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HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
ISSN: (Online) 2072-8050, (Print) 0259-9422
Page 1 of 9 Original Research
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Authors:
Rugare Rukuni1
Erna Oliver1
Aliaons:
1Department of Chrisan
Spirituality, Church History
and Missiology, University of
South Africa, Pretoria,
South Africa
Corresponding author:
Rugare Rukuni,
rugareeusebius@gmail.com
Dates:
Received: 02 Nov. 2018
Accepted: 13 Sept. 2019
Published: 19 Nov. 2019
How to cite this arcle:
Rukuni, R. & Oliver E., 2019,
‘African Ethiopia and
Byzanne imperial
orthodoxy: Polically
inuenced self-denion of
Chrisanity’, HTS Teologiese
Studies/Theological Studies
75(4), a5314. hps://doi.
org/10.4102/hts.v75i4.5314
Copyright:
© 2019. The Authors.
Licensee: AOSIS. This work
is licensed under the
Creave Commons
Aribuon License.
Introducon
The 4th century witnessed the emergence of a religio-political outfit in the form of Constantinian
Christianity (Leithart 2010:177). This was a factor that influenced the religious and political
synergies. It is, however, not the conclusive narrative regarding Christianity at the turn of this era.
Whilst the Constantinian imperial Christianity is notably significant for the creation of a regional
influence and a culture of imperial clerical ties, this does not represent the entire Christian
narrative (Alexander & Smither 2015:169–170), more specifically with regard to North Africa and
ultimately the imperial Kingdom of Ethiopia.
The Constannian era as a lens for reviewing the Chrisan empire
of Ethiopia
The Trinitarian debate that characterised the period from the 3rd to 4th century was a shaping factor
for then emergent Christianity (Gray 2005). The solution of an ecumenical council of Nicaea and its
aftermath was another important factor. The manner in which the council served as a religio-political
solution was also notable. The manner in which the theological division was geographically delineable
would be significant to ascertain the position taken by Ethiopia on this divide. It would also establish
the independence or autonomy of the Ethiopian church in relation to Rome and later Byzantium.
The relaon regarding the polical and ecclesiascal
connecon
The interplay of ecclesiastical and imperial politics is intertwined with the Nicene narrative. For
Eusebius, the church remained theosebes politeuma [a godly polity], governed by the episcopate and
The ancient Ethiopian Christian empire was an emergent and notable power in Eastern Africa
and influenced its surrounding regions. It was itself influenced both religiously and politically.
The ancient Christian narrative of North Africa has been deduced against a Roman imperial
background. Whilst the preceding is congruent with the historical political dynamics, a
consideration of the autonomy and uniqueness of ancient African Christianity and its regional
influence is also relevant. This implied a revisionist approach to literature which was achieved
through document analysis. A review of the continual independent interaction of ancient
African Christianity with Roman or Byzantine imperial orthodoxy reflected on the multi-
factorial self-definitive development within African Christianity. Against the background of
ecclesiastical polities and socio-ethnical dynamics, the relationship of Africa or Ethiopia with
Byzantine orthodoxy provides a strong argument for an organic African orthodoxy. The
Constantinian era ushered a new phase of imperial orthodoxy and imperial-ecclesiastical ties
that became formative for an imperial policy; these were definitive of Byzantine orthodoxy
and were reflected in Roman and Vandal Africa and also in the Ethiopian Christian empire.
This consequently characterised the orthodox Christianity post 325 CE/Nicaea; introspection
regarding the extent of its influence formed the basis of this study. A study of the Ethiopian
empire in its immediate Judaic-Arabian environment enhances the understanding regarding
the ethnically politically defined Christianity that characterised it. Correspondingly, the review
of Ethiopian Christianity’s interaction with Byzantine orthodoxy and definitive features of
ancient North African Christianity helped clear the ground for an organic orthodoxy. An
establishment regarding a cooperative Ethiopian–Byzantine geopolitical policy, as opposed to
theological divergence, helped change the narrative of African orthodoxy.
Keywords: Church History; Ethiopian Christianity; Cultural-Definition; Byzantine Christianity;
African Christianity; Imperial Christianity; Nicene Orthodoxy and Constantinianism.
