'Let us die that we may live'

Greek homilies on Christian Martyrs from Asia Minor, Palestine and Syria c.350-c.450 AD

Pauline Allen, Boudewijn Dehandschutter, Johan Leemans, Wendy Mayer

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2003
• Print ISBN:
  9780415240420
• eBook ISBN:
  9781134551422
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Ancient History
• Index: History

This book presents fresh, lively translations of fourteen such homilies, the majority for the first time in English. The homilies were delivered in some of the main cities of the Greek East of the later Roman Empire, by well-known figures such as Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa and John Chrysostom, as well as the equally gifted preachers Asterius of Amasea and Hesychius of Jerusalem.
'Let us die that we may live' offers an approachable, surprising, and not always reverent insight into the life of the Early Church. It reveals the full importance of the martyr homily in terms of style, treatment of its subject, and social and liturgical issues, in a way that will be useful across disciplines such as theology, classical studies, and religion.

Texts

I

BASIL OF CAESAREA

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Basil, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, is not known in the first instance for his martyr homilies. His name is more usually associated with his brother Gregory of Nyssa and his friend Gregory of Nazianzen, with the later phases of the Arian controversy, with the development of a theology of the Spirit, or with the reordering of the monastic life.¹

In stark contrast to Asterius of Amasea or Hesychius of Jerusalem, we are remarkably well informed about Basil. Born around 330 in Pontus, Basil was educated in Caesarea, Antioch and Athens (where his Cappadocian friend Gregory of Nazianzen was also a student). He was baptised in 357 and shortly afterwards made a tour of the monasteries in Egypt. Subsequently he returned to Pontus and led an ascetic life with friends and relatives. At a synod in Constantinople in 360 Basil appeared in the company of Eustathius of Sebaste and Basil of Ancyra as a member of the semi-Arian or Homoiousian party, which tried to find the middle ground between the extreme Arian position of Eunomius and the pro-Nicene stance of Athanasius and others. Basil was, however, later to become a staunch supporter of the Nicene Creed, although he died before its vindication at the Council of Constantinople in 381. In 365 Basil returned to Caesarea, and on 14 June 370 he was consecrated bishop there. Despite his involvement in ecclesiastical politics and in the ascetic life, he was committed to the welfare of his congregations, and established hospitals for the poor. He died on 1 January 379.

Basil was also a prolific writer, composing homilies on biblical books, five books against Eunomius, treatises on the Holy Spirit, ascetical works and homilies, and liturgical works. We also have nearly 370 of his letters.

The enormous influence which Basil had as a homilist can be judged by the extent to which his homilies survive in translations. The series of nine homilies On the Six Days of Creation (CPG 2835), for example, was translated not only into Latin but also into Syriac, Georgian, Armenian, and Arabic. The same is true of the fourteen homilies on the Psalms (CPG 2836) and of many of his individual homilies. Severus of Antioch (c.465–538), in his Homily 18 On the Forty Martyrs, which was preached on 9 March 513, used Basil’s homily on the same topic.

We have four extant Greek homilies of Basil on martyrs,² all apparently delivered within a span of four years (372–76). However, the cult of the martyrs in Caesarea was developed to such an extent, as attested by the variety of martyrs’ sanctuaries in the city and its vicinity,³ that we can assume that the bishop preached on other martyr feasts homilies which have not come down to us.⁴ Basil’s homily on the local martyr Julitta (CPG 2849), a rich resident of Caesarea whose remains rested in one of the most beautiful monuments of the city and whose feast had been established by Basil himself, was probably delivered in 372.⁵ The homily on the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (Armenia) was delivered in 373,⁶ as was the homily on the local martyr Gordius (CPG 2862).⁷ The homily on the obscure local martyr Mamas, a shepherd, whose feast was held on 2 September, was probably delivered in 376 (CPG 2868).⁸ On these feastdays of martyrs the communal and public liturgical act, of which the homily was an integral part, resulted in what Philip Rousseau calls a ‘sense of collusion between preacher and audience, of shared engagement in a common experience’ (Rousseau 1994: 47 with n. 87), which is particularly vivid in Basil’s preaching.

