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The aim of this paper is to propose a reinterpretation of the meaning of the lost colossus of Constantine the Great from the Forum of his name in Constantinople, in the light of the iconography of the emperor on the cameo from the cathedral in the Pomeranian town of Cammin. Although the gem was lost during the last war, it is known to us thanks to archival photographs and the plaster cast housed at Göttingen University. On this basis, Gerda Bruns associated the jewel with the statue of Constantine on the porphyry column in the New Rome, and her identification has since been widely accepted by the scholarly milieu. In recent years one has been able to observe growing popularity of this interpretation among researchers, who however refrain in their studies from pointing to the consequences of such a reconstruction of the statue’s form. The author of this paper points out that Constantine purposefully chose the iconographical type of Alexander-ktistes as a model for his own representation in order to allude to his great predecessor and the founder of a number of cities which bore his name. The iconography of the statue became then a part of the programme of the celebrations arranged on the occasion of the dedication of Constantinople, in which numerous references to Alexander played the key role. This new understanding of the colossus, placing its significance within the frames of political propaganda, better matches the actual historical circumstances and the ruler’s attitude towards Christendom than traditional interpretations which recognised the statue as Helios or Apollo, and thus introduced an incoherence — difficult to explain — in Constantine’s attitude towards the new religion. This cumbersome question, which baffled the inquisitive minds already in the Constantinople of the Byzantine era, will be considered unsubstantial if we correctly interpret the monument on the Forum solely in the political and propagandistic context.

Separation, loss, confinement, and change have been imposed on entire populations during the Covid-19 pandemic in the form of lockdowns aimed at limiting the spread of the virus. They are also central to Evagrian asceticism, where they establish the conditions for the change at which the monastic life aims, namely to begin to reverse the effects of the fall by restoring the soul to health. This paper examines how they do so in order to gain an understanding of their ascetic function. Following the Introduction, it outlines Evagrius’ anthropology in order to lay the groundwork for its main theme, the healing of pathos through the practical life. Separation, loss, and confinement are each considered in turn by referencing Evagrius’ descriptions of their ascetic function and his own experience of them. Next, the change at which they aim is described, again drawing upon a range of Evagrian material. The final section of the paper considers how Evagrius can speak to the experience of lockdown by endowing separation, loss, confinement with meaning and purpose in relation to spiritual awakening and growth, highlighting our freedom to choose our attitude to them, and acting as both our guide and our companion.

The disturbing power of the passions or affections, collectively known as πάθος, was the subject of a remarkable debate in Graeco-Roman philosophical schools, as well as in Philo of Alexandria and soon among various early Christian authors. This paper contributes to the recent approach to this subject but also explores new contexts. It examines cosmological (myth), anthropological (the mind – emotions relation) and theological (salvation) ways of addressing that problematic supremacy of emotions. Although it summarises earlier philosophical views, it focuses on Christian documents from the second century and their witness to that ancient debate. By comparison with the diversity of Christian views on the passions, the paper highlights the diverse ‘therapies’ proposed by Christian authors. In conclusion, it points out common motifs among Christian responses to the passions, as well as the differences in their remedies.

The Enarrationes in Psalmos are an important source for understanding the Augustinian theology of desire, linking it to his systematic theology and his pastoral practice. In this paper I illustrate by overviewing the expositions on Psalms 11 (12), 12 (13), 23 (24), and 26 (27). These Psalms teach us to love, trust, and seek God only, a failure to do which marks the Donatist schism. Augustine mingles ideas from pagan philosophy’s quest for eudaimonia or beata vita—the good, happy, and blessed life—with biblical ideas. We want a stable happiness, and we must pursue wisdom; we can find stability in the rock that is Christ, to follow whom is to pursue wisdom rightly. Our desires must be converted to God, the only complete and perfect good and the source of eternal happiness, whom we must single-mindedly pursue with prayer and faith. While we must desire the eschaton and look to no earthly satisfaction, earthly goods may be received as gifts from God. One thing we can learn from studying the Enarrationes is how closely connected are the ideas of right love, the right church, and the right end; all three go together in Augustine’s theology.

This paper aims to show how, in certain Nubian paintings depicting apostolic colleges, the evangelists John and Matthew can be identified by the attributes they hold, namely books. Theoretically, a book is an attribute that can define many figures involved in writing or preaching, such as saints (especially bishops in Nubian paintings), apostles, evangelists and Christ. However, in these particular paintings I am describing, only two of the apostles are holding books and these are the evangelists John and Matthew. The other apostles hold rotuli, while Peter is singled out through the key. My argument is based not only on the attributes, but also on an analysis of other elements such as the position of the apostles in the whole college, their physiognomic types, and finally the surviving inscriptions. However, we should remember that not all Nubian paintings are preserved intact. In many cases, large fragments of figures, including their faces, are missing. Therefore, several elements must be taken into consideration during the interpretation of the content of the paintings. The research I have carried out can be helpful in identifying the individual figures that make up the apostolic college. It also shows how Nubian iconographers consciously used the language of symbols by differentiating between the earthly and heavenly hierarchies.

Gregory Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa between them composed three orations on love of the destitute poor: Nazianzen's Oration 14, Peri philoptōchias and Nyssen's On love of the poor 1 and 2 (De beneficentia and In illud: quatenus uni ex his fecistis mihi fecistis). All three situate leprosy as the most extreme, and therefore paradigmatic, form of poverty as a basis for exhorting Christians to the practice of love. Those suffering from leprosy were stigmatised and excluded from society even by Christians, yet the Gregories exhort them to serve Christ by serving them, supporting pastoral entreaty with theological argument. This paper aims to introduce these orations to those unfamiliar with them and contribute new insights to those who already know them. After situating them in their historical context I summarise each then comment on their content, highlighting Nazianzen's reconfiguration of classical motifs in the service of a revisionist social policy and Christian anthropology rooted in the imago Dei and Nyssen's recourse to ascetic theory with marked similarities to that of Egyptian desert asceticism as taught by Evagrius. This paper's discussion of these prophetic orations will contribute to knowledge of them and by extension of the two Gregories.

