quiroga2015 - the literary connoisseur. socrates scholasticus on rhetoric, literature and religious...

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vigiliae christianae 69 (05) 09-

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VigiliaeChristianae

The Literary Connoisseur Socrates Scholasticus on Rhetoric Literature and Religious Orthodoxy

Alberto J Quiroga PuertasAncient Greek Department Faculty of Humanities University of Granada Granada 18071 Spain

aquirogaugres

Abstract

This paper explores Socrates Scholasticusrsquo accounts of rhetorical deliveries and allu-sions to bishopsrsquo oratorical displays in the light of new tendencies in late antique litera-ture and historiography with the aim of concluding that the Church historian considered that rhetorical deliveries were part of the negotiating process in the search of religious consensus

Keywords

Socrates Scholasticus ndash rhetorical criticism ndash sophistry ndash religious orthodoxy

Modern studies on the Historia Ecclesiastica of Socrates Scholasticus have mainly focused on its importance as a source of information on the internal disputes and the development of heresies within the Church in the IVth and Vth centuries but few lines have been devoted to the consideration of the HE as a work of literary criticism A closer examination of Socratesrsquo HE however reveals that the Church historian used a vocabulary replete with allusions to rhetorical literary and stylistic issues in his discussions of religious themes

I would like to thank prof Peter Van Nuffelen Prof Maijastina Kahlos and the anonymous referees for their useful suggestions and kind criticism This paper has been written in the framework of the research project ldquoThe Theatricality of Rhetoric and the Establishment of canons in late antique Greek and Latin literaturerdquo (FFI2012-32012) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness

110 quiroga puertas

vigiliae christianae 69 (2015) 109-122

and in his evaluation of relevant Christian figures His judgement of the lit-erary style of Christian and pagan authors as well as of the techniques they employed in the performance of oratorical pieces is indicative of an inter-est in rhetoric and literature that transcended the sphere of literary criticism and linked these disciplines to the religious milieu of his time The aim of this paper is to study how Socratesrsquo interest in the rhetorical and literary style of Christian elites interacted with his views on religious orthodoxy and con-sensus In what follows I will analyze passages from Socratesrsquo HE in order to prove that he resorted to literary and rhetorical criticism to support his histo-riographical and religious tenets by analyzing how descriptions of rhetorical deliveries as well as knowledge of the classical paideia and of the Scriptures were displayed and to what extent such performances were associated with the religious milieu of the post-Constantinian epoch First I will survey his comments on the literary style of his own work and will relate them to his reli-gious beliefs and his historiographical program His insistence on emphasizing the plain style he professed enabled him to locate his HE in a specific posi-tion from which he criticized the rhetorical and literary style of some Christian elites Second I will pay particular attention to his description of bishopsrsquo rhe-torical and literary style and its relationship with religious issues In his work the charge of sophistry is likened to heresy or paganism whilst the adequate use of rhetoric and classical paideia is coterminous with religious consensus and a proper self-fashioning

The Humble Historian

Socratesrsquo close acquaintance with and broad-minded approach to the classical paideia his instruction under the grammarians Helladius and Ammonius as well as his relationship with the erudite circle of Troiumllos1 allowed the Church historian to be in a privileged position to negotiate the transference of the pagan cultural legacy in the process of the formation of Christian scholarship

1 On the circle of Troiumllos A Cameron and J Long Barbarians and Politics at the Court of Arcadius (Berkeley-Oxford 1993) 71-83 L Gardiner ldquoThe Imperial Subject Theodosius II and Panegyric in Socratesrsquo Church Historyrdquo in C Kelly (ed) Theodosius II rethinking the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity (Cambridge 2013) 245-246 P Van Nuffelen Un heacuteritage de paix et de pieacuteteacute etude sur les histoires eccleacutesiastiques de Socrate et de Sozomegravene (Leuven 2004) 14-24 M Wallraff Der Kirchenhistoriker Sokrates Untersuchungen zu Geschichtsdarstellung Methode und Person (Goumlttingen 1997) 97-99

111the literary connoisseur


and to adapt it to the stylistic features of his own work2 What is noteworthy however is that Socrates justified his humble prose style by assessing literary matters in terms of religious orthodoxy and consensus Thus the proemium of HE books one three and six contains clear indications of what and most especially how Socrates wanted to achieve his goals when he composed his work In a programmatic passage at the very beginning of the HE Socrates clearly states that he will write his ecclesiastical history by detaching himself from the lofty and grand style of Eusebius of Caesarearsquos Life of Constantine and that his prose will follow a plain style since he aims to write an historical account Discarding the grandiloquent style of panegyrics such as Eusebiusrsquo (HE 11 τῆς πανηγυρικῆς ὑψηγορίας τῶν λόγων)3 and adopting a plain prose style (HE 11 οὐ φράσεως ὄγκου) should not be taken as the mere usage of a com-monplace of Christian literature4 The Church historian managed to incorpo-rate his claim of the usage of ἀκρίβεια ταπεινός and σαφήνεια in his religious view of Christian orthodoxy since in Socratesrsquo HE one of the means to achieve religious consensusmdasha leitmotiv in his work and the desirable state in which the Church would achieve its goalsmdashwas through respecting the humble style and refraining from pompous displays of culture and rhetoric5 Similarly

