that helped shape and sharpen my thoughts. At Oxford, Peter Turner read some draft chapters and offered numerous new insights, pushing me toward far greater clarity in my ideas. In addition, I would like to acknowledge the important exchanges of ideas and materials that I have had with Grigory Benevitch, Jean Gascou, Derek Krueger, Richard Price, and Eileen Rubery. Pauline Allen and Bronwen Neil, whose own works on the period provide much of the backbone for this book, were kind enough to read an earlier version for the University of California Press and offered important criticisms and corrections. At the press itself, I am much indebted to Eric Schmidt and Cindy Fulton for all their guidance and professionalism. Paul Psoinos was a model copy editor and saved me from many mistakes.
I would also like to offer my sincere thanks to all those who have taken the time to teach me the numerous languages used in the period: at the RGS High Wycombe, Ian Wilson, Neil Cooper, Fran Webber and John Edwards; and, at Cambridge and Oxford, Erica Hunter, David Taylor, Tara Andrews, Theo Van Lint, and Jenny Cromwell.
The book would not have been possible without the support of my family. Most of all, I thank my wife, Emma. The love, friendship, and happiness that she has brought to my life are the underpinning of the entire book. My brothers, Laurence and Richard, provided constant encouragement, and Richard read and corrected the entire manuscript. Finally, I would like to thank my parents, Andrew and Barbara. The debt of gratitude that I owe them for their continuous love and support cannot be put into words. I dedicate this book to them.
ABBREVIATIONS
The abbreviations used throughout the notes and bibliography in this volume are as follows:
| AB | Analecta Bollandiana |
| ACO | E. Schwartz, ed., Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum. 4 vols. in 14. Berlin and Leipzig, 1914–82. |
| ActaArch | Acta Archaeologica |
| AHC | Annuarium Historiae Conciliorum |
| AntAfr | Antiquités Africaines |
| AntTard | Antiquité Tardive |
| APB | Acta Patristica et Byzantina |
| BASOR | Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research |
| BBGG | Bollettino della Badia Greca di Grottaferrata |
| BCH | Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique |
| BHG | F. Halkin, ed. Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca. 3rd ed. Subsidia Hagiographica 8a. Brussels, 1957. |
| BHL | Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina. 2 vols. Subsidia Hagiographica 6. Brussels, 1898–1901. |
| BMGS | Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies |
| BSOAS | Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |
| ByzF | Byzantinische Forschungen |
| BZ | Byzantinische Zeitschrift |
| CCSG | Corpus Christianorum. Series Graeca. Turnhout, 1977–. |
| CCSL | Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina. Turnhout, 1953–. |
| CIL | Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Berlin, 1853–. |
| CPG | Clavis Patrum Graecorum. Turnhout, 1974–. |
| CQ | Classical Quarterly |
| CSEL | Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum. Vienna, 1866–. |
| CSCO | Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium. Louvain, 1903–. |
| SA | Scriptores Arabici |
| SAe | Scriptores Aethiopici |
| SC | Scriptores Coptici |
| SI | Scriptores Iberici |
| SS | Scriptores Syri |
| DOP | Dumbarton Oaks Papers |
| EHR | English Historical Review |
| EME | Early Medieval Europe |
| ÉO | Échos d’Orient |
| GCS | Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten Jahrhunderte. Berlin, 1897–. |
| GOTR | Greek Orthodox Theological Review |
| GRBS | Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies |
| HThR | Harvard Theological Review |
| ICS | Illinois Classical Studies |
| IEJ | Israel Exploration Journal |
| JAS | Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |
| JECS | Journal of Early Christian Studies |
| JEH | Journal of Ecclesiastical History |
| JHS | Journal of Hellenic Studies |
| JÖByz | Jahrbuch der Österrichischen Byzantinistik |
| JRS | Journal of Roman Studies |
| JSAI | Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam |
| JThS | Journal of Theological Studies |
| LSJ | A Greek-English Lexicon. Ed. H. G. Liddell and R. Scott. 9th ed. Rev. H. S. Jones and R. MacKenzie, with supplement ed. E. A. Barber. Oxford, 1968. |
| MÉFR | Mélanges d’Archéologie et d’Histoire de l’École Française de Rome |
| MGH | Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Berlin and Munich, 1826–. |
| AA | Auctores Antiquissimi |
| SRM | Scriptores Rerum Merovingicarum |
| OC | Oriens Christianus |
| OCP | Orientalia Christiana Periodica |
| OLP | Orientalia Lovaniensia Periodica |
| OrSyr | L’Orient Syrien |
| P.Lond. | Greek Papyri in the British Museum. London, 1893–. |
| P&P | Past and Present |
| PBSR | Papers of the British School at Rome |
| PG | J.-P. Migne et al., eds. Patrologia Cursus Completus. Series Graeca. 161 vols. Paris, 1857–66. |
| PL | J.-P. Migne et al., eds. Patrologia Cursus Completus. Series Latina. 221 vols. Paris, 1844–1900. |
| PLRE | A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris, eds. Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. 3 vols. in 4. Cambridge, 1971–92. |
| PmbZ | R.-J. Lilie et al., eds. Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit. 16 vols. Berlin, 1998–2013. |
| PP | La Parola del Passato |
| PO | Patrologia Orientalis. Paris, 1904–. |
| RAC | Rivista di Archeologia Cristiana |
| RÉAug | Revue des Études Augustiniennes |
| RÉB | Revue des Études Byzantines |
| RÉG | Revue des Études Grecques |
| RHE | Revue d’Histoire Ecclésiastique |
| RN | Revue Numismatique |
| ROC | Revue de l’Orient Chrétien |
| RömHM | Römische Historische Mitteilungen |
| RQ | Römische Quartalschrift fürAltertumskunde und Kirchengeschichte |
| RSBN | Rivista di Studi Bizantini e Neoellenici |
| RSR | Revue des Sciences Religieuses |
| S&C | Scrittura e Civiltà |
| SC | Sources Chrétiennes. Paris, 1942–. |
| SCO | Studi Classici e Orientali |
| SEJG | Sacris Erudiri |
| SH | Subsidia Hagiographica. Brussels, 1886–. |
| SicGymn | Siculorum Gymnasium |
| SP | Studia Patristica |
| ST | Studi e Testi. Vatican City, 1900–. |
| T&MByz | Travaux et Mémoires du Centre de Recherche d’Histoire et Civilisation Byzantines |
| ThLZ | Theologische Literaturzeitung |
| ThS | Theological Studies |
| TU | Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur. Leipzig, 1882–. |
| VChr | Vigiliae Christianae |
| VetChr | Vetera Christianorum |
| ZAC | Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum |
| ZKG | Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte |
| ZPE | Zeitschrift fürPapyrologie und Epigraphik |
| ZSlPh | Zeitschrift für Slavische Philologie |
Introduction
In the course of the seventh century, the Eastern Roman empire underwent a profound transformation. As first the Persians and then the Muslims swept over and seized the valuable provinces of the Roman Near East, the inhabitants of the now reduced empire experimented with a series of structural and cultural changes that responded to the dramatic curtailment of Roman power. The structural elements of that change—that is, the series of administrative, economic, and military reforms imposed by the emperor Heraclius and his successors—are now for the most part well known; and aspects of the cultural change (in particular, the decline in secular literature, the explosion in anti-Jewish and apocalyptic texts, and the heightened interest in, or anxieties over, religious icons), have also occupied a prominent position within scholarship. Other elements within this cultural change, however—in particular, the debasement of monasticism as the guardian of ascetic virtue, the rise of the eucharist as the central, aggregating icon of the Christian faith, and the renegotiation of competing ascetical and