African Ethiopia and Byzanne imperial orthodoxy:
Polically inuenced self-denion of Chrisanity
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being out of the reach of the emperor (Leithart 2010:179). With
time, Constantine’s successors such as Constantius were
engaged with the church into a greater extent. The latter styled
himself as ‘the bishop of bishops’ episcopus episcoporum (Leithart
2010:180). Constantine also claimed to be a bishop for those
without a bishop. This was a vague conceptualisation that
raised the subject of Caesaropapism, either as a protector of
Christendom or as an imperial missionary whom the emperor
entrusted with an imperial Christian agenda (VC 4.24;
Cameron & Hall 1999:320; Rapp 2005:685; Schaff 1885b:826).
The role of the episcopate was a notion pre-established by
Cyprian in his Ecclesiastical Unity, it was inevitably apparent
that the development of Christian ideology also meant the
maturity of ecclesiastical politics (Unit Eccl 10–14; Schaff
1885b:744–746). Theophilus of Antioch was a significant
corresponding episcopal figure in Eastern Christianity
(Philostorgius EH 3.6; Amidon 2007:43).
Independence from Byzanne
Christendom
Constantius II in accordance with his strained relationship
with the Christian church as heir of the Constantinian
political ecclesiastical link intended to ensure the dominance
of Arian ideology as was acceptable to his policy.
The fallout of Athanasius with the emperor regarding his
anti-Arian views that had won the day at Nicaea saw the
rise of George of Cappadocia as the patriarch of Alexandria
(Phillipson 2012:95). Constantinople could lay claim to the
Episcopate of Alexandria, but the same could not be said
of Aksum.
The evidence of adoption of Christianity by the Aksumite
King Ezana finds confirmation in an attempt at meddling in
the Christian affairs of the North African empire by the then
emperor at Byzantium. To Athanasius’ writings is attributed
a letter by the emperor Constantius II addressed to Ezana
and Sazana 356/357 CE (considered a joint ruler with Ezana).
The subject of the letter was to realign episcopal loyalties
regarding theological or Christological arguments. Since
Frumentius, the then Patriarch, had been appointed by
Athanasius who had been a proponent of anti-Arianism, the
Byzantine emperor wanted him to be re-examined by his
new Arian appointee, George of Cappadocia (Phillipson
2012:95). It appears there is no evidence of reciprocation
regarding this letter at the Ethiopian court.
Vandal Africa: Polical and
theological divergence
Ethiopia in its African background
Ethiopia has to be considered in its regional situation. The
mutuality of geopolitical implications on itself and the other
nations is an important factor. It appears African Christianity
is characterised by dichotomy. These dichotomies although
stemming from orthodoxy versus heresy intrinsically spilled
over into politics. During the Constantinian era, there was a
series of councils, notably one of them being the 314 CE Arles
Synod (Frend 2012:522) (Optatus Don 1.11.4; Phillips 1917:23).
In an attempt to resolving the Donatist schism, the council
was determinant for military intervention against riots by the
Donatist victims (Leithart 2010:160–161). The Donatist
controversy transcended the clerical dispute and became
definitive of any intransigent or divergent practice.
Whelan argues, as others have done, that this divide may be
a consequence of the inclination of the primary authors
involved (Whelan 2018:3). Given the emergence of
Christianity in Ethiopia and its association with Byzantine
Rome (Phillipson 2012:204), a look at the then ‘Vandal
Africa’ would be relevant. Vandal Africa was the successor
to Roman Africa; this was a consequence of the decline of
Western Rome.
From the dominant source of this era (429 CE–484 CE),
Victor of Vita, there was a depiction of the Vandal Arians
versus the orthodox Nicene Christians. This is discussed in
his treatise History of the Persecution of the African Province
(Whelan 2018:9). Whelan despite his acknowledgement of
the substantiality of Victor of Vita as a source for the period
implies foundational deconstruction of the perceived divide
between the Arian Vandals and Nicene Christianity. The
non existence of a distinct divide is evidenced by the
derivation from Constantius II’s 359 CE twin councils of
Remini and Seleucia in the 484 CE post-council of Carthage
edict by Huneric (HP 3.5, 3.12, Moorhead 1992:65, 67–68).