2 On Socratesrsquo attitudes toward classical paideia see Pauline Allen ldquoSome aspects of Hellenism in the early Greek Church Historiansrdquo Traditio 43 (1987) 372-374 Z Farkas ldquoSocrates Scholasticus on Greek Paideiardquo Acta Ant Hung 45 (2005) 187-192 P Maraval ldquoSocrate et la culture grecquerdquo in B Pouderon and Y-M Duval (eds) Lrsquohistoriographie de lrsquoEglise des pre-miers siegravecles (Paris 2001) 290-291 T Urbainczyk Socrates of Constantinople historian of Church and State (Ann Arbor 1997) 13-20 On Socrates encouraging the learning of paideia to refute pagans see D F Buck ldquoSocrates Scholasticus on Julian the Apostaterdquo Byzantion 732 (2003) 309-310

3 On ὑψηγορία as a topic of encomium among Christians see Gregory of Nazianzusrsquo praise of Basil of Caesarearsquos ὑψηγορία Ep 47 Or 4365

4 See for instance Epiphanius of Salamisrsquo statement at the beginning of his Panarion (Proem 22) ἁπλῇ τῇ διαλέκτῳ ἁπλῷ τῷ λόγῳ In this sense vid C Riggi ldquoEpifanio e il biblico dialogo coi non cristiani nella cornice del Panarionrdquo Salesianum XXXV1 (1974) 235 ldquonon si trata soltanto di un retorico genus dicendi simplex ma anche di una concreta realizzazione della divina immagine nellrsquo uomordquo On Christian plain style E Auerbach Literary language and its public in Late Latin Antiquity and in the Middle Ages (London 1965) 35-50 P Auksi Christian Plain Style the evolution of a spiritual idea (Montreal-London 1995) A Cameron Christianity and the Rhetoric of the Empire the development of the Christian discourse (Berkeley 1991) 33-39

5 HE 112-3 Γράφων δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς εἰς τὸν βίον Κωνσταντίνου τῶν κατrsquo Ἄρειον μερικῶς μνήμην πεποίη-ται τῶν ἐπαίνων τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τῆς πανηγυρικῆς ὑψηγορίας τῶν λόγων μᾶλλον ὡς ἐν ἐγκωμίῳ φροντίσας ἢ περὶ τοῦ ἀκριβῶς περιλαβεῖν τὰ γενόμενα Ἡμεῖς δὲ προθέμενοι συγγράψαι τὰ ἐξ ἐκεί-νου μέχρι τῶν τῇδε περὶ τὰς ἐκκλησίας γενόμενα τῆς ὑποθέσεως ἀρχὴν ἐξ ὧν ἐκεῖνος ἀπέλιπε

112 quiroga puertas


avoidance of the majesty of encomiastic productions and rejection of exhibit-ing any form of rhetorical prowess can be found in his encomiastic lines to praise Theodosius II6 In book III dedicated to the deeds of the emperors Julian and Jovian Socrates insists on his avoidance of a bombastic prose style (HE 31 κόμπον φράσεως) and advocates literary clearness by means of a humble and low style because he is composing a Christian history (HE 31 Χριστιανικῆς δrsquo οὒσης τῆς ἱστορίας διὰ σαφήνειαν ταπεινὸς καὶ χαμαίζηλος)7 Again in the proe-mium of book six the Church historian reminds Theodore the man who com-missioned the composition of the HE that the nature of his work demands clearness and a low style (HE 61 τὴν σαφεστέραν μὲν δοκοῦσαν ταπεινοτέραν δὲ φράσιν ἐπιτηδεύσαμεν) Beauty of language rhetorical amplifications and the use of ancient words (HE 61 καλλιλεξίᾳ χρήσασθαι τῇ παλαιᾷ φράσει αὔξειν) would not satisfy the πεπαιδευμένοι who craved the grand style and would con-fuse the unlearned8

In my opinion the fact that Socrates chose Eusebius of Caesarearsquos Life of Constantine as the point of departure with which to contrast his work fits not only into his historiographical program9 but also into his religious scheme of equating a humble prose style with religious consensus and flamboyancy with conflict The multiplication of forms of expression and styles was a concern that Socrates transferred to the religious sphere In his opinion the polyphony of discourses only contributed to undermining authority and creating dis-

ποιησόμεθα οὐ φράσεως ὄγκου φροντίζοντες See also I Krivushin ldquoSocrates Scholasticusrsquo Church History themes ideas heroesrdquo Byzantinische Forschungen 232 (1996) 102-104 On the programmatic proem of book 1 see P Van Nuffelen Un heacuteritage de paix et de pieacuteteacute etude sur les histoires eccleacutesiastiques de Socrate et de Sozomegravene (Leuven 2004) 107-110 181-183 Also D Rohrbacher The Historians of Late Antiquity (London-New York 2002) 110 M Wallraff Der Kirchenhistoriker Sokrates Untersuchungen zu Geschichtsdarstellung Methode und Person (Goumlttingen 1997) 138-145

6 HE 722 Ἐγὼ δὲ οὔτε τῷ βασιλεῖ γνωρισθῆναι σπουδάζων οὔτε λόγων ἐπίδειξιν ποιήσασθαι βουλόμενος

7 On the historiographical traditions from which Socrates drew inspiration for this passage see P Van Nuffelen Un heacuteritage de paix et de pieacuteteacute eacutetude sur les histoires eccleacutesiastiques de Socrate et de Sozomegravene (Leuven 2004) 183-187

