Epistolary Sleight of Hand

Diplomatic Manipulation in Zosimus' Letter to Patroclus of Arles (Quid de Proculi)

Bibliographic Data

ID5154434
AuthorsGeoffrey David Dunn (0000-0001-5880-1351, University of Pretoria, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume73
Issue3
Pages254-270
Publication date2019-05-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueVigiliae Christianae (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0042-6032 • E-ISSN: 1570-0720
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1163/15700720-12341402
OpenAlexW2961730581
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited2

Zosimus' Epistula 7 (JK 333 = J3 739, Quid de Proculi) to Patroclus, bishop of Arles, would suggest the normal operations of ecclesiastical judicial procedures: Proclus had been condemned, the validity of an earlier synodal decision had been overturned, and Patroclus' own authority had been upheld. Appearances, however, can be deceiving. Other letters in Liber auctoritatem ecclesiae Arelatensis, particularly three written by Zosimus also in September 417, inform us about just how controversial were not only Patroclus' claims to authority in southern Gaul but Zosimus' support of Patroclus and his assertion that the Roman church had a role in arbitrating these claims. The evidence in the collection is of a dispute conducted with anything but diplomacy. This paper sets Quid de Proculi in its broader context to reveal how both Zosimus and the church of Arles tried, unwittingly or not, to promote a false memory about the church of Arles

Archaeology · Art · Assertion · Context (archaeology) · Diplomacy · Humanities · Political science · Politics · Byzantine Studies and History · Classics · Computer Science · Historical and Linguistic Studies · Historical and Religious Studies of Rome · History · Law · Philosophy

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