Theodoret's People: Social Networks and Religious Conflict in Late Roman Syria

by Adam M. Schor

Overview

Theodoret’s People sheds new light on religious clashes of the mid-fifth century regarding the nature (or natures) of Christ. Adam M. Schor focuses on Theodoret, bishop of Cyrrhus, his Syrian allies, and his opponents, led by Alexandrian bishops Cyril and Dioscorus. Although both sets of clerics adhered to the Nicene creed, their contrasting theological statements led to hostilities, violence, and the permanent fracturing of the Christian community. Schor closely examines council transcripts, correspondence, and other records of communication. Using social network theory, he argues that Theodoret’s doctrinal coalition was actually a meaningful community, bound by symbolic words and traditions, riven with internal rivalries, and embedded in a wider world of elite friendship and patronage.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520268623
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	05/17/2011
Series:	Transformation of the Classical Heritage , #48
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Adam M. Schor is Assistant Professor of History at the University of South Carolina.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations

Introduction

Part I. Theodoret and His Antiochene Clerical Network
1. Traces of a Network: Friendship, Doctrine, and Clerical Communication, 423–451
2. Shape of a Network: Antiochene Relational Patterns
3. Roots of a Network: Theodoret on the Antiochene Clerical Heritage
4. Ephesus and After: Leadership, Doctrinal Crisis and the Transformation of the Antiochene Network
5. Forging Community: Theodoret’s Network and its Fall

Part II. Theodoret and Late Roman Networks of Patronage
6. Mediating Bishops: Patronage Roles and Relations in the Fifth Century
7. The Irreplaceable Theodoret: Patronage Performance and Social Strategy
8. Patronage, Human and Divine: The Social Dynamics of Theodoret’s Christology

Epilogue: The Council of Chalcedon and the Antiochene Legacy

Notes
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Makes a major contribution to our understanding of late-antique Roman society."—Catholic Historical Review

"A pleasure to read. . . . A valuable contribution to scholarship."—Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies

Editorial Reviews

Makes a major contribution to our understanding of late-antique Roman society.

Catholic Historical Review

A pleasure to read. . . . A valuable contribution to scholarship.

Hugoye: Journal Of Syriac Studies