8 Similar charges in his criticism of Philip of Side (HE 727)9 On his historiographical program see L Gardiner ldquoThe Imperial Subject Theodosius II and

Panegyric in Socratesrsquo Church Historyrdquo in C Kelly (ed) Theodosius II Rethinking the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity (Cambridge 2013) 254-255 P Perichon and P Maraval Socrate de Constantinople Histoire Ecclesiastique vol I (Paris 2004) 14-22



union whilst unity and consensus would be secured by literary simplicitas10 Note for instance his frequent use of words deriving from the polysemic φωνή (συμφων- ὁμόφων- and διαφων-) as representatives of religious union and con-flict Socrates approved of the consensus derived from συμφων- and ὁμόφων- and condemned the conflicts caused by the incompatibility of different voices and opinions (διαφων-)11 thus following suit in the Platonic tradition of allu-sions to civic union and political consensus by the usage of συμφων- ὁμόφων- and διαφων-12

Socratesrsquo literary criticism can be related to one of the points that recent contributions to late antique historiography have made namely that rhetorical composition and the genre of historiography were closely intertwined in Late Antiquity13 In this case what is especially relevant is the use of such terminol-ogy when discussing religious issues in the HE as Socrates incorporated his rhetorical and literary criticism into his historiographical project as part of a strategy to highlight the idiosyncratic features of heretics and the orthodox14 In addition to his comments on his own humble prose style Socrates dealt with other literary issues that he related to his religious tenets His testimonies of rhetorical deliveries as an active element in the making of religious ortho-doxy or in the creation of religious disunion have usually been overlooked by modern scholars As we will see Socratesrsquo references to public speaking occasions in ecclesiastical contexts show that he considered rhetorical deliv-eries to be part of the process of religious persuasion when rhetoric was not coercively used

10 P Van Nuffelen Un heacuteritage de paix et de pieacuteteacute etude sur les histoires eccleacutesiastiques de Socrate et de Sozomegravene (Leuven 2004) 184-185

11 συμφων HE 12 18 19 210 227 230 240 412 ὁμόφων HE 18 221 226 231 237 430 510 διαφων HE 17-9 41 432 510

12 Pl Phaed 101d Crat 394c Pol 292b Leg 691a On the influence of this terms in Middle and Neoplatonism see J Campos Daroca and J L Loacutepez Cruces ldquoMaxime de Tyr et la Voix du Philosopherdquo Philosophie Antique 6 (2006) 86-90

13 P Van Nuffelen Orosius and the Rhetoric of History (Oxford 2012) 77-82 See also M Kempshall Rhetoric and the Writing of History (Manchester 2011) 121-264

14 In a recent work Gardiner has analysed Socratesrsquo prowess when it came to containing the contradictions of two literary genres the rhetorical panegyric and historiography see L Gardiner ldquoThe Imperial Subject Theodosius II and Panegyric in Socratesrsquo Church Historyrdquo in C Kelly (ed) Theodosius II Rethinking the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity (Cambridge 2013) 246-257 especially 258 ldquopanegyrical writing is understood independent of any specific sectarian or personal bias to distort moral assessments of its subjectsrdquo

114 quiroga puertas


Socratesrsquo ldquoPhilostratean Bishopsrdquo

The Church historian did not consider the practice and performance of rheto-ric to be a positive or a negative aspect in toto As Meriel Jones has argued in a recent book possession and display of classical paideia was not always a subject of praise but a feature that could become a friend or a foe depending on the person and the context in which paideia was exhibited15 In Socratesrsquo HE the display of rhetorical prowess and knowledge of Classical paideia had to contribute to the creation of religious consensus and the avoidance of fur-ther disputes within the Church in order to become a subject of praise I think that the assumption ldquothat aesthetic and particularly stylistic preferences do not follow religious affiliationrdquo16 in Late Antiquity should be reviewed in light with Socratesrsquo view While it is true that ldquoderiving social categories from liter-ary stylerdquo17 may involve some methodological difficulties Socratesrsquo consistent use of certain vocabulary18 seems to imply that the Church historian related religious identities to some literary attitudes In his HE religious affiliations and identities inculcated specific forms of expression

Socrates depicted the debates over heresies internal disputes and conflicts among Christians as fought in the rhetorical arena in the form of agones or embodied by bishops with a penchant for literary minuteness and sophistical flamboyancy In this sense Peter Van Nuffelen has recently argued that dialecti-cal disputation was the normal procedure of acting when dealing with religious confrontations19 For instance the main fracture within the Church in the IVth century Arianism developed despite the Emperor Constantinersquos best efforts to appease Alexanderrsquos and Ariusrsquo appetite for oratorical rivalry (φιλονεικία a frequently used word in Socratesrsquo work)20 and to persuade them to accommo-

15 M Jones Playing the Man performing masculinities in the ancient Greek novel (Oxford 2012) 17

16 M J Roberts The Jeweled Style poetry and poetics in Late Antiquity (Ithaca 1989) 617 R Lim Public Disputation Power and social order in Late Antiquity (Berkeley 1995) 12518 See for instance ἀκρίβεια (D H Comp 2625 Longin 3522) αὔξησις (D H Rh 279

