

IV

secolo

(Rome,

1975);

A.M.

Ritter,

'Arianismus' in

Theologische

Real-

Enzyklopadie

G. Krause and G.

Miller,

eds.

(Berlin,

1978)

3:

692-719;

R.C.

Gregg

and

D.E.

Groh,

Early

Arianism: A

View

of

Salvation

(Philadelphia,

1981);

C.

Kannengiesser,

'Arius

and the

Arians,'

Theological

Studies

44

(1983):

456-475;

R.C.

Gregg,

ed.,

Arianism: Historical and

Theological

Reassessments

(Philadelphia,

1985);

R.

Williams,

Arius:

Heresy

and Tradition

(London, 1987);

R.P.C.

Hanson,

The Search

for

the Chris-

tian

Doctrine

of

God

(Edinburgh, 1988).

2

L.W.

Barnard,

'The

Antecedents

of

Arius,'

VigChr

24

(1970):

172-188;

M.H.

Marrou,

'L'Arianisme comme Ph6nomene Alexandrin,' Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Let-

tres,

Comptes

Rendus

(1973):

533-542;

C.

Kannengiesser,

Holy Scripture

and Hellenistic

Hermeneutics

in

Alexandrian

Christology:

The

Arian

Crisis,

Protocol of

the

Colloquy

of

the

Center for

Hermeneutical Studies

in

Hellenistic and

Modern

Culture,

no.

41

(Berkeley,

1982).

The

best treatments of

the Alexandrian

background

for the

controversy

242



11/13

THE ARIANS OF ALEXANDRIA

may

be

found in

Williams, Arius,

pp.

29-32,

41-47;

and in

C.

Kannengiesser,

'Athanasius

of Alexandria

vs.

Arius:

The Alexandrian

Crisis,'

The Roots

of Egyptian

Christianity,

B.

Pearson

and

J.

Goehring,

eds.

(Philadelphia,

1986),

pp.

204-215.

3

On Alexandrian in Late Antiquity, see M. Rodziewicz, Les Habitations Romaines Tar-

dives d'Alexandrie a

la

lumiere

desfouilles polonaises

a

K6m

el-Dikka,

in the

series,

Alex-

andrie

III,

(Warsaw,

1984);

P.M.

Fraser,

'Alexandria,

Christian and Medieval'

in

The

Coptic Encyclopedia

I:

88-92

(New

York,

1990);

H.

Heinen,

'Alexandria

in

Late

Anti-

quity'

Idem

1:

95-103;

and

C.J.

Haas,

Late

Roman Alexandria

(Baltimore,

forthcoming).

For the

wider

Egyptian

context

during

this

period,

see the useful

summary

article

of R.S.

Bagnall,

'Late

Roman

Egypt'

in

Dictionary

of

the

Middle

Ages

10: 453-456

(New

York,

1988),

as

well as his fuller

exposition

in

Late Roman

Egypt (Princeton,

forthcoming).

4

A

catalogue

of

Arian

disavowals

of

Arius

may

be found

in

Hanson,

The Search

for

the Christian

Doctrine

of

God,

pp.

123-128.

5J.M.

Leroux, 'Athanase et la seconde phase de la crise arienne (345-373),' in Kan-

nengiesser,

ed.

Politique

et

Theologie

chez

Athanase

d'Alexandrie

(Paris,

1974), pp.

145-156.

6

For

recent

surveys

of Athanasius'

career,

see

the

important

collection of articles in C.

Kannengiesser,

ed.,

Politique

et

Thdologie

chez

Athanase

d'Alexandrie

(Paris,

1974);

M.

Tetz,

in

Theologische

Realenzykopadie

4:

333-349

(New

York and

Berlin,

1978);

G.C.

Stead,

in

Dizionario

Patristico

e di

Antichita

Cristiane

1:

413-432

(Casale

Monferrato,

1983);

A.S.

Atiya,

in

The

Coptic

Encyclopedia

1: 298-302

(New

York,

1991);

T.D.

Barnes,

Athanasius

of

Alexandria:

Theology

and

Politics in the

Constantinian

Empire

(forth-

coming).

A

useful

bibliographical

essay

may

be found in

C.

Kannengiesser,

'The

Athana-

sian Decade

1974-1984,'

Theological

Studies 46

(1985):

524-541.

7

Epiph.

Haer. 69.

2.

2-7.

The best

single

survey

of church

topography

in

Alexandria

is

A.

Martin,

'Les

premiers

siecles

du

christianisme

a

Alexandrie:

Essai de

topographie

religieuse

(IIIe-IVe

siecles),'

Revue

des

Etudes

Augustiniennes

30

(1984):

211-225. On

parochial

organization

see

A.

Martin,

'Topographie

et

Liturgie:

Le

Probleme

des

'Paroisses'

d'Alexandrie,'

in

Actes du

XIe

Congres

International

d'Archeologie

Chre-

tienne,

Ecole

Francaise

de Rome

(Rome,

1989)

2:

1133-1144.