TEXTS

A homily on the martyr Gordius

Introduction

Basil’s homily on the local martyr Gordius, a centurion who as a catechumen was martyred during the reign of Licinius, was delivered in Caesarea in 373.⁹ Establishing the day on which it was delivered is a matter of discussion. Bernardi believes that the homily was delivered in spring (Bernardi 1968: 80), an impression that can be gained from the opening lines, mentioning that the martyr ‘changes winter depression into spring brightness’. The text, however, can also be taken to mean that it is winter and that the swarming behaviour of the crowd and the martyrs, who attract the crowd like flowers, lead him to claim that winter has been (miraculously) converted into spring. Both a day in January and a day in spring conform with the data in the various calendars of saints’ feasts, some of which mention it for early January, others on 2 March.¹⁰

We are told at the beginning of the homily that the place of delivery was a martyrium outside the city, and that this monument was dedicated to more than one martyr. The audience is said to be in attendance in great numbers, and Gordius is vaunted as being particularly popular with them because he is a native of Caesarea. However, Basil himself admits that he is short on facts about the martyr’s exploits, speaking of ‘some vague story which has been transmitted to us’. However, the general veracity of his account of the martyr’s death is guaranteed by the fact that in the audience there are some who remember the event. The breakdown in civic order caused by the persecution is said to have forced Gordius to turn his back on city life in order to withdraw to the mountains. Yet in time he returned to Caesarea, precisely to the hippodrome – a symbolic location in urban living. When his martyrdom took place, the entire population of Caesarea went out of the city to see it, just as Basil’s audience has left the city behind to celebrate the feast of Gordius, only to return to it afterwards, ‘vividly aware of what it once had wrongly represented, and of what it might now become’ (Rousseau 1994: 187).

Basil’s homily was translated into Armenian and Old Church Slavonic, and was used in Byzantine hagiographical collections and menologia for 3 January (Halkin 1961: 6). An Armenian Passion of Gordius also survives (Esbroeck 1976: 357–86). The St Gordius of Antioch whose Passion survives in Greek is a doublet of St Gordius of Caesarea (Halkin 1961: 6–8), and a camouflage for the martyr Hesychius of Antioch (Lackner 1970).

Translated from the edition by Garnier; PG 31, 489–508.

Text

1. The rule of nature for bees is not to leave the beehives before their king (sic) leads the way in flight. And so, since I have just now seen the Lord’s people going out to the heavenly flowers – the martyrs, I look for their leader. Who is it who stirs up this great swarm? Who is it who changes winter depression into spring brightness? For pouring forth just now out of the city, as if from beehives, in a crowd the people have reached the ornate shrine outside the city, this revered and very beautiful stadium of the martyrs.¹¹ And so, since the wonder of the martyr has brought us [here] too, excited, having forgotten our feebleness, come let us too with a forceful voice hum around the man’s works like around a flower, performing deeds that are both holy and at the same time a source of grace for those present. For when the just man is praised, the people will rejoice (Prov 29:2), the wise Solomon has just told us.¹²

And yet I have been at a loss within myself about what the enigmatic saying of the author of the Book of Proverbs could possibly mean. Does he mean that when an orator or a clever speech-writer composes a speech to stun his audience, deafening his hearers with elegant resonance, the people rejoice, receiving favourably both the breadth of the ideas and the arrangement [of the speech], and the solemnity of the diction and the harmony he has wrought? But he certainly wouldn’t ever have said that, because nowhere does he use such a figure of speech. Nor would he have encouraged us to show off eulogistically by praising the blessed ones, because he preferred pedestrian diction and plain expression throughout his work. So what do his words mean? [They mean] that people rejoice with spiritual rejoicing at the very remembrance of the exploits of the just, urged on by what they hear to energetic imitation of good persons. I mean that the account of men who have lived a good life produces as it were a light for those who are being kept safe with regard to the road of life. This is why, as soon as we have heard the Spirit recounting the life of Moses, we are immediately energised to emulate the man’s virtue, and the gentleness of their way of life (cf. Num 13:3) obviously becomes a matter of emulation and blessing to each person.

I mean that whereas the encomia of other human beings are composed out of the multiplication of words, the truth of the exploits performed by the just is enough to demonstrate the superiority of their virtue. The upshot is that when we set out in detail the lives of those who have been eminent in piety, in the first instance we are glorifying the Master through his servants; we are praising the just through their witness, with which we are familiar; we are making the people rejoice through hearing fine deeds. I mean that the life of Joseph is an encouragment to chastity (cf. Gen 39:8), and the tales of Samson [are an encouragement] to bravery (cf. Judg 14:5–9).