The current COVID-19 pandemic has seen some turn to the past to see if the historical evidence provides any assistance to forecasting the probable duration and intensity of the disease and the length of time until a vaccine or cure is found. In this paper, on the contrary, the aim is to look to the present situation to help understand the past. The current pandemic, which seems impossible to halt even as vaccines start to roll out, and threatens to destroy the way people interact with one another and provide for their families has undermined confidence in the progress of medical science and the human mastery over the natural world. The fear and helplessness that has come in its wake is much the way people in previous centuries felt in the face of rampant and uncontrollable disease. In this paper several episodes of the first bubonic plague, known as the plague of Justinian, that lasted from the sixth to eighth centuries, as reported by Gregory I, bishop of Rome, and Gregory, bishop of Tours, both active at the end of the sixth century, will be explored. In light of our own experience of vulnerability because of the impotence of modern medicine so far to offer protection, we are better able to appreciate the reaction of people who lived in Lombard Italy and Merovingian France to intractable natural disaster.

Gregory’s Homily 12 on the Song of Songs offers one opportunity to trace the legacies of the compelling claim, in Galatians 6:17, that Paul bears “the marks of Christ” on his body. Gregory appeals to this verse to aid his exegesis of Song 5:7 (a violent passage he calls “repellant in its plain sense”) and develop his claims that “the wound”, after all, is “an admirable thing”. My paper probes social and ethical dimensions of this exegetical and cultural conceptual lineage. It surveys wounds and marks in Homily 12; suggests how other works by Gregory support “striking and wounding” as enacting spiritual healing (ἴασιν); considers contexts for violence in the name of guardianship and instruction in late antiquity; and closes by considering violence enacted in the name of Christianization and “civilization” in Canada’s residential schools. This study embeds Gregory’s treatment of Gal 6:17 in a larger attempt to raise critical questions about the persistence of benevolent understandings of trauma and violence across diverse Christian exegetical contexts and the harms such understandings may perpetuate.

The 23rd International Congress of Byzantine Studies took place in the hospita­ble capital of Serbia from Monday (22 August) to Saturday (27 August 2016). Ac­cording to official data in the congress took part 1,260 byzantine scholars from 48 countries of the world. The largest number of scientist represented Greece (212), Serbia (122), France (103), Russia (87), the United Kingdom (79) and Italy (78). Numerous scholars came to Belgrade also from Germany (72), the USA (64), Bul­garia (57), Turkey (40) and Austria (39). Poland was represented officially by 26 byzantine scholars. To this number must be added two Poles affiliated to foreign universities. Most Polish researchers, as many as 11, represented the University of Lodz – today the most important Polish center for research on the history and culture of Byzantium. During the congress 1148 scholars presented 1329 papers and communications. According the official data 1057 papers (= 79,533%) were in English, 165 in French (= 12,415%), 30 in Greek (= 2,257%), 28 in German (= 2,106%), 28 in Russian (= 2,106%) and 21 (= 1,580%) in Italian. Twenty-six Poles representing the Polish research centers presented a total of 29 communica­tions (26 in English, 1 in French, 1 in German and 1 in Russian). Furthermore, one Pole affiliated to the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, delivered his com­munication in French. According the official data, the congress was divided into several program blocks. The first block was the solemn opening session. Part of this session was the inaugural lecture of professor John F. Haldon from Princeton University. On the other hand, during the six plenary sessions were delivered 20 papers. The third block of the congress were the round table sessions. These ses­sions were a total 49 (= 382 communications). There have also been 116 sessions of free communications, during which 843 papers were read. Furthermore, during the six special sessions the participants delivered 64 presentations. Finally, a sepa­rate block were two poster sessions. In these sessions attended 19 authors. The sessions of the congress were held either at the Faculty of Philology (3 Studentski trg) or at the building of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (35 Knez Mihailova St.). It was agreed that the 24rd International Congress of Byzantine Studies will be held in 2021 in Istanbul.

This paper examines Maximus the Confessor’s thought concerning the pressing urgency of his day, namely, the threat posed by monothelitism and monenergism. What were the theological stakes, as he saw them, for orthodoxy that prompted such stark resistance to imperial attempts at a doctrinal compromise? The paper focuses first on the mode of union in the Incarnation and the manner of the assump­tion of the human nature, including a human will and a human operation. Maximus also manages to rescue orthodoxy’s fathers, especially Gregory Nazianzen, Cyril of Alexandria, and Dionysius and from his opponents’ interpretations of various ¢por…ai. The second section considers Maximus’s presentation of the synthetic heterodoxy and its inevitable result, namely that one composite will in Jesus Christ – in isolating Christ from the Godhead on the one hand and from true humanity on the other – ultimately destroys all of theology. How can Christ save or divinize man if he is no longer like man? He cannot, says Maximus. Instead, Christ would become a sort of tertium quid, neither God nor man, in one movement unraveling Trinitarian theology, Christology, and soteriology. The concluding section briefly considers the immediate impact of Maximus from his martyrdom, including the matter of Constantinople III’s strange failure to mention Maximus in the conciliar text. Finally, this section explores Maximus in our own time, especially how the theology that developed in the seventh century through Maximus is a sort of an­swer to some of the difficulties of post-Enlightenment modernity.

St. Augustine’s work De bono viduitatis written in 414 is not a treatise but a letter addressed to widow issued from a noble Roman family named Juliana. She with her daughter and mother-in-law attempts to live the consecrated way of life. Under the strong influence of the ascetism and moralism of Pelagius, she begs Augustine to acquire the essential instructions for their devotion. Augustine in his answer proposes the original teaching on the widowhood based on the Holy Scripture, especially on the letters of apostle Paul, and encourages the women in their consecration to observe the goods of the widowhood. Nevertheless, St. Augustine does not write this letter only to Juliana. He desires that this letter will be spread to the other widows as well. The aim of our paper is to analyse the Augustine’s letter to Juliana and focus our interest on the homiletical forms used by St. Augustine. Our argumentation is based on the analyse of this letter and on its comparison with Augustine’s style of preaching. Examining the rhetoric elements used and known by St. Augustine as they are summarized in the Book Four of his treatise On Christian Doctrine it enables us to present the style of Augustine – preacher and consequently to find some similarity and differences.

