Tertullian the African: An Anthropological Reading of Tertullian’s Context and Identities

236 Pages·2007·8.84 MB·English

by  David E. Wilhite

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David Ε. Wilhite
Tertullian the African
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Millennium-Studien
zu Kultur und Geschichte des ersten Jahrtausends n. Chr.
Millennium Studies
in the culture and history of the first millennium C.E.
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Volume 14
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Tertullian the African
An Anthropological Reading
of Tertullian's Context and Identities
by
David E. Wilhite
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
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1 Conceptual Frameworks for Re-Reading Tertullian
1.1 A Postcolonial Re-reading of Tertullian
Any discussion of the life and identities of Tertullian encounters problems
regarding a lack of data both from within Tertullian's own works and from
secondary witnesses. No ancient source claims that Tertullian was martyred, and
therefore, no Acta of Tertullian has been written like the many that are extant
from martyrs of Tertullian's era.1 The first Christian Vita was not written until
after the death of Tertullian's theological successor, Cyprian of Carthage in 258,
leaving no work that claims to be an eyewitness account of Tertullian's life.2 The
first Confessiones of a Christian would not be written until Augustine, and
Tertullian only supplies fleeting references to himself in his own tracts. Scholars,
therefore, must attempt to piece together scanty autobiographical allusions found
in Tertullian's writings, and they must rely on the abbreviated references to
Tertullian by a few later authors.
At the end of the nineteenth century, European scholars were asserting an
outline of Tertullian's life; Otto Bardenhewer, for example, presents a synopsis:
Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus was born, it is usually believed, about the year
160 at Carthage, where his father was serving as a centurion (centurio proconsularis)
in the service of the proconsul of Africa. He received an excellent academic training
and probably entered upon the career of an advocate. There are in the Pandects some
excerpts from the writings of a jurist Tertullian (Quaestionum libri viii, De castrensi
peculio) whom many historians are inclined to identify with our ecclesiastical writer.
About 193, certainly before 197, he became a Christian, was ordained also a priest
according to St. Jerome, and began a long literary career in the service of the new
faith. About midway in his life (ca. 202) he openly joined the sect of the Montanists,
and began to attack the Catholic Church with a violence scarcely inferior to that
which he had manifested against heathenism. Within the Montanist fold he founded a
special sect known as Tertullianists. He is said to have lived to a very advanced age.3
1 See Herbert Musurillo, ed. and trans., The Acts of the Christian Martyrs, (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1972).
2 See Pontius the Deacon, Vita Cypriani. All dates are general reference points; those in question
pertaining to this thesis shall be noted.
3 Patrology: The Lives and Works of the Fathers of the Church, 2nd ed., trans. Thomas J.
Shahan, (St. Louis, MO: B. Herder, 1908), 179; an almost identical synopsis can be found in
Berthold Altaner, Patrology, trans, from the 5th German ed. by Hilda C. Graef, (Nelson, 1960),
166.
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2 Conceptual Frameworks for Re-Reading Tertullian
More recently, however, scholars have questioned many of these claims. Gerald
Bray expresses the sentiment of most Tertullian scholars of the last twenty-five
years when he says, "Tertullian himself never dwelt on autobiographical details,
and there is remarkably little which can be deduced with certainty from his writ-
ings... In the end all we can really say about Tertullian's life is that we know
virtually nothing about it."4 Is this, however, really all one can say? One aspect
of Tertullian's life widely accepted is the place of his writing being Carthage, and
most contemporary scholars agree that Africa Proconsularis was his patria or
homeland.5 The following project seeks to explore Tertullian's life and identities
with this locale at the forefront. Before delineating the scholarly trends in Tertul-
lian studies, a framework of theoretical questioning will be suggested.
Over two centuries before Tertullian lived and wrote, Virgil, the famous poet
and champion of Rome's glory, produced the following lines:
There was an ancient city, the home of Tyrian settlers,
Carthage, over against Italy and the Tiber's mouths afar,
Rich in wealth and stern in war's pursuits.
This, 'tis said, Juno loved above all other lands,
Holding Samos itself less dear.
Here was her armour, here her chariot;
That here should be the capital of the nations,
Should the fates perchance allow it,
Was even then the goddess' aim and cherished hope.
Yet in truth she had heard that a race was springing from Trojan blood,
to overthrow some day the Tyrian towers;
that from it a people, kings of broad realms and proud in war,
should come forth for Libya's downfall;
so rolled the wheels of fate.6
What would Virgil's lines mean for an individual like Tertullian writing in the
time of "Libya's downfall" (excidio Libyae) and existing under the Roman "kings
of broad realms" (late regem)? From within the walls of a city destroyed and
rebuilt by Rome, Tertullian composed a plethora of tracts aimed at a variety of
4 Gerald Bray, Holiness and the Will of God: Perspectives on the Theology of Tertullian,
(London: Marshal, Morgan, and Scott, 1979), 8-9. More recently, David Wright, "Tertullian,"
in The Early Christian World vol. 2, ed. Philip F. Esler, (London: Routledge, 2000), 1027, says
we know "disappointingly little."
