After the death of Arius in 336, some Emperors supported his followers, but most did not, deploring their depreciation of Jesus' Godhead: and finally, in 381 and 388, their sect was proscribed and all its office-holders banished. Though it continued to prevail in the German tribes and nations, as far as Romans and provincials were concerned it came to an end. However, the damage was done, since this relentless controversy had plagued the Imperial church during its critical, formative, period -dooming Constantine's hopes of a united Christendom to failure.
The second major heresy which Constantine immediately encountered was longer-lived, and even more destructive and divisive - although limited to North Africa. This was the Donatist sect. It was named after Donatus who, in 313, had been set up as a rival candidate for the bishopric of Carthage, since the official appointee, Caecilian, was accused of softness to those members of the clergy who, during the recent pagan persecutions, had surrendered sacred scriptures and vessels and otherwise betrayed their flocks. But this protest stood for a much more deeply rooted disharmony. For the Donatists completely spurned traditional, classical, urban culture, and rejected the sovereignty of Constantine's official church which they identified with this sort of hated background. After prolonged discussions, Constantine imposed confiscations and banishment upon them. These coercive measures, it is true, were soon called off. But meanwhile the sect had already begun to draw up its own proud list of martyrs.
Their founder, with his chief supporters, was exiled to Gaul in 347, and died there some eight years later. Yet the Donatists in North Africa continued to flourish. Moreover, it was becoming ominously apparent that they could command an underground army. Such African fighters, known as circumcelliones ('those who wander about from shrine to shrine'), were seasonal labourers on the local olive plantations; and they were rapidly joined by debtors and other fugitives. Taking advantage of the religious tension, these desperate men, dressed in the costume of monks, moved around in bands, intimidating the local populations with their olive-staffs, and from time to time breaking into Catholic churches, and beating up money-lenders and others whom they had reason to dislike. 'None', declared Bishop Optatus of Milevis
(Mila), 'could be safe on his estates.. . . What landowner was not compelled to fear his own slaves?' Certain proprietors, indeed, felt it more prudent to turn a blind eye to these terrorist activities.
Some of the adherents of Donatism, who were mainly poor but came from every social class, found this sort of violence frightening. But on the whole those thugs served them effectively enough as the shock troops of their faith. Indeed, Augustine complained that a Donatist bishop could whistle them up any time he felt inclined.
Under Julian, surviving Donatist exiles returned home in triumph, and the neutrality of Valentinian I likewise operated in their favour; their cathedrals were some of the largest in Roman Africa. Yet before long they found themselves accused of supporting a local rebellion, led by the Mauretanian chieftain Gildo in 397. This gave Augustine a plausible reason to attack them, and a series of punitive official edicts against the sect was greeted by him as an act of Providence.
The outcome of a congress summoned at Carthage in 411 was utterly unfavourable to the Donatists, and the denial of all their rights was confirmed. In the following years, several further laws followed, while Augustine returned again and again to the assault, accusing them of currying favour with Rome's external enemies.
Yet these tough puritans still survived, and even flourished. At the time of the Vandal invasions of North Africa, their attitude once again caused grave anxiety. There is no evidence that they supported the invaders, although circumcelliones certainly joined their cause. Nevertheless the Donatists, in whose movement theological, egalitarian and even to some extent nationalist sentiments were perilously combined, had already made their contributions to the disunities which were shattering the Western Empire. This was not altogether their own fault. For it was persecution by the authorities that had blown up a doctrinal difference into an uncontrollable resistance movement.
Appendix 2
Why Did the Eastern and Not the Western Empire Survive?
It is no use claiming to detect a complete explanation of the fall of the Western Empire in any factor which applied to the Eastern Byzantine Empire as well, since the latter did not collapse in the fifth century AD, but instead remained in existence for a much greater length of time, until 1453 (with only a short interlude between 1204 and 1261). It is therefore necessary to speculate on the reasons why the two Empires had these quite separate and different experiences and fates.
Above all else, the Western Empire was far more vulnerable to external attack owing to its geographical location. In the words of A. H. M. Jones:
. . . The Western Empire had to guard the long fronts of the Rhine and the upper [and middle] Danube, the Eastern Emperor only the lower Danube. For on the Eastern front his neighbour was the Persian Empire, a civilized power which was not on the whole aggressive and kept its treaties.
Moreover, if the Western Emperor failed to hold any part of the Rhine and Danube fronts, he had no second line of defence; the invaders could penetrate straight into Italy and Gaul, and even into Spain. . . [whereas] no enemy could force the Bosphorus and the Hellespont, guarded by Constantinople itself.
