The Salvation of the Flesh in Tertullian of Carthage

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The Salvation of the Flesh in Tertullian of Carthage Dressing for the Resurrection

Carly Daniel-Hughes

the salvation of the flesh in tertullian of carthage Copyright © Carly Daniel-Hughes, 2011. All rights reserved. First published in 2011 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States – a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-29786-3 DOI 10.1057/9780230338074

ISBN 978-0-230-33807-4 (eBook)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Daniel-Hughes, Carly, 1974– The salvation of the flesh in Tertullian of Carthage : dressing for the resurrection / Carly Daniel-Hughes. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Tertullian, ca. 160-ca. 230. 2. Clothing and dress—Social aspects—Rome. 3. Clothing and dress—Symbolic aspects— Rome. 4. Identification (Religion) 5. Church history— Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600. I. Title. BR65.T7D36 2011 230'.13092—dc22 2011011923 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by MPS Limited, A Macmillan Company First edition: October 2011 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For David Levenson In gratitude

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Contents

List of Figures

ix

Acknowledgments

xi

List of Abbreviations Introduction Dress in Tertullian of Carthage

xiii 1

1 Bodily Displays of Modesty: Or, How to Power Dress in the Roman World

15

2 The Clothing that Maketh the Christian Man: Tertullian’s On the Pallium

45

3 Why Is She the “Devil’s Gateway”? Debating Adornment in Christian Carthage

63

4 Shaming the Virgins’ Flesh: A Contest over Veiling

93

Epilogue

115

Notes

121

Bibliography

157

Index

169

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List of Figures

1.1

Pudicitia Portrait Statue, Roman Imperial (Rome, Capitoline Museum)

1.2 Ara Pacis Monument, South Frieze (Rome, Ara Pacis Museum) 1.3 1.4 1.5

23 36

Togatus Portrait Statue of Emperor Titus (Vatican City, Vatican Museum)

38

Togatus Portrait Statue of Hadrian (Rome, Capitoline Museum)

39

Palliatus Portrait Statue of Demosthenes, Roman Imperial (Vatican City, Vatican Museum)

40

1.6a and 1.6b Obverse and reverse of a Roman denarius. Sabina diademed with veiled Pudicitia (American Numismatic Society)

41

1.7 Large Heraculaneum Type Portrait Statue of Faustina the Elder (Vatican City, Vatican Museum)

42

3.1 Female Portrait Bust, Roman Imperial (Flavian) (Rome, Capitoline Museum)

85

3.2 Egyptian Funeral Shroud, Painted Linen of a Woman Third–Fourth Century CE (Vatican City, Vatican Museum)

87

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Acknowledgments

This project grew out of my Harvard Divinity School doctoral dissertation. Its final form owes much to various mentors, colleagues, as well as friends and family without whom the experience of research and writing at every stage would have been impoverished. First, thanks to my dissertation committee members, especially my advisor, Karen King, who helped me envision the dissertation, and see it through to its final form. Her scholarship continues to inform me and bears its traces on this project in innumerable ways. I offer my appreciation to Laura Nasrallah who ignited my interest in Tertullian and continues to expand my intellectual horizons in the study of ancient material culture. Finally, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza sharpened my critical sensibilities, and reminded me that scholarship as an ethical undertaking and a responsibility. While completing this project, I was surrounded by insightful and generous colleagues: the most notable among them is Benjamin Dunning. He has been an essential conversation partner, advancing my thinking, and serving as a constant intellectual touchstone in my work. Thanks to Anna Miller and Katherine Shaner for invaluable discussion of this project and their unending camaraderie. Other doctoral colleagues including Mikael Haxby, Taylor Petrey, Catherine Playoust, Marcie Lenk, and Brent Landau deserve recognition for comments on earlier drafts, helpful feedback, and most of all, their friendship. François Bovon, Bernadette Brooten, Nicola Denzey, Jennifer Glancy, Caroline Johnson-Hodge, Anne-Marie Luijendijk, Kristi Upson-Saia, and Annewies van den Hoek, among other generous scholars who I encountered during my graduate studies at Harvard, shared their work with me and helpfully discussed my own. Wesley and Suzanne Wildman provided guidance and assurance at the most intense time in my doctoral program, and helped me to find my way through it. Since coming to Concordia University in 2007, I have been supported in a number of ways that proved essential for advancing this project.