Longin 1112 1211 21) καλλιλογέω (D H 832 Comp 380 1689 Longin Rh 5619) σαφήνεια (Longin 1134 Hermog Prog 1023 Id 12 14) ταπεινός (Ar Rh 1404b6 D H Comp 1266 1868 Longin 824 Hermog Id 14151) ὑψηγορία (Longin 812 1411 3445)

19 P Van Nuffelen ldquoThe end of open competition Religious disputations in Late Antiquityrdquo forthcoming

20 On φιλονεικία in Socrates see C Eucken ldquoPhilosophie und Dialektik in der Kirchengeschichte des Sokratesrdquo in Baumlbler B Nesselrath H-G and Schaumlublin C (eds) Die Welt des Sokrates von Konstantinopel Studien zu Politik Religion und Kultur im spaumlten 4 und fruumlhen 5 Jh n Chr (Muumlnchen 2001) 98-102



date their beliefs to the correct reading of the Scriptures by abandoning their punctiliousness and pedantic quibbling21 In fact in Socratesrsquo account the reli-gious disunion at the Council of Nicaea is symbolized by the performance of rhetorical agones previous to its celebration Each party Socrates tells us had experts in dialectics who engaged in contests (HE 18 οἱ διαλεκτικοὶ πρὸς τοὺς πολλοὺς προαγῶνας ἐποιοῦντο τῶν λόγων) that attracted an audience drawn by the pleasure of listening to what was said (HE 18 ἑλκομένων δὲ πολλῶν πρὸς τὸ τοῦ λόγου τερπνόν) By using προαγών a term usually deployed in the con-text of rhetorical and sophistical preliminary agones22 Socrates attracts the readerrsquos attention and locates the debate previous to the Council in the cul-tural scene of rhetorical contests Despite the intricate reasoning of the dispu-tants (οἱ διαλεκτικοὶ) the outcome of their debate resulted in a contest that was pleasurable to the bystandersrsquo ears (τὸ τοῦ λόγου τερπνόν) an effect far remo-ved from the original aim of the Council Socrates countered this situation by introducing the intervention of a layman who reminded them that Christ and his apostles did not engage in stylistic issues that gave rise to empty pastimes (κενὴν ἀπάτην) but that their deeds inspired honest and pure judgment (γυμνὴν γνώμην) The use of such vocabulary configured an unsympathetic portrait of the parties involved in the Council whose public display of dialectical skills provoked disunion (ὁ ἐκ τῆς διαλεκτικῆς γινόμενος θόρυβος) and was contrasted with the laymanrsquos simplicitas (ἁπλοὺν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας) These lines seem to be based on Rufinusrsquo account (HE 101-6) of the debates that took place at Nicaea but with a different purpose in mind Whilst Rufinus relates how a mere confessor despite his lack of dialectical skills refuted the rationale of a rhetori-cally gifted pagan philosopher and converted him into a Christian (HE 103) Socrates is more interested in highlighting the rhetorical disputations among the Christians

Such prejudicial statements are repeated in the description of the Council of Constantinople in 383 (HE 510) Again the different factions had del-egates that conveyed their views through the type of sophistical agones that ended up undermining unity and causing disunion (πρὸς τὸν ἀγῶνα τῆς διαλέξεωςthinspthinspthinspthinspἐνέπεσε γὰρ εἰς ἑκάστους διαφωνία) In this case these eristic

21 HE 17 Οὐκοῦν ἐφεκτέον ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις τὴν πολυλογίαν (thinspthinsp) Ὑμῶν γὰρ ἐν ἀλλήλοις ὑπὲρ μικρῶν καὶ λίαν ἐλαχίστων φιλονεικούντων (thinspthinsp) μία τις ἐν ὑμῖν ἔστω πίστις μία σύνεσις μία συνθήκη τοῦ κρείττονος ἃ δὲ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐλαχίστων τούτων ζητήσεων ἐν ἀλλήλοις ἀκριβολογεῖσθε See also R Lim Public disputation power and social order in Late Antiquity (Berkeley 1995) 182-216 Peter Van Nuffelen ldquoThe end of open competition Religious disputations in Late Antiquityrdquo forthcoming

22 Pl Lg 796d Philostr VS 510 De Gym 1113 Lib Or 343 Eun VS 1048

116 quiroga puertas


performances were counterpoised in Socratesrsquo account by Sissinius a Novatian bishop who possessed the acumen to know that dialectical contests in which φιλονεικία was involved were the root of heresies and vain contentions23

Although they represented a real danger to the unity and consensus of reli-gious affairs Socrates did not exclude rhetorical agones from his narrative nor from his ideological programme As Van Nuffelen has recently pointed out ldquoa public disputation was seen as the required first step in a process of dealing with deviant opinionsrdquo24 In the Church historianrsquos work religious disputa-tions in the guise of rhetorical confrontations served two purposes first from the audiencersquos point of view they responded to a long tradition of oratorical agones which satisfied peoplersquos desire for eloquence Second from the authorrsquos point of view rhetorical agones were a useful narrative device as they helped to show the arguments of the two sides in confrontation and to highlight in a pedagogically way the theological deviations of the unorthodox Thus Socrates identified verbal confrontations in the sophistical style with the process of the resolution of religious conflicts and internal dissensions a critical point for an author for whom peace was ldquola cleacute de sa lecture de lrsquo histoirerdquo25 Therefore rhe-torical deliveries dialectics and oratorical displays were central to the proper development of religious and theological debates in Socratesrsquo narrative as long as φιλονεικία was not involved as it promoted religious disunion and perverted the benefits that rhetoric could provide26

