The Great Christian Failure of Mastery: Slavery and Romanness in Salvian of Marseilles's De gubernatione Dei
The purpose of this article is to investigate the intersection of the discourse of slavery - or doulology - and Romanness in Salvian of Marseilles' De gubernatione Dei. After providing a short overview of the author and his work, the study examines how Salvian considers the slavery to God as th...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Brill
[2018]
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In: |
Religion & theology
Year: 2018, Volume: 25, Issue: 3/4, Pages: 394-417 |
Further subjects: | B
De gubernatione Dei
B Roman Slavery B Salvian of Marseilles B Christian Slavery B Late Antiquity |
Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
Summary: | The purpose of this article is to investigate the intersection of the discourse of slavery - or doulology - and Romanness in Salvian of Marseilles' De gubernatione Dei. After providing a short overview of the author and his work, the study examines how Salvian considers the slavery to God as the most important expression of true Christian-Roman pietas. Thereafter Salvian's vice list, which is based on servile vices or uitia seruorum - including robbery, lying, greed, homicide, and sexual misconduct - is investigated to show how his Christian opponents fail both at being good masters of slaves and good slaves of God. The sexual abuse of slaves by Christian masters receives special attention. Finally, the study delineates the key dynamics and implications of Salvian's doulology, and shows that the Christian failure of mastery, both of the self and others, is what informs Salvian's view of why the Christian-Roman Empire is disintegrating under barbarian powers. |
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ISSN: | 1574-3012 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion & theology
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15743012-02503014 |