Augustine’s sermons and exegetical homilies have been recently studied by modern scholars not only from the point of view of their contents but also their rhetorical form. This is true especially in those cases where we deal with authentic speeches reflecting the language culture of his audience. One of the most characteristic features of Augustine’s homiletic style is antithetic parallelism which occurs frequently in his homilies on Psalms and results from the author’s own way of thinking. Here we do not deal that much with the biblical parallelism of thought, present in the Hebrew poetry, particularly in Psalms, prophetic speeches, etc., but rather with that which was introduced in Greek by Gorgias, i.e., parallelism of words and sentence structure (parallelismus membrorum). Antithetic parallelism is often accompanied by rhyme (Gr. homoioteleuton) or by assonance. This phenomenon might be observed already in Indo-European poetics but in the rhetorical context of Augustine’s anti-Donatist preaching it serves quite different purposes. By using these and other sound figures (like alliteration, repetition, anaphora, epiphora, etc.) the bishop of Hippo wants not only to please his audience but also to instruct them and, first and foremost, persuade them to return to the Catholic church. Does he use these figures spontaneously imitating the folk culture of his audience, or is he constantly aware of their persuasive force? These and other related questions have already captured attention of several Augustinian scholars of the last decades, so in the present paper we would like to contribute to this foregoing discussion focusing mostly on the persuasive aspect of selected sound figures occurring in Augustine’s Enarrationes in Psalmos 119-133. Moreover, our aim is to show to which extent they were a part of bishop’s thoroughly considered plan of his homilies, and finally we would like to point out the importance of preserving at least some of these figures in modern translations of Augustine’s homilies.

In the late 4th century, bishops utilized the so-called ius intercessionis right to intervene in order to help those in need, be they the persecuted, the accused or the convicted. These actions of a bishop were rooted foremost in the idea of mercy and it was also due to this right that a bishop became the one to decide about the granting of the right to asylum – a right which was gradually extended to Christian churches at the time. St. Augustine encounters the issue of Christian asylum as the bishop of Hippo Regius in Africa mainly in his preserved correspondence, but he talks about seeking sanctuary in Christian churches also in one of his sermons, specifically in Sermo 302 delivered on the feast of St. Lawrence. This paper focuses on presenting the circumstances of a violent act in Hippo Regius and its implications to potentially sanctuary seeking in local Christian church, particularly on the ground of analysis of post sermonem to Sermo 302.

The purpose of this paper is to indicate how, that is, with the help of which means, Chrysostom in his five homilies “On the Incomprehensible Nature of God” introduces his community in Antioch to the intricacies of the dispute with the Anomoeans, as far as the possibility of knowing God and his essence are concerned. The main differences between those texts and other fundamental polemical sources with Eunomius will also be taken under consideration. John uses both biblical and philosophical terms to underline the negative aspect of theology and his five homilies are not so theologically and philosophically sophisticated as Basil’s or Gregory’s texts, unlike even Gregory of Nazianzus, whose Orations, have a similar overall message. John uses methods adequate to accomplish his goal, which is to preserve the orthodox concept and unify the Antiochian Church.

In this paper we present the life and the character of Theophano, the mother of Basil II Porphyrogenitus, the Macedonian. Some women made spectacular progress up the social ladder by marrying into higher-class families, even sometimes into the imperial family itself and to become empresses as Theophano did. So, social advancement could be achieved through marriage. The power and privileges of an imperial spouse were directly dependent on the emperor. Did it have a catalytic role in the life of Theophano? Through her life we will examine woman’s position in Byzantine Empire. It will be searched if there was any discrimination among women according to their classes and if the byzantine society faced with the same way a vicious life of an imperial woman and of a poor one. Which was the position of the Christian Church for woman? Had Church Fathers forgiven rich and powerful women and had they condemned poor women from lower social class? All these questions are going to be answered through the life and the actions of Theophano, a woman who managed from being the daughter of a poor tavern-keeper, to become the Empress and one of the most powerful and vicious women in the Byzantine history.

The author of this paper tries to prove that the origins of Christian drama shouldn’t be sought in Latin liturgical drama crystalized in 9th and 10th century – as it is commonly accepted – but rather much earlier: in Eastern dramatized patristic homilies of 5th, 6th and 7th century. All fully dramatized homilies of those days are arranged in three groups: The homilies about John the Baptist and the Baptism of Jesus Christ; The homilies about descending of Jesus Christ into the abyss and libera­tion of those who are righteous from hell; Homilies about the Annunciation of Blessed Virgin Mary – most numer­ous texts. In this article only homilies from group 1 and group 2 are analyzed. The eight most dramatized speeches from these two groups were chosen. From these homi­lies some fragments or full parts of dialogs are chosen and quoted, as examples of dramatic action, shown in the clearest way (containing the fullness of psychologi­cal expression and motion, rhetorically built dialogs of Biblical characters). These parts are explained and commented in the context of the idea of drama proposed by Origen (Commentarius in Cantica Canticorum. Prologus 1, 1-3; I 1, 1-2). From Group 1, the author of this article presents two homilies: Homilia in Sanctam Theophaniam (which authorship is mistakenly assigned to St. Gregory the Wonderworker) and Homilia de baptismo Christi [CPG 5520] of Pseudo- Eusebius of Alexandria. From Group 2 six speeches are chosen. Five of them are written by Pseudo- Eusebius of Alexandria. They make specific cycle, known as Eusebian cycle of de­scending Christ into the abyss. This cycle – in its contents and structure – is a rhe­torical amplification of apocryphal Evangelium Nicodemi (17-27) and Quaestiones S. Bartholomaei Apostoli (I 1-9). These homilies are summarized by the author of this paper. These five Eusebian homilies are completed with well-known Homilia de divini corporis sepultura et de Christi adventu in infernum [CPG 3768] of anonymous author. This last one is quoted on the Holy Saturday in the Liturgy of the Hours (II 386-388). According to some modern authors (i.e. G. La Piana), all these six homilies seem to set up the Christian Passion Drama in three acts (A-C). The structure of this drama is as follows. At the beginning we have well doc­umented theological introduction about descensus in inferos. Then we have three acts with following homilies (first five of them are written by Pseudo-Eusebius of Alexandria): A. Descending of John the Baptist to the abyss to prepare those who are righ­teous for the coming of Christ: Homilia in illud: „Tu es qui venturus es, an alium exspectamus” [CPG 5521] and Homilia de adventu Joannis in infernum et de ibi inclusis [CPG 5522]; B. The Judas’ betrayal, imprisonment of Jesus and the dread of rulers of the underworld – Satan and Hades – after they have heard about coming of Christ: De proditione Judae [CPG 5523] and Homilia in Diabolum et Hadem [CPG 5524]; C. The Passion and Death of Christ and his descending into the abyss: Homilia de Christi passione [CPG 5526] and Homilia in divini corporis sepultura et de Christi adventu in infernum [CPG 3768]. The numerous and widely presented fragments of dramatized homilies – com­pleted with highly quoted literature of subject – seem to convince clearly, that the origins of Christian drama (reconstructed in unspecified way during the liturgy in the Church) could be reasonably sought as far as in patristic dramatized homily of 6th and 7th century.

