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Chapter 5: The Founder of the Cappadocians
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Chapter 5 The Founder of the Cappadocians In the early fifth century a Cappadocian scholar wrote an extensive ecclesiastical history that surveyed the developments of the previous century. In his homeland Philostorgius had grown up in the shadows of the great Cappadocian Fathers. Despite their prominence, Philostorgius did not embrace their version of orthodox theology. Instead, he and his family accepted the doctrines of Eunomius, another Cappadocian theologian whom Basil and Gregory of Nyssa would personally discredit and vilify. Nor did Philostorgius remain in Cappadocia, since eventually he moved to Constantinople. In his ecclesiastical history Philostorgius was hence both ecumenical and local. He included many tidbits of odd information about biblical events and the Roman empire, and he was interested in legends about Cappadocia . When he mentioned Mazaca, the original name for the city that eventually became Caesarea, he noted that this name was derived from "Mosoch, the founder of the Cappadocians." Mosoch's name suggests some sort of Semitic derivation, and his reputation as the founder of the Cappadocians seems to hint at a foundation legend for the region that was older than the adoption of Greek myths. In the early Roman empire people outside Cappadocia had heard of Mosoch too. The Jewish historian Josephus even tried to fit him into biblical genealogies by equating him with Meshech, one of the grandsons of Noah.' Although Mosoch is an intriguing primal ancestor, he unfortunately remains completely obscure. Philostorgius in fact knew so little about the legend that he could not match up the consonants and vowels in order to make sense of the postulated link between the city's name of Mazaca and Mosoch's name. So he shrugged and invented a makeshift phonetic transfer: "after the passage of time [thecity] was called Mazaca through a 'swerving."' In the later Roman empire all that survived of whatever legends there may have been about Mosoch were his name, his reputation, and his enigmatic Chapter 5 The Founder of the Cappadocians In the early fifth century a Cappadocian scholar wrote an extensive ecclesiastical history that surveyed the developments of the previous century. In his homeland Philostorgius had grown up in the shadows of the great Cappadocian Fathers. Despite their prominence, Philostorgius did not embrace their version of orthodox theology. Instead, he and his family accepted the doctrines of Eunomius, another Cappadocian theologian whom Basil and Gregory of Nyssa would personally discredit and vilify. Nor did Philostorgius remain in Cappadocia, since eventually he moved to Constantinople. In his ecclesiastical history Philostorgius was hence both ecumenical and local. He included many tidbits of odd information about biblical events and the Roman empire, and he was interested in legends about Cappadocia . When he mentioned Mazaca, the original name for the city that eventually became Caesarea, he noted that this name was derived from "Mosoch, the founder of the Cappadocians." Mosoch's name suggests some sort of Semitic derivation, and his reputation as the founder of the Cappadocians seems to hint at a foundation legend for the region that was older than the adoption of Greek myths. In the early Roman empire people outside Cappadocia had heard of Mosoch too. The Jewish historian Josephus even tried to fit him into biblical genealogies by equating him with Meshech, one of the grandsons of Noah.1 Although Mosoch is an intriguing primal ancestor, he unfortunately remains completely obscure. Philostorgius in fact knew so little about the legend that he could not match up the consonants and vowels in order to make sense of the postulated link between the city's name of Mazaca and Mosoch's name. So he shrugged and invented a makeshift phonetic transfer: "after the passage of time [the city] was called Mazaca through a 'swerving.'" In the later Roman empire all that survived of whatever legends there may have been about Mosoch were his name, his reputation, and his enigmatic 94 Conversion connection with the name of a city. The myth of Mosoch the Founder was a lost memory, a fragment of an abandoned past, a casualty of the adoption of Greek mythology, the imposition of Roman rule, or the expansion of Christianity. In a society that defined itself in terms of Greekness, Romanness , or Christianity, Mosoch the Founder had become meaningle~s.~ The renaissance of Greek culture in the early Roman empire had included several aspects. One was an emphasis on the Greek past, especially its classical era. In particular, cities linked their foundation legends, civic myths, municipal and religious festivals, political institutions...