Why was Peter Brown's Study of the Holy Man in Late Antiquity such a Milestone in the Historical Study of this Period?

        In order to gauge the extent of Peter Browns “world of the holy man in late antiquity” being a milestone in the historical study of this period, it is also necessary to look at the work of other historians in contrast to his. This is what I will be concentrating on for most of this essay. First of all, I will be looking at the work of Peter Brown on the world of the holy man in late antiquity. Peter Brown places most of his emphasis on the role of the holy man as a mediator in rural life of the time, and as a man of mystique and intrigue to the majority of the people of the time. The main concentration of holy men in the eyes of Peter Brown are based in Syria. “Syria was the great province for ascetic stars. This fact in itself calls for an explanation. Egypt was the cradle for monasticism. It was in Egypt that the theory and practice of ascetic life reached its highest pitch of articulateness and sophistication. Yet the holy men who minted the ideal of the saint in society came from Syria, and, later, from Asia Minor and Palestine – not from Egypt.” The holy man also stood as a testament to the society and the cultures of the day. This idea was especially true in the case of the Egyptian desert in comparison with the Syrian Desert. The spaces between towns in the Egyptian desert were vast, and the harsh temperature extremes and lack of water made the desert very inhospitable, thus forcing the hermit to accept the ways of the locals. The Syrian Desert, on the other hand, was much less foreboding, with its greater abundance of life allowing a hermit to live, if he kept on the move. It is this idea in which Peter Brown’s study of the holy man becomes influential in the spread of the organised Christian religion. The fact that the holy men would have to wonder around the desert meant that they would have to interact with the locals. “The ascetics of Syria called themselves the tūraiē – the men of the mountains – and the ra ‘iē – the Shepherds. Many simply merged back into the semi-nomadic fringe of life on the fertile crescent. The Beduin were among the first clients of many Syrian and Palestinian holy men. Many a holy man had lived this free and rootless life before.” The fact that the holy men had clients meant that the holy men must have made contact with the local indigenous people of the regions, and therefore some religious spread. Peter Brown is also showing the true influence of the holy man in the society of the time by saying “The crowd is an essential element in the life of the holy man in Syria. In the late summer, the unemployed would stream from the villages to the death bed of the holy man (in hope of snatching his body as a relic.)” it is in my opinion that this quote is an illustration of the sheer influence of the holy man. “We can even watch the rise of a patron. Abraham the hermit came to a pagan village in the Lebanon. It was, Theodoret was careful to point out (in exactly the same terms as liberanus had done), a village of many owners – a village, that is, of independent farmers. He rented a house and settled down as an agent for the walnut crop. He sang the Psalms. His neighbours promptly blocked the entrance of his house with refuse. But, when the tax collector came, it was Abraham who was able through friends in Apamaea to arrange a loan for the village. From then on he was declared the patron of the village.” This idea of the holy man being ambitious is written in contrast with the ideas of D. J. Kyrtatas. “In studying religion in late antiquity, many scholars are still preoccupied with refuting Dodd’s ‘pagan and Christian in an age of anxiety,’ written more than 20 years ago. Dodd’s approach, and in particular his concept of ‘an age of anxiety,’ seems objectionable to most contemporary authors. Peter Brown, for example, has found it preferable to describe the period as an ‘age of ambition’ and others have followed closely. And yet, in trying to understand religious experience in the ancient world, scholars have been perusing some of Dodds’s principles more faithfully than they are ready to accept.” I feel that this quote illustrates that Brown’s study of the holy man in late antiquity already appears to be a mile stone, as it appears to go against the original ideas presented by older historians on the topic.