The paper discusses the obstacles existing in both secular law and practice of the Church, in the time of St. Gregory the Great, for joining the monastery by people performing the military service or bound in marriage. Subsequently, the paper indicates higher requirements, compared with secular law, imposed by the pope on people wanting to join the monastery but bound by marriage.

The expression found in the paper’s title that originates from the Treatise on the Gospel of John is an illustration of the program of Augustine’s pastoral service, focusing on his great love of the Church. Indeed, whenever the bishop of Hippo was undertaking any ecclesiological issue, the theme of his love of the Church was always evident too. The Church, although tainted by human weakness, is for any Christian, a unique boat that heads safely towards the „fatherland”. It is a love of the Church where a man’s answer to the love of God is both clearly audible and visible. The paper aims to show some parts of that love. Firstly by referring to the process of Augustine’s personal discovery of the Church, and secondly to mention some significant events from his heroic seeking for the good of the Lord’s flock in the light of his fidelity to the entrusted to him amoris officium.

Monastic life, which development has been significantly contributed by St. Gregory the Great, has an important place in the history of Europe. This paper attempts to go back to the period of monasticism in the Late Antiquity, of which there are numerous testimonies in the epistles of St. Gregory the Great. Based on Registrum epistularum, the paper presents the practice of admitting to the monas­teries candidates from different social backgrounds. Simultaneously, it discusses the evolution of the imperial law, from the reign of Constantine to the end of the sixth century, by concerning restrictions on the admission to the monasteries ari­sing from the fact of belonging to the specific state (obnoxii): decurions, tax col­lectors, colonate, slaves assigned to the land. The paper highlights the concern of Pope Gregory I for those who join the monasteries as well as draw attention to the motives, which guided the emperors to make laws concerning the admission to the monasteries and the Gregory’s attitude towards the secular law. The paper also draws attention to the efforts of the pope aiming at promoting the monastic life as the highest form of Christian life.

The idea of the pentarchy directly expressed by Justinian I (527-565) – Novella 131 – is also perceptible in cartography. This paper examines the 41 medieval and early modern world maps in the context of the vignettes of the pentarchy. From the above analysis shows that almost every map from this period had a vignette of Jerusalem and 37 maps have a vignette of Rome. But only 28 maps have a vi­gnette of Alexandria, 24 maps have a vignette of Constantinople, and 20 maps have a vignette of Antiochia. In the case of Jerusalem, a huge majority of vignettes is a sacred buildings (most often it is the Tomb of Christ). Only in three cases is a Holy Cross. In contrast, Rome’s vignettes represent both religious buildings and fortifications. As for the drawings on the vignettes of Antiochia, Alexandria, and Constantinople, the vast majority of them are character of fortifications. These vignettes are, on the one hand, a close relationship with the history of these cit­ies, on the other hand, they are associated with the medieval and early modern politic ideology and theology. This paper is trying to capture and analyze these complicated, religious, political, and theological relationships, and explaining the meaning of these vignettes.

The pontificate of Leo the Great (440-461) was one of the longest in the histo­ry of the Church. Since his days as Pope were difficult and complicated, Leo’s part in the civil and political events of the Roman Empire was significant. That time was also characterized by continuous christological debates and controversies in which Leo’s voice as that of the head of the Catholic Church was decisive. He considered it his fundamental duty to strengthen Christian faith through formation and spiritual direction of the faithful. It also involved the formation of Christian character. His Sermons clearly testify to St. Leo’s fundamental role as a spiritual guide who strives for the salvation of the souls of those who are called to perceive their earthly lives in the proper manner. This paper offers a detailed analysis of Sermons delivered on various occa­sions, including Advent, Lent or Ember days which were for Pope Leo an occa­sion for a systematic exercise of his responsibilities. The first part of the paper deals with Leo’s conception of the basis and goals of spiritual formation in the 5th c. The second part sets forth the main elements of the formation programme. Consequently, the ancient concept of Christian formation has been presented here with its practical adaptations as implemented in daily striving for holiness.

The paper presents the origins of John Chrysostom's teaching on widowhood. The author analyses the most important factors that contributed to the shaping of John’s teaching aimed at widows. The first factor was his personal experience, such as the relationship with his mother or with befriended widows. The second factor was being under a strong influence of St. Paul’s teachings, especially the Letter to the Ephesians and the First Letter to the Corinthians. The last factor was a consequence of John's distinction between the existential and essential sources of widowhood. The existential sources, i.e. mainly the imitation of virginity, are the result of John’s understanding of anthropology, while the essential sources are rooted in the unity of divine hypostases and arise from his view on Christian marriage. Chrysostom’s concept of widowhood takes on a concrete and vertical structure in which one can see a trace of the influence of philosophy and education which he received.

The Polish word „kuchnia” (kitchen, cooker, cuisine, cooking in English) has at least a few colloquial meanings. Most frequently it is associated with a collec­tion of recipes. Another meaning of the word is a device for cooking, e.g. a gas or an electric cooker or until recently a coal-burning stove. It is also a room, where food is prepared. The word sounds similar in most of the European languages. It might have originated from the German etymon „küch” which means cooking. In many languages the room for food preparation and device for cooking have the same source word. Therefore it is worth considering why there are so few expressions with reference to this important sphere of our life. Historical sources containing information that would render it possible to reconstruct kitchens are scarce and relatively late. It may be suspected that for contemporary people an issue of such a self-evident nature was not worth noting. The paper treats both on written and iconographic sources. On their basis it can be assumed that kitchen as a room functioned only in large castles and monasteries, where meals were prepared for a large number of people. In other residences or even at knights’ manor houses or wealthy bourgeois houses, food was cooked in living (day) rooms, whereas initial preparation might have taken place in front of the building. The development of constructions used for cooking is another issue discussed in this paper. Iconographic sources reveal that meals were most often cooked in open hearths that were initially built on the ground level and subsequently they were placed higher. Another essential concern was smoke removal from above the hearth. Based on iconography it can be claimed that most frequently there was a hood protruding from a wall, the purpose of which was mainly protection against sparks. Not always do we know whether this hood was connected with chimney ducts. Today such a construction is called a fire place and it is used mainly for heating. It seems that placing a hearth in the so-called „wide chimney” was an essential stage in the development of a kitchen as a separate room. As a consequence the entire room „in the chimney” became a kitchen and this may give an answer to the question why there is a lack of extensive vocabulary with reference to the kitchen. Another problem mentioned in the paper are difficulties that archeologists face when they attempt to reconstruct equipment used for cooking on the basis of archeological records obtained during excavations.

