Article
Licensed
Unlicensed
Requires Authentication
O Beatum Carcerem: The Rhetoric of Incarceration in the Letters of Tertullian and Cyprian
-
Katherine E. Milco
Published/Copyright:
July 31, 2024
Abstract
This article argues that Tertullian and Cyprian invoked commonplace imagery related to combat, agriculture, and mysticism to construe incarceration as spiritually beneficial for their North African Christian audiences. By subjecting to literary analysis passages from their letters in which incarceration is reimagined positively, we aim to demonstrate how these letters functioned rhetorically to teach and persuade Christians—both inside and outside of prison—about the value of incarceration and the need to persevere in the face of its well-known hardships. We also maintain that their innovative perspectives on incarceration not only addressed important issues in the second and third centuries, such as apostasy and martyrdom, but also operated within a broader Greco-Roman philosophical discourse that viewed incarceration as potentially beneficial for those capable of adopting the right mindset.
Published Online: 2024-07-31
Published in Print: 2024-07-30
© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
You are currently not able to access this content.
You are currently not able to access this content.
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelseiten
- Edition
- A new manuscript witness of the poem Altus Prosator in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Clm 18609): Analysis of the poem’s manuscript transmission and transcription of its text as found in Clm 18609
- Artikel
- O Beatum Carcerem: The Rhetoric of Incarceration in the Letters of Tertullian and Cyprian
- On the Spread of Christianity in the Fayum Oasis
- Maßnahmen der Isolation. Neuplatonische Einflüsse in der medizinischen Metaphorik spätantiker Religionsgesetze
- The Dialogue of Timothy and Aquila and Epiphanius of Salamis
- The Embryological Interpretation of Gen 2:7 and its Use in Dyophysite Christology
- Who was Victor Mattaritanus (Cassiodorus, Institutiones 1,29,2)? A Note on the Contribution of Exiles from Vandal Africa to the Reception of the Augustinian Doctrine of Grace
- Rezensionen
- Pseudo-Basilius von Seleukia: Vita et Miracula Sanctae Theclae. Leben und Wunder der Heiligen Thekla, Fontes Christiani 93, Freiburg (Herder) 2021, S. 408, ISBN 978-3-451-32946-3, € 52,–.
- Katarina Pålsson: Negotiating Heresy. The Reception of Origen in Jerome’s Eschatological Thought, Adamantiana 23, Münster (Aschendorff) 2021, S. 292, ISBN 978-3-402-13745-1, € 54,–.
- Demetrios Alibertis: Jacob of Sarug’s Homily Concerning the Red Heifer and the Crucifixion of Our Lord, Texts from Christian Late Antiquity 78, Piscataway (Gorgias Press) 2022, S. 64, ISBN: 978-1463244712, € 27,–.
- Hartmut Leppin: The Early Christians. From the Beginnings to Constantine. Translated by Kathrin Lüddecke, Classical Scholarship in Translation, Cambridge (Cambridge University Press) 2023, S. 465, ISBN: 978-1-316-51723-9, £ 35,–.
- Byron McDougall: Philosophy at the Festival. The Festal Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition, Mnemosyne Supplements 461, Leiden/Boston (Brill) 2022, S. 194, ISBN: 978-9004521391, € 140,–.
- Nathan D. Howard: Christianity and the Contest for Manhood in Late Antiquity. The Cappadocian Fathers and the Rhetoric of Masculinity, Cambridge (Cambridge University Press) 2022, S. xviii + 338, ISBN 978-1-316-51476-4, £ 90,–.
- Rahel Schär: Auf der Suche nach dem vollkommenen Leben. Die frühen Juramönche und Juranonnen zwischen Rückzug und Interaktion, Theologisch bedeutsame Orte der Schweiz 3, Basel (Schwabe Verlag) 2022, S. 348, ISBN 978-3-7965-4697-6, CHF 64,–.
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelseiten
- Edition
- A new manuscript witness of the poem Altus Prosator in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Clm 18609): Analysis of the poem’s manuscript transmission and transcription of its text as found in Clm 18609
- Artikel
- O Beatum Carcerem: The Rhetoric of Incarceration in the Letters of Tertullian and Cyprian
- On the Spread of Christianity in the Fayum Oasis
- Maßnahmen der Isolation. Neuplatonische Einflüsse in der medizinischen Metaphorik spätantiker Religionsgesetze
- The Dialogue of Timothy and Aquila and Epiphanius of Salamis
- The Embryological Interpretation of Gen 2:7 and its Use in Dyophysite Christology
- Who was Victor Mattaritanus (Cassiodorus, Institutiones 1,29,2)? A Note on the Contribution of Exiles from Vandal Africa to the Reception of the Augustinian Doctrine of Grace
- Rezensionen
- Pseudo-Basilius von Seleukia: Vita et Miracula Sanctae Theclae. Leben und Wunder der Heiligen Thekla, Fontes Christiani 93, Freiburg (Herder) 2021, S. 408, ISBN 978-3-451-32946-3, € 52,–.
- Katarina Pålsson: Negotiating Heresy. The Reception of Origen in Jerome’s Eschatological Thought, Adamantiana 23, Münster (Aschendorff) 2021, S. 292, ISBN 978-3-402-13745-1, € 54,–.
- Demetrios Alibertis: Jacob of Sarug’s Homily Concerning the Red Heifer and the Crucifixion of Our Lord, Texts from Christian Late Antiquity 78, Piscataway (Gorgias Press) 2022, S. 64, ISBN: 978-1463244712, € 27,–.
- Hartmut Leppin: The Early Christians. From the Beginnings to Constantine. Translated by Kathrin Lüddecke, Classical Scholarship in Translation, Cambridge (Cambridge University Press) 2023, S. 465, ISBN: 978-1-316-51723-9, £ 35,–.
- Byron McDougall: Philosophy at the Festival. The Festal Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus and the Classical Tradition, Mnemosyne Supplements 461, Leiden/Boston (Brill) 2022, S. 194, ISBN: 978-9004521391, € 140,–.
- Nathan D. Howard: Christianity and the Contest for Manhood in Late Antiquity. The Cappadocian Fathers and the Rhetoric of Masculinity, Cambridge (Cambridge University Press) 2022, S. xviii + 338, ISBN 978-1-316-51476-4, £ 90,–.
- Rahel Schär: Auf der Suche nach dem vollkommenen Leben. Die frühen Juramönche und Juranonnen zwischen Rückzug und Interaktion, Theologisch bedeutsame Orte der Schweiz 3, Basel (Schwabe Verlag) 2022, S. 348, ISBN 978-3-7965-4697-6, CHF 64,–.