2. Divine teaching, therefore, does not recognise the rule of encomia, but counts the witness of the exploits rather than encomia, on the grounds that it is quite sufficient in order to praise the saints, and enough to profit those striving for virtue. For the rule of encomia is to examine the fatherland, and investigate pedigree, and discourse on education, but our rule, silencing mention of the people around them, fills the witness of each from their individual deeds. For why am I more august on this account, if the city which once bore the burden of grievous and huge struggles sets up glorious trophies over its enemies? Why [am I more august] if it enjoys a favourable location such that it is comfortable in both winter and summer? But if it both produces men, and is suitable for raising cattle, what benefit do I have from that? But also with regard to herds of horses it outdoes any city under the sun. How, then, can these facts make us better with regard to human virtue? Or even if we were to discourse on the peaks of the neighbouring mountain, [saying] both how they are above the clouds and how much they protrude into the sky, shall we deceive ourselves, on the grounds that we have piled up praise for these men on account of these facts? Most ridiculous of all, when the entire world was disdained by the just, is that we should pile up encomia to them from the paltry objects which they despised.

Well then, remembering them is enough to profit us continually. For indeed they do not need a supplement to their good repute, but remembrance of them by imitating them is essential to us in this life in order to imitate them. For just as light automatically accompanies fire, and a sweet smell accompanies unguent, so too does benefit necessarily follow on the heels of good works. And yet this is no small task – to arrive accurately at the truth of what happened in those days. I mean that there is some vague story which has been transmitted to us preserving the manly feats of the man in his struggles. And in some way it is reasonable that we compare ourselves to painters. For when they translate images out of images, mostly, as is likely, they fall short of the model. And there is no small danger that we, who have lost sight of the events, will diminish the truth. But since the day has dawned which brings remembrance of the martyr who struggled notably in making acts of witness for Christ, let us say what we know.

He was born in this city, which is why we love him more, because he is our own ornament. I mean that just as fruitful trees provide the fruit which they grow for their own land, so too Gordius, running up from our womb and raised to the greatest height of fame, gives the enjoyment of his own fruit of piety to the land which produced and reared him. Beautiful indeed are the exotic fruits when they are both sweet and nutritious, but much sweeter than foreign fruits are the native and home-grown, which, as well as being enjoyable, have an added attraction in our eyes because they are our own.

After enlisting as a soldier in the army he occupied a prominent position such that he was entrusted with the leadership of one hundred soldiers, and he was conspicuous among the military ranks for the strength of his body and the bravery of his spirit. When the tyrant of the time¹³ extended his bitterness and savagery of spirit to war with the church, and lifted against piety his hand which fought against God, there were proclamations everywhere and edicts were spread in every marketplace and every place of note, not to worship Christ or the penalty for worshippers would be death. And there was a command for everybody to bow down before idols, and to regard as gods stones and wood fashioned with the mark of craft, or for the disobedient to suffer unbearable punishments. There was confusion and disturbance through the whole city, and booty was taken from pious people. Money was seized, the bodies of those who loved Christ were torn to shreds with beatings, women were dragged through the middle of the city, there was no pity for youth, no respect for age. Instead, those who did no wrong underwent the punishment of criminals; prisons were crowded, those who had prosperous houses were bereft, whereas lonely places were full of people seeking refuge. The complaint made against those who suffered these things was piety, and father betrayed child, and son informed against father, brothers raged against each other, and slaves rose up against their masters. As a result of madness induced by the Devil everyone did not recognise each other, and a frightful night descended on human life. Houses of prayer were demolished by unholy hands; altars were overturned; there was no offering, no incense, no place for sacrifice. Instead, a terrible depression, like a cloud, encompassed everything. The worshippers of the divine were ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• General Introduction
• Introduction
• Martyrium And Relics: The Centre Of The Martyr Cult
• The Yearly PanèGuris
• Martyr Homilies
• Approaching the Homilies: Possibilities and Limits
• Texts
• I Basil of Caesarea
• II Gregory of Nyssa
• III John Chrysostom
• IV Asterius of Amasea
• V Hesychius of Jerusalem
• Bibliography
• Scriptural Index
• Thematic Index