8

Athan.

Apol.

ad Constant.

15:

M.

petr.

Al.

16. in P.

Devos,

'Une

passion

grecque

in6dite de

S. Pierre d'Alexandria et sa traduction

par

Anastase le

Biblioth6caire,'

AnBol

83

(1965):

157-187. See

also C.

Haas,

'Alexandria's Via

Canopica:

Political

Expression

&

Urban

Topography

from

Augustus

to

'Amr

ibn

al-'As,'

in Alexandrian Studies

in

Memory of

Daoud Abu

Daoud,

ed.,

Nabil Swelim

(Cairo,

1993),

forthcoming.

9

Socrates

HE 2. 11.

6;

Hist.

Aceph.

2.

3,

5.

4.

'0

For

a

useful

comparative

study

of this

process,

see

L.M.

White,

Building

God's

House

in the Roman

World:

Architectural

Adaptation

Among Pagans,

Jews,

and Christians

(Baltimore,

1989).

Epiph.

Haer. 69.

1-2;

Chron.

Pasch.

252

cols.

608c-609a;

M.

Petr.

Al.

11.

R. Williams

suggests

(Arius,

p.

264,

n.

107)

that the church

in Baucalis

derived its name

from

the Greek

word

for

a

wine

or water

cooler,

and that the church was

formerly

used

as

a vintner's warehouse. Given the economic differentiation of Alexandria's topography,

it seems

more

likely

that

vinters' warehouses

would be

located,

on the

opposite

side

of

the

city,

near the famous

wine

growing regions

of

Taenia and Mareotis: Strabo 17.

1.

15;

Pliny

HN 14.

74,

117;

Virgil

Georg.

2.

91;

Horace Odes

1.

37;

Athenaeus

Deipnosophistes

1.

33;

v. Jo. Eleem. 10.

243



12/13

CHRISTOPHER

AAS

2

The use of

this

region

as

pasturage

by

[ouxo6Xo

ates

back before

Alexander's founda-

tion

of

the

city;

Strabo

17. 1. 19.

13

Hist.

Laus. 15.

1,

35.

14-15.

14

Achilles Tatius 3. 15; Heliodorus 1.5-30; Cassius Dio 71. 4. On the evolution of the

pouxoXot

s

a

literary

type,

see J.

Winkler,

'Lollianos and the

Desperadoes,'

JHS

100

(1980):

155-181,

esp.

175-179.

5

Epiph.

Haer.

69. 1.

1.

16

Epiph.

Haer.

69.

2. 6.

7

Athan.

Hist. Ar.

10.

18

Greg.

Naz.

Or. 21.

16;

Athan.

de

Syn.

12;

ad

Episcopos

7;

Hist.

Ar.

75.

19

Epiph.

Haer. 76. 1. 5-7.

See also

C.

Haas,

'The Alexandrian Riots

of

356 and

George

of

Cappadocia,'

Greek,

Roman &

Byzantine

Studies 32.

3

(1991):

281-301.

20

A

thorough

discussion

of the traditions

connecting

Mark with Boukolou/Boukolia

may be found in B.A. Pearson, 'Earliest Christianity in Egypt: some Observations,' The

Roots

of

Egyptian

Christianity,

B.

Pearson

and J.

Goehring,

eds.

(Philadelphia,

1986),

pp.

132-159.

21

M.Petr.

Al.

11-14;

Palladius Hist. Laus.

45.

22

Canons

of

Athanasius

91-92,

98-99,

ed.

and

trans.

W. Riedel and

W.E. Crum

(Lon-

don,

1904).

23

History

of

the Patriarchs

1.

14,

p.

495 ,

ed.

and

trans.

B.

Evetts

Patrologia

Orientalis 1.

4

(1907).

24

M. Petr.

Al. 14

indicates that Peter's

executioners

took him

from the south side

of

the

commemorative

chapel

of the

holy

evangelist

Mark,

and

stood

him

in a

deep

valley

where there were tombs. On these

cemeteries,

see A.

Bernand,

Alexandrie la

grande

(Paris, 1966), pp.

210-216,

222-228.

25

E.g.,

an unnamed ascetic who inhabited a cell for

many

years

near the

military camp

at

Nicopolis,

(Apoph.

Patr.

Systematic

Coll.

237).

26

Palladius Hist.

Laus. 5. 1.

27

Athan. v. Ant. 49.

28

Palladius

Hist.

Laus.

15.

29

Epiph.

Haer. 69. 3.

1.

30

Epiph.

Haer. 69. 3.

2.

31

In

Theodoret

HE 1.

3.

32

Theodoret

HE 2. 11.

3

L.-T.

Lefort,

'Saint Athanase ecrivain

copte.'

Le

Museon

46

(1933):

1-33;

P.

Rousseau,

Ascetics,

Authority,

and

the

Church in

the

Age

of

Jerome

and

Cassian

(Oxford, 1978);

G.J.M.