This perspective compositely builds the complex matrix of
the ancient African theological and political definition in
Christianity. For example, the divergence of Donatist,
although it turned political, originally pertained to the views
on baptism and authentic church leadership. Constantine’s
reversion to conciliar formulae for peace in this constituency
of Christianity could have been a comprehension of the non-
relation between political and religious divergence.
The above observations can provide a good insight into
deciphering the complex relationship between Byzantine
Rome and Ethiopia. Geopolitical cooperation in the defence
of persecuted Christians in Najran (Arabian Peninsula) (circa
525 CE) was not based on religious allegiance regarding the
monophysite–diphysite arguments (Bowersock 2013:5, 75).
Vandal Africa and Nicene orthodoxy
The emperor Constantine introduced the notion of imperial
Christianity (Barnes 2011:111). Imperial Christianity was an
orthodoxy defined by the composite neo-imperial religious
policy based on the active participation of the emperor
(VC 4.24; Schaff 1885d:826). Historically, Constantine had
definitive implications upon the geopolitical fabric. The
unification of the empire and the founding of Nova Roma
[New Rome] in the establishment of Byzantium,
Constantinople as a Christian city had implications on the
fabric of Christian orthodoxy. The division of the empire after
Constantine and the decline of Western Rome implied
revisions with regard to the newly established Christendom.
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The foundation of an orthodoxy that had the support of
councils and imperial legislation as an enforcement to decrees
had a geographical connotation. The benefactory tendencies
of the emperor upon the episcopate, though entrenching an
already existent system (Van Dam 2012:344), implied the
rising eminence of the metropolitan clerics and ultimately
their sees. Therefore, it can be deduced that Rome and later
Byzantine would emerge as an arbiter of orthodoxy. The
political changes in North Africa when Vandal Geiseric took
over in 428 CE would therefore imply a divergence from the
established Roman orthodoxy.
Correspondingly, the accounts of Augustine and Victor
portray the emergence of the Hasding Vandal dynasty as
entry into a phase of persecution for those in conformity with
Nicene orthodoxy (Fournier 2008, 2013). Whelan argues that
there was a misguided commentary by Victor of Vita given a
revision of the actions of the Vandals with regard to
Christianity and the continued independence of the North
African ‘Arian’ clerics (cf. Whelan 2018).
Homousian versus Homoian
Whelan underscores the proximity of the resolution proffered
by Huneric – after the 484 CE Carthage council – to the 359 CE
Rimini and Seleucia councils of Constantius II as evidence for
the clarity of non-Nicene orArian Christianity (Whelan
2018:12). The twin councils reverted to the word ‘like’ (homoios
[Greek] and similis [Latin]), thereby disposing the lingua franca
that had been conceived at Nicaea (Barnes 1993:144–151).
In Constantinian manner, the Hasding Vandal dynasty
dabbled in ecclesiastical issues (Whelan 2018:15).
Amidst the theological diversity, the monarchy took the side
of Homoian or semi-Arian Christians. The hostile measures –
inclusive of the exile of bishops – against the African Nicene
party could be delimited geographically as it seemed to have
been in the main province of Vandal Proconsularis (Conant
2012:161–170). Huneric engaged in a coercion crusade for
conformity to Homoian orthodoxy. This was counterbalanced
by Hilderic in 523 CE by a grant of tolerance.
A review of the Carthaginian Council convened under
Huneric in 484 CE shows a replay of the 411 CE council
between Catholics and Donatists (HP 2.47–3.8, Fournier
2008:113–115; Moorhead 1992:41–66). The implication
included conformity to a Constantinian conciliar script by
the Vandal rulers. Their conformity to the Roman decorum
imitatio imperii appears to have pervaded all spheres of power.
The label bestowed upon them as persecutors of Nicene
orthodoxy can also be inverted as defenders of the African
Homoian faith.
Consequently, there is a great similarity between the
deductions of narratives from Optatus and Victor to get a
perspective of their respective eras. Both approached their
accounts as deduced from persistent conflict or persecution.
The works Against the Donatist (Phillips 1917) and History of
the Persecution of the African Province (Moorhead 1992) hint
towards a polemic stance against those opposed to Nicene or
imperial orthodoxy or, rather as they claim, catholic
orthodoxy. The compromising feature in these narratives is
the authors’ involvement and stand in the divide.
