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The Barbarian Plain
Saint Sergius between Rome and Iran
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
1999
About this book
During the fifth and sixth centuries A.D. there arose on the Euphrates frontier, between the empires of Rome and Iran, a city girded with glittering gypsum walls. Within these walls stood a great church, a shrine for the relics of Saint Sergius, who was martyred there, at Rusafa, in the early fourth century. Around Rusafa stretched the "Barbarian Plain," inhabited by Rome's Arab allies, many of whom revered the saint. Elizabeth Key Fowden examines the rise of the cult of Sergius in late antiquity, drawing on literary accounts, inscriptions, archaeology, images, and the landscape itself to construct a many-faceted picture of the role of religion in this frontier society. Focusing on the socio-cultural as well as the political dimensions of the Sergius cult, her study sheds light on the lives of the ordinary faithful, as well as on religion's place in the strategic calculations of hostile empires.
Beginning with a detailed analysis of the surviving accounts of the martyrdom of Sergius, Fowden provides a discussion of Syrian Rusafa-Sergiopolis, traces the spread of the Sergius cult in Syria and Mesopotamia, and provides a provocative interpretation of the relation between the saint's presence at Rusafa and his role in frontier defense. She also discusses Arab Christianity in the context of late Roman culture in the East, as well as the continuation of the Sergius tradition after the Muslim conquest, emphasizing the changes and continuities brought by the rise of Islam.
Beginning with a detailed analysis of the surviving accounts of the martyrdom of Sergius, Fowden provides a discussion of Syrian Rusafa-Sergiopolis, traces the spread of the Sergius cult in Syria and Mesopotamia, and provides a provocative interpretation of the relation between the saint's presence at Rusafa and his role in frontier defense. She also discusses Arab Christianity in the context of late Roman culture in the East, as well as the continuation of the Sergius tradition after the Muslim conquest, emphasizing the changes and continuities brought by the rise of Islam.
Author / Editor information
Contributor: Elizabeth Key Fowden
Elizabeth Key Fowden is a Research Fellow at the Center for Greek and Roman Antiquity in Athens, Greece.
Topics
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Frontmatter
I -
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CONTENTS
IX -
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
XI -
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PREFACE
XIII -
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
XV -
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NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION
XVII -
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ABBREVIATIONS
XIX -
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MAPS
XXII -
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Introduction
1 -
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ONE Portraits of a Martyr
7 -
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TWO Martyr Cult on the Frontier The Case of Mayperqat
45 -
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THREE Rusafa
60 -
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FOUR The Spread of the Sergius Cult in Syria and Mesopotamia
101 -
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FIVE Frontier Shrine and Frontier Saint
130 -
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SIX The Cult of S. Sergius after the Islamic Conquest
174 -
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
193 -
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INDEX
219
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
December 19, 2023
eBook ISBN:
9780520922204
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
254
eBook ISBN:
9780520922204
Keywords for this book
rome; iran; euphrates; church history; shrine; relics; saints; martyr; saint sergius; cult of sergius; antiquity; ancient world; frontier; roman empire; mesopotamia; syria; arab christianity; late roman culture; islam; archaeology; rusafa sergiopolis; religious cult; nonfiction; political history; religious history; ancient roman history; roman culture; persia; early christian studies; rusafa; muslim conquest; pilgrimage; christianity; history; religion