For the same reasons the East, after its first admission of the Visigoths in 382-95, did not have to let nearly so many Germans into its provinces as settlers and federates.
Secondly, the Eastern Empire possessed a sounder social and economic structure than the West, embodying fewer glaring disunities. The American historian Glanville Downey explained why this was:
. . . The structure of the government differed significantly in the East and West. In the West, the land-owning aristocrats, some of them fantastically wealthy, contributed much less money than they should have to the cost of the army and the government. The Eastern Empire, in contrast, possessed a civil service composed largely of middle-class professionals, and while graft unavoidably existed, the Eastern government received in taxes a higher proportion of the national income than the Western government could enjoy.
The government of the East, as a result, possessed much greater resources than the government of the West; it was therefore much more capable of maintaining its defences. It was also both more populous and better cultivated (in sharp contrast to the relative situation of the two areas in modern times); and its provinces had ridden the economic storm of the third-century invasions far more easily than the Western regions.
Downey's favourable reference to the Eastern bureaucracy also reminds us that the middle classes, which formed its traditional nucleus, possessed much more ancient and firmer roots in the Eastern regions - going back to Greek times - and continued to enjoy much better economic conditions.
Furthermore, the internal political stability of the Eastern Empire was far greater. In the whole period 364-476 its internal peace was only broken by two usurpers - Procopius at the very beginning, and Basiliscus at the very end - and both were suppressed quite easily: a remarkable contrast to the extensive and costly proliferation of such rebels in the West.
These were the main reasons why the Eastern Empire survived, and the Western Empire did not. That is to say, the Easterners suffered much less from barbarian invasions, and they were also less gravely affected by the disunities described in the first eleven chapters of this book. From some of the other rifts which rent the Western Empire they suffered as badly as the Westerners, or worse. For example they had many more monastic drop-outs, and their ecclesiastical divisions were even sharper. But these problems they could surmount, because the other disharmonies that destroyed the West affected them so much less acutely.
A Who's Who of Ancient Writers
Latin
AMBROSE (ST) C. 339-97. Born at Treveri (Trier, west Germany). Bishop of Mediolanum (Milan). Works include sermons, hymns, and 91 epistles (literary letters).
AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS C. 330-
/>
95. Born at Antioch (Antakya, south-east Turkey). Pagan. Wrote history of years AD 96-378 (Books 14-31, about AD 353-78, survive).
AUGUSTINE (ST) 354-430. Born at Thagaste (Souk Ahras, Algeria). Bishop of Hippo Regius (Annaba, formerly Bone, Algeria). Ninety-three writings include Confessions (c. 397-400), On the Trinity (399-419), The City of God (413-426), and attacks on eight sets of heretics.
AUSONIUS C. 310-c. 395. Born at Burdigala (Bordeaux, south-west France). Consul in 379. Poems including the Mosella (Moselle), and 25 letters.
BENEDICT (ST) C. 480-c. 547. Born at Nursia (Norcia, central Italy). Abbot of Casinum (Monte Cassino). Wrote Rule of monastic life.
CASSIAN sec JOHN CASSIAN.
CLAUDIAN died c. 404. Born at Alexandria (Egypt). Pagan. Poems include Panegyrics, Invectives, and Rape of Proserpine.
Codes see EURIC, JUSTINIAN, THEODOSIUS II.
COMMODIAN, variously assigned to 3rd, 4th and 5th centuries AD, and to Gaul, Palestine and North Africa. Wrote metrical exposition of Christian doctrine (Carmen Apologeticum) and 80 short poems.
DE REBUS BELLICIS see ON MATTERS
OF WARFARE.
ENNODIUS c. 473-521. Born at Arelate (Aries, southern France). Bishop of Ticinum (Pavia, north Italy). Wrote poems and various prose works.
EUCIPPIUS late 5th century. Biographer of St Severinus of Noricum (Austria, Bavaria).
EURIC King of the Visigoths in Gaul and Spain, 466-84. Gave his name to collection of laws, Codex Euricianus, largely extant.
FRIGERIDUS See RENATUS.
HISTORIA AUGUSTA. Collection of biographies of Roman Emperors and princes from AD 117 to 284 (lacuna for years 244-59). The six names of alleged authors appear to be fictitious. Date of writing much disputed: perhaps end of 4th century AD.