An African versus Roman divide
A fact reiterated by Whelan is that Victor ’s black and white
illustration of Vandal Arianism versus Roman
Nicene orthodoxy can be misguiding (Whelan 2018:15).
Correspondingly, narratives in this category can be said to
have preconditioned the African Christian story. The Donatist
resurgence post-conflict, even ideologically, as representation
of divergence from Catholicism in North Africa is a worthy
case study in this regard. The prevalence of these groups
deemed divergent from the institutionalised ideology in
respective areas distinguishable in sociocultural and ethnic
dynamics could be evidence of their viability and authenticity.
This implies that their fallout with the perceived ‘orthodox or
universal’ views can be categorically political.
Without reverting to the two distinct theories where the
Donatists were conceived as either nationalistic or strictly
theological, there appears to be a case for sociocultural dynamics
(Wilhite 2017:219–221). This fact raised by Roldanus (2006)
lately resurges in Wilhite (2017) in his volume that derives from
an inclination towards an organically defined Ancient African
Christianity. An acknowledgement of the self-definitive events
in early Christianity brings to view the complex matrix of a
religion shaped in socio-ethnic dynamics and politics.
The Jewish-Christian Schism, Hellenism and imperial
intervention in the person of Constantine conceived the
orthodoxy behind these schisms in the 4th century CE.
Correspondingly, it appears that socio-ethnic dynamics
would continually remain definitive of certain elements of
Christian orthodoxy. The Donatist movement identified with
native Africa as a perceivably home advantage in the
controversies that ensued because of socio-ethnic features.
Wilhite (2017:220) cites an intrinsic cultural use of the native
Punic language in reference to religion and religious rites as
one of the reasons. The other reasons include their biblical
reference to African-ness as having a prophetic continental
destiny, one of spiritual eminence (Augustine City of God 16.21
Schaff 1885c:462; Tertullian On Monogamy 17.2, Schaff
1855a:124). Lastly, their identification with the resistance
against Rome was characteristic of the historical tension
between Carthage and Rome (Against Donatists 3.3.13, Phillips
1917:133). Despite the ambiguity surrounding the notion of the
concept of Carthaginian nationalism as bracketing the Donatist
narrative, it appears that such a theory is however feasible.
The observations regarding Donatism bear implications for the
Vandal Arian–Nicene orthodoxy divide. This is with regard to
the geographical identification of orthodoxy as conditioned by
the respective sociocultural and political forces available.
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Episcopal polies in Vandal Africa
The distinction of Vandal African Christianity consequently
implies the use of Vandalic, Punic as belonging to the region.
Current researches have however suggested a rather bilingual
liturgy (Conant 2012:63).
Whelan’s (2018:41) evaluation argues for mutually ethnic
and linguistic plurality amongst Homoian and Nicene
churches in Vandal Africa. Definitive ecclesiastical polities
relate to the patronage of the clergy by the Vandal regime
(Whelan 2018:46).
According to some researchers, the Vandal Homoian church
was a state apparatus: an extension of the Hasding dynasty’s
regime (Maier 2005:287–289). This proposition is intrinsically
problematic based on the self-definitive trajectory taken by
Christianity after Constantine. The assertive tone and role of
clerics was an over-arching characteristic of imperial
episcopal relations, especially with Constantine’s successors.
Africa being the cradle of the co-architecture of episcopal
authority in the person of Cyprian implies some
dysfunctionality with the conclusion that Vandal Homoian
bishops were completely royal functionaries.
The notion of a state church in Vandal Africa has been
contested (Leppin 2003:238). This perception, ‘unhelpfully
elides the interests of two quite separate institutions’ whilst
ignoring significant dynamics in Christian thought ‘that
found collaboration with secular authority profoundly
unsettling’ (Whelan 2018:42).
As discussed earlier, the view of Homoian bishops as an
extension of the Hasding dynasty is a result of the stereotyped
source of Nicene opponents. Primarily, derivations for this
thinking were Victor of Vita’s History of the Persecution and
the Life of Fulgentius (HP 1.43–44, 1.48, Moorhead 1992:18–21);
(V. Fulg. 6–7, 21, Eno 1997:16–21, 40–43).
