Socrates of Constantinople

Socrates of Constantinople

Socrates of Constantinople [The traditional epithet "Socrates Scholasticus" is not well-founded in any early tradition, according to his most recent editor, Theresa Urbainczyk, "Socrates of Constantinople: Historian of Church and State" (Ann Arbor:University of Michigan Press) 1997. ISBN 0-472-10737-2. On the title pages of some surviving manuscripts he is designated "scholastikos" ("schooled").] was a Greek Christian church historian, a contemporary of Sozomen and Theodoret, who used his work; he was born at Constantinople c. 380: the date of his death is unknown. Even in ancient times nothing seems to have been known of his life except what can be gathered from notices in his "Historia Ecclesiastica" ("Church History"), which departed from its ostensible model, Eusebius of Caesarea, in emphasizing the place of the emperor in church affairs and in giving secular as well as church history.

Socrates' teachers, noted in his prefaces, were the grammarian Helladius and Ammonius Saccas, who came to Constantinople from Alexandria, where they had been pagan priests. A revolt, accompanied by an attack on the pagan temples, had forced them to flee. This attack, in which the Serapeum was vandalized and its library destroyed, is dated about 391.

That Socrates of Constantinople later profited by the teaching of the sophist Troilus is not proven. No certainty exists as to Socrates' precise vocation, though it may be inferred from his work that he was a layman.

In later years he traveled and visited, among other places, Paphlagonia and Cyprus ("Historia Ecclesiastica" 1.12.8, 2.33.30).

The "Historia Ecclesiastica"

The history covers the years 305-439, and experts believe it was finished in 439 or soon thereafter, and certainly during the lifetime of Emperor Theodosius II, i.e., before 450. The purpose of the history is to continue the work of Eusebius of Caesarea (1.1). It relates in simple Greek language what the Church experienced from the days of Constantine to the writer's time. Ecclesiastical dissensions occupy the foreground, for when the Church is at peace, there is nothing for the church historian to relate (7.48.7). In the preface to Book 5, Socrates defends dealing with Arianism and with political events in addition to writing about the church.

Socrates' account is in many respects well- balanced. His membership of the minority Novatian church possibly enables him to take up a relatively detached approach to developments in the Great Church. He is critical for example of St. John Chrysostom. He is careful not to use hyperbolic titles when referring to prominent personalities in Church and State.

Socrates asserts that he owed the impulse to write his work to a certain Theodorus, who is alluded to in the proemium to the second book as "a holy man of God" and seems therefore to have been a monk or one of the higher clergy. The contemporary historians Sozomen and Theodoret were combined with Socrates in a sixth-century compilation, which has obscured their differences until recently, when their individual portrayals of the series of Christian emperors were distinguished one from another and contrasted by Hartmut Leppin, "Von Constantin dem Großen zu Theodosius II" (Göttingen 1996).

The "Historia Ecclesiastica" was first edited in Greek by Robert Estienne, on the basis of "Codex Regius" 1443 (Paris, 1544); a translation into Latin by Johannes Christophorson (1612) is important for its variant readings. The fundamental early modern edition, however, was produced by Henricus Valesius (Henri Valois) (Paris, 1668), who used the "Codex Regius", a Codex Vaticanus, and a Codex Florentinus, and also employed the indirect tradition of Theodorus Lector ("Codex Leonis Alladi"). The new critical edition of the text is edited by G.C. Hansen, and published in the series "Die Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller" (Berlin:Akademie Verlag) 1995.

Translations

The reception of Socrates' work in early Armenian is significant, including an abridged version and a full translation.

An English translation of his work can be found in the "Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers". This is [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf202.html available online] .

More recently Socrates' History has been published in four bilingual volumes by Pierre Maraval in the "Sources Chrétiennes" collection.

External links

* [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/30_20_0380-0440-_Socrates_Sozomenus_Scholasticus.html Greek Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Graeca with analytical indexes]

Notes

Further reading

*Theresa Urbainczyk, "Socrates of Constantinople", University of Michigan Press, 1997


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Sócrates de Constantinopla — Sócrates de Constantinopla, también conocido como Socrates Scholasticus,[1] fue un historiador griego de la iglesia cristiana, contemporáneo de Sozomeno y Teodoreto de Ciro, que utilizaron sus obras como fuente. Nació en Constantinopla en el 380… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Constantinople — This article is about the city before the Fall of Constantinople (1453). For a more detailed approach after 1453, see History of Istanbul. For other uses, see Constantinople (disambiguation). Map of Byzantine Constantinople …   Wikipedia

  • Socrates — • Fourth century Church historian • Greek philosopher (469 399 B.C.) Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Socrates     ♦ Socrates …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Socrates (homonymie) — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Socrates ou Socrate est un nom propre, un sigle ou un acronyme qui peut renvoyer à : Sommaire 1 Prénom et patronyme …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Socrates — /sok reuh teez /, n. 469? 399 B.C., Athenian philosopher. * * * born с 470, Athens died 399 BC, Athens Greek philosopher whose way of life, character, and thought exerted a profound influence on ancient and modern philosophy. Because he wrote… …   Universalium

  • Socrates Scholasticus — Socrate le Scolastique Pour les articles homonymes, voir Socrates (homonymie).  À ne pas confondre avec Socrate, le philosophe Socrate le Scolastique ou Socrate de Constantinople (Constantinople, c. 380 450) était un historiographe roma …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Council of Constantinople (360) — Further information: Council of Rimini and Council of Seleucia In 359, the Roman Emperor Constantius II requested a church council, at Constantinople, of both the eastern and western bishops, to resolve the split at the Council of… …   Wikipedia

  • First Council of Constantinople (360) — In 359, the Roman Emperor Constantius II requested a church council, at Constantinople, of both the eastern and western bishops, to resolve the split at the council of Seleucia. According to Socrates Scholasticus, only about 50 of the Eastern… …   Wikipedia

  • Alexander of Constantinople — Infobox Saint name=Saint Alexander birth date=237 244 death date=337 feast day=August 30 venerated in=Eastern Orthodoxy Roman Catholicism imagesize= caption= birth place= death place=Constantinople titles= beatified date= beatified place=… …   Wikipedia

  • Macedonius I of Constantinople — Macedonius (d. after 360) was a Greek bishop of Constantinople from 342 up to 346, and from 351 until 360. He inspired the establishment of the Macedonians, a sect later suppressed as heretical.At bishop Alexander s death in 336 party feeling ran …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”