JEROME (HIERONYMUS, ST) C. 348-
420. Born at Stridon (north-west Yugoslavia). Secretary to Pope Damasus, 382-4; founder of monastery at Bethlehem. Numerous writings include translation of Bible into Latin (the Vulgate) and attacks on Pelagian heresy.
JOHN CASSIAN c. 360-435. Born in Dobrogea (Rumania). Founder of monastery and nunnery at Massilia (Marseille, southern France). Writings include Collations, dialogues of the Desert Fathers.
JORDANES mid-6th century. A Goth. Wrote one-volume summary (Gotica) of History of Goths by Cassiodorus (died 583).
JUSTINIAN 1 East Roman (Byzantine) Emperor, 527-65. Conquered large portions of former Western Empire. Gave his name to collection of laws (Codex [two editions], Digest, Institutes, 'Novels') under direction of Tribonian.
LACTANTIUS c. 240-C. 320. Born in North Africa. Works in defence of Christianity include Divine Institution and On the Deaths of the Persecutors.
LEO 1 the Great (ST) Pope 440-61. Born in Etruria (Tuscany) (?). 432 letters and 96 sermons are extant.
MACROBIUS. Perhaps wrote c. 430. Born in North Africa (?). Probably pagan. Works include Saturnalia, academic symposium in seven books.
MARTIANUS CAPELLA Wrote between 410 and 439. Born in North Africa. Pagan. Treatise in mixed prose and verse, On the Marriage of Mercury and Philology.
NAMATIANUS see RUTILIUS.
NOTITIA DIGNITATUM see RECORD
OF OFFICIAL POSTS.
ON MATTERS OF WARFARE (DE
REBUS BELLICIS). Anonymous treatise apparently addressed to Emperors Valentinian 1 and Valens, 364-75, explaining plans for the reform of the administration and the army.
OPTATIANUS see PORPHYRIUS.
OPTATUS (ST) Time of Valentinian 1, 364-75. Born in North Africa. Bishop of Milevis or Mileum (Mila in Algeria). Writer of work denouncing the Donatist heresy.
ORIENTIUS Died soon after 439. A Gaul. Bishop of Ausci (Auch in south-west France). Writer of poem Commonitorium recommending the Christian way of life.
OROSIUS Wrote 414-17. Probably born at Bracara Augusta (Braga in north Portugal). Christian presbyter (church officer). His works included attacks on heresy and Chronicle attacking paganism (Historiae adversus Paganos).
PAULINUS OF NOLA C. 353-431. Born at Burdigala (Bordeaux, south-west France). Bishop of Nola (south-west Italy). Wrote more than 30 poems and more than 50 letters.
PAULINUS OF PELLA Wrote C. 457.
Grandson of Ausonius. Born at Pella (north Greece), lived in south-west France. Wrote Eucharisticus (Thanksgiving).
PELAGIUS Died after 419. From Britain or Ireland. Wrote commentary on 13 Pauline epistles. Seventy tracts supporting his theological viewpoint are the work not of himself but of his followers.
PORPHYRIUS OPTATIANUS Wrote
324-5. Author of verse panegyric of Constantine the Great and his eldest son Crispus.
PRUDENTIUS 348-after 405. Born in Spain, perhaps at Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza). Writer of Christian hymns and other poetry, including an attack on paganism.
QUEROLUS ('Protester'). Verse drama, apparently of 5th century AD, reflecting the viewpoint of the underground movement of the Bagaudae in Gaul.
RECORD OF OFFICIAL POSTS
(NOTITIA DIGNITATUM). List of senior offices of state (with their staffs) in the Western and Eastern Empires (AD 395), including military posts and indicating the units under their command.
RENATUS PROFUTURUS FRIGERIDUS 5th century. Of German origin. Surviving prose writings include description of Alaric's capture of Rome (410) and eulogy of Aetius.
RUTILIUS NAMATIANUS Wrote in early 4th century. Gallo-Roman, probably from Tolosa (Toulouse,
south-west France). Pagan. Wrote poetical itinerary of journey in 416 or 417, On Ms Return (De Reditu Suo).
SALVIAN c. 400-c. 480. Probably born at Treveri (Trier, west Germany). Presbyter at Massilia (Marseille, southern France). Writings include On the Governance of God (De Gubernatione Dei).
SIDONIUS APOLLINARIS C. 430-c. 488. Born in Lugdunum (Lyon, France). Bishop of Arverna (Clermont-Ferrand), 469. Wrote panegyrics and other poems, and nine books of letters.