Following this line of thought Socrates characterized heretics and non-orthodox Christians as performers of sophistry and those responsible of the

23 HE 510 αἱ διαλέξεις οὐ μόνον οὐχ ἑνοῦσι τὰ σχίσματα ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ φιλονεικοτέρας τὰς αἱρέσεις μᾶλλον ἀπεργάζονται

24 P Van Nuffelen ldquoThe end of open competition Religious disputations in Late Antiquityrdquo forthcoming See also J Maxwell Christianization and Communication in Late Antiquity John Chrysostom and his congregation in Antioch (Cambridge 2006) 35-36 ldquoJust as philosophers dismissed ornate style and complicated reasoning as tools of deception orthodox Christians accused heretics of being sophists who confused the laity with their deceptive reasoningrdquo

25 P Van Nuffelen Un heacuteritage de paix et de pieacuteteacute eacutetude sur les histoires eccleacutesiastiques de Socrate et de Sozomegravene (Leuven 2004) 107 ldquoune reacuteaction aux traditions classiques et comme une speacutecificiteacute chreacutetienne (thinspthinsp) le refus explicite drsquoun eacuteleacutement de la culture classique (thinspthinsp) la veacuteriteacute chreacutetienne est pour tous donc aussi pour ceux qui ignorent les finesses litteacuterairesrdquo

26 For dialectics as a constituent of the true art of rhetoric see Pl Phdr 259e-266b See also Arist Rh 1404a1-3 Factions within the Church fighting with words and sophisms driven by a strong spirit of φιλονεικία became a common theme in Socratesrsquo work vid HE 123 26 237 245 316 323 47 426 433 525 67



main sources of rhetorical confrontation27 In fact some of the extra-linguis-tic features that he focused on are characteristic of the sophists portrayed by Philostratus in his Lives of the Sophists Attention-seeking behaviour extrava-gant clothing ability to declaim according to the audiencersquos taste and a money-oriented sense of oratory were characteristic of Philostratusrsquo sophists that can be found in Socratesrsquo HE applied to unorthodox and heretics For example a common portrayal of a member of a Christian elite misusing rhetoric can be found in HE 136 where Socrates narrates the conversion to Christianity of the sophist Asterius of Cappadocia28 The recently converted Asterius however took the wrong side and composed several books (still extant in Socratesrsquo time) supporting Ariusrsquo tenets His unsuccessful attempts to obtain the bishopric of a city and his wanderings around Syria preaching betrayed the common reward-seeking attitude and itinerant nature of the sophist he had been29 In HE 243 Socrates pays attention to another feature that could cause a Christian to be mistaken for a pagan or a non-orthodox public figure clothing30 In this case the attire of Eustathius of Sebastia Socrates tells us (HE 243 ξένῃ στολῇ φιλοσόφου σχῆμα) denoted his heretical nature

It was Eunomius however who epitomized how a heresiarch could through recourse to sophistry and pagan literature disseminate his ideology Since he had been instructed by another heretic Aeumltius he displayed similar flaws his ignorance of the content of the Scriptures (HE 47 ὀλιγομαθῶς μὲν ἔχων πρὸς τὰ ἱερὰ γράμματα) combined with his sophistical reasoning and oratorical prowess (HE 47 δεινότητι λόγωνthinspthinspthinspthinspσοφιστικὸν τρόπον) attracted audiences yet only contributed to increasing the sense of disorder among his See (HE 47

27 R Marback Platorsquos Dream of Sophistry (Columbia 1998) 35 ldquoClassical rhetoric and pagan learning were valuable to the Christian faith not when they invoked the sophistries of appearance but when they could be used to reveal a final truth that is simple immediate and unchangingrdquo For a more comprehensive appraisal of Socratesrsquo opinion of the role of epideictic rhetoric see T Gelzer ldquoZum Hintergrund der hohen Schaumltzung der paganen Bildung bei Sokrates von Konstantinopelrdquo in Baumlbler B Nesselrath H-G and Schaumlublin C (eds) Die Welt des Sokrates von Konstantinopel Studien zu Politik Religion und Kultur im spaumlten 4 und fruumlhen 5 Jh n Chr (Muumlnchen 2001) 120-121

28 See W Kinzig ldquoTrampled upon methinspthinspthinspthinspThe Sophists Asterius and Hecebolius turncoats in the Fourth Century ADrdquo in Wickham L R Bammel C P and E C D Hunter (eds) Christian Faith and Greek Philosophy in Late Antiquity Essays in Tribute to George Christopher Stead (Leiden 1993) 92-111

29 Examples of the itinerant nature and reward-seeking attention of sophists in Philostr VS 495 496 517 532 534 539 552 560 567 600 603 618

30 Philostr VS 513 567 587 See also M Gleason Making Men Sophists and Self-Presentation in Ancient Rome (Princeton 1995) 155-156