The presented accounts depict the Homoian clerics as to have
been entangled with Hasding politics.
Jucundus’s involvement with the royal sibling Theoderic and
his inflicted prosecution to the flames (HP 2.13, Whelan
2018:42) in Victor’s account merits the conclusion of the
Homoian clergyman as (‘suo…Iucundo presbytero’) Jucundus
was Theodoric’s presbyter. The reality of royal chaplains
overshadows the existence of ordinary bishops and priests in
Victor of Vita or Fulgentius. A review of the careers of Ursacius
of Singidunum and Valens of Mursashow shows their existence
beyond ecclesiastical polities (Barnes 1993:6, 22–23, 97–100).
The mandate by Huneric transferring churches and estates
from Nicene to Homoian bishops (HP 3.14 Whelan 2018:44) is
an echo of the Constantinian imperial policy for Christian
infrastructural expansion through acquisition of pagan
temples. The implication of the edict being persecution of a
particular Christian sect would resonate with how the
Donatist issue posed a challenge for the emperor’s benefactor
policy on who was entitled for patronage. This imperial
empowerment was a primary definitive feature of the
clerical–political relations. The dynasty was furthering the
religious mandate of the church.
The negativity from the Nicene text could also have been a
consequence of the urban popularity gained by Homoian
clerics as a result of their dispensation of charity, this (charity)
being a factor of the endowments of the Vandal kings (Whelan
2018:45). Their quasi-judicial capacity (cf. Whelan 2018:45)
coupled with an ecclesiastical political rivalry practice
implicating kings resonates with the narrative regarding the
late antiquity episcopate. Judicial authority was deemed as a
divine endowment in the ideology framed by key African
episcopates (Augustine Commentary on Gospel of John, 33;
Atkins & Dodaro 2001:101–107).
The observations regarding the ecclesiastical polities in
Vandal Africa argue for a continuation of a well-established
Christian order despite the political changes after the
decline of western Rome. This serves as an entrenchment
of the legitimacy claims of an independent Christian
regime in North Africa as a background to Ethiopian
Christianity. The Byzantine re-conquest of Africa was
unarguably going to be a definitive feature in the respective
Christianity. The pertinent question will relate to how this
would impact the autonomy and distinctive features of
African Christianity as this would have implications on
how it would influence its region.
Byzanne Africa
Byzantine Rome as per its establishment under Constantine
appears to have retained a claim upon Christendom. The
relationship between Byzantine Rome and Christianity in
other domains implies a contact between imperial orthodoxy
and its adherents. Despite the emergence and existence of
distinctly regional Christianities, the cooperation and
intervention of Byzantine emperors imply a perpetuation of
Constantinian religious policy.
Byzantine-induced policy in Vandal regions regarding
Christianity was evident when the emperor Zeno and the
Western empress-regent Placidia requested Huneric the
Vandal ruler to grant some autonomy to the Nicene clerics to
appoint their own episcopate for Carthage. Eugenius was
elected as successor of Deogratias in 481 CE (Wilhite
2017:273).
The Byzantine re-conquest of Africa witnessed the resistance
from local people. The reversal of Vandal patronage of
Homoian Christianity by Byzantine emperors further affirmed
their connection with Nicene orthodoxy; consequently, this
was resisted by sections that did not fall under their domain
(Wilhite 2017:292, 294). The actions of Byzantine emperors
generate a revisionist argument regarding what is termed
persecution of Christianity by the Vandals; additionally, the
effectiveness of neo-Christendom policy in the African region
has extended implications for the emergence or entrenchment
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of an organically African tradition that developed in resistance
to foreign imposition. The preceding observations have
implications upon the existence of an autonomously or
organically African Christian tradition.