This article presents the share of Polish researchers in the field of Byzantine history in 21 of the International Congresses of Byzantine Studies, held in the years 1924-2006. The starting point of this article are the official statistics of these conferences, developed by prof. M. Nystazopoulou-Pélékidou and prof. V. Tăpkova-Zaimova. These official statistics have been revised and expanded with the participation of Poles in these congresses. Consequently, given not only the number of Poles taking part in various congresses, but also the titles given by their papers, the language in which these papers were delivered and scientific centers, what these researchers represented. Consideration was also given Polish researchers working abroad. In this way was constructed some kind of synthesis, which shows from a statistical point of view, the contribution of Polish investiga­tors of Byzantine history at different congresses, held in the years 1924-2006.

One of the polemical tools used by the 2nd century Christian authors in dis­putes with the heretics is to define them as „children of Satan” (or, in reverse, identifying Satan as their „father”). According to the author of this text, this is by no means empty invective, but polisemic category, whose polemical force re­quires decoding. The purpose of this paper is to hypothesize about its sources in the hermeneutic tradition and its importance as an “argument” used against ideological adversaries. The reconstruction of these dimensions will be made on the basis of the speech against Mark the Gnostic which was delivered by an un­known (probably Asiatic) presbyter and preserved in the first book of Adversus haereses (15.6) of Irenaeus of Lyons. In the opinion of the author of this paper, naming heretics as children of Satan has its source in the targumic and midrashic interpretation of Gen 4.1, according to which Cain was not the child of Adam but of the Satan-serpent. If this intuition is correct, the polemical force of this phrase would lie in the stock of the negative associations, anchored in the myth of Cain – fratricide, who shared murderous intent with his father, satan.

This paper focuses on the social environment of the ancient Church of Ravenna, which developed its own local liturgy. The paper also characterizes the most impor- tant components of the liturgy up to mid 5th century. The Catholic see of Ravenna developed an original liturgy, which flourished during the incumbency of Bishop Peter Chrysologus (380-450). The ancient liturgy of the 5th century Ravenna church appears to have been a bridge, which United the Catholic liturgy of the Christian Orient with the West. The pregregorian Roman liturgy constituted its most prominent component. The pregregorian liturgical rite of Ravenna was conspicuous for its Roman Character, although it had always preserved its original local elements in the 5th as well as in the 6th-9th centuries. In the 9th century the liturgy of Ravenna was Romanized in accordance with the unifying tendencies of the Gregorian reform.

The paper examines a Late Latin construction consisting of a relative or an interrogative pronoun followed by a bare infinitive. It has been often proposed that the syntactic structure of such sentences results from a contamination of two distinct clause types. This paper proposes an analysis in terms of the Minimalist framework, rejecting the traditional approach and explaining syntactic and semantic properties of the structure on the basis of mechanisms independently motivated for other Latin structures. The surface shape of such clauses is argued to result from changes in morphological parameters. The analysis provides therefore support for the thesis that language change involves primarily the morphological module, which remains the main locus of diachronic and synchronic variation.

Debates on whether early Christians relied solely on exorcism and other miraculous healing under the assumption that all diseases are a result of demonic activity, continue. On the one end of this scholarly continuum are those who hold that early Christians only approached disease and healing as purely spiritual phenomena (hence, focusing on exorcism and other kinds of miraculous healing), while, on the other end, others have argued that early Christians accepted a naturalistic view of the causes for diseases and, consequently, sought naturalistic solutions to diseases. However, like in many other areas of life and thought in early Christianity, there is truth in both of these contentions. Rather than choose sides in this debate, this paper will argue that, just like in other areas, early Christians chose and modified existing approaches to sickness and death based on their understanding of the scriptural teachings on these subjects. As such, their approaches provide some key lessons to the current Covid-19 stricken Church.

Kantorowicz nie jest znany jako badacz bizantyńskiego Wschodu. Faktem jest jednak, że przez większą część swej naukowej kariery intensywnie zajmował się Bizancjum. Od 1940 r., czyli od początku swej pracy na Uniwersytecie w Berkeley, regularnie brał udział w konferencjach bizantynologicznych; od roku 1950 tych organizowanych przez ośrodek Dumbarton Oaks. W ostatnich latach życia przygotowywał do druku książkę zbierającą swe dokonania na tym polu. Ich wspólnym mianownikiem miała być teologia polityczna w cesarstwie bizantyńskim. Książkę tę postrzegał jako kontynuację „Dwóch ciał króla”, które stanowiły zwieńczenie jego badań nad teologią polityczną w świecie zachodnim. Śmierć uniemożliwiła dokończenie tego projektu, jednak niepublikowane wykłady konferencyjne oraz studia ogłoszone na łamach „Dubarton Oaks Papers” pozwalają wyrobić sobie pojęcie na temat Kantorowiczowskiego ujęcia teologii politycznej w Bizancjum. W artykule podejmuje próbę wstępnej rekonstrukcji wkładu Kantorowicza w rozumienie teologii politycznej, czy raczej politycznej chrystologii, w Cesarstwie Bizantyńskim.

Alexander the Great History was translated into Polish from a Latin incunabulum from Strasbourg of 1486 by Leonard of Bończa, about 1600. The analysis of the translation revealed 94 Latin words used by the translator in the text. They may be classified into three groups according to the way of adaptation, namely: the borrowings, the quotations and the words occurring as borrowings and quotations, as well. Each group is analyzed in the present paper. The fact that Leonard of Bończa has saved some Latinisms follows from two reasons: the lack of proper nomenclature in Polish (in the Middle Age vocabulary, the synonymy was scanty) or his difficulties in understanding of some Latin words. His hesitations and doubts reflect in many corrections and glosses. However, most of the Latinisms discussed in the present paper are a part of lexical resources of modem Polish and their strangeness is not realized; they are treated as native words.

