The ‘House of Hesychius’ and the Religious Allegiance of Synesius’ Family

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The ‘House of Hesychius’ and the Religious Allegiance of Synesius’ Family
Niccolai, Lea

From the journal Historia Historia, Volume 68, September 2019, issue 3

Published by Franz Steiner Verlag

article, 9937 Words
Original language: English
Historia 2019, pp 368-385
https://doi.org/10.25162/historia-2019-0020

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Abstract

The hypothesis that the owner of a late antique Cyrenean residence decorated with Christian inscriptions, the so-called ‘house of Hesychius’, was the father of the Neoplatonic philosopher and bishop Synesius, together with the inference that Synesius was a Christian by birth, has won wide acceptance among scholars. The argument, however, rests on a series of debatable assumptions relating to the dating of its last archaeological level and to the economy and society of contemporary Cyrene. This paper aims to reappraise critically this set of assumptions and, in the process, to re-open the question of Synesius’ initial religious affiliation.

Author information

Lea Niccolai

Keywords

Synesius of Cyrene | House of Hesychius | Christian inscriptions | Late antique Cyrene

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