Church History.

• Author: Dam, Raymond Van
• Position: Writings from the Greco-Roman World, vol. 23 - Book review

Church History, by Philostorgius. Translated by PHILIP R. AMIDON, S.J. Writings from the Greco-Roman World, vol. 23. Atlanta: SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE, 2007. Pp. xxv + 284. $34.95 (paper).

Even though Philostorgius is the most interesting ecclesiastical historian of late antiquity, he is rarely read by modern scholars. Several factors have contributed to his obscurity. One was bad timing. Philostorgius' narrative of the eastern Roman empire covered the period from Constantine in the early fourth century to the proclamation of Valentinian II as emperor in 425, and he published his account presumably shortly afterward. Among his younger contemporaries, however, were other ecclesiastical historians, including Socrates and Sozomen, both writing at Constantinople, and Theodoret, bishop of Cyrrhus in Syria. Their extensive narratives covered almost exactly the same period and became important sources for subsequent historians. But none of them seemed to have been aware of Philostorgius' account. Even if they had been, they probably would have averted their eyes. Another reason for Philostorgius' neglect was his theological preferences. In his narrative, Philostorgius rejected Nicene theology and criticized famous Nicene champions such as Athanasius of Alexandria and Basil of Caesarea. His heroes instead were Aetius and Eunomius, who had promoted the doctrine that the Father and the Son in the Trinity were "dissimilar." As a heterodox theologian, Philostorgius composed a heterodox history that clearly did not mesh with a master narrative of the preordained victory of Nicene doctrines.

Philostorgius might hence easily have become another lost ecclesiastical historian, like Philip of Side, another of his contemporaries. Philip's history is not extant, and he survives only as an entry in the catalogue of books compiled by Photius, bishop of Constantinople in the ninth century. In his catalogue Photius also included an entry on Philostorgius, despite his disgust: "his history contradicts nearly all the ecclesiastical histories." In this case style trumped theology: "in his diction he is elegant and uses poetical words, but in a charming manner and not to excess." As he continued to read this forbidden but seductive account, Photius also compiled a long epitome. For modern scholars Photius' extended summary is now almost all that survives of Philostorgius' history.

Already in 1913 Joseph Bidez published an outstanding edition of Philostorgius'...