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  • Reading Bodies: Physiognomy as a Strategy of Persuasion in Early Christian Discourse by Callie Callon
  • Colleen M. Conway
Callie Callon Reading Bodies: Physiognomy as a Strategy of Persuasion in Early Christian Discourse London: T&T Clark, 2019. Pp. 173. $114.00.

What might a man's hair or gait convey about his Christian moral character? Quite a bit, if early Christian writers such as Tertullian or Clement of Alexandria are to be believed. In Reading Bodies: Physiognomy as a Strategy of Persuasion in Early Christian Discourse, Callie Callon shows how early Christian writers shared the same "physiognomic consciousness" as their non-Christian contemporaries. Both Christian and non-Christian writers assumed that a person's physical characteristics, when read with skill, revealed the truth about his (or less often her) moral character. Given the work that has already been done on physiognomic texts in the ancient world, this is not an especially groundbreaking conclusion. Nor does Callon present it as such. But she is right in her observation that the use of physiognomic ideas in early Christian rhetoric has been underexamined. For this reason, the book is a valuable contribution in at least two ways. As Callon argues, attending to the function of physiognomic details offers a more nuanced understanding of early Christian rhetoric. And because physiognomic ideas were so closely linked to constructions of gender, the book is also a significant addition to gender critical studies of the early church. [End Page 677]

Callon begins with an overview of the widespread use of ancient physiognomy across multiple genres, all of which was put to similar purpose, namely, "to help persuade an audience to either support or disdain the individual being portrayed" (21). Nevertheless, the meanings of physiognomic references were variable both in their application and interpretation. Here Callon also highlights a tension inherent to physiognomic thought. On the one hand, ancient authors refer to physical traits as though they are inherently natural indicators that reveal a man's true character, despite efforts he may make to conceal it. On the other hand, the fact that authors regularly offered instructions on how to walk, talk, or otherwise manipulate the body to achieve a desired physiognomic outcome, suggests that such traits were not natural as much as learned. While Callon suggests several ways by which this and other tensions might be resolved, more to the point is her claim that such logical inconsistencies did not threaten the legitimacy of the physiognomic enterprise in all of its variations.

The rest of the book traces the different ways that references to the body functioned in early Christian rhetoric. Perhaps most obviously, a rhetorical focus on bodily defects added to the arsenal of ways writers could denigrate theological opponents. Meanwhile, highlighting positive physical features was useful for supporting claims of Christian moral superiority. As an example, Callon suggests that when the author of the apocryphal Acts of Peter contrasts Simon Magus's "shrill" or "weak and useless" voice with Peter's "strong" and "great" one, he is likely using physiognomic indicators to showcase Simon's effeminacy (47–49). Chapter Two details this and other examples of the use of physiognomy against so-called heretics.

Chapter Three shows how writers drew on physiognomy to describe (and construct?) the ideal Christian, thereby solidifying group identity. Here Callon shows us Clement of Alexandria pronouncing on a range of physiognomic topics, including the proper grooming of hair, the necessity of avoiding the effeminate "mincing gait," not to mention tips for how to avoid sweating too much. Notable in this chapter is a section that discusses the somewhat distinctive admonitions to Christian ascetics. Both male and female should be aware of appearances, but in this case, pale faces and unkempt bodies reveal the truth of the ascetic's character and devotion.

Chapter Four extends and confirms the work of Stephanie Cobb (Dying to Be Men: Gender in Early Christian Martyr Texts [New York: Columbia University Press, 2008]). Here Callon explores how physical descriptions of martyrs such as Polycarp, the Martyrs of Lyon, and Prudentius affirm their masculinity, while descriptions of their torturers were often rhetorically effeminizing. As Callon puts it, "The tortured Christian can 'win' physiognomically via bodily...

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