        Another suggestion as to why Brown’s study of the holy man in late antiquity was such a mile stone in the historical study of the period is due to the origins of the holy man, and his input into the societies of the time. Peter Brown uses his idea of the late antique holy man as a window into the viewing of the civilisations of the time. “The patient work of the Bollandists has increased and clarified a substantial dossier of authentic narratives. These lives have provided the social historian with most of what he knows about the life of the average man in the Eastern Empire. They illuminate the variety and interaction of the local cultures of the Near East.” There are many reasons, however, as to why the holy man could shed light on the cultures of the Near East. Firstly, a lot of the communities were smaller and more isolated ones, not worthy of much recognition in the history books, or in the national order. When the Byzantine Empire spanned about 3.5Mkm2 and spanned the majority of Europe, it is only natural to assume some towns and smaller rural settlements were beyond recognition from the majority of the people. It is therefore natural to assume that the histories of these communities were not much more than local stories. As the holy man was generally able to read and right, he therefore could provide them with written histories, that we can gain access to today, but he would also possibly give them an air of acknowledgement that would make people notice them. Browns study of the holy man also gave rise to the differences between the towns and the villages. This idea is a milestone in itself, as both “The Social Structure of the Early Christian Communities (D. J. Kyrtatas)” and “Hagiography and the cult of Saints (Thomas Head)” express the differences in different communities, but Brown is the only writer to express the rise of the holy man in terms of bridging a gap between the towns and villages in the communities of the time. This is put in terms of a transfer between the Hellenistic classical civilisation and the medieval civilisation. This is put in different terms. Firstly, the world was changing in the times of the world of late antiquity. More advanced civilisation was spreading, and so was a larger class divide. There was also a spread of Christianity into the former pagan areas of the Near East. With this spread of population and religion, there was also a greater emergence of gaps between towns and villages. The major advantage of the Holy man was that as an outsider, the holy man bridged a gap that the villagers could not. Although he would often be at a distinct disadvantage on his arrival “The hermit, an unattached stranger on the edge of the village, had an uphill task to allay initial hostility and suspicion: he could be framed in a murder; he was often held responsible for pregnancies among the village girls; he had the evil eye.” the holy man could use this for an advantage. This gives way to the one of the major ideas that suggests that Brown’s study of the holy man in late antiquity is a mile stone for the historical study of this period. I shall develop this idea in the next paragraph.

        One of the major reasons in Brown’s study being viewed as a milestone for the historical study of this period is his linking in of the holy man as a link figure in the rural development of the era. For this section, Brown’s essay on Town, Village and Holy Man gives a better picture than his essay on The Holy man in late Antiquity. Firstly, there was a major contrast between the town and village life in the Syrian world, which is viewed as the birth place of the holy man. “The villager spoke Syriac rather than Greek, that in the course of the sixth century he followed the orthodoxy of Severus of Antioch rather than the ‘prevarication’ of the Council of Chalcedon matters little compared with the value system in which he was encased.” this idea shows that there was a vast difference between the towns and villages. The milestone idea is that the holy man was able to bridge this gap, and he can therefore be viewed as a figure of rural development. It is the manner in which he did this, however, that is especially important. The rise of the holy man as the ‘rural patron.’ This is not a negative idea, and the rise of the rural patron was not to disrupt the quasi-Federal nature of state relations, but it saw the changing from a classical to a medieval society. The rise of the holy man can also be seen as the rise of the village patron. This idea stems from the apparent need of a bi-lateral relationship between the emergence of the medieval society and the appearance of the holy man. This idea is clearly laid down in the essay. “Abraham the hermit came to a pagan village, of independent farmers without a landlord who could act as their patron. When the tax collector arrived, Abraham was able through his friend in Apamea to arrange a loan for the village. From then on, he was declared the patron of the village. Abraham, as patron, became the priest of the village. His position would be as firm as another priest described as ‘a man of power and a judge.” This quote reveals a mutually beneficial relationship between the holy man and the people of the village. As Abraham was the patron for a pagan village, he would therefore be able to educate the people in a Christian manner, thus accounting for a degree of religious spread through the region of the Near East. The fact that Abraham, however, had to organise the loan through a friend develops a bond between the town and the village, thus improving the development of the region as a whole. “Rural patronage, I would conclude, is the narrow bridge which spanned the chasm between town and village. In its religious form, in the role of the holy man, we can follow in some detail the logic of the institution of patronage, and through an appreciation of the nuances of this particular logic reach some summary conclusions on the problem of resistance and assimilations as it has usually been treated.” This idea gives was to the theory of assimilation of the towns and the villages into a system of singular value, and thus a semi-unification of the region as a whole, under the common holy man. This goes against the previous idea of the region being in resistance to cultural change, making Brown’s study of the holy man far greater than simply a study of a religious figure. The fact that it suggests a whole change in the system and a massive shift in both social and cultural values, along with religious ones makes this a massive milestone in the historical study of this period. “The concept of sin and its interpretation, the concept of holiness and its social consequences – these new concepts, or rather concepts articulated in a totally new manner, dominate the cultural history of late Roman Syria.”

