Hessius (4th century)

Since the beginning of the 20th century, attempts have been made to clarify prosopographic details about a person or people named Hessius, who lived in the IV century. Unlike most people of that period, references to it have been preserved in several sources. Speaker Libanius addressed a number of his letters ( Ep. 892, 1042, 1524) to two different Hessians, one of whom was a resident of Antioch, the other was a native of Egypt. On the other hand, 8 epigrams dedicated to a person with that name are included in the Palatine anthology . In 1906, the German historian Otto Zeek identified the Libyan Egyptian correspondent with the addressee of the Pallas epigrams and, at the same time, the arch-enemy of archimandrite Shenute . Zeek also suggested that this Hessian is identical to Flavius Elias Hessius ( Dr. Greek Φλαύιος Αἳλιος Γέσσιος ), the military governor ( presidency ) of Thebaid, in 378 ^[1] . The next attempt at identification was made in 1960 by the English literary critic Cecil Bour , who basically agreed with Seeek's conclusions. In this case, it is known about the Egyptian Hessia that he was the nephew of Apelius and the son-in-law of Gerontius and the pupil of Libania. His apprenticeship, according to PLRE (Gessius 1), dates back to the year 355. In the years 388-392, Hessius built up a reputation as a rhetorician in Egypt. For some time, he carried out the orders of the emperor and, perhaps, really was the president of Thebes. Thus, the history of the catastrophic fall of this man could well have attracted Pallas ^[2] .

The epigrams of Pallas depict the tragic ending of Hessius' life in rather obscure terms. It is clear that in order to achieve a high rank, probably consular , he left his house, but died, having achieved nothing. Details of these events are hidden behind foggy allusions and puns. Judging by the epigram 687 (“The cult of Ammon’s lie was barely known to Hessius ...”), the oracle of Zeus-Ammon , which still existed at the end of the 4th century, despite the prohibitions, became a source of prophecy for him. Astrology has also been banned since the time of Emperor Constantine the Great , but the works of the astrologer date back to that time. The promised Hessia in the next epigram, “the chair of the Ipatians ” and “great power” from the epigram 684, is usually interpreted as a consulate ^[3] . The death of Hessia was apparently painful. According to Zeek's assumption, he was executed, and the allusions of Pallas can be interpreted as an indication of execution by crucifixion . This is indicated by the phrase “honor the last you, you have gained the symbols of power” and the insistent mention of lameness - legs were nailed during the crucifixion. Such a severe punishment can be explained by the tightening of anti-pagan legislation under Emperor Theodosius I , who sent Kinegy in 390 to combat idolatry. In general, according to the reconstruction of Bour, Hessius left Alexandria in the early 380s and went to Italy , where at that time the usurper Eugene tried to seize power with the support of the pagan aristocracy. The accusation of treason together with the appeal to the oracle explains, according to the historian, the brutal execution shortly after 392, which dates the last letter to him from Libania, an unsuccessful seeker of "great power" ^[4] .

In 1964, the English historian Alan Cameron addressed the question of the fate of Hessia. He did not agree with the identification of Hessius with the president of Thebes and with the opponent of Shenut, and also pointed out the unlikely use of the crucifix in this period of time. Although Emperor Theodosius was a man of stern temper, after defeating Eugene, an influential bishop Ambrose Mediolansky asked for leniency to the vanquished, and forgiveness was granted. Cameron also draws attention to the fact that Libanius was a cautious person and took into account that his letters would eventually be made public. This explains the absence of documents preserved in his letters related to 365-388 years, for which he could be suspected of supporting the usurpers Procopius and Maxim . Therefore, he would not save letters to a supporter of Eugene ^[5] . Ultimately, Cameron casts doubt on all identification chains constructed by his predecessors as unprovable, and the tone of the Palladium epigrams is explained by the usual envy of a mediocre grammarian for a successful rhetorician who was not a pagan at the same time ^[6] . Also, according to Cameron, Palladium did not mean Egyptian, but Antiochian Hessia ^[7] . However, at the same time, the Egyptian correspondent Libania could be an enemy of Shenute ^[8] . Nevertheless, the researcher agrees that Hessius was crucified, but not by order of the emperor, but by the pagans during the riots in Alexandria in 391 ^[9] .