5 On Carthage, Geoffrey D. Dunn, Tertullian, (Routledge: London, 2004), 4. On patria, see
below (1.3.3).
6 Aeneid, 1.12-22: Vrbs antique fuit (Tyrii tenuere coloni) / Karthago, Italiam contra
Tiberinaque longe / ostia, dives opum studiisque asperrima belli / quam Iuno fertur terris magis
omnibus unam / posthabita coluisse Samo / hie illius arma, hie currus fuit, hos regnum dea
gentibus esse, / siqua fata sinant, iam tum tenditque foretque. /progeniem sed enim Troiano a
sanguine duci / audierat, Tyrias olim quae uerteret arces; / hinc populum late regem belloque
superbum / uenturum excidio Libyae: sic uoluere Parcas. For text and trans, of ancient sources
cited, see bibliography.
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1.1 A Postcolonial Re-reading of Tertullian 3
audiences, and his rhetorical skill earned Tertullian a place in history as a primary
spokesperson for the Christians in North Africa in the late second to early third
centuries. How, then, would an educated thinker of Tertullian's caliber interpret
comments like Virgil's which celebrates the Roman colonial presence in Africa?
While many ancient historians might ignore such questions, the relatively young
field of Postcolonialism as an academic project exists to address the phenomenon
of colonial encounter.
Postcolonial critics generally trace their roots to Edward Said's work,
Orientalism, in which he attacks the "colonial discourse" of the West for
alienating the non-western "Other."7 In their work, The Empire Writes Back, Bill
Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin defined Postcolonialism as a "reading
practice," distinct from the hyphenated, temporal adjective, "post-colonial."8 The
practice referred to by these authors stems from the call of Gayatri Chakrovorty
Spivak, who asked, "Can the Subaltern Speak?"9 In her essay Spivak declares
that the subaltern, a Marxist term for a member of the lowest rankings of society,
does not have a voice, especially in the context of "postcoloniality," and she
challenges the academic community to attempt to speak on the subaltern's behalf.
Spivak's utilization of Marxist concepts is just one of many philosophical systems
used by postcolonial scholars; other examples include Foucault's discourse
theory, Derrida's poststructuralism and Lyotard's postmodernism.10 The
7 Orientalism, (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1978); the many "genealogies" of
postcolonialism have been attacked "for being themselves value-latent and driven by ethical
agendas, such as anti-foundationalism," by David Theo Goldberg and Ato Quayson,
"Introduction," Relocating Postcolonialism, ed. Goldberg and Quayson (Oxford: Blackwell
Publishers, 2002), xii; Robert J.C. Young, Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction,
(Oxford: Blackwell Publisher, 2001), 18, attributes Said for having "created the academic field
of postcolonialism"; similarly, see Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman, "Colonial Discourse
and Post-Colonial Theory: An Introduction" in Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory,
(New York: Harvester/Wheatsheaf, 1993), 5.
8 The Empire Writes Back: Theory and Practice in Post-Colonial Literatures, (London:
Routledge, 1989), 193. Postcolonialism began in Literature departments as a form of criticism
similar to Feminism; for further discussion, see Young, Postcolonialism, 64; for explication on
the dialectic of Post-colonial and Postcolonial, see Leela Ghandi, Postcolonial Theory: A
Critical Introduction, (EUP, 1998), 3, who argues that the "postcolonial condition is
inaugurated with the onset rather than the end of colonial occupation"; however, Young,
Postcolonialism, 15, declares this view anachronistic; see discussions by Gregory Castle,
"Introduction," in Postcolonial Discourses: An Anthology, ed. Gregory Castle, (Maiden, Mass.:
Blackwell Publisher, 2001), xii; and Goldberg and Quayson, "Introduction," xvi, who present
both possibilities. On Post-colonial/Postcolonial, the distinction will be followed throughout.
9 "Can the Subaltern Speak?" in Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture, ed. C Nelson and L.
Grossberg, (Basingstoke: Macmillan Education, 1988), 271-313, reprinted in Colonial
Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory, ed. Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman, (New York:
Harvester/Wheatsheaf, 1993), 66-111.
