Rich City Burning: Social Welfare and Ecclesial Insecurity in Basil's Mission to Armenia

Basil of Caesarea's Homily 21 "On Detachment" and his lesser-known text In Lacizis may provide similar glimpses of Basil's philanthropic rhetoric during his mission to appoint bishops for Armenia in 372 and 373. While these sermons demonstrate many of Basil's usual themes on poverty relief and justice, they avoid his usual appeal to civic loyalty and family patrimony, potentially explosive topics in this volatile border region. References in one text to arson against the church and in the other to loud external disturbance may each hint at local opposition to Basil's presence or at other relevant theological or political loyalties at play during his visit. Considered in light of such things as traditions about Basil's role in early Armenian Christianity, Armenian ideals of poverty relief, Basil's interactions with Eustathius, and doubts about his own orthodoxy, these texts may contribute to a deeper understanding of fourth-century episcopal presence in regions of political variance and tension.