Whelan, Robin 
ORCID: 0000-0001-6664-3381
(2023)
Modestus at Edessa. Imperial officials in the ecclesiastical histories of Rufinus, Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret
Millennium, 20 (1).
pp. 149-192.
ISSN 1867-030X, 1867-0318
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Abstract
Abstract This article considers the depictions of imperial officials and their interactions with Christian communities in the genre of ecclesiastical history. It focuses on one particular episode where the emperor Valens ordered his praetorian prefect Domitius Modestus to disperse an assembly of Nicene Christians at the martyrium of Thomas at Edessa. The four fifth-century Nicene ecclesiastical historians Rufinus, Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret offer the same basic narrative of the events which led to the prefect’s abandonment of his mission. Yet they construe the causes and implications of his reluctance to persecute in strikingly different ways. These adaptations reveal their differing views of the role of imperial officials in matters concerning the church and, more broadly, of what Christian communities might expect from the imperial state in a Christian empire.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | 4705 Literary Studies, 43 History, Heritage and Archaeology, 47 Language, Communication and Culture, 4303 Historical Studies, 50 Philosophy and Religious Studies, 5004 Religious Studies |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > School of Histories, Languages and Cultures |
| Depositing User: | Symplectic Admin |
| Date Deposited: | 01 Jul 2022 14:27 |
| Last Modified: | 23 May 2026 06:47 |
| DOI: | 10.1515/mill-2023-0009 |
| Related Websites: | |
| URI: | https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3157586 |
| Disclaimer: | The University of Liverpool is not responsible for content contained on other websites from links within repository metadata. Please contact us if you notice anything that appears incorrect or inappropriate. |
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