Vienne and Lyons
Irenaeus of Lyons opponents as 'Gnostic' but uses that term very carefully and specifically, it still colours many assessments of him.11 Similarly, although certain groups did adopt the term 'Gnostic' to designate themselves, and, it should be added, used derogatory terms (notably 'psychic' and 'fleshly' rather than
'spiritual') to designate others, it is Irenaeus' own rhetoric that is held to be inexcusable.12 As we examine, in this chapter, the activity of Irenaeus, set within what we know of Christianity in Rome, not only its diversity but also the instances of various groups who split off from the broad fellowship of the various communities and so prompted in turn a greater awareness of what holds this fellowship together, we will be able to appreciate, with greater sensitivity and accuracy, Irenaeus as an advocate of toleration and diversity in contrast to those who lacked this irenic quality.
VIENNE AND LYONS
We pray, father Eleutherus, that you may rejoice in God in all things and always. We have requested our brother and comrade Irenaeus to carry this letter to you, and we ask you to hold him in esteem, as zealous for the covenant of Christ. For if we thought that office could confer righteousness upon any one, we should commend him among the first as a presbyter of the Church, which is his position. (h.e. 5.4.2)
With this commendation, Irenaeus enters the historical scene, in a manner befitting his name and presaging his future activity, engaged on an embassy of peace. His mission was connected with disturbances occasioned by the rise of a new prophetic movement in Asia and Phrygia, led by Montanus and often known by his name as 'Montanism', reverberations of which seem to have spread to Rome, disrupting the Christian communities there. Just having undergone, in 177 CE,13 the most bloody pogrom of Christians yet seen, the confessors of Vienne and Lyons wrote to Eleutherus, a leader of one of the Christian communities in Rome, and sent another letter to their
11 See, e.g., the conclusion of David Brakke (The Gnostics, 28): 'We can try to get beyond
Irenaeus' vision of false gnosis—ironically enough, with his own unwitting help.'
12 Cf. Brakke, The Gnostics, 35: 'Their sincere use of this positive epithet for themselves inspired Irenaeus' ironic and sarcastic use of it for other Christians whose teachings he found equally ludicrous and pretentious.'
13 Eusebius is not consistent regarding the date of this persecution: his Chronicon would place the persecutions during the seventh year of Marcus Aurelius' reign (166–7), while his later Ecclesiastical History places the events a decade later, in his seventeenth year (177), the date that is generally accepted. Cf. Robert M. Grant, 'Eusebius and the Martyrs of Gaul', in Les Martyrs de Lyon (177), Colloques Internationaux du Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique, no. 575 (Paris: CNRS, 1978), 129–36.
Irenaeus of Lyons
brethren in Asia and Phrygia, so acting, in Eusebius' words, as 'ambassadors for the sake of the peace of the churches' (h.e. 5.3.4).
Irenaeus had come to Gaul from the East, as had many immigrants for several centuries. The region had been inhabited by the Celts, or Gauls as the Romans called them, who originated from the so-called Hallstatt culture (named after a site near Salzburg, Austria), migrating to Provence around 750 BCE and beginning what is known as the La Te`ne culture
(named after a site near Lake Neuchaˆtel, Switzerland). Around the same time, the Mediterranean coasts of Gaul were settled by Ionian Greeks from Phocaea (50 miles north-west of ancient Smyrna), in search of metals and other raw materials.14 Marseilles (Massalia) was founded around
600 BCE at the mouth of the Rhoˆne, and other colonies along the Riviera soon after, to facilitate trade. There is evidence of coins being minted there, and of trade with the Gauls, in whose graves have been found
Greek, Etruscan, and Massalian items, including luxurious pieces in gold, silver, and amber. In the following centuries, the Gauls spread out across
Europe, even sacking Rome in 386 BCE, before they were driven out from the city, to travel as far east as Asia, where some settled (the 'Galatians').
