Chromatius of Aquileia and the Making of a Christian City by McEachnie Robert

Author:McEachnie, Robert.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)
Published: 2017-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chromatius and the gentes

Much like his contemporaries, Chromatius spoke about barbarians by drawing from classical tropes and using them as a definition for Roman identity. Like other Christian writers, Chromatius’s construction of Roman identity vis-à-vis barbarians reflected an identity which was now decidedly Christian for him. It is tempting to assume Rufinus’s position in the Ecclesiastical History to be Chromatius’s as well. After all, Rufinus wrote the work at the behest of Chromatius, while living under his supervision. More than one scholar has, if not substituted one’s view for the other, conflated their opinions.65 While Chromatius’s sermons must be read on their own, it is useful to think of how Rufinus’s words provide context for Chromatius. The Gothic problem was ever present in the minds of the Aquileians after 378, though only one invasion during Chromatius’s tenure came by Aquileia (if we distinguish between Alaric’s Goths and barbarians armies under the control of western usurpers like Magnus Maximus). In this sense, the “barbarians” were much more of an abstract threat, always on the fringes of the empire, potentially destructive. People do not fear a normal death, but they fear an extraordinary one, much like the fear of flying is far less justified than a fear of driving, but much more common. In that way, barbarians, representing a fantastical dread, always lingered as a fear, even before the Gothic invasion. This fear gave the rhetorical deployment of barbarians extra potency. What Chromatius said about barbarians cannot (and should not) be used to draw conclusions about the nature of barbarians or the actual threat they posed. Rather, the manner in which Chromatius presented barbarians, both as a terrifying danger and a marker of the unacceptable life, is the object of our study.

Chromatius presented barbarians in two manners, much like Rufinus and Jerome: deadly and/or converting. Previous scholarship has largely focused on the first aspect, concerned with the political history of barbarian and Roman armies in the region during the time of Chromatius. While confirming that members of the Christian community in Aquileia experienced violence from barbarians but were never in systemic danger, scholars have tended to read Chromatius for direct words about barbarian actions and not for his use of them as a rhetorical trope.66 The most explicit words of Chromatius are those from Sermon 16. In the wake of the invasion of Alaric and the Goths in 401, after stating that Jews and pagans were joining Christians for Easter, Chromatius appealed to the community:

Let us pray to the Lord with all our heart, all our faith, so that he may deliver us from all invasions of our enemies and all fear of them. He does not look at our merits but considers his own mercy. He condescended to deliver the children of Israel, not for their merits, but in consideration of his own mercy. Let him protect us according to his mercy and push back the barbarian nations [barbaras nationes].67

Chromatius clearly acknowledged the fear in Aquileia, praying that God would treat the city as he had Israel and fight for them against the barbarians nations.

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