1. Holy Martyrs, 1.1, Tí γ⋯ρ ⋯ντάξιον τούτων τ⋯ν πανηγύρεων; Tí δ⋯ σεμν⋯ν καí πάγκαγον ὡς τ⋯ πόλιν ὅλην íδεῖν παγγεν⋯ ⋯κφοιτ⋯σαν το⋯ ἅστεος, íερ⋯ν δ⋯ τόπον καταλαμβάνουσαν εὐσεβεíας ⋯ληθεστάτης τελεῖν καθαρ⋯ μυστήρια;

2. There are sixteen extant homilies: Asterius of Amasea. Homilies I–X1V, ed. Cornelis, Datema (Leiden: E. J. Brill), 1970Google Scholar, and “Les homélies XV et XVI d'Astérius d'Amasée,” ed. Cornelis, Datema, Sacris Erudiri 23 (1978–1979): 63–93Google Scholar. Five of the homilies celebrate martyrs (Peter and Paul, Phocas, Holy Martyrs, Euphemia, and Stephen). Against Covetousness was presented during a martyr's festival (1.1).

3. Peter and Paul, 27.2, τ⋯ς κατ⋯ χριστ⋯ν πολιεíας; On Lent, 14.4, τ⋯ς ⋯ν πολιτεíας.

4. Codex Theodosianus, XVI, 7, 4–5; 10, 12.

5. On Eleusis, see Eunapius, , Lives of the Philosophers, trans. Wright, Wilmer C. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1968), 476.Google Scholar

6. John Chrysostom was a contemporary who also denounced Kalends at the turn of the fifth century, In kalendas. Milne, J.-P., ed., Patrologiae cursus completus: Series graeca [hereafter PG] (Paris: Garnier, 1857–1892), 48:953–62Google Scholar. See also Meslin, Michel, La fête des kalendes de janvier dans l'empire romain: Étude d'un rituel de Nouvel An, Collection Latomus 115 (Brussels: Latomus, 1970), 59Google Scholar. A hardening in imperial legislation in the 390s and popular antipagan sentiment led to tensions and violence in North Africa. For Augustine's experience, see Markus, Robert, The End of Ancient Christianity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), 110–21Google Scholar. Still the celebration of Lupercalia, like Kalends, persisted despite the disapproval of bishops, Ibid., 131–35.

7. Phocas, 13.1, εἷς καí ⋯μέτερος ⋯μόδουλος πολλ⋯ν τ⋯ν ὑμῖν νομιζομένων θε⋯ν ⋯νεργεíας πληροῖ.

8. Limberis, Vasiliki, “Religion as the Cipher for Identity: The Cases of Emperor Julian, Libanius and Gregory of Nazianzus,” Harvard Theological Review 93:4 (2000): 393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

9. Ibid., 385, 390.

10. Meslin, 66–70.

11. Ibid., 69.

12. Markus, 103. He also notes that the Eastern Empire showed a tolerance for secularizing traditional celebrations and rites while Christians in the West tended to expand the sphere of religion until practically nothing was left in the secular. See also Harl, M., “La dénonciation des festivités profanes dans le discours épiscopal et monastique, en Orient Chrétien, à la fin du IV^e siècle,” in La Fête, pratique et discours d' Alexandrie hellénistique a la mission de Besançon, Centre de Recherches d'Histoire Ancienne 42, Annales Littéraires de l'Université de Besançon 262 (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1981), 130Google Scholar, who points out that condemnations of formerly “pagan” festivals were occupied with moral license, not idolatry.

13. Meslin, 70–85.

14. Libanios, , Oratio 9 Laus Kalendarum lanuariarum, vol. 1.2, Libanii Opera, ed. Richard, Foerster, 391–98, Bibliotecha Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana (Leipzig: Teubner, 1903; reprint Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1963).Google Scholar

15. Meslin, 53–59. Processions to temples to offer prayers and sacrifices were replaced by a variety of innovations, most of which usually substituted analogous Christian practices.