xii

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Acknowledgments

My colleagues in the Department of Religion have graciously welcomed me, with stimulating discussion of my work and much else. Norma Joseph, Michel Despland, Lynda Clarke, Donald Boisvert, and Naftali Cohn, in particular, have been sources of support and lively intellectual stimulation. I also thank Zehava Cohn who worked as editor on various stages of revision and has improved my writing considerably as a result. I also thank my research assistants, in particular Philip Wakeford for his diligence and professionalism. Beyond Concordia, I owe much to Ellen Aitken and Hal Taussig for investing in my work in ways that truly inspire me. They enliven my hopes for future research projects and collaborations. Research for this book has been financially supported by Concordia University’s faculty start-up grant as well as Québec’s Fonds de recherche sur la sociétè et la culture new researcher’s grant. My parents, Clarence and Wendy Daniel, provided unwavering belief in my abilities and excitement for my successes. Deep gratitude goes to my mother-in-law, Victoria Hughes, for her tireless devotion to our family. She made it possible for me to succeed as a new mother and a junior faculty member, and supports my intellectual endeavors with her openness to new experiences and ideas that is truly remarkable. My husband Brandon Daniel-Hughes has been an essential source of laughter as well as a provider of good food and domestic comfort. Without him life would be considerably less fun and meaningful. Love goes to my son, Silas, for patiently enduring my busy schedule and covering my office with his excellent artwork. Finally I want to show my appreciation for David Levenson, Professor of Religion at Florida State University, to whom this book is dedicated. He introduced me to the literature of early Christianity, sowing the seeds of an intellectual curiosity that continues to grow unabated and giving me the courage to pursue it with abandon. In this he remains the model teacher against which I will always measure myself. For your investment in me, David, I thank you.

Abbreviations

Apul. Caes. Cic.

Apuleius Flor. Caesar B Gall Cicero Cat. Phil.

Florida Bellum Gallicum In Catilinam Orationes Phillippicae

Galen

Jos. Justin Juv. Livy Lucian Mart. Ov.

Plin.

UP Gos. Thom. Jos. Asen. Josephus C. Ap. Justin Martyr Dial. Juvenal Livy Herod. Martial Mart. Perpet. Ovid Ars. Am. Pliny HN

De usu partium Gospel of Thomas Joseph and Aseneth Contra Apionem Dialogue with Trypho

Herodotus and Aëtion Martyrdom of Perpetua Ars amatoria Remedia amoris Naturalis historia

xiv

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Plut.

Prop. Quint. Sen. Sen.

Sor.

Abbreviations

Plutarch Cat. Maj. Mor. Conj. praec. Amat. Quaest. rom. Quaest. conv. Propertius Quintilian Inst. Seneca Contr. Seneca Ep. Helv. Soranus Gyn.

Cato Major Moralia Conjugalia praecepta Amatorius Quaestiones Romanae Quaestiones convivales

Institutio Oratoria Controversiae Epistulae Ad Helvica Gynecology

Suetonius

Ter.

Aug. Cal. Claud. Tib. Tertullian An. Bapt. Carn. Chr. Cor. Cult. fem. Exh. Cast. Fug. Idol. Iei. Marc. Mart. Mon. Or. Pall. Pud.

Augustus Gaius Caligula Divus Claudius Tiberius De anima De baptism De carne Christi De corona militis De cultu feminarum I & II De exhortatione castitatis De fuga in persecutione De idolatria De ieiuno Adversus Marcionem I-V Ad martyras De monogamia De oratione De pallio De pudicitia

Abbreviations

Tib. Val. Max. Varro

Res. Scap. Scorp. Spect. Ux. Virg. Tibullus Valerius Maximus

De resurrectione mortuorum Ad Scapulam Scorpiace De spectaculis Ad uxorem I & II De virginibus velandis

Ling.

De lingua Latina

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xv