118 quiroga puertas


ἐξενοφώνει τοὺς ἀκροωμένους αὐτοῦ καὶ ταραχὴ κατὰ τὴν Κύζικον ἦν) Socrates records that Eunomius won the See of Cyzicus thanks to his wide vocabulary (πολυλεξίᾳ) and ability to express the same thought in different ways (πολύχους δὲ τὴν λέξιν) a characteristic feature of the sophists of the Imperial period capable of repeating the same speech in different ways to their audiencesrsquo delight31 However Socrates concludes Eunomius lost himself amid such a profusion of words and never managed to fully understand the content of the Scriptures A similar estimation is given in the portrayal of the rhetorical and literary activity of the heretic Aeumltius Socrates emphasizes the fact that his lack of knowledge and ignorance of the Scriptures (HE 235 ὀλιγομαθὴς ὁ Ἀέτιος καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν γραμμάτων ἀμύητοςthinspthinspthinspthinspἀγροικός) was aggravated by his misunder-standing of Aristotlersquos Categories a work whose tricky nature the heretic did not understand32 The result as one would expect from Socratesrsquo viewpoint was that Aeumltius produced σοφίσματα and vain opinions on religious issues In this sense Socrates reproduced Platorsquos concern (mainly Phdr 266c-269c) over artful dialecticians who did not fully understand the precise knowledge required to command a powerful and psychagogic art like rhetoric33

Some other distinctive features of the stereotypical portrait of the Philostratean sophists also appear in Socratesrsquo work Note for instance how some bishops are accused of earning money for their performances34 a shameful practice in any sphere in which Christianity was involved35 Thus in HE 611 we are told that the bishops Severian and Antiochus made their way from provincial Sees to the capital Constantinople διὰ λόγων ῥητορικῶν and once there profited (πολλὰ ἐκ τούτων χρηματισάμενος) from their preaching in the churches36 Socratesrsquo allusions to technical aspects of bishopsrsquo rhetori-cal deliveries contributed to reinforcing their assimilation to the figure of the

31 Philostr VS 523 572-573 586 32 On Arians taking recourse to Aristotle see J de Ghellinck ldquoQuelques appreacuteciations de

la dialectique et drsquoAristote durant les conflicts trinitaires du IVe siegraveclerdquo Revue drsquohistoire eccleacutesiastique 26 (1930) 5-42 R D Williams ldquoThe Logic of Arianismrdquo Journal of Theological Studies 341 (1983) 56-81

33 J Murphy ldquoDisputation Deception and Dialectic Plato on the True Rhetoric (Phaedrus 261-266)rdquo Philosophy and Rhetoric 214 (1988) 279-289 H Yunis Plato Phaedrus (Cambridge 2011) 177-223

34 Philostr VS 495 515 517 547 589 597 Christian views of the practice of receiving money in Jerome Ep 103 Basil of Caesarea Ep 338 See also Peter Van Nuffelen ldquoA war of words Sermons and social status in Constantinople under the Theodosian dinastyrdquo forthcoming

35 See for instance Acts of Andrew 7 15 16 Acts of Thomas 2036 Compare these examples with the generosity of Chrysantius bishop of Novatians Soc

HE 712



sophists The heresiarch Nestorius for example was gifted with a sweet and melodious voice (HE 729 εὔφωνος δὲ ἄλλως καὶ εὔλαλος) a virtue his associ-ate Anastasius also enjoyed (HE 732 εὔλαλοςthinspthinspthinspthinspεὐγλωττίας)37 In both cases Socrates contrasts their sweet fluency of speech with their empty rhetoric and Scriptural illiteracy38 thus illustrating that for those bishops delectare weighed more than docere

These instances from a period in which ldquoconstant vigilance was required to maintain the status of a man every external gesture was scrutinized for signs of slippagerdquo39 should be compared with the more sympathetic treatment when sophists immersed in ecclesiastical life came from the cultural circle to which Socrates was linkedmdashTroiumllus- and belonged to Novatianism40 an ortho-dox group which the Church historian always portrayed in a very positive light In HE 712 Ablabius a sophist educated at the school of Troiumllus was ordained presbyter by the Novatian bishop Chrysanthus in Constantinople and pro-duced sermons ldquoremarkably elegant and full of point (γλαφυραὶ προσομιλίαι καὶ σύντονοι)rdquo41 Contrary to the examples of Nestorius and Anastasius Ablabiusrsquo

37 On the significance of the voice in the Imperial period M Gleason Making Men Sophists and Self-Presentation in Ancient Rome (Princeton 1995) 98-101 121-130 Also A Barker ldquoPhȏnaskia for singers and orators The care and training of the voice in the Roman Empirerdquo in E Rocconi (ed) La musica nellacuteImpero Romano Testimonianze teoriche e scoperte archeologiche Atti del secondo convegno annuale di Moisa (Pavia 2010) 11-20 B Leyerle Theatrical Shows and Ascetic Lifes John Chrysostomrsquos attack on spiritual marriage (Berkeley-London 2001) 134-135 Examples of sophists gifted with εὐφωνία and εὐγλωσσία in Philostr VS 489 516 519 553 564 567 589 601 620

38 HE 729 οὐκ ἔλαθεν οὐδὲ τὸ κοῦφον τῆς διανοίας οὐδὲ τὸ θυμικὸν ἐν ταὐτῷ καὶ κενόδοξον 732 τυφούμενος γὰρ ὑπὸ τῆς εὐγλωττίας οὐκ ἀκριβῶς προσεῖχε τοῖς παλαιοῖς ἀλλὰ πάντων κρείττονα ἐνόμιζεν ἑαυτόν

