Among Christian writers of the first three centuries, the letter was a popular literary form. Besides Paul’s pastoral letters (some authentic, others probably later imitations), there survive letters from, inter alia, Ignatius, Polycarp, and Clement. In the Latin west, the North African Cyprian left behind a substantial epistolary corpus. His letters allowed him to maintain leadership over the Carthaginian church while in hiding during the third-century Decian persecution. Other bishops, presiding over far-flung churches, frequently resorted to letters to discuss questions of social or theological policy with their peers, while continuing to attend to the quotidian demands of their episcopal duties.
It should come as no surprise that these citizens of the Roman Empire, even if Christian, made use of a common Greco-Roman literary practice to communicate across time and space. As was also true for the letters of Cicero, Seneca, and Pliny, the content was adapted to suit the specific demands of the occasion; but the idiom, form, and function of these ‘‘early Christian’’ letters are remarkably similar to classical letters. It was not until the late fourth century, in the Latin west, that we see the first traces of a deliberate effort to theorize a specifically Christian epistolary practice that is distinct from the inherited classical tradition. Whereas earlier Christian letter-writers had merely appropriated the standard language and forms of traditional letter-writing, both Paulinus and Augustine attempted to reformulate the cultural function of letter exchange for the Christian community. Paulinus suggested, against standard convention, that letter exchange was actually preferable to viva voce conversation. Augustine’s claim that letter exchange was an appropriate forum for the censure of friends precisely because it invited the gaze of the Christian community and encouraged the sinner’s repentance was similarly revolutionary. Both Augustine and Paulinus reimagine the function of the letter exchange in the management of private, interpersonal relationships within the broader community to reflect tenets of Christian ideology. Still, their innovations to traditional epistolary practice should be seen as the exception rather than the rule. Most late antique letter-writers, particularly those in the Greek East, carefully adhered to traditional epistolary mores. This is not to say that Christian letters did not have a distinctive flavor; but their flavor was no more distinctive than the Stoic philosophical letters of Seneca or the studiously deferential letters of Pliny.
The term ‘‘Christian’’ is generally used to identify letters written by Christians or, more usually, with specifically Christian content. (For this reason, Ausonius’ deliberately traditional letters are typically grouped with ‘‘pagan’’ letters, despite his probable status as a baptized Christian.) The argument I have presented here suggests that, in fact, the ‘‘Christian letter’’ was conceived as an innovative reformulation of traditional epistolary practice, designed to reflect the revolutionary implications of Christian theology: that friendship was a reflection of the individual’s love for God - God as the absent presence, both here and not here - and a means of overcoming the dislocation of communities. The epistula Christiana was an invention of the late fourth century Latin west, and should be understood as part of a much larger movement led by certain ‘‘fundamentalist’’ converts (for example, Paulinus and Augustine), who were committed to the development of a uniquely Christian literary and artistic culture. Late antique letter-writing, like many other forms of artistic production in the period, was characterized by a complex interplay of tradition and innovation. While there emerged in this period an impulse to theorize a specifically Christian practice of letter-writing, it does not seem to have been widespread. Most late antique letter-writers, regardless of their religious identity, adhered to traditional epistolary protocol.
In recent years, studies of individual letter collections have demonstrated the value of uniting an awareness of historical context with sensitivity to the texts’ profoundly literary nature (Zelzer 1989: 203-8; Conybeare 2000; Van Dam 2003a; Schrclder 2007). Several such projects, focused on individual Greek and Latin letter collections (including Libanius, Jerome, Augustine, Symmachus, and Cassiodorus), are currently in preparation. As the fruits of these scholarly labors become widely available, our understanding of late antique letters will undoubtedly change dramatically. As well, these studies of individual letter collections should encourage more synthetic, diachronic studies of specific features of ancient letter-writing that reveal patterns of continuity and discontinuity across linguistic traditions, space, and time.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
There currently exists no monograph or collection of essays devoted exclusively to late antique letter-writing. For the student of the Later Roman Empire, the most useful surveys are Stowers 1986 and Zelzer 1997. Peter 1901 offers a standard overview of classical Latin letter-writing and its reception, but avoids a detailed discussion of explicitly Christian letter collections. Conybeare 2000 is an exemplary study of one late antique letter collection (for a less adventurous treatment of Jerome’s letters see Conring 2001). Also instructive is Catherine Conybeare’s textual ‘‘dialogue’’ with Mark Vessey on the topic of Augustine’s letters to women (Vessey 2005a). Sogno 2006 includes useful discussion of Symmachus’ letters; Schroder 2007 is indispensable for the study of Ennodius’ letters. Mathisen 2001, treating Ruricius’ letters and fifth-century epistolary culture in Gaul, is similarly profitable. Thraede 1970 traces the reception of key epistolary topoi throughout Late Antiquity. Bruggisser 1993 - a study on epistolary friendship in Symmachus’ letters - is a useful entry point for exploring the relationship between letter-writing and friendship. Salzman 2004 and Bradbury 2004a extend the discussion to consider the function of letters in the creation of social networks (see also Mathisen 1981). Morello and Morrison (forthcoming) includes several essays devoted to aspects of late antique epistolary practice.
World History