Bartelink,

'Les

rapports

entre

le

monachisme

egyptienne

et

l'6piscopat

d'Alexandrie,'

Alexandrina: Hellenisme.

judaisme

et

christianisme

a

Alexan-

drie,

Melanges offerts

au

P.

Claude

Mondesert,

l'Institut

des

Sources

Chretiennes

(Paris,

1987),

pp.

351-363.

34

Athan. v.

Ant.

69-71.

35

Several

years

later,

Flavian of

Antioch

followed

an

identical

policy

by persuading

a

desert ascetic named Julianus to publicly denounce Arianism in Antioch, (Theodoret HE

4.

24).

36

Apoph.

Patr. Pambo 4.

37

On

this

controversial

aspect

of

Athanasius'

episcopate,

see T.D.

Barnes,

'The Career

of

Athanasius,'

in

Studia Patristica vol.

21,

Papers presented

to

the Tenth International

244



13/13

THE

ARIANS OF

ALEXANDRIA

Conference

on Patristic

Studies,

1987,

ed.

by

E.A.

Livingstone

(Leuven, 1989), pp.

390-

401;-a

depiction

which should be seen

in

light

of D.W.H.

Arnold,

'Sir Harold

Idris Bell

and Athanasius:

A

Reconsideration

of London

Papyrus

1914,'Ibid.,

pp.

377-383. See also

Hanson, (supra n. 1) pp. 239-246.

38

Epiph.

Haer.

69. 11.

7;

68.

7.

5.

39

Socrates

HE 1.

6-7;

Sozomen HE 2.23.

40

Philostorgius

HE 2. 2.

41

A document was

then

read,

containing popular

complaints

(xai

yparp.t0(azTov

&avyTtvaXctxo

qTi.LOtx(CV

xpoilaeo)v)

hat the

people

of Alexandria could

not continue their

attendance at

church on his account. Sozomen

HE 2.

25,

col 1004a.

42

See

D.

Delia,

Alexandrian

Citizenship During

the Roman

Principate

(Atlanta, 1991);

Haas,

Late Roman

Alexandria,

chap.

3.

43

Athan.

Ep. Ency.

4;

Hist. Ar.

31, 48-49,

54.

44

Athan. Apol. ad Constant. 28; Hist. Ar. 73.

45

Athan. Hist. Ar. 78 col. 788d.

46

Aside from the

probable pagan

majority among

the

bouleutai,

the

urban elite

undoubtedly

included some Homoousians

since Athanasius himself mentions

certain

well-born men

(iuyvveisav8poag)

ho

were

persecuted during

the

Arian

conflict

in

339:

Athan.

Ep.

Ency.

4

col. 232a.

47

Athan. Hist. Ar. 55-56.

48

Athan. Hist. Ar. 73.

49

See C.A.

Forbes,

Neoi

(Middletown,

Conn.,

1933);

J.

Delorme,

Gymnasion

(Bibliotheque

des Ecoles

Fransaises

d'Athens et de

Rome,

1960);

Pauly-Wissowa

R-E

s.

v. 'Neoi'

by

F.

Poland,

vol. 16.2:

2401-2409;

and D.

Delia,

Alexandrian

Citizenship, pp.

71-88.

50

Athan.

Hist. Ar. 48.

51

Herodian

4.

9.

6-7;

Cassius Dio 78. 23.

52

Athan.

Ep.

Ency.

4;

Hist. Ar.

31,

54.

53

Athan. Hist. Ar.

13,

Hist. Ar.

72.

54

Athan.

Apol.

de

Fuga.

6;

Hist. Ar.

13,

60-61.

5

Evagrius

HE

2. 5.

56

Athan.

Apol.

c. Ar.

15;

Hist. Ar. 55.

57

Athan. Hist. Ar. 54-55, 58.

For this social

grouping,

cf. Acts of

the

Apostles

17:

1-9;

Plut.

Aem.

38.

3.

In

Alexandria,

they

appear

earlier

in

Philo

in Flaccum

64, 95;

Legatio

ad Gaium 122. The

&yopaTot

appear

to

be identical to

the

group

referred

to as those of

the

Dromos,

(M.

Petr. Al.

16).

58

Athan.

Ep.

Ency.

6.

59

Festal Index 18.

60

On the

sequence

of these

events,

see M.

Simonetti,

La crisi

ariana,

pp.

226-230,

326-

333;

E.D.

Hunt,

Christians

and

Christianity

in Ammianus

Marcellinus,'

CQ

n.s. 35

(1985)

186-200;

J.

Matthews,

The Roman

Empire ofAmmianus

(Baltimore,

1989),

pp.

441-444;

M.

Caltabiano,

'L'assassinio di

Giorgio

di

Cappadocia,'

Quaderni

Catanesi di Studi

classici e medievali 7 (1985): 17-57; and Haas, supra n. 19.

61

Theodoret

HE 4. 18-19: Festal Index

39;

Hist.

Aceph.

5. 11-13.

Department

of

History

Villanova

University,

Villanova,

Pennsylvania

19085

245

the arians of alexandria

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