39 B Leyerle Theatrical Shows and Ascetic Lifes John Chrysostomrsquos attack on spiritual marriage (Berkeley-London 2001) 122

40 On Socratesrsquo Novatianism T E Gregory ldquoNovatianism A Rigorist Sect in the Christian Roman Empirerdquo BS II1 (1975) 3-4 E A Livingstone (ed) The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford 1997) 1513 H J Vogt Coetus Sanctorum Der Kirchenbegriff des Novatian und die Geschichte seiner Sonderkirche (Bonn 1968) 159-161 P Van Nuffelen Un heacuteritage de paix et de pieacuteteacute etude sur les histoires eccleacutesiastiques de Socrate et de Sozomegravene (Leuven 2004) 44-46 M Wallraff Der Kirchenhistoriker Sokrates Untersuchungen zu Geschichtsdarstellung Methode und Person (Goumlttingen 1997) 250

41 On γλαφυρός as a quality in literary composition D H Dem 36 Comp 13 Longin 3357 Moreover in the particular cases of Ablabius and Silvanus their provenance from the pro-Novatian circle of Troiumllos secured them a positive appraisal from Socrates a member of this group See P Van Nuffelen Un heacuteritage de paix et de pieacuteteacute etude sur les histoires eccleacutesiastiques de Socrate et de Sozomegravene (Leuven 2004) 19-21

120 quiroga puertas


case came to prove that delectare and docere were two spheres of rhetoric that could be successfully combined if they were properly deployed

Abandoning the profession of oratory and sophistry and embracing Christianity had to be supplemented by a complete rejection of the sophistical way of life and by the accommodation of classical rhetoric to the purposes of the Christian orthodoxy that Socrates defended in his Ecclesiastical History In Susanna Elmrsquos words ldquovain display self-aggrandizement and self-enrichment were among the cardinal sins of those who rushed to the altar unpreparedrdquo42 In fact it is noteworthy that when Socrates refers to sophists becoming active members of Church life he employs a type of terminology related to the pro-cess of religious conversion or ordinance (Asterius HE 136 χριστιανίζειν Ablablius HE 712 πρὸς τὴν τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου τάξιν προχειρίσασθαι Silvanus HE 737 χριστιανίζειν) emphasizing in this way the new Christian dimension of a figure as frequently associated with paganism as the sophist In this sense Wallraff rsquos words regarding Socratesrsquo estimation of sophistry are in my opin-ion correct but fail to emphasize the implications of the terminology used by Socrates when referring to the conversion of a cultural statusmdashsophistmdashinto a religious onemdasha Christian43 As Krivushin has pointed out the conversion from sophists into clerics ldquois presented not as the heroesrsquo denial of their own past but as their natural ascent to a higher degree of human knowledgerdquo44

Consequently in Socratesrsquo opinion Christian rhetoric only fulfilled its duty when the orthodox used it to refute pagans and heretics In fact Socrates opined that the reason behind the enactment of the emperor Julianrsquos decree banning Christians from teaching the classical paideia was his fear that Christians would learn to reply to pagansrsquo rhetorical arguments45 especially after Julian was outwitted by Maris bishop of Chalcedon (HE 312) Similarly

42 S Elm Sons of Hellenism Fathers of the Church Emperor Julian Gregory of Nazianzus and the Vision of Rome (Berkeley 2012) 166

43 M Wallraff Der Kirchenhistoriker Sokrates Untersuchungen zu Geschichtsdarstellung Methode und Person (Goumlttingen 1997) 96 ldquoIn der Tat sind bei Sokrates (wie bei den meisten Christen der Zeit) sowohl die Begriffe σοφιστικός σοφιστής und σοφιστεύειν als auch die Ableitungen von φιλοσοφία in der Regel eher negativ konnotiert Die Sophistik treibt den Apolinarios in die Haumlresie (2467) der Glaube der Philosophen steht dem der Christen entgegen der sophistische und der christliche way of life sind sich ausschlieszligende Alternativenrdquo

44 I Krivushin ldquoSocrates Scholasticusrsquo Church History themes ideas heroesrdquo Byzantinische Forschungen 232 (1996) 105

45 A recent contribution to the ongoing debate about this teaching edict is J Harries ldquoJulian the lawgiverrdquo in Baker-Brian N and Tougher S (eds) Emperor and Author The Writings of Julian the Apostate (Swansea 2012) 121-136



the polymathy of the ἐλλόγιμος Didymus the Blind together with his learning of the Scriptures and the classical paideia countered the sophisms of the Arians (HE 425) Likewise Socrates presents the Church Fathers John Chrysostom Gregory of Nazianzus and Basil of Caesarea facing a dilemma as their rhetori-cal prowess guaranteed them a fruitful career in the profession of sophistry or civil law but they instead chose to fight Arianism (HE 426 ἀπήντων πρὸς τοὺς Ἀρειανίζοντας) or to fruitfully disseminate Godrsquos word at church (HE 63 παρrsquo αὐτοῦ λόγοι (thinspthinsp) λαμπροὶ καὶ τὸ ἐπαγωγὸν ἔχοντες (thinspthinsp) καὶ τὴν ἐξ αὐτῶν ὠφέλειαν καρποῦσθαι)