Byzanne’s neo-religious policy
The exile of Nicene bishops, the acquisition of Nicene churches
and their transfer to Homoian Vandal counterparts were
avenged with the re-assumption of Roman power in Africa by
Byzantine rulers. These actions were legislated against all who
were not part of the Nicene party by the emperor Justinian,
whether Jews, Arians or Donatists. This signified a
Constantinian policy for the promotion of Christianity by
Justinian (Wilhite 2017:293). Although it is a matter of
perspective, this depicts the Roman or Byzantine emperor as a
persecutor of alternative Christian orthodoxy other than
Nicene practice, thereby perpetuating imperial orthodoxy or
Christianity. In summary, the neo-Christendom policy in
regained Roman, formerly Vandal, Africa was notably:
1. In an attack directed at the Donatist, a prevention of re-
baptised persons to serve in the army (militiam) (Body of
Civil law: New Law 37.7 trans Wilhite 2017:293).
2. Return of basilicas under Vandal custody to the Nicene
Bishopric then under the leadership of Reparatus of
Carthage who was to preside over ‘the council of all
Africa’ (Body of Civil law: New Law 37.1 trans Wilhite
2017:293).
3. In an enculturation drive, there was a discontinuity by
the Byzantines of opus Africanum architecture, which was
a Punic-Carthage expression and through infrastructure
this was replaced by an eastern Roman infrastructure
(Adam 2005:233).
4. Upon readmission to Nicene beliefs, Vandal clergy were
relegated to laity (Burns & Jensen 2014:195).
5. Lastly, the emperor Justinian re-enacted the modulus for
Nicene conciliar orthodoxy, local councils. Notably
between 523 and 646 CE, records show the convention of
the Catholic church (Wilhite 2017:293).
Resurgent resistance
The matrix for neo-Christendom was not guaranteed despite
the re-conquered African territory. The resistance of local
groups to Byzantine rule, such as the Mauretanian and the
remaining Vandals, was not limited to political spheres alone
but to the religious domain too. The resurgent intransigence
of certain local clerics in Africa against conciliarism is an
example. The 525 CE council of Carthage was poorly attended
possibly because of the resistance by local episcopates to this
notion of conciliarism (Wilhite 2017:293). The resistance to
the synods would be consequent of resistance of the Byzantine
emperor being an arbiter of orthodoxy through the Nicene
party (Wilhite 2017:295).
The pervading landscape dynamics relating to the dominion
of the recaptured African territory posed an enculturation
self-definitive challenge in re-institution of the eastern form
of Christianity. Despite the notable silence in contemporary
documents from the respective era regarding Donatist
existence, out of the non-retained territories by Byzantine
Rome in Africa the inland and western regions surrounding
Carthage and Mauretania showed the possibility of Donatist
presence.
The previous theory has certain weak points given the lack of
veracity regarding the intrinsic existence of the Donatists.
However, as propounded by Wilhite (2017), the prevalence of
a religious and cultural resistance in certain regions of North
Africa to what was foreign resonated with the preceding
Donatist–Catholic conflicts.
A notable feature of future conflict between Byzantine
Christianity was how certain elements of African resistance
implied a metamorphism of the designation Donatist into
ideologising resistance to the Catholic orthodox movement
(Augustine Ep 105: Augustine to the Donatist, Atkins &
Dorado 2001:162–173).
The three chapters controversy
The controversy during 400–500 CE regarding the two
natures of Christ, stemming from the condemnation of one
Nestorius in 431 CE at the council of Ephesus wrangled the
Christian empire (Theodoret Anath, Dialogues, Schaff
1885e:58–59, 371–540). ‘Nestorianism’ as it became called was
composite to a trajectory of ecumenical councils that were
Trinitarian such as the Chalcedonian council in 451 CE.
The notable issue surrounding this controversy is the
prevalence of African voices in dissent with regard to the
established view. The emperor Justinian condemned three
episcopates that had a connection to Nestorius or had urged
tolerance to his views of two natures. These bishops were
Theodore of Mopsuestia (350–428 CE), Theodoret of Cyrrhus
(c393–460) and Ibas of Edessa (c457 CE) (Wilhite 2017:296).
The condemnation CE was however of different categories;
while Theodore of Mopsuestia was attacked with regard to
his person and opera, Theodoret’s writings faced the heretical
axe and for Ibas it was but one letter.