16. Against Kalends, 5.1–2; Meslin, 71.

17. The Hellene orator and teacher Libanius was pleased about the emperor Julian's restoration of temples and traditional festivals as civilizing influences among rural folk and the lower classes; however, he was more concerned that the Antioch town council was not doing more to foster paideia, which he believed to be a gift from the gods, helping mankind understand and relate to the gods, Limberis, 386–87.

18. Against Covetousness, 1.2, παιδαγωγεῖα τ⋯ν ψυχ⋯ν αí πανηγύρεις συνάγονται ἵνα μάρτυρας τιμ⋯ντες τ⋯ τ⋯ν μαρτύρων ὑπ⋯ρ εὐσεβεíας καρτερ⋯ν μιμησώμεθα ἵνα τοῖς συναγομένοις παιδευταῖς ὑποθέντες τ⋯ οὖς μάθωμεν τι χρηστόν, ὃ πρ⋯ βραχέος οὐκ ⋯γινώσκομεν, ἤ δόγματος άσφάλειαν ἢ λύσιν ⋯πορουμένης Γραπ⋯ς ἤ τινα λόγον τ⋯ν τ⋯ν ⋯θ⋯ν ⋯πανορθο⋯ντα κατάστασιν.

19. Against Covetousness, 1.2, ζήλῳ ⋯μῖν εὐσεβεíας διετυπώθη.

20. Alba Maria Orselli remarking on the western situation noted how city/town topography reflected the particular communal memory by which civic leaders sought to define their present and future community (183). Even while underlying values and insitutions might remain very similar, Christian leaders by building churches, shrines and instituting festivals reshaped their community's identity (181). “L'Idée Chrétienne e la Ville: Quelques suggestions pour l'antiquité tardive et la haut moyen age,” in Idea and Ideal of the Town between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, eds. Brogiolo, G. P. and Bryan, Ward-Perkins, Transformation of the Roman World 4 (Leiden: Brill, 1999), 181–93.Google Scholar

21. See Alexandre, Monique, “Les nouveaux martyrs: Motifs martyrologiques dans la vie des saints et thèmes hagiographiques dans l'éloge des martyrs chez Grégoire de Nysse,” in The Biographical Works of Gregory of Nyssa: Proceedings of the Fifth International Colloquium on Greogory of Nyssa, ed. Andreas, Spira, Patristic Monograph Series 12 (Cambridge, Mass.: Philadephia Patristic Foundation, 1984), 33–70.Google Scholar

22. Markus, 93–94.

23. Maraval, Pierre, “Fonction pédagogique de la littérature hagiographique d'un lieu de pèlerinage: l'exemple des Miracles de Cyr et Jean” (387), in Hagiographie cultures et sociétés iv^e–xii^e (Paris: Études Augustiniennes, 1981), 383–97.Google Scholar

24. Harl, 129–30.

25. Phocas, 1.2, Ἡ γ⋯ρ λογικ⋯ παíδευσις τ⋯ς πρακτικ⋯ς ⋯νεργεíας ἥττων καí ⋯σθενεστέρα διδ⋯σκαλος.

26. Phocas, 6.2, γν⋯σιος μάλιστα το⋯ χριστο⋯ μ⋯στης.

27. Phocas, 8.1, Ἢκουσεν ⋯ το⋯ Κυρíου θεράπων καí ⋯τρέπτῳ τῇ ψυχῇ τ⋯ν λόγον δεξάμενος οὺ ταπεινόν τι καí ἂ νανδρον ἒ παθεν.

28. Holy Martyrs, 1.3, Οὕτως προαíρεσις ⋯γαθ⋯ ὅταν ⋯νι⋯χου δíκην ᾖ ⋯νθρώπῳ, ὑποζε⋯ξῃ δ⋯ αὑτῇ τ⋯ς ⋯ρμ⋯ς πάσας καí τ⋯ κινήματα καí προσεχόντως ὡς ⋯νíας διατεíνῃ τοὺς λογισμοὺς ⋯ργíαν νύττουσα καí ⋯ξύτητα ἄμετρον ⋯ναστέλλουσα, οὺχ οἶ⋯ν τε ἅτακτον ἤ ⋯πικíνδυνον γενέσθαι το⋯βíου τ⋯ν δρόμον. This passage illustrates how Asterius mixes philosophical traditions. Clearly with the charioteer he is referring to Plato, Phaedrus, 253 C.E. Yet other terms, such as αὑ ⋯ρμαí, recall Stoic themes.