Conclusions

Contrary to Krivushinrsquos opinion that ldquothe convergence of temporal and sacred knowledge leads to wiping out the distinctions between the secular teacher and the teacher of faith in Socrates rhetoricians turn into bishops whereas priests give lessons in grammar and sophistryrdquo46 the rhetorical and literary criticism of Socratesrsquo HE suggests that the Church historian endeavoured to establish more firmly the distinctions between the orthodox and the heretic in the display of rhetoric and in other cultural performances47 Christian elites had to embody a new vir sanctus et Nicenus dicendi peritus In a work replete with accounts of the deeds and sayings of bishops and clerics48 his denuncia-tion of the reluctance of some of these figures to profess the humble style that was advocated at the end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth century clashed with the ideal of simplicitashaplotes which entailed the dismissal of the sophistical ways of delivering an oratorical piece and the acceptance of the Christian preaching style as Paul envisioned it (I Cor 1172 οὐκ ἐν σοφίᾳ λόγου) Some Christian elites if we are to follow Socratesrsquo account thought and practiced otherwise

In line with Lee Toorsquos consideration of the literary criticism to be found in Christian late antique texts as a revalorization of previously established


47 B Leyerle Theatrical Shows and Ascetic Lifes John Chrysostomrsquos attack on spiritual marriage (Berkeley-London 2001) 207 ldquoThe struggle over language and its controlmdasha struggle that was intense precisely because pagan and Christian culture were not yet clearly demarcated in the late fourth centuryrdquo

48 T Urbainczyk Socrates of Constantinople historian of Church and State (Ann Arbor 1997) 106-108

122 quiroga puertas


principles49 I think that Socrates reinvigorated rhetorical and literary criticism by applying their rules to a scenario in which doctrinal disputes within the Church were frequent For a historian claiming to write his work in a humble style the portrait and description of clericsrsquo and bishopsrsquo rhetorical deliver-ies akin to the Philostratean world in the context of theological debates and religious disputations served him to strengthen his association of literary style with religious identity50 Indeed Socratesrsquo descriptions of rhetorical deliveries in oratorical contests were not anecdotic but fundamental in the process of achieving religious consensus Such rhetorical displays however had to reflect the power of rational persuasion inherent to the nature of Classical rhetoric and its psychagogic force that prevailed upon the tendency to φιλονεικία that some Christian elites showed in religious disputations

Socrates was an original author with a historiographical programme of his own His rhetorical skills did not mesmerize audiences as did the great Christian orators of the IVth century but his project was strengthened by firm rhetorical pillars that supported his religious and political tenets

49 Y Lee Too The Idea of Ancient Literary Criticism (Oxford-New York 1998) 218-21950 D Boyarin ldquoOne Church One Voice The Drive towards Homonoia in Orthodoxyrdquo Religion

amp Literature 332 (2001) 14-17 R Lim Public Disputation Power and social order in Late Antiquity (Berkeley 1995) 209-224

Copyright of Vigiliae Christianae is the property of Brill Academic Publishers and its contentmay not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyrightholders express written permission However users may print download or email articles forindividual use

110 quiroga puertas


and in his evaluation of relevant Christian figures His judgement of the lit-erary style of Christian and pagan authors as well as of the techniques they employed in the performance of oratorical pieces is indicative of an inter-est in rhetoric and literature that transcended the sphere of literary criticism and linked these disciplines to the religious milieu of his time The aim of this paper is to study how Socratesrsquo interest in the rhetorical and literary style of Christian elites interacted with his views on religious orthodoxy and con-sensus In what follows I will analyze passages from Socratesrsquo HE in order to prove that he resorted to literary and rhetorical criticism to support his histo-riographical and religious tenets by analyzing how descriptions of rhetorical deliveries as well as knowledge of the classical paideia and of the Scriptures were displayed and to what extent such performances were associated with the religious milieu of the post-Constantinian epoch First I will survey his comments on the literary style of his own work and will relate them to his reli-gious beliefs and his historiographical program His insistence on emphasizing the plain style he professed enabled him to locate his HE in a specific posi-tion from which he criticized the rhetorical and literary style of some Christian elites Second I will pay particular attention to his description of bishopsrsquo rhe-torical and literary style and its relationship with religious issues In his work the charge of sophistry is likened to heresy or paganism whilst the adequate use of rhetoric and classical paideia is coterminous with religious consensus and a proper self-fashioning

The Humble Historian

Socratesrsquo close acquaintance with and broad-minded approach to the classical paideia his instruction under the grammarians Helladius and Ammonius as well as his relationship with the erudite circle of Troiumllos1 allowed the Church historian to be in a privileged position to negotiate the transference of the pagan cultural legacy in the process of the formation of Christian scholarship

1 On the circle of Troiumllos A Cameron and J Long Barbarians and Politics at the Court of Arcadius (Berkeley-Oxford 1993) 71-83 L Gardiner ldquoThe Imperial Subject Theodosius II and Panegyric in Socratesrsquo Church Historyrdquo in C Kelly (ed) Theodosius II rethinking the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity (Cambridge 2013) 245-246 P Van Nuffelen Un heacuteritage de paix et de pieacuteteacute etude sur les histoires eccleacutesiastiques de Socrate et de Sozomegravene (Leuven 2004) 14-24 M Wallraff Der Kirchenhistoriker Sokrates Untersuchungen zu Geschichtsdarstellung Methode und Person (Goumlttingen 1997) 97-99








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quiroga2015 - the literary connoisseur. socrates scholasticus on rhetoric, literature and religious...

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