The division pitted two names at either end of the controversy:
Cyril who refuted the two natures and Nestorius who insisted
for a distinction (Theodoret Anathemas of Cyril, Schaff
1885e:58–59). The turmoil embroiling the whole empire
ensued primarily as a result of emperor Justinian’s affirmation
or condemnation of a particular sect. The three chapters
(mentioned bishops) had aggregating positions that sought a
middle ground; but the inclination of refuting Cyril’s view is
what implied their association with Nestorius (Theodoret
Prologue 7, Schaff 1885e:36–38). These bishops underwent
trials and conciliar condemnation – Theodoret tried at the 451
CE Chalcedonian council and Ibas tried in Tyre in 449 CE
(Wilhite 2017:296). To escape the heretic label, they had
denounced Nestorius despite their not so monophysite or
single nature views.
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Polics of Neo-Chalcedonianism
The very western representative of Catholic orthodoxy, Pope
Vigilus, opposed the emperor Justinian’s actions in the
condemnation of the three bishops. In 548 CE, he gave in only
to retract given the disapproval of other western bishops
(Theodoret Prologue 7, Schaff 1885e:37, 38). A council convened
by the emperor, the second council of Constantinople, was
unattended by the Pope. The actions of the council of
Constantinople are what embroiled Africa.
It has to be noted that the hostility the emperor faced came
from both sides: the Cyrilian and the Nestorian. The pope, for
example, was not in support of Nestorianism but the actions
of a council could not be reversed. If the three chapters had
not been deemed Nestorian, they would not have been
condemned.
The emperor’s actions were ratified through the council by
citing how Augustine emphasised actions against heretics
even when they were dying (Price 2009). The African
clerics were to attack the emperor and the western
patriarch, the pope, for his involvement in retraction of
synods. It has to be remembered that in Africa the concept
of conciliarism was established through Cyprian’s
emphasis on episcopal authority (Unit Eccl 10–14; Hall
2012:479; Schaff 1885b:744–746). The resistance to
ecumenical synods was an entrenchment of local tradition;
but regarding the sacredness of councils, the Africans
would not accept the edict of even the emperor.
Even the Nicene bishop at Carthage, Reparatus, was in
opposition to the emperor; consequently, he was exiled after
summons. There was local resistance to the installation of a
replacement of the Nicene bishop of Carthage (Markus
1979:144). Wave after wave of African clergymen would raise
their voice against the actions of the emperor in what they
perceived as a negation of the council to mention some
Verecundus of Junca and Facundus of Hermionem.
Notably, Facundus urges the Church to be resistant to the
political influence of the emperor. This can be aligned with
the African Christian tradition as reflected by Tertullian and
Donatus (Markus 1979:144). Faccundus, although resistant to
the emperor, refused to be labelled as a Donatist. This would
be reflective of the Christian empire of Ethiopia, which,
despite taking views regarding the monophysite position
contrary to that of Rome, would still cooperate on geopolitical
matters with the emperor.
Gregory and intransigent Africa
In 590 CE, Gregory, an aristocrat by training, became the
bishop of Rome (Wilhite 2017:301) – for his acumen he
amassed the magnus [great] title, enlisting him with the likes
of Constantine and Pompeii the general. Yet there was a
dilution to the power of the western bishop – the real power
in the west as it would appear – as there was no western
emperor to talk about.
The African church and its non-compliance posed a challenge
to the authority of the Roman See. In his letters, Gregory
appears to be engaged immensely with the African church,
and notably resurgent Donatists against unum baptisma [one
baptism] and unititas [unity] (Cameron 1982:51). This poses a
challenge given the earlier establishment regarding the non-
existence of evidence for Donatism during the Vandal and
post-Vandal era. Yet the narrative of resistance resonates with
the actions of the Donatists in preceding centuries.
According to Wilhite (2017), this also provokes a resurgent
revisionist enquiry regarding the nature of African
Christianity and its resistance. According to Markus (1994:162,
163), ‘[w]hat Gregory interpreted as Donatism was nothing
more and nothing less than the African Church’s traditional
sense of autonomy re-asserting itself’. This bears significance
as an intonation of the regional influence that would
determine the shade of Christianity pervading North Africa.
The incapacitation of the bishop of Rome to curtail or relegate
the African bishops also establishes the significance of
episcopal polities and how they now were geographically
defined. The feature of ecclesiastical polities being a self-
definitive feature of Christianity implies the emergence of an
autonomous structure in Africa. Given the resistance against
the emperor in the three chapters controversy, resistance
against his less political accomplice in the Western half of the
empire only became easier. The incapacity of the pope to act
independently of the fellow episcopates is established
(Martyn 2004:40).