SULPICIUS SEVERUS C. 360-c. 420. Born in Aquitania (south-west France). Writer of Life of St Martin of Tours and historical summary.
SYMMACHUS c. 340-c. 402. Roman nobleman, consul 391. Leading pagan and orator. Fragments of speeches survive, also ten books of letters.
TERTULLIAN c. 160-C. 240. Born at Carthage (Tunisia). Writer of many militant Christian works.
THEODOSIUS 11 East Roman Emperor, 408-50. Gave his name to collection of laws (Codex Theodosianus, 438).
TRIBONIAN see JUSTINIAN I.
VEGETIUS Wrote after 383. Civilian official and author of manual on Roman military institutions (De Re Militari).
VICTOR OF VITA Wrote after 484. Bishop of Vita in Byzacena (southern Tunisia). Author of History of African Persecution (by the Vandals).
Greek
ARIUS c. 260-336. Probably Libyan by birth. Christian teacher at Alexandria (Egypt), founder of Arian heresy. Three letters and fragments of Thalia (verse and prose exposition) survive.
ATHANASIUS (ST) C. 295-373. BOTTl
in Egypt, probably at Alexandria. Bishop of Alexandria. Numerous writings include hostile History of the Arian Heresy and doctrinal letters.
BASIL the Great (ST) C. 330-79. Born at Caesarea (Kayseri, Turkey). Bishop of Caesarea. Writer of Longer and Shorter Rules of monastic life, and letters, tracts and sermons.
CHRYSOSTOM See JOHN CHRYSOSTOM.
EPIPHANIUS (ST) C. 315-403. Born at Bezanduca near Eleutheropolis (Beitjibrin, Israel). Bishop of Constantia (Salamis, near Trikomo, Cyprus). Wrote Panarion (Medicine Chest), an attack on 80 heresies.
EUNAPIUS c. 345-after 414. Born at Sardis (Sart, western Turkey). Pagan philosopher and priest. Wrote Lives of the Philosophers and Sophists and Chronology from 270 to 404.
EUSEBIUS c. 260-c. 340. Bishop of Caesarea Maritima (near Zikhron Jaakov, Israel). Works include Ecclesiastical History and Life of Constantine the Great.
GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS C 329-89.
Son of bishop of Nazianzus in Cappadocia (Turkey). Briefly Patriarch of Constantinople (381). Numerous works include Five
The
ological Orations and long autobiographical poem.
JOHN CHRYSOSTOM ('Golden-mouthed') (ST), C. 354-407. Born at Antioch (Antakya, south-east Turkey). Patriarch of Constantinople (398). Works include many treatises (e.g. On the Priesthood), sermons, commentaries, and over 200 letters.
JULIAN 'the Apostate', Emperor 361-3. Pagan. Surviving writings include eight speeches, the Misopogon ('beard-hater', a satirical defence of his policy), the humorous Caesars, and 80 letters.
LIBANIUS 314-c. 393. Born at Antioch (Antakya, south-east Turkey). Pagan professor of rhetoric. Surviving works include 64 speeches and 1,600 letters.
MARCELLINUS 6th century. From Illyricum (Yugoslavia). Priest. Wrote Chronicle to 534.
OLYMPIODORUS before 380 - after 425. Born at Thebes (Luxor, Egypt). Pagan. Wrote history of memoirs (surviving only in summaries) from 407 to 425.
ORIGEN c. 185-254. Born at Alexandria (Egypt). Only a small proportion of his voluminous theological works has survived, including Exhortation to Martyrdom.
PALLADAS 4th century. Lived at Alexandria (Egypt). 150 epigrammatic poems survive in the Greek Anthology.
PRISCUS 5th century. Born at Panium-Theodosiopolis (European Turkey). Visited court
of Attila the Hun in 449. Wrote Byzantine History from at least 433-72 (long excerpts preserved).
PROCOPIUS c. 500 - after 562. Born at Caesarea Maritima (near Zikhron Jaakov, Israel). Prefect of Constantinople (562). Wrote History of the Wars of Justinian and Secret History.
SYNESIUS c. 370-413. Born at Cyrene (near Shahhat in Eastern Libya). Philosopher and Bishop of Ptolemais (Tolmeta, 410). 9 hymns, rhetorical discourses, and 156 letters.
THEMISTIUS c. 317-88. Born in Paphlagonia (north Turkey).
Pagan philosopher and rhetorician. 34 speeches, mainly official addresses, survive, and paraphrases of Aristotle.
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