29. Origenes, , “Homilia 10 in Numeros,” in In Numeros, ed. Baehrens, W. A., Origenes Werke VI. Homilien zum Hexateuch in Rufins Übersetzung, Zweiten Teil, Die Homilien zu Numeri, Josua und Judices, Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller 30 (Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1921), 72.21–24.Google Scholar

Ego non dubito et in hoc conventu esse aliquos ipsi soli cognitos, qui iam apud eum martyres sint testimonio conscientiae, parati, si quis exposcat, effundere sanguinem suum pro nomine Domini nostri Iesu Christi.

30. Gregory of Nyssa took this approach in presenting the Life of Moses as a model for a Christian's faith journey, La Vie de Moïse: de la perfection en matière du vertu, 3rd ed., intro., ed., and trans. Jean, Daniélou, S.J., Source chrétiennes 1 (Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 1968), Prologue, 13–15.Google Scholar

31. In the mid-fourth century Cyril of Jerusalem emphasized the dynamic relationship between living and dead Christians as he lectured on the ritual of the Eucharist, Mystogogical Lecture V.4–10, in Cyrille de Jérusalem: Catéchèses mystagogiques, ed. P., Paris and A., Piedagnel, Sources chrétiennes 126 (Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 1966).Google Scholar

32. Basil's paternal family fled their estates to the wilderness of Pontus to escape persecution and lived a hard life there for several years. Gregory points to the virtuous inheritance offered by the survivors of persecution “remaining to be trainers in virtue, living witnesses, breathing trophies, silent exhortations, among whose numerous ranks were found Basil's paternal ancestors, upon whom, in their practice of every form of piety, that period bestowed many a fair garland” (5), Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration XLIII Funeral Oration on the Great S. Basil, Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, 5–10, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, trans. Browne, Charles Gordon and Swallow, James Edward (1894; reprint Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1994), 7:396–97.Google Scholar

33. Martyrs help to strengthen the church and to make it grow by their example and their blood. Basil, Ep. 164, in Saint Basile, Lettres, ed. and trans. Y., Courtonne, vol. 2 (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1961).Google Scholar

34. Basil, Homilia in martyrem Iulittam (PG 31:241A–B), Γ⋯δ⋯ ή κατευλογηθεῖσα τῇ ⋯πιδημíᾳ τ⋯ς μακαρíας, ⋯κ τ⋯ν οíκεíων λαγόνων ὕδατος φύσιν χαριεστάτην ⋯ν⋯κεν ὥστε τ⋯ν μάρτυρα ⋯ντí μητρ⋯ς γενομένην οἷ⋯ν τινι γάλακτι τιθηνεῖσθαι τοὺς ⋯ν τῇ πόλει. In the course of litigation over estates illegally seized from the aristocratic lady Julitta, her opponent successfully tried to legitimize his booty by calling on a recently promulgated edict from Diocletian. Asterius recounts that Julitta did not deny the accusation that she was a Christian and walked of her own accord into the flames prepared for her. This happened around 304. See also Rousseau, Philip, Basil of Caesarea, Transformation of the Classical Heritage 20 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994), 184, n. 231Google Scholar, and Girardi, Mario, Basilio di Cesarea e il culto dei martin nel IV sccolo: scrittura e tradizione, Quaderni di “Vetera Christianorum” 21, Istituto di Studi classici e cristiani (Bari: Univeristà di Bari, 1990), 137–38.Google Scholar

35. Gregory, of Nyssa, De sancto Theodoro, in Gregorii Nysseni Sermones. Pars II, ed. Cavarnos, J. P., Gregorii Nysseni Opera 10.1 (Leiden: Brill, 1990), 70. 20–22Google Scholar, πατρíς γ⋯ρ μάρτυρος το⋯ πάθους ⋯ χώρα, πολῖται δ⋯ κα⋯ ⋯δελφοí καí συγγενεῖς οí περιστεíλαντες κα⋯ καí τιμ⋯ντες. Gregory asserted that Theodore was martyred under Maximian and his fellow emperor Galerius, ca. 306 (De sancto Theodoro, 66.2–3). He is presented as a recruit from humble origins who, while at winter quarters in Amaseia, refused to take part in a sacrifice with the army. When the military authorities delayed acting on his case, Theodore set fire to the temple of the mother of Gods in Amaseia's city center. After being tortured, he was himself burned.