The Romans gradually settled the area after the defeat of Hannibal in 202 BCE, who had been joined by the Gauls. By 121 BCE, the Romans had moved into the lower regions of the Rhoˆne, establishing the first Roman colony at Narbonne (Narbo Martius) in 118 BCE, and their influence extended, thereafter, from the Atlantic to the Rhine and as far north as modern Holland. The most important phase of this colonization was, of course, the campaigns against Gaul and Britain led by Julius Caesar between 58 and 50 BCE. He opens his Commentaries on the Gallic Wars by noting that Gaul was divided into three regions: that inhabited by the Belgae, north and west of the Marne and Seine rivers; that of the Aquitani, dwelling between the Garonne river and the Pyrenees; and the largest region in which the Gauls themselves lived. In his accounts, we can see something of the culture of the Gauls, together with indications that aspects of Greek and Roman culture had taken hold; for instance, their religious leaders, the Druids (who along with the 'Knights' were distinguished from the commoners), were reported to have practised human sacrifices and even to have known the Greek alphabet.15
14 For this period of Gaul, see A. Trevor Hodge, Ancient Greek France (Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999).
15 Caesar, Bell. gall. 6.13–14.
Irenaeus of Lyons It is in the aftermath of these wars that the towns of Vienne (Vienna) and Lyons (Lugdunum) were established as colonies for the veterans.16
But, after Caesar's assassination in 44 BCE, the Allobroges drove the Roman veterans out of Vienne, which had been capital of the Allobroges, and these veterans in turn settled in the nearby town of Lyons, thus initiating a long-standing rivalry between the two towns. In the following year, Mark
Antony was sent to install another colony of veterans in Vienne, and Lucius Munatius Plancus, a general during the wars, was sent to be the governor of Lyons, establishing it as a proper colony. Lyons lies on the hill of Fourvie`re (the Forum vetus, or old forum), at the confluence of the Rhoˆne and Saoˆne rivers, and at the intersection of major trade roads.
Despite the fact that Vienne was the older town, Lyons soon outstripped its rival in importance, becoming the capital of the Three Gauls, with an annual celebration of the Three Gauls, and the third division of Gaul was named after it as Lugdunensis.17 It was the birthplace of the future emperors Claudius (10 BCE–54 CE) and Caracalla (188–217 CE), and is mentioned by a number of Roman writers, from Livy (59 BCE–17 CE) to Ammianus Marcellinus (330–400 CE). The archaeological remains from Lyons demonstrate the assimilation of Gallic and Roman religion and the arrival of cults from the East. For instance, in the Muse´e de la Civilisation
Gallo-Romaine in Lyons there is an altar base that has separate reliefs of the Mother Goddesses (prominent among the Celtic deities and always depicted as a triad), Mercury (a popular god in Gaul, with inscriptions to him on three first-century altars), Sucellus (a Gallic male fertility god), and Fortuna, and another altar, dating to 160 CE, from a shrine to Cybele, the Great Mother of the Phrygian gods. Befitting its importance, Lyons had two Roman theatres, which can still be seen today on the Fourvie`re. The larger of the two was built by Augustus around 17–15 BCE, and later expanded by Hadrian (117–38 CE) to seat 10,000 spectators, while the smaller Ode´on nearby seated only 2,500. To the north, across the Saoˆne, lay the city's circus and amphitheatre, built in 19 CE.
It is in connection with the amphitheatre that we first hear of Christians in Lyons suffering in the arena in 177 CE. The Christian communities there and in Vienne were only a few decades old, for their letter to the 16 For descriptions and images of these towns and their archaeological remains, see 'Sites and Museums in Roman Gaul I', Athena Review: Journal of Archaeology, History, and Exploration,
1/4 (1998),<www.athenapub.com> (accessed 10 September 2012).
17 For the festival of the Three Gauls, see D. Fishwick, 'The Federal Cult of the Three
Gauls', in Les Martyrs de Lyon (177), 33–45.
Irenaeus of Lyons
Christians in Asia and Phrygia seems to indicate that the founders of the two churches in Gaul were among the martyrs.18 The community in Lyons was led by Pothinus, who was imprisoned during the persecution and subsequently martyred. He was already over 90 years old (h.e. 5.1.29), and so presumably was one of the original founding fathers. The fact that the letter mentions Vienne before Lyons, together with its particular style and theological tenor, makes it probable that the letter was written by Irenaeus as the leader of the community in Vienne, and that he assumed a general oversight of Lyons while Pothinus was imprisoned and became leader of the larger community after Pothinus' martyrdom.19 Many of the Christians in these towns, as Irenaeus himself, were immigrants from the East. The letter mentions Attalus, a Roman citizen, who was a native of Pergamum (h.e. 5.1.17), Alexander, a physician from Phrygia who had spent many years in various parts of Gaul (h.e. 5.1.49), and Alcibiades, who seems to have been connected with the Montanist movement (h.e. 5.3.2–4).
