“The Rhetoric of Apostolicity” in the Epistles of Pope Gregory I the Great to the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch

Bibliographic Data

ID20466836
AuthorsAleksei Vladimirovich Migalnikov (0000-0002-4119-8872, St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University for the Humanities, Moscow, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume53
Pages58–78
Publication date2025-12-30
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueАнтичная древность и средние века (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0320-4472 • E-ISSN: 2687-0398
PublisherUral Federal University (PUBLISHER • RU)
DOI10.15826/adsv.2025.53.004
OpenAlexW4417322749
LanguageEN
References cited15

This article examines the epistles of Pope Gregory the Great to Patriarchs Eulogios of Alexandria and Anastasios of Antioch as the presentation of the “the rhetoric of apostolicity,” i. e. the statements regarding the closeness of the three sees in Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch to Apostle Peter and between themselves. The chronological development of the apostolic rhetoric is traced in relation to the dispute over the “ecumenical” title of the patriarchs of Constantinople, with these statements appearing together with the beginning of the active stage of the dispute in 595. They increase in number after the rejection of the papal position by the emperor and the eastern patriarchs, but mostly cease after some form of agreement was reached with Eulogios of Alexandria. It is demonstrated that statements about the “one apostolic seat in three places”, which consists of the three named sees, are more of a rhetorical figure of speech than a theological doctrine, as some scholars of the twentieth and early twenty-first century have claimed. The proof of this is the repeated contradictions in the petrinological propositions of Pope Gregory, as well as the fact that the “apostolic see” refers exclusively to Rome in letters to all the other addressees. It can be concluded that the reasons for this situationality in rhetoric were Pope Gregory’s desire to enhance the authority of the see of Rome and his opposition to the increasing inter-church influence of the patriarchate of Constantinople

Apostle · Emperor · Rhetoric · Rhetorical question · Byzantine Studies and History · Historical and Linguistic Studies · Historical and Religious Studies of Rome

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