36. Rapp, Claudia, “‘For next to God, you are my salvation’: Reflections on the Rise of the Holy Man in Late Antiquity” (67), in The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Essay on the Contribution of Peter Brown, eds. Howard-Johnston, James and Hayward, Paul Antony (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 63–81.Google Scholar

37. Maraval, 387.

38. It is important to keep in mind the overwhelming influence that the Bible had upon the language and understanding of the martyrs, their cult and relationship with Christians still on earth rather than seeing the cult in terms of direct adaptation of Greco-Roman religious practices. See Girardi's, Mario analysis of Basil of Caesarea in Basilio di Cesarea e il culto dei martiri nel IV secolo, 228Google Scholar. Also see William Horbury, who argues that Jewish Scripture and devotional practices in honoring God's “righteous ones” and their tombs and seeking their intercession provided the initial context for the development of Christian veneration of saints, “The Cult of Christ and the Cult of the Saints,” New Testament Studies 44 (1998): 4444–69.Google Scholar

39. PG 46:748C. This too reflects Rapp's contention that prayer and intercession lay at the heart of the relationship between holy men (in this case the martyrs) and their “spiritual families,” Rapp, 77. Gregory prayed not merely for safety from the Goth invaders, but ultimately for Theodore to nurture the “fruitful field of faith.”

40. Rapp, 81.

41. Holy Martyrs, 4.2, πρεσβευτ⋯ς … τ⋯ν εὺχ⋯ν καí αíτημάτων δι⋯ τ⋯ ὺπερβάλλον τ⋯ς παρρησíας.

42. Gregory, of Nyssa, , De sancto Theodoro, 63.22–25Google Scholar. Brown, Peter Robert Lamont, The Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Latin Christianity, Haskell Lectures on History of Religion, n.s. 2 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981), 11.Google Scholar

43. Phocas, 9.4. He compares the distribution of relics to the spread of colonies from a metropolis.

44. Basil of Caesarea (In quadraginta martyres, 8, PG 31:521B) also referred to the protective care that martyrs extend for the country and city of their residence: “These are the ones who marked off our country at intervals like a continuous line of towers, furnishing security from the encroachment of adversaries.” Οὖτοí εíσιν οí ⋯μ⋯ς χώραν διαλαβόντες, οἱονεí πύργοι τιν⋯ς συνεχεῖς, ⋯σφάλειαν ⋯κ τ⋯ς τ⋯ν ⋯ναντíων καταδρομ⋯ς παρεχόμενοι. Holy Martyrs, 4.1, φρονρο⋯μεν δ⋯ αὐτοῖς ώς ⋯μετέροις πλεονεκτήμασιν καí τοῖς μάρτυσιν ⋯ ⋯κκλησíα τετεíχισται ὡς πόλις ⋯πλíταις γενναíοις καì πάνδημοι πανηγύρεις ⋯θροíζονται καí τ⋯ς θυμηδíας τ⋯ν ⋯ορτ⋯ν ⋯πολαύομεν.

45. This “you are there” experience was the object of Egeria's pilgrimage, which she sought to enhance by reading the appropriate scriptural verses at each holy place. Itinerarium Egeriae, in Journal de voyage: itinéraire / Egérie, introduction, texte critique, traduction, notes, index et cartes by Maraval, Pierre (Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 1997), 296Google Scholar. Asterius (Phocas, 2.1) even uses a holy land example of visitors to Abraham's tomb who “become spectators of the history concerning ‘the patriarchs’” (τ⋯ς α⋯τοὺς íστορíας γíνονται θεαταí).

