Nostra civitas. Heresy, charity, and community in fifth-century Rome
JbAC 63 (2020) Seiten: 139-158
This article examines the relationship between heresy, charity, and community in mid fifth-century Rome through the lens of Leo I’s anti-Manichaean persecution of 443/44. Importantly, Leo’s preaching against Manichaeism took place in the context of migration. According to the bishop, Manichaean heretics had migrated to the city of Rome due to »a disturbance in other places« (aliarum regionum perturbatio), almost certainly a reference to the Vandal conquest of North Africa. In addition, his preaching coincided with a reimagining of Rome’s social structure away from traditional notions of citizenship bound by civic euergetism towards a new Christian conception of society, which emphasized the deserving poor – the populus dei – receiving alms administered by the church under the authority and patronage of its bishop. In this context, the Manichaean functioned didactically as the ultimate ›other‹. As heretics and outsiders to the city, they were the perfect foil against which Leo could contrast his populus dei, and thereby delineate the boundaries of his community. Indeed, Leo’s condemnations of Manichaeans can be found principally in sermons about other topics including charity, a theme that was particularly well-suited to address questions of community and belonging.
Samuel Cohen