The paper analyses the reports regarding money, which appear in the Histo­ria Lausiaca by Palladius, bishop of bithynian Helenopolis and galatian Aspona. In the work of Palladius, money appears in several contexts: as a donation to a church and sums donated to charity. Amongst the most generous donors, there are: Melania the Elder, Melania the Younger and Olympias from Constantinople. In Historia Lausiaca, there can also be found some information about the prices and wages of the time. Another matter is the credibility of the reports when it comes to the amounts of money. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to ulti­mately verify their legitimacy. Other reports which give information on the prices and wages are not really helpful either.

Bishop Chromatius (in office from 388 to 407), whose episcopal see was a cosmopolitan trade-center at the north end of the Adriatic Sea with the name of Aquileia, was one of the most prominent bishops in the period. He is acquaint­ed with notable figures such as Ambrosius, Hieronymus, Rufinus, and Ioannes Chrysostomus and forth. Before being created a bishop, he was the secretary of bi­shop Valerianus and in the occasion of Council of Aquileia in 381, he had spoken against Arians. This Council was presided by Ambrosius and with its scale it could almost be considered as an ecumenical one. As shown in some of the Chromatius’ sermons, which are unearthed in the 20th century, he opposed not only to the ideas of Arians but also to the teaching of Fotinus, bishop of Sirmium. Chromatius was a very zealous fighter and he practically succeeded to uproot all heretical ideas in his diocese. The academia usually sees him as an anti-Arian theologian. After the Council of Constantinople (381), the Arian heresy seemed to be abated, but Chromatius said in one of his Tractatus, “Cuius (sc. Arii) discipuli hodieque oues Dei fallere ac decipere conantur per aliquantas ecclesias, sed iamdudum, magistro perfidiae prodito, discipuli latere non possunt”; it is evident that, the followers of Arius could still be found (with the mentioning of “hodie”, i.e. today) in the area of Aquileia, meanwhile one must not neglect the presence of the followers of Fotinus of Sirmium. The first part of my conference paper would be a general presentation of the religious situation in Aquileia at the time where Chromatius served as the local bishop; thus I will proceed with an in-depth reading on several passages of the Aquilerian bishop’s sermons (Sermones and Tractatus), in order to show the impact of the those heresies on his works and to identity his theological arguments against them. Among those teachings, there is the “unconquerable faith (invicta fide)”, which led to the surmounting (suppression) of heresies.

The sermons of Quodvultdeus Bishop of Carthage during the time of the Van­dal invasion of Africa are characterised by their harsh polemics against the Jews, Pagans, and Arians (De symbolo 1-3; Contra Iudaeos, paganos, et Arrianos; De accedentibus ad gratiam 1-2). The polemics against the Arians derived from the fact that the new lords of Africa, the Vandals, were Arians who promoted their belief and persecuted the Romans for professing their Catholic faith. This paper aims to reassess the polemical character of Quodvultdeus’ sermons. They are exa­mined in their liturgical context and compared to other contemporary writings on the Creed, and finally discussed in their historical and religious context. In view of this analysis, it can be stated that the works of Quodvultdeus studied here are not primarily anti-heretical, but they rather focus on affirming the doctrine of the Church and on the adherence of the newly baptised to the Church as a means of salvation. Quodvultdeus’ harsh anti-heretical language is not exceptional in the Latin tradition of creedal catechesis during the 4th and 5th centuries and has there­fore chiefly a catechetical function.

This article presents the role played by philosophy and biblical exegesis in controversy with Apollinarius of Laodicea. First of all it tries to present the gene­ral context of the dispute, then to develop Basil’s theological thinking and apply it to the problematic Christological field, where Apollinarius directed his challenge. Faced with the anthropological-soteriological problem relating to the defence of the integrity of Christ’s human nature, Basil draws on Stoic and Neoplatonic phi­losophical tradition. Then, this paper focuses attention on Basil’s interpretation of some biblical passages in the confutation of Apollinaris’ doctrine. Basil had star­ted the controversy by describing Apollinarius as supporter of fabulous theories, which are not based on the Scriptures, and of Judaizing ideas which concerned the eschatological renewal. Generally, the Cappadocian prefers to distance himself from Apollinaris and does not intervene in complete manner on the theological de­bate. The bishop – monk tries to unmask the errors of the opponents’ theories star­ting with the correct interpretation of the scriptural passages used by Apollinarius. In some points of his works, the Cappadocian insists that the Savior had a soul capable of feeling and suffering. According to the bishop of Caesarea some of anthropological and philosophical principles used by Apollinaris, along with the distorted reading of biblical texts, revealed the ambiguities and the inconsistencies of his arguments.

In the paper our attention is focused on the way in which both Saint Basil of Caesarea and his opponent, the anomoian Eunomius of Cyzicus, integrate in their theological thought the philosophical teaching about the formation of concepts (™p…noia) in human mind and their relation to the external objects. Our inquiry will provide the evidence that the two theologians are acquainted with the same philosophical material concerning human mind’s concepts; nevertheless each of them opted to use a different element from the related philosophical traditions in order to provide support to different theological purposes. Eunomius’ rationalistic doctrine of God’s knowledge, which goes hand in hand with his account of human language and mind, prompted Saint Basil to advance an empirical epistemologi­cal view that both makes possible a talk about God based on sense data and keeps fully intact the transcendence of God’s essence.

The development of Trinitarian thought that occurred in Gregory of Nyssa’s Contra Eunomium has led some to think that in his debate with Eunomius Gregory introduced a tritheist mode of thinking (G.C. Stead). In having recourse to the scšsij of the Father and of the Son in his polemic with Eunomius, he actually facilitates a recovery of the sense of ÐmooÚsioj in continuity with the doctrine of the two natures as introduced by Athanasius and Basil in the latter’s initial response to Eunomius. However, this simultaneously marks a difference in the notion of fÚsij, which is at the level of divinity and has repercussions even in created nature. This paper seeks to show the substance of this variation, something that on account of Eunomian heresy has been introduced by Gregory of Nyssa.