46. Basil, In quadraginta martyres, PG 31:509A, Ἅγ⋯ρ ⋯ λόγος τ⋯ς íστορíας δι⋯ τ⋯ς ⋯κο⋯ς παρíστησι, τα⋯τα γραφικ⋯ σιωπ⋯σα δι⋯ μιμήσεως δεíκνυιν. Οὕτω δ⋯ κα⋯ ⋯μεῖς ⋯ναμνήσωμεν τ⋯ς ⋯ρετ⋯ς τ⋯ν άνδρ⋯ν τοὺς παρόντας,, καí οἰονεí ⋯ψσιν αὐτ⋯ν ⋯γαγόντες τ⋯ς πρ⋯ξεις, κινήσωμεν πρ⋯ς τ⋯ν μíμησιν τοὺς γενναιοτέρους κα⋯ οíκειοτέρους αὺτοῖς τ⋯ν προαíρεσιν.

47. Chrysostom, , De s. Babyla contra Iulianum et gentiles, in Jean Chrysostome: Discours sur Babylas, ed. and trans. Schatkin, Margaret A. and others, Sources chrétiennes 362 (Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 1990), 67–73.Google Scholar

48. Phocas, 12.1, 3; 10.1, magnificent shrine at Rome. Holy Martyrs, 8.1, the brightness and majesty of martyrial shrines.

49. De sancto Theodora, 62.25–63.14.

50. Mango, Cyril, The Art of the Byzantine Empire 312–1453: Sources and Documents (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1972), 37–38Google Scholar, translates the artistic terminology in the following way: he calls the work ⋯ γραφή, which the painter (⋯ ζωγράφος) portrayed in colors (τ⋯ φάρμακα) on canvas [⋯ν σινδόνι]. Euphemia, a young woman from a good family, met her death in 303 or 304 at Chalcedon. In Asterius's account she had been a consecrated virgin. The picture that Asterius saw included details of Euphemia's torture before she was consigned to the flames. Janin, R., “Euphémie,” Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques 15 (1963): 1409–10.Google Scholar

51. Holy Martyrs, 4.2–4. Asterius borrowed part of Gregory of Nyssa's prayer to Theodore in order to illustrate a model prayer offered to a martyr by parents on behalf of their sick child. Datema, Asterius, xxx–xxxi.

52. Phocas 13.1, συνεχ⋯ς … δι⋯ τ⋯ν ⋯ν ⋯νεíρασιν ⋯ψεων. See 13.1–2 for a range of petitions.

53. Conditions from the fourth century onwards contributed to a growing population of poor, often displaced peasants but sometimes smaller landowners who had been squeezed out by more powerful neighbors. These did not formally “belong” to the cities to which they sought refuge. Under the increasing direction of bishops, local churches, martyrial shrines, and various poor-house institutions attempted to address these working poor whose status excluded them from civic handouts. Brown, Peter R. L., Poverty and Leadership (Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England, 2002), 34Google Scholar. Holman, Susan R. reviews classical views of poverty and poverty assistance in The Hungry are Dying: Beggars and Bishops in Roman Cappadocia (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 10–12CrossRefGoogle Scholar. See also Patlagean, Evelyn, Pauvreté économique et pauvreté sociale à Byzance, 4^e–7^e siècles, Civilisations et sociétés 48 (Paris: Mouton, 1977)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Phocas, 9.3, πάντων τ⋯ν πτωχ⋯ν καì ⋯λητευόντων τ⋯ φ⋯λα προστρέχει τ⋯ς Σινώπης καθάπερ ταμιεíῳ. In Holy Martyrs, 4.4, Asterius combines τ⋯ φ⋯λα with οí ⋯σμοí (“swarms”) in a way that practically depicts the crowds of the poor as threatening invaders, whether tribes or insects.

54. Holy Martyrs, 4.4, κοιν⋯ν έστíαν καì τροπγ⋯ν.

55. Phocas, 9.2, Ἔστι οὖν ⋯ μεγαλοπρεπ⋯ς ⋯κεῖνος να⋯ς θλιβομένων ἄνεσις, πενομένων πόρος, κακονμένων íατρεῖον, λιμωττόντων Αἴγυπτος. Datema (Asterius, xxx) noted the resemblance of this passage to the description of the benefits sought from the martyr in Gregory of Nyssa's De sancto Theodora.

56. Gregory of Nyssa, De sancto Theodoro, 69.21–70.2, ⋯μῖν δ⋯ τ⋯ν μνήμην το⋯ ⋯γ⋯νος διδασκάλιον κατέλιπε λαοὺς ⋯θροíζων, ⋯κκληοíαν παιδεὺων, δαíμονας φυγαδεύων, αγγέλους εíρηνικοὺς κατάγων, ζητ⋯ν ύπ⋯ρ ⋯μ⋯ν παρ⋯ θεο⋯ τ⋯ συμφέροντα, íατρεῖον νόσων ποικíλων τ⋯ν τόπον το⋯τον ⋯περγασάμενος, λιμένα τ⋯ν χειμαζομένων ταῖς θλíψεσι, πενήτων εὺθηνούμενον ταμιεῖον, ὑδοιπόρων ⋯νεκτ⋯ν καταγώγιον, πανήγυριν τ⋯ν ⋯ορταζόντων ἄληκτον.

57. See Caner's, Daniel review of the relationship between monks, martyrial shrines, and poor relief in Wandering, Begging Monks: Spiritual Authority and the Promotion of Monasticism in Late Antiquity (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002), 233–35.Google Scholar

58. See Ep. 176 to Amphilochius, in which Basil invites him to the celebration of the martyr Eupsychius of Caesarea and to visit the memorial shrine at the πτωχοτροφειον. Eupsychius was one of Basil's favorite martyrs, and he regularly convened synods for this feast. Eupsychius was martyred under Julian for his role in the destruction of Caesarea's temple of Fortune. Aubert, R., “Eupsychius,” in Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques 15, ed. Albert, de Meyer (Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1963), 1419–20Google Scholar. For other details and bibliographic references, see Rousseau, 182, n. 220, and Christ, Hans of Brennecke, , Studien zur Geschichte der Homöer: Der Osten bis zum Ende der homöischen Reichskirche (Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1988), 150–52Google Scholar. On the “Basileias” complex, see Holman, 74–76.

59. Brown, Peter (Poverty and Leadership, 33–34)Google Scholar suggests that the institutionalization of Christian hospitality and poor relief through xenodocheia/ptôchotropheia was a post-Constantinian development.

60. See Patlagean, 425. The traditional expenditures of the elite functioned more as investments in social and political status and rarely benefited the poor.

61. Unjust Steward, 7.3, τοῖς έξ⋯ς ⋯λεθρíοις δαπαν⋯ντες. See also Against Kalends, 3.2. Asterius included the retinue of clients, flatterers, and parasites, and the sponsorship of games, horse-breeding, and entertainers. Peter Brown calls this redirection the “Christianization of euergitism,” Poverty and Leadership, 77.

62. Unjust Steward, 12.2–4.

63. Unjust Steward, 11.1, Ό βíος οὗτος ἔχει τ⋯ν ⋯ντολ⋯ν τ⋯ν γεωργíαν, ⋯ δ⋯ μέλλων τ⋯ν ⋯πόλαυσιν.

64. Harl, 130–36.

65. Phocas, 12.2, καí πάντες οí ⋯γρώτατοι Σκὺθαι, … οὕτοι δορυφορο⋯σι τοῖς δ⋯ π⋯σιν ἕθεσιν καì ⋯πιτηδεύμασιν διεστ⋯τες ⋯μ⋯ν εíς το⋯το μόνον ⋯μογνώμονες γíνονται τ⋯ν άγριότητα τ⋯ν τρόπων ὑπ⋯ ⋯γηθεíας ⋯ξημεροὺμενοι.

66. Against Covetousness, 1.1, μάρτυρες οἵκων κατασκευαῖς κα⋯ τοῖς ένιαυσíοις τούτοις συλλόγοις.