The same may be true of Vettius Epagathus, who, though young and 'noble', acted as the advocate for the Christians, 'having the Advocate in himself, the Spirit, more abundantly than Zacharias' (h.e. 5.1.9–10).20
These Christian communities were also diverse: Sanctus, the deacon of Vienne, replied to his interrogators in Latin (h.e. 5.1.20); Blandina was a slave girl, whose nameless mistress was also martyred (h.e. 5.1.17), and who also encouraged a 15-year-old boy called Ponticus (h.e. 5.1.53); along with Attalus, several others appear to have been Roman citizens (h.e.
5.1.47); Maturus was a 'recent convert' (h.e. 5.1.17), as perhaps was also Biblis, who initially denied her faith before 'recovering herself ' and being martyred (h.e. 5.1.25–6). Finally the letter records that a number of the Christians had pagan servants, who were also seized and interrogated
(h.e. 5.1.14). As only eleven were specifically mentioned, ten by name and the anonymous mistress of Blandina, despite the severity of the persecution, the communities were not too large to be counted, but big enough to 18 Cf. h.e. 5.1.13. For Christianity in Gaul, see E´lie Griffe, La Gaule Chre´tienne a` l'E´poque
Romaine, i, Des origines chre´tiennes a` la fin du IV e sie`cle (Paris: Picard, 1947); John Behr, 'Gaul', in Margaret M. Mitchell and Frances M. Young (eds), The Cambridge History of Christianity, i,
Origins to Constantine (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 366–79; and Les Martyrs de Lyon (177).
19 Cf. Nautin, Lettres et e´crivains, 54–61, 93–5; L. Doutreleau, 'Ire´ne´e de Lyon (saint). I. Vie.
II. Œuvres', in DSp., fasc. L–LX, pp. 1923–38, at 1928–9.
20 The mention here of Zacharias is an allusion to the priestly father of John the Baptist
(Luke 1:6), though it is also given as the (baptismal?) name of Vettius in the martyrologies. Cf.
Nautin, Lettres et e´crivains, 50.
Irenaeus of Lyons survive such an ordeal, and, while predominantly of Eastern background, as were their leaders, they were made up of a wide cross-section of society.21
Irenaeus also provides information about various others in his region who were promoting teachings that he regarded as false and would devote a great deal of time and attention to refuting. He himself had read some of the 'writings [ÆÆ]' circulating among the followers of Ptolemaeus, a disciple of Valentinus, and had become acquainted with their teachings through personal contact (haer. 1.Pref.2). He also claims to have received the testimony of women who were duped into the mystery of the 'union' but later repented (haer. 1.6.3). Irenaeus' other great struggle was with the followers of a certain Marcus, another disciple of Valentinus, who seems to have indulged in number and letter mysticism to a quite extraordinary degree and also used various apocryphal writings. Marcus had been active in Asia, where, according to Irenaeus, he seduced the wife of 'a certain deacon from among our own people in Asia' (haer. 1.13.5). It is possible that Irenaeus had encountered Marcus in Asia, but his greatest and more immediate concern in Gaul was with the followers of Marcus, who had deceived many people, especially women, though that is of course a topos, 'in our own regions around the Rhoˆne' (haer. 1.13.7).
Irenaeus describes at length the various elaborate rituals performed by Marcus and other followers of Valentinus. According to Irenaeus, in one
Marcus 'gives thanks over the cup mixed with wine and draws out at great length the prayer of invocation', making the cup appear to be purple or red, through some kind of trickery, so that it appears that 'Grace from above has dropped her own blood into the cup', and then, handing the cups over to the women, he had them 'giving thanks over them in his presence' (haer. 1.13.2). The other ritual among them was a 'spiritual marriage', involving a 'bridal chamber' in which they 'complete the mystic teaching with invocations of those who are being initiated' (haer. 1.21.3), and anoint the heads of those being initiated with a mixture of oil and water (haer. 1.21.4). Irenaeus clearly wants his readers to believe that what goes on in these 'bridal chambers' is nothing other than ritualized
21 The later martyrologies record forty-nine names of those who perished, though some of the names seem to refer to the same person. Cf. H. Quentin, 'La liste des martyrs de Lyon de l'an 177', AB 39 (1921), 113–38; Nautin, Lettres et e´crivains, 49–50. The number of Christians in both communities was certainly larger, though, again, since Eusebius mentions that the letter contained a list of the names of those who survived (h.e. 5.5.3), the overall number could not have been too extensive.