Author of this paper juxtaposes several issues which are fundamental for mo­nastic concepts of St. Augustine and John Cassian, two figures that had the great­est impact on the development of the western pre-Benedictine monasticism. The difference in intellectual inspirations, personal monastic experiences, addressees of their monastic works and positions held by them in the institutional Church in­fluenced very deeply their teaching. Thus they interpret in a different manner an ac­count on the Jerusalem community (Acts 4:31-35) that – in their common opinion – began the history of monasticism. Cassian sees in it just the historical outset for this phenomenon while Augustine perceives it as a still valid model of behavior for his monks. They look differently at the relation of monastic communities towards the community of the Church but also at inner rules governing the life of monks in monasteries. Unlike Augustine, Cassian sees possibility of spiritual growth gained by monks through ascetical practices and decisions made on their free will. This anthropological optimism had played the key-role for the statement that Cassian made in the face of radical views of Augustine on the Grace and free will, formu­lated by him during the Pelagian controversy but also in other controversial issue, namely of possible legitimacy of lying under particular circumstances.

The main purpose of the paper is to discuss thirteen tropes presented by the Venerable Bede, a Benedictine monk from the Kingdom of Northumbria, in the manual On figures and tropes (De schematibus et tropis, ca. 710), dedicated to his disciple, Cuthbert. Using the definitions and examples given by Donatus (Ars maior), Bede described thirteen tropes and their variants: metaphor, catachresis, metalepsis, metonymy, antonomasia, epithet, synecdoche (totum a parte, pars a toto), onomatopoeia, periphrasis, hyperbaton (histerologia, anastrophe, paren­thesis, tmesis, synchysis), hyperbole, allegory (irony, antiphrasis, enigma, chari­entism, paremia, sarcasm, asteism), and homoeosis (icon, parable, paradigm). Each of these rhetorical devices was illustrated with examples drawn from the Scripture. Therefore, the categories form the grammatical tradition were trans­formed into the exegetical means, particularly useful during reading the Bible and discovering its hidden meanings. Deploying tropes for interpretative purposes, Bede proposed the model of exegesis concentrated on both what is signified and the mode of signification.

During Xth and XIth century the Byzantine Empire was one of the strongest states in the Levant. In mentioned period the emperors undertook numerous mili­tary campaigns, both in order to expand the borders of the empire and restitute their authority on once lost lands. Due to its prestige and wealth the Empire was a favorable destination for foreigners, including mercenaries. As a result, in By­zantium one could meet warriors of a very diversified ethnic descent. The presence of numerous foreigners could not escape the attentions of Byzantines themselves, who in time formed a distinctive view concerning those newcomers. Among many mercenaries two managed to obtain extraordinary status and step out in the eyes of Byzantine citizens. The first group were the Varangians, who at the end of Xth century formed the famous emperor`s guard. The second group of mercenaries were warrior from the West, usually referred to as the Franks. The main aim of this paper is to examine the genesis of mentioned warriors in Byzantium and the roots of stereotypes attached to them.

The paper analyses the reports regarding money, which appear in the Historia religiosa writen by Theodoret of Cyrus. Historia religiosa, on the one hand, presents the life of the Syrian monks, and the other hand depicts the realities of everyday life of the inhabitants of the collapsed provinces of the Roman East at the turn of the fourth and fifth century. On this occasion, we also find in Historia religiosa nu­merous references to the role of money in everyday life. In the work of Theodoret money appears in several contexts: as an important element of trade on the market, as taxes, as a ransom paid for releasing captives but also as a money in welfare ac­tivities (amounts of money donated to charity). Unfortunately, in Historia religiosa, we didn’t found any information about the prices and wages. The analyzed reports, despite a certain lack of precision, are a valuable sources of knowledge. They depicts everyday life in eastern provinces, “stories” unknown to the “great history”, allow­ing for a reconstruction of social and economic history of the later Roman Empire.

The paper is to compare two parallel passages: Origen Contra Celsum VIII 30 and Porphyry De abstinentia II 42-43, which both concern meat-eating demo­nized as “demons’ feast”, and to inquire into a cause of this parallelism. The cause was a closest personal relationship between Origen and Porphyry in the years A.D. 244-249, as well as their indebtedness in a common source, hypothetically, Origen the Egyptian who published his treatise De daemonibus before A.D. 253.

The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the selected works of one of the twelfth century Norman historian living in the British Isles, Gerald de Barri of Wales (1146-1223) in terms of his knowledge of the Byzantine world and its cor­relation with the Normans (from England and Southern Italy). The term Byzantine world has been evolving for several decades. Today it refers no longer just to the land of the former East European Empire, which later transformed itself into the Greek Byzantium, but it can be referred to the Balkans or the Kingdom of Normandy, while scientists are constantly expanding its borders with the help of other sciences such as archeology. We will do this based on his work: De in­structione principis, Topographia Hibernica, Expugnatio Hibernica, Itinerarium Cambriae and Descriptio Cambriae. Selected by Gerald of Wales the themes of the Byzantine and Norman kingdoms of Sicily, which appear in his five works ci­ted above, are proof of the broad political horizons of the elites from British Isles that were associated with the Plantagenet dynasty. Gerald was never in Sicily, in Byzantium or in the Holy Land, but he had some source in sight, both in the form of eyewitness accounts of events and in the accounts of contemporary wri­ters, which does not diminish the credibility of the data he cites. Better and more strongly, he was interested in the facts of the kingdom of Normans in Sicily than in Byzantium. Such a state of affairs seems to be understandable, as he saw in them both a political partner and, to some extent, a model to imitate, especially in the aspect of conducting politics against the conquered peoples.

In this paper I examine presumed reasons for the imprisonment of the Carthaginian poet of the fifth century A.D., Blossius Aemilius Dracontius. He wrote a panegyric for a dominus ignotus making a political faux pas – in the result Guntamund, the vandal king, imprisoned him – analyzing Dracontius’s poetry and taking into consideration the political and the cultural background I aim to find out who was the most probable recipient of the poem. These reflections lead in the conclusion to the presentation of the peculiar character of the agreement between Romano-African people and barbarians, mostly on the cultural and literary level. In his poetry Dracontius gives us very important message about the relations be­tween the educated classes of both nations on the Vandal royal court – we can as­sume that in the Vandal Kingdom still existed literary patronage on a very similar basis as it existed earlier in the Roman Empire.

In Byzantium, writing ekphrases was one of the standard literary skills, de­veloped during school instruction. Yet, in Byzantine art history, the analysis of Byzantine ekphrases had long been beyond the scope of researchers who favoured rather the iconographic and formal comparative methods. It was not until the dis­covery of the role of rhetoric in the shaping of pictorial formulae and iconographic programmes of paintings, by H. Maguire, that the importance of ekphrases was fully recognised – especially as far as interpretation of the contents of art works and the understanding of mechanisms governing the development of iconographic and compositional programmes that ‘defied’ the canon were concerned. The examples of ‘reversed’ compositional schemes in the Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem scene in the Church of the Virgin at Daphni or the Holy Myrrhbearers at the Sepulchre in the Mileševa Monastery, discussed in the present paper, consi­dered within a broad context of architectural space and the liturgy, have demons­trated that the Byzantine artist was able to freely shape his pictorial formulae while looking for new ways of visualising dogmatic content, especially in the period after the Iconoclastic Controversy (726-843). An example of Michael Psellos’ ekphrasis of an image of the Crucifixion fur­ther proves that also Byzantine writers were faced with a similar problem of fin­ding adequate forms for expressing dogmatic content in keeping with the literary canon. In his description of the image, Psellos not only identified its particular elements (schemata) but also referred to the experience and knowledge of the recipient who was supposed to be able to discern in the picture also the reality that could not be represented using artistic means. Thus, the above affinity between the artistic and literary stances seems to re­lease the researchers of Byzantine art from strict adherence to stereotypical inter­pretations in keeping with the methodological canon.

The paper seeks to propose an interpretation of Dialogue between History and Philosophy – prefatory to Simocattes’ History. In the author’s opinion, this brief text deprived of literary value, provides for Theophylactus’ peculiar attempt to justify his actions and behavior during the usurpation of Phokas (602-610). Vague mythological metaphors were meant to divert attention from certain bio­graphical facts and to redirect the discussion to the sphere of universal reflections on the rules of power, thereby releasing Theophylactus from potential liability. Therefore, the Dialogue should be understood as a text of an apologetic nature, written from authors’ personal perspective. Such interpretation differs from the few previous ones which, although scarce, have excessively highlighted rhetori­cal aspects of the text, suggesting even that it has been written at a request of the new government.

The writings of Origen and Jerome, which are the source of the article, al­though in a different literary form – a homily and a letter – and written for a diffe­rent purpose and at different times, both are exegesis of the chapter 33 of the Book of Numbers in which the stops of the Israelites in the desert on the road to the Promised Land are described. Both texts are the classic examples of allegorical interpretation of the Scripture. Both authors interpret the 42 “stages” of Israel’s wilderness wanderings above all as God’s roadmap for the spiritual growth of individual believers, but there are present as well eschatological elements in their interpretations. In the presented paper there are shown these eschatological ideas of both authors included in their interpretations of the wandering of the Chosen People on their way to the Promised Land, sources of their interpretations, simi­larities and differences, and the dependence of Jerome on Origen in the interpre­tation of the stages, with the focuse on the idea of realized eschatology, present in Alexandrinian’s work. Origen has presented in his interpretation a very rich picture of the future hope, but Jerome almost nothing mentioned in his letter about hopes of the way towards God after death.

The paper presents the teaching of St. Caesarius of Arles on the subject of the cloister in the life of a nun. It was based on The Letter to Nuns and Rule for Virgins. Caesarian indications are redolent with severity. Under no circumstances were nuns allowed to leave the monastery. They were also very limited in their contacts with the guests, especially with men. All of this was to protect them against the danger coming from such meetings, among which above all the bishop of Arles mentions the temptations against the virtue of chastity. At the same time the monastery is presented as a place safe for the development of all virtues. It is here that every nun finds everything that leads her to the unity with Jesus Christ. That is why her heart should be filled with joy and gratitude towards God.

The recommendation of escape during the persecution, given by Jesus in Matth 10:23, impelled the ancient commentators to deeper reflection. Apart from the realities of the Christian life threatened by persecution, the views of the mon­tanists rejecting the possibility of escape provoked discussion on this issue. The author of the paper has presented the thought of the Greek and Latin Fathers on this mentioned words of Jesus. The patristic reflection on Matth 10:23 points out, first of all, the reasons for fair act of fleeing. The sources allow us to enumerate the following reasons for fleeing a persecution: 1) a formal obedience to the rec­ommendation of Jesus; 2) the decree of Divine Providence dictating and allowing escape; 3) the attitude of Christ who himself has taken similar opportunity; 4) a respect for human weaknesses that can make someone for various reasons indis­posed to martyrdom; 5) a prudence ordering flee in expectation of higher losses than profits incurred by the remaining at home; 6) the trust in God providing a nat­ural way of rescue, without „forcing” Him to the extraordinary help; 7) an urgent missionary and pastoral ministry to perform; 8) to avoid provoking persecutor to evil by own presence; 9) a specific witness of renunciation and sacrifice by leav­ing own home and possession; 10) the escape understood in the spiritual sense is a secession from the evil and sin. Several authors stand out in the extent and the depth of reflexion about it: Origen, Tertullian, Jerome and Augustine. The authors of 4th Century and the later could be influenced by Cyprian of Carthage. Accused by his opponents, especially novatians, he justifies theologically the escape and validates it by the later attitude: as a carefull shepherd and fearless martyr.

The statements of St. Paul (1Cor 7:18-24; Gal 3:28; Phil 16-22) and Ignatius of Antioch (Epistula ad Polycarpum 4, 3) were analyzed in this paper. In these statements the authors wrote about the liberation of slaves. The advices of St. Paul and St. Ignatius were addressed to those slaves, who had become Christians. These advices come down to remind the slaves, that they should be obedient and subjected to their masters. However these advices were not said because of their approval of slavery as itself, but rather because they accepted the spiritual vision of Christian life, in which all people are brothers and children of God. The au­thors did not see the necessity of calling for liberation of slaves or demolition of slavery, because in their vision all people – sooner or later – come to abolish the yoke of slavery. It should be highlighted, that in social conditioning of those days, calling for the full abolition of slavery and for liberation of all slaves would be a revolution, which ruins the social order. However, the teaching of the authors of Ancient Church caused the gradual passing away from slavery, through creation the new relationship between master and his slave (i.e. John Chrysostom) and finally caused demolition of slavery.