Conant’s position regarding African Christianity was a
counter-balance of the resistance against foreign
encroachment from the emperor in Rome and the bishop in
Constantinople versus its acceptance of certain principles of
the empire or pope’s authority (Conant 2012:329). For
Markus, these issues bring us to a view of an African
orthodoxy: the emperor’s role in orthodoxy and the
independence of the African Church (Markus 1979:146).
These observations are taken as problematic because of some
of the assumptions they are based on, such as the ethnicity of
the resistance parties as shown by Berbers or Markus’s
rebuttal of a nationalistic sentiment in African society that
would influence Christianity. It is my view that socio-ethnic
dynamics were a strong influence in the self-definitive process
in this case of African Christianity. The afforementioned
socio-ethnic dynamics, spark an enquiry regarding the
Christian influence from these regions. This is because the
reality regarding socio-ethnic dynamics was prominent in
essentially non-Roman areas such as Ethiopia.
The Chrisan empire of Ethiopia
In Eastern Africa, chronologically analogous to the emerging
imperial–episcopal complex in the Roman empire, the
Christian empire of Africa was rising. The interplay of
imperial–religious relations between Ethiopia and Byzantine
establishes a theory of mutual autonomous significance in
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respective regions. The self-assertive dominion of the
Ethiopian emperors as kings over a vast territory including
Himyar Arabia (then Judaic in practice) was explicit.
The Ethiopian negus [ruler or emperor] was the king of kings
over Axum [Ethiopia], Himyar, DhuRaydan in the
Hadramawt and Saba in Yemen (Bowersock 2013:64). The
sovereign claims regarding the Arabian Peninsula were
however fluid and at times nominal (Bowersock 2013:64).
The presence of Sassanian Persians in the region complicated
the territorial matrix as this was the dominant power
challenging Byzantine expansion (Theodoret Hist. Eccles 3.16,
Schaff 1885e:236).
The affiliation of Persians with Jewish Arabs in the region
would imply a religious divide and consequently alliances.
The preceding factor entailed the geopolitical cooperation
between the Byzantine and Ethiopian empires regarding the
common Persian enemy. This premised a religious political
connection between the two empires (Byzantine and
Ethiopia). Given the imperial nature of Byzantine orthodoxy,
this inter-imperial correspondence would by extension
implicate the Christendom.
The Christian matrix of Ethiopia that derived from its Judaic
heritage implies the complexity of this orthodoxy self-
definition agenda. Whilst given the discussion regarding
Byzantine relations with the ‘Donatist’ African church, the
interaction of Ethiopian Christianity with Byzantine-
established orthodoxy would reflect the intricacy of self-
definitive politics.
Ethiopia and post-Nicene orthodoxy
The narrative regarding the Christianisation of Ethiopia and
its actively Christian emperors is a sketchy record but with
substantial backup in the form of tradition (Theodoret Hist.
Eccles 1.22, Schaff 1885e:127).
The missionary to the Ethiopian monarch Frumentius, a
descendant of Alexandria, is embroiled at the centre of the
exhibition of imperial orthodoxy by Byzantine Rome. During
the tenure of the post-Nicene upheaval, the anti-Arius party
found resonance with Athanasius, a bishop in Alexandria.
At the ascension of Constantius II, the centre of influence
with the emperor which had gradually drifted from the anti-
Arian party to somewhat middle ground implied Arianism
as the new orthodoxy (Rufinus, Hist.Eccles.2.5.14 [Amidon
1997:18–23]; Athanasius. Apol. 29, 31 1892:495, 497–498).
The Byzantine emperor as established earlier required the re-
alignment of the Axumite bishop with current power–
orthodoxy dynamics. This was through an examination at
the hands of the new Arian patriarch of Alexandria, George.
As established earlier, the reciprocation to this action has no
evidence. This narrative when placed in the background of
the preceding discussion implies the coherent trajectory of
African intransigence.
The religious matrix of Ethiopia was complex as already
registered; this primarily derived from the Jewish Christian
connection in their heritage as found in the KebraