The Lives of Simeon Stylites trans. by Robert Doran (review)

BOOK REVIEWS753 the manuscript is anonymous, the authorship of the tractates is still debated. FoUowing Schepss and more recently H. Chadwick against G. Morin, A. D'Alès, and B.Vollmann,Burrus attributes both the Apology and the Letter to Damasus to PriscUlian himsetf. Should this attribution be called into question, the central section of the author's argument would be jeopardized for lack of evidence. Kenneth B. Steinhauser Saint Louis University The Lives ofSimeon Stylites. Translated with an Introduction by Robert Doran. [Cistercian Studies Series, Number 112.] (Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications. 1992.Pp.iv,24l. $36.95 cloth; $15.95 paperback.) Simeon Stylites was one of the most famous and exotic of the Syrian ascetics and at the same time one of the least characteristic. From such exotic examples has grown a picture of monastic life in Syria, now perhaps popularized beyond sober assessment, of ascetical extremists, which in turn has generated analyses that attempt to root Syrian asceticism in gnosticism and Manichaeism. A good deal of the credit for this distortion goes to the work ofArthurVööbus, whose writings in this area are ripe for re-evaluation on many points, especiaUy with regard to the origins and early development of Syrian monasticism. In Simeon's case, his original monastic community deemed him a disobedient extremist who was asked to leave the monastery. His subsequent career was obviously one that increasingly inspired widespread admiration, but it appears from the Uves here translated that Simeon wanted nothing so much as to be left alone. But that was beyond his control, and he made the best of a bad situation by devoting some time to preaching, giving spiritual counsel, settling disputes, aU without losing sight of his principal goal, union with God in the singular way to which he felt caUed. His stance during the christological controversy of the mid-fifth century was ambiguous. As a result he continued to be venerated by both Chalcedonians and their opponents throughout Late Antiquity. The very thorough presentation of translations of three different Uves of Simeon will aUow readers to ferret out almost everything that has been recorded about this saint. A sober, comprehensive study of early Syrian monasticism should provide a background against which both Simeon and the introductory material in this book can be better evaluated. Such a study has yet to be written. David Johnson, SJ. The Catholic University ofAmerica ...