Leontius presbyter of Constantinople: fourteen homilies (review)

Reviews Allen, Pauline with Cornells D a t e m a , trans., Leontius presbyter of Constantinople: fourteen homilies (Byzantina Australiensia, 9) Brisbane, Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, 1991; paper; pp. xi, 224; R.R.P. AUS$21.00. For thefirsttime,the fourteen homiUes of Leontius of Byzantium, a sixthcentury preacher, are avadable in an EngUsh translation. Pauline Allen, with the coUaboration of Cornetis Datema had made avadable the Greek text in 1987, in the Corpus Christianorum Series Graeca. Now, with the aid of a detaded general introduction as well as explanatory notes, the historian interested in the religious, social, and cultural world of the later years of Justinian I has rich material to quany. Homilies, together with saints' lives, provide us with very valuable evidence for everyday life in Byzantium. Indeed, the intenelation between the preacher and his audience is the essence of the homdy and is a clear reflection of the interests, tastes, habits and background of the congregation. Leontius, whose works were little known before the publication of the C C text of Allen and Datema, is known only through his homilies. Datema had already established a mid-sixth-century Constantinopolitan setting for the homtiies (see p. 1) and Allen and Datema had argued for a corpus of fourteen homities, three of which had been previously attributed to John Chrysostom. While the reader may search Leontius' homities in vain for evidence of 'theological profundity' (p. 8) such as is found in the anti-Arian homilies of the ninth-century patriarch Photios, references to daily life in sixth-century Constantinople abound. Leontius was, as this volume stresses, a popular preacher who used everyday examples drawn from domestic, commercial, professional and civic life (p. 12). Various facets of life such as clothing, slavery, money lending and medical practice are illuminated in the texts. It is significant that Leontius did not ignore the female members of his congregation in the direction of his preaching (p. 7). The person of the emperor was central to Byzantine ritual and most of Leontius' glimpses of public Ufe are concerned with the figure of the emperor (pp. 13-14). Homiletic set-pieces, such as the description of an imperial adventus, must have been familiar to Leontius' congregations and provides an obvious Ulustration for Christ's entrance to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (p. 37). The liturgical setting of the homilies is briefly outlined with a use of bibliography providing further details (p. 16). The majority come from a eucharistic celebration and would have been associated with solemn ceremonial. After the general Introduction, each individual homily is given a brief introduction and summary of themes, with extensive footnoting. The translations themselves are accurate and generally reflect a good balance between 182 Reviews the need for a m o d e m studenttofindthem readable and theratherstylized tone of a Byzantine homily. The more literal the translation, the more likely it is that the m o d e m reader wtil be puzzled. The explanatory notes are valuable here. See, for example, the necessary explanation of Leontius' cryptic reference in the homily on Job: 'not because the athlete is weak, but because I a m giving m y consent in view of yourrequest'(p. 73). Leontius, a well-trained preacher, made constant use of Biblical references throughout his homilies and the volume provides a useful index of all passages where the Biblicaltextis cited verbatim. Old Testament references made are to the Septuagint. A Patristic index is also supplied, in addition to the General Index. For the Byzantinist this book is of great value, the more so because of the variety of incidental information attested to by Leontius. Those interested in the western medieval tradition will not however find it unrewarding. Although there is no systematic examination of the Latin homiletic tradition, there is evidence provided of Leontius' knowledge of works such as the bestiary descriptions in the Physiologus (p. 12) which were of significance in the medieval world. Alanna Nobbs School of History Macquarie University Ashtor, Eliyahu, Technology, industry and trade: the Levant versus Europe, 1250-1500, ed., B. Z. Kedar (Collected Studies Series, No. 372), Aldershot, Variorum, 1992; pp. x, 331; R.R.P. £47.50. Eliyahu Ashtor...