Events in the description of Shenut

Rector of the White Monastery in Upper Egypt, Shenut (d. C. 466) is one of the most revered saints of the Coptic Orthodox Church . In addition to significantly contributing to the development of the ideas of a monastic community, Shenute was remembered for his struggle with remnants of a pagan religion . It is known from the works of Shenute that a significant part of his efforts in this direction was directed against the unnamed - specifically, so as not to perpetuate - by the person’s name. However, many times Shenute calls this person “ungodly”, “this madman”, “this sinner”, “the enemy from Panoplis ” and so on. Although it cannot be reliably stated that in all cases we are talking about the same person ^[10] . It is known about him that he was a rich landowner from Panoplis, leading a luxurious lifestyle and oppressing the poor peasants. He was a pagan who openly blasphemed against Christ , denying his divinity. According to the assumption of the first modern scholar of life and works of Shenute (1903), which is currently uncontested, it was mentioned only once in a later biography of Senut Kesiy or Gesiy ^[11] . Disagreeing with the opinion of A. Cameron, the American believes that Hesia, whom Shenute had to deal with, is identical to the Thebaidian presidency Flavius Elius Hessius . Given that there are no serious objections to the life expectancy of 118 years attributed to the Egyptian archimandrite, this is entirely possible. Of the contemporaries of Flavius ​​Hessius, who held the same post, the biography of Flavius ​​Tatian , who held this post in 367-370, is well known. Unlike Hessia, whose career was not further developed, Tatian reached the high post of prefect of the Praetorium of the East . It is possible, however, that as a landowner in Panopolis, Hesius was waiting for a high appointment ^[12] .

The relationship between Shenute and Hesius was determined not only by the fact that the monk waged an implacable struggle against paganism, but also by his attitude to secret pagans, first of all, high-ranking ones. Shenute considered them to be the most dangerous of all, according to the “Life of Shenute” (an extensive body of texts of the 4th – 7th centuries), he did not reward them with blessing and openly exposed them ^[13] . The works of Shenute and his "Life" give the following picture of events. The estate of Hesius was located on the opposite bank of the Nile from the Monastery of Senute. For some reason, Hesius visited the monastery of Shenute and announced that although he used to be a pagan, it was a mistake of youth, and now everything is in the past. Doubting the truth of converting his neighbor to Christianity , Shenute with two assistants made a secret raid into his house (this is described in the text known as “Not because the fox barks ...”), he discovered idols there (according to him, Mina ( Pan ^{[14 ]} ), the traditional deity of Panopolis) and accused him of hypocrisy. After some time, Hesius invited Shenuta to check on his house, which this time did not have traces of a pagan cult, but Shenuta was not convinced of this and made a solemn speech in which he expressed confidence that the landowner was still a pagan in his soul. He made another secret raid on the house of Hesius and again discovered idols there, tore the found papyrus and scattered prepared sacrifices ^[15] . History is silent about how this confrontation ended, but according to the first biographer and student Senut Bese , his teacher saw the hypocrite in the underworld with his tongue tied to the big toe and suffering merciless torment ^[16] .

Modern Interpretation

Descriptions of Shenute are difficult to interpret unambiguously, primarily due to the fragmentation of the body of his works and, accordingly, the arbitrariness of the absolute and relative chronology of events. Often this plot is seen as a reflection of the socioeconomic tension that existed at that time between the impoverished strata of ethnic Egyptians ( Copts ) and Hellenistic landowners. The first of these were predominantly Christians, the second were often pagans. In this approach, it is assumed that Shenute acted on the wave of nationalist protests of the "Egyptians" against the "Greeks". On the other hand, Shenute claimed to be the patron saint of local residents, disputing this status among landowners, in particular Hesia. In this case, Hesius acts as the defender of traditional values, local deities and the organizer of pagan festivities, and, pursuing Hesius, Shenute wages in his person a struggle with these cults ^[17] . However, according to S. Emmel, in such a picture it is difficult to answer the question why Hesius, if he was an important public figure and supporter of paganism, strive to convince Shenute of the sincerity of his conversion to Christianity that there are no idols in his house. In this regard, Emmel is inclined to the assumption that Hesius was a secret pagan, and there is no reason to suppose, as D. Frankfurter sees it, that he openly practiced pagan rituals. Attributed to Hesius blasphemous statements about the lack of divinity in Jesus could be a repetition of the views of the Christian heretical movements of the adoptionists or sub-traditionalists . According to the assumption of Emmel, Hesius, who retired to his estate, left paganism in the past and, following the spirit of the times, converted to Christianity. Unfortunately for him, next to his estate was a monastery of a fanatical enemy of secret pagans, who elected him as his victim ^[18] . Based on the dating of various texts of Shenute, dating of this conflict is proposed, relating it either to the beginning of the 400s or to the 430s ^[19] .

The attention of modern scholars to the personality of Hessia is due to the fact that its comparison with Shenute allows you to build a conflict with which you can try to understand the rural society of the late Antique Middle East . In contrasting himself with Hessia, Senute defines his social role: one builds churches and monasteries for the glory of God, the other mansions, baths and boats in his honor; the provincial authorities exchanged warm visits with Shenute and did not want to listen to Hessius' complaints about the persecution by fanatics ^[20] . In all significant respects, Hessius acts as an antagonist of Shenut ^[21] .

Sources

• Selected Discourses of Shenoute the Great: Community, Theology, and Social Conflict in Late Antique Egypt / Brakke, D., & Crislip, A. (Eds.) .. - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015 .-- 326 p. - ISBN 9781139136846 .
• Epigrams of Greek Anthology / Ed. and with comments. M. Gasparova and Yu. Schulz. - M .: Terra, 1999 .-- 728 p. - (Monuments of ancient literature). - ISBN 5-300-02422-8 .

Research