and preserved in his literary corpus—loom large (in part simply because they are the first texts in Leipoldt’s edition) and seem to confirm his quintessential hostility to the powerful.55 As we have seen above, a “corrupt” governor supposedly went even so far as to consider killing him. And Shenoute attributed the defeats suffered by some military governors to their paganism, which cannot have endeared them to him.56 Overall, however, these are rather exceptional cases. As a rule, Shenoute’s writings and his biography emphasize that good provincial governors were his “friends.” They respected him more than anyone else in the province, they liked to listen to his preaching, they needed and heeded his advice and correction, and they protected him when necessary. Even a pagan military governor, we have seen, could not help but be amazed at Shenoute’s “happiness.” In contrast, the villains of Panopolis had a much harder time getting heard by the governor and tried in vain to give Shenoute a bad name. Thus when the military governor Chryssipos was visiting Panopolis, “that godless one”—almost certainly Gesios—accused Shenoute of theft to the governor. Shenoute had broken into his house and removed his heathen books. But Chryssipos’s answer to these accusations was deeply gratifying. “A dear friend,” Shenoute writes, “informed me that Chryssipos told that miserable man: ‘Look, your judgment applies to me too; for I am also a Christian.’” In the same way, when a governor was “furious” at some of Shenoute’s people (Christians accused of antipagan violence?), and the latter was forced to travel to the governor’s palace in Antinoe to justify himself, Gesios was there hoping to witness Shenoute’s public humiliation. Once again, his hopes were dashed: “He in whose holy name we came trusting Him did according to those He loves and they were saved instead of dying and He let the chains be removed from them and they were released.”57
Shenoute seems to have visited the provincial capital relatively often. In fact, it seems to be the only city in Upper Egypt besides Panopolis that he honored with his presence. We know that he preached there against paganism, at the so-called Church of the Water; that he traveled there to defend both his own monasteries and other Christians accused by the pagans; and that he shared his wisdom with both bishops and imperial authorities in the city. He claimed to have an almost infinite capacity to inspire deference among the Roman magistrates of Antinoe, and he resorted liberally to name-dropping in order to prove it:
Many also asked me in Hermopolis and Antinoe about many issues and things, and they did not dare to [say] this senselessness (i.e., like a certain hostile philosopher).58 If they looked for a word from me, they did so with prudence. The governor Alexander and also the governor Peter, I talked to them many times, and they did not say follies of this sort. And I also talked to you,59 to Aidesios the military governor, and to Peter the civilian governor inside the governor’s palace, and they did not say such senselessness. If they hide their darkness in their hearts, you should know it, for they are your friends.
Many started to reveal their error in that city, and when I talked to them about what is right, they stopped in their loquacity, knowing that I say the truth from the scriptures. The son of the general who was in the city those days dared to [say] these confusing things … [and when he heard me] he repented. The tribune of the Cusites asked me about many things when he came to us.60
More important, though, than Shenoute’s visits to Antinoe were the visits of the governors themselves to Shenoute’s monastery. Other Egyptian holy men had been visited by provincial governors before. John of Lycopolis, the famous late fourth-century recluse who had predicted the victories of the emperor Theodosius, angered his visitor Palladius by giving priority to a governor who had arrived later than he.61 He also blessed military governors on their way to the war-torn southern frontier.62 But the visits received by Shenoute seem to have been far grander occasions. One or both governors—for they usually traveled together63—would arrive at the monastery in the company of their staffs, lawyers and assessors (the omnipresent scholastikoi), “friends,” “brothers,” former magistrates residing in the area (honorati), troops, and other members of the provincial elite to pay him their respects, attend Mass at the monastery, and listen to his words. The presence of the provincial elite on Shenoute’s doorstep was a tribute to his status among the powerful. It validated his claim to be the true spokesman of his region among the Roman authorities. Hence the jealousy of his enemies in Panopolis, who could not stand the sight of a governor visiting and praising Shenoute’s own “city in the desert”:
What did the God-loving military governor Chossoroas, whom you could not dissuade from visiting us, say? He said, glorifying God: “You have made the desert a city.” In Panopolis it has been reported otherwise, twisting the words into a lie.64
Why did all these governors like Shenoute so much? For the same reason—he claimed—that Panopolis hated him: he cared for the “poor,” and he would not shut up. The “panegyrics” on the governors Heraklammon and Flavianus, which Shenoute delivered on the occasion of their visits in lieu of a regular sermon, make this point very clear.65 These magistrates and Shenoute admired each other because they had a similar passion: they were all “lovers of the poor.” This kinship of interests created an immediate if fleeting friendship:
I have said these words and other things to Dioskorides the governor and Heraklammon, his scholastikos, who became governor after him.66 I also spoke to Theodotos, the military governor, as was fitting. And I did not hide what was in my heart to Spudasios, the comes of the empress,67 and also to his brother. For they were my friends, and they are men who love God very much, being merciful, pitiful, philanthropic, and, in particular, lovers of the poor.
I also said further things to Ailianos, who was governor of the Thebaid and then became Augustal prefect in Alexandria. But he became suspicious when he heard this, thinking that I was talking about that hostile man who lives in Panopolis (i.e., his enemy Gesios). I answered him as it was fitting and removed his suspicion. Furthermore, I spoke with many notables and magistrates, and I also spoke to Andreas, the military governor. Therefore it is not a wonder that I have spoken before you (the governor Flavianus) and that I have not hidden what has been revealed to me. For I am a miserable man, and I only want you to profit from your effort of coming here.68
By listing the authorities who, in striking contrast to his rivals, had respectfully asked for his spiritual guidance, Shenoute declared himself to be an “authorized” interlocutor with the powerful. This passage, from his speech to Flavianus, hints at one remarkable trait of these “panegyrics”: they are as much about Shenoute as about the magistrates themselves. Shenoute makes every virtue that he praises in a good governor—love of the poor, justice, disinterestedness, courage—a synonym for himself and becomes thereby the measure of everyone and everything.69 Shamelessly extolling himself as the universal exemplar was the best way to teach and commend the holders of power.
Governor Heraklammon is thus presented with an inspiring paradox: a monk (i.e., Shenoute) who flees power and fame only to become world famous and be offered a bishopric by the powerful archbishops of Alexandria:
How many bishops have spent how many days and nights here (i.e., at Shenoute’s monastery) with a multitude of clerics, the elite, soldiers, and other laypersons by the command of the archbishop and his letters so that I might go to him to be ordained bishop? But I did not go, because I wanted the name of God to be glorified …
… when we went to the great meeting of the holy ecumenical council [in Ephesus], the glorious archbishop testified [about me] to other archbishops, bishops, and the whole council, praising me and boasting of me, saying things like: “When I sent for him because of that issue (i.e., to ordain him as bishop) he did not come, but when I wrote to him to come to the council with us, he did not place any concern for himself and joined us quickly in this city before other bishops, before we had decided anything.”70
One wonders what the bishop of Panopolis