        Another significant development in the role of the holy man is that of the holy man in context with the spread of religion through the territories of the late Roman Empire. We have already seen Brown’s studies being used in relation to the spread of the idea of rural patronage, and this in turn leading to the development of the rural region as a whole. This is due to the holy man bridging the gap between the towns and the villages of the time. In the third and fourth centuries, the empire was mainly pagan, with different people worshiping different gods. “Most Romans did share some ideas about moral behaviour, however little their religion helped to reinforce it. No one seriously argued that the pederasty of Zeus, the thievery of Hermes, or the drunkenness of Dionysus were admirable. Most Romans had always disapproved of the Roman elite, who without having a different moral code behaved as if no morality applied to them.” In the early days, Christianity was spreading very fast, even though the Emperor Diocletian was persecuting it . It was not until the reign of Constantine that the Empire began to tolerate Christianity as a doctrine. Constantine conversion, however, is open to a large amount of debate. It is claimed that he had a dream of a bright cross, and Christ appeared to him persuading him to adopt the cross as his armies standard. There is a great deal of ambiguity in this, as it appears that Constantine still had a large amount of devotion to the Sun God. The fact that Christianity was now tolerated makes it easier to view the work of the holy man as a tool for the spread of religion. The holy man, a traveller of enlightenment, got accepted in a role of rural patronage. From this position of strength, I can be seen that he could preach to the inhabitants, thus turning them to Christianity. “In the second place, the logic of the institution of rural patronage, especially in its religious form, by-passes the conventional model of conflict; indeed, the institution itself, whether wielded by generals in the fourth century Antioch or monophysite leaders in the sixth century, derived its effectiveness largely through creating a ‘tertium quid’ and so bypassed the problem in conventional terms.” This idea is a clear illustration of the position of the holy man in the times of late antique, especially in Syria. The ideas of patronage and religious enlightenment are bridged by the holy man, making him an influential figure in the world of late antique. It is no wonder why the inhabitants of the time would all attempt to get pieces of a dead holy mans body as relics, or why Browns study of the holy man in late antiquity is such a milestone in the historical study of this period.

        Overall, in this essay, I have looked at many factors to do with the holy man in an attempt to answer the question “Why was Peter Brown’s study of the Holy man in Late Antiquity such a milestone in the Historical study of this period?” I can only conclude that the role of the holy man was as essential in the development of Late antique societies due to its unique role. It is the extreme diversity of this role that ultimately makes Browns’ study of the holy man in late antiquity such a milestone for the study of this period. Brown covers the holy man from several different angles, which all tie in with rural development. I feel that the role of a patron is the most significant in this argument, as Brown decides that the holy man spans the vast gap between the towns and villages. His illustration of Abraham is classic in the illustration of this. Through his friend in a larger town, Abraham was able to arrange a loan for the people of the village, thus cementing himself as the rural patron figure. This also made him their priest and their judge, and therefore in a position to influence the wills of the people of the village, therefore counting for the spread of Christianity to a certain degree. This is not, however, to suggest selfish motives, as the whole essence of the holy man was a man looking for peace, and not domination. The holy man, in this case Abraham, was simply looking to farm. “The patron was a go-between. He stood between town and village. His position in the village depended on an overture to the world of the town. His position in the town depended on an unusual sensitivity to the needs of the village.” Brown’s ideas of the rise of rural patronage in the later empire also show the rise of the growth of social classes and social categories. In conclusion, I would say that the main reason why Peter Brown’s study of the holy man in late antiquity is such a milestone is due to his painting of the holy man in a much broader light than simply a hermit seeking enlightenment. It is his ideas of the holy man in the development of religion, culture, and namely the rise of rural patronage that make Brown’s ideas such a milestone in the historical study of this period.