Between Authority and Orthodoxy

Historical Perspectives and Narrative Strategies in Sozomen of Bethelia's Historia Ecclesiastica
Erscheinungsjahr 2027
ISBN: 978-83-233-5662-2
Verlag: Uniwersytet Jagiellonski, Wydawnictwo

Buch, Englisch, Band 1, 412 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 168 mm x 240 mm

Reihe: Byzantina Lodziensia

This study offers a comprehensive critical assessment of the fifth-century ecclesiastical historian Sozomen (Salamanes Hermias Sozomenos ca. 370 – ca. 450), whose Historia Ecclesiastica is a major source for the history of the Christian Church under the Constantinian and Theodosian dynasties. It examines his life, career, and historical context, proposing new evidence for the dating of his work and arguing that it was left unfinished following his death. The book situates Sozomen within the tradition of ecclesiastical historiography established by Eusebius of Caesarea, comparing Sozomen’s work with those of earlier church historians, bringing into focus his distinctive contribution to the genre and highlighting its biblical inspiration, as well as its engagement with pagan Greco-Roman historiography. Through close analysis of key figures including Athanasius of Alexandria and Constantine the Great, it explores Sozomen’s nuanced and often ambivalent treatment of imperial authority and Christian orthodoxy. By reconstructing the intellectual and theological milieu in which he wrote, the study sheds new light on his narrative strategies, historical outlook, and his interpretation of major doctrinal controversies. It presents Sozomen as an original and sophisticated historian whose work deserves recognition as a significant contribution to late antique historiography.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Chilson, Cyril Adrian Francis

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christentum/Christliche Theologie Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Jüdische Studien

Über Autor(innen)

Cyril Chilson (b. 1962) is an instructor in Biblical Hebrew at Blackfriars Studium, Oxford, and a historian of late antique Christianity. His work focuses on late Roman and early Byzantine Christian cultural history, especially Greek ecclesiastical historiography. He studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of Oxford where he was a Junior Research Fellow at Blackfriars Hall. He completed his doctorate at the University of Lódz, Poland (supervisor: prof. dr. hab. Slawomir Bralewski). His research explores church–state relations and political theology in the Byzantine Empire, the interaction between Byzantine Christian denominations and ethnic identity, as well as Patristic and Byzantine biblical exegesis.