10 While many postcolonial critics like Spivak have relied on Marxist theory, others have rejected
it; see discussions in Williams and Chrisman, Colonial Discourse, 6; and Gandhi, Postcolonial
Theory, viii-ix. On Foucault, see Young, Postcolonialism, 386, who says Said's usage of
"discourse" is only "loosely connected" to Foucault's understanding, which did not reach its
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4 Conceptual Frameworks for Re-Reading Tertullian
European origin of so many of these theories, however, is problematic for many
scholars who promote the postcolonial approach as an attempt to correct
Eurocentricity. Despite the complexity and multiplicity of approaches within the
field of Postcolonialism, many scholars find the theory useful in attempting to
answer the call to re-read history, including ancient history and the era of the
Roman Empire which ruled in Tertullian's day.
If Postcolonialism is defined here as a "reading practice," what are the
implications for "reading" the historical documents of Roman Africa?
Postcolonial critics have objected to many philosophies of history such as the
Hegelian understanding of "progress."11 Therefore, if one heeds Spivak's call to
hear the voice of the subaltern, the historian must in a certain sense attempt a
fresh approach to the Eurocentric received knowledge of the historical method.
Postcolonial critics insist that "analysts look at texts as texts rather than as
documents providing evidence about historical events... suggesting that all
knowledge is partial."12 In other words, a postcolonial approach to history entails
reading data through a different set of hermeneutical questions. In recent
decades, many classical studies of the Roman Empire have incorporated such an
approach.
1.1.1 Postcolonialism and Roman Imperialism
When historians reference Rome's colonization of Italy and what became the
Roman provinces, they employ the term "Romanization," a concept which usually
involves political dominance coupled with the usurping of indigenous or pre-
Roman elements with Roman "culture" (Latin language, Roman religion, baths,
gladiatorial games, architecture, etc.)13 Romans, as early as Pliny the Elder, felt a
completion until his work. The Archaeology of Knowledge, in 1972. On Derrida, see Ashcroft
et al., The Empire, 193; cf. Young, Postcolonialism, 395, who discusses the postcolonial
contexts of Tunisia and Algeria and their influence on Foucault and Derrida, respectively. On
Postmodernism's relation to Postcolonialism, see Williams and Chrisman, Colonial Discourse,
5, who say the two are "by no means disjunct"; however, Castle, Postcolonial Discourses, xiv,
discusses the many postcolonial critics who challenge the use of postmodern theory.
11 Said, Orientalism, 24, and Williams and Chrisman, "Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial
Theory: An Introduction," 8.
12 Young, Postcolonialism, 389-92, emphasis added; note that Young is criticizing such a view in
that it "threatens any notion of history as an objective discipline."
13 On "culture," Josephine Crawley Quinn, "Roman Africa?", "Romanization"? Digressus
Supplement 1 (2003), 9, concludes that "categorization by culture is not the best basis for
interpreting [ancient African] society." For discussion of the problems entailed with the term,
see M.A. Aguilar, "Changing Models and the 'Death' of Culture: A Diachronic and Positive
Critique of Socio-scientific Assumptions," in Anthropology and Biblical Studies: Avenues of
Approach, ed. Louise J. Lawrence and Aguilar, (Leiden: Deo Publishing, 2004), 299-313. For
an example, see R.D. Sider, Ancient Rhetoric and the Art of Tertullian, (OUP, 1971), 128,
"...Tertullian was deeply concerned to integrate Christianity and classical culture." His basis is
Tertullian's extensive use of classical rhetoric. However, as will be shown below, see section
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1.1.1 Postcolonialism and Roman Imperialism 5
vocation to "civilize" (i.e. Romanize) the world by extending the pax Romana.14
Often, the process of Romanization is said to have been extensive in the West but
limited in the Greek speaking East.15
Due to this "misleading" model, historians too often assumed that the entire
region of the Mediterranean was Graeco-Roman because they overlooked the
distinction between colonizers and colonized, assuming that no "civilization"
existed in many provinces until Romanization occurred.1 In reaction to the pro-
colonial perspective, scholarship on Romanization began to reexamine the notion
of "resistance" and constructed a new model of Romanization which depicted
static dichotomies: Roman/barbarian, urban/uncivilized, accommodation
/resistance.17 These debates and the use of these models impacted the
historiography of Tertullian's context, ancient North Africa.
Several scholars of Roman history have contributed to the discussion of
Romanization in Africa by focusing on the presuppositions held by contemporary
historians and emphasizing the perspective of the colonized. One of the first to
question the scholarly assumptions regarding the Romanization of Africa was A.
Laroui.18 Based on the evidence of repeated indigenous revolts in Africa against
Rome, Laroui argues that Africans under Rome led a continuous resistance to
Roman power.19 Similarly, M. Benabou claims that Africans resisted Rome
5.1, what is often deemed "cultural content" can flow freely across group boundaries without
compromising that boundary; therefore, deeming any exchange or resistance of "culture" as
"acculturation" or "counter-cultural," respectively, could obscure, if not misrepresent, ancient
sources.
14 Janet Huskinson, "Looking for Culture, Identity and Power," in Experiencing Rome: Culture,
Identity and Power in the Roman Empire, ed. Janet Huskinson, (London: Routledge, 2000), 20-
3; ref. Naturalis historia 3.39.
15 e.g. James B. Rives, "Religion in the Roman Empire," in Experiencing Rome, ed. Huskinson,
269, who argues "that the reason for this lies in the fact that the cultures of the west lacked the
prestige of Greek culture, and so could not compete as well with the culture of the conquerors."
For full discussion, see Greg Woolf, "Becoming Roman, Staying Greek: Culture, Identity and
the Civilizing Process in the Roman East," PCPS 40 (1994): 116-143.
16 On "misleading," Robert Turcan, The Cults of the Roman Empire [Les Cultes Orientaux dans le
monde Romain], trans. Antonia Nevill, (Oxford: Blackwell, [1989] 1996), 2. Also, Ton Derks,
Gods, Temples and Ritual Practices: The Transformation of Religious Ideas and Values in
Roman Gaul, (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 1998), 2, adds that Romanization
discourse can be characterized as having an "aversion to social theory." For a general review of
the major voices for and against Romanization, see David Cherry, "Marriage and Acculturation
in Roman Algeria," CPh 92 (1 1997), 71. For a review of the colonial "bias" in North African
scholarship, see D.J. Mattingly and R.B. Hitchner, "Roman Africa: An Archeological Review,"
JRS 85 (1995), 165-213.
17 Huskinson, "Looking, 20-3. For examples of anti-Roman sentiment, or "resistance" in Egypt,
see Christopher Haas, Alexandria in Late Antiquity: Topography and Social Conflict, (London:
Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997), 331.
18 L 'histoire du Maghreb: Un Essai de Synthese, (Paris, 1970), cited in Quinn, "Roman Africa?",
8.
19 On indigenous revolts, see the following discussion in section 3.1.2.
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6 Conceptual Frameworks for Re-Reading Tertullian
20
"culturally" as well as militarily. The wake of scholars that followed polarized
to favor a colonial perspective or an indigenous perspective, the former claiming
that Laroui and Benabou were anachronistic in assigning nationalism to ancient
societies. Although Mattingly and Hitchner agree that the postcolonial
perspective can in turn offer an equally one-sided approach, they declare that "the
scholarly reaction to Laroui and Benabou has been unjustifiably harsh."21
Criticisms of one-sided approaches continue to affect the academic research
of ancient North Africa, and some scholars claim that the critique of Laroui and
Benabou is still unanswered in light of archeological data. David Cherry asserts,
"The physical record, too, is inadequate, largely because the archaeologists of the
colonialist era concentrated their attention, perhaps naturally enough, on the
spectacular and mostly urban Roman monuments that served as visible reminders
of the grandeur of the European heritage, so that very little attention was paid to
the material record of North African culture (where it survived), and almost none
at all to the countryside, where the indigenous is most likely to be preserved."22
Elsewhere, Cherry sharpens his criticism by saying,
In the almost complete absence of evidence for any significant measure of cultural
change in the region, it is difficult now to understand why so much modern writing
about North Africa has maintained that it was extensively Romanized. I suppose that
some part of the explanation is to be found in the once widely shared mostly implicit
assumptions about the superiority of European civilization.23
Another scholar, Brent Shaw, similarly critical of past studies remarks, "There
was a hardened preconception in the minds of most Europeans, especially the
colons and colonial administrators who went to North Africa, that they were the
latter-day counterparts or heirs of a glorious Roman (that is to say, European)
past."24 Both Shaw and Cherry are reviving the archaeological arguments
forwarded by T.R.S. Broughton in his work The Romanization of Africa
Proconsularis ,25
Broughton, however, was not well received by his colleagues. Cherry
explains why: "[Broughton's] book, I think, was never really given the attention
it deserves, perhaps because many of its conclusions ran counter to views which
20 La Resistance Africaine a la Romanisation, (Paris: F. Maspero, 1976); discussed in Cherry,
"Marriage," 71.
21 "Roman Africa," 170. Regarding a "one-sided approach," Quinn, "Roman Africa?", 9,
discussing the Republic, concludes both "Romanization" and "Punicization" are inadequate
categories.
22 Frontier and Society in Roman North Africa, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998), 2-3; for a
survey of the archaeology of ancient North Africa, see Susan Raven, Rome in Africa 3rd ed.,
(London: Routledge, 1993), xxx.
23 Frontier, 160-1.
24 Environment and Society in Roman North Africa, (Aldershot, Great Britain: Variorum, 1995),
384.
25 Broughton, The Romanization, (Baltimore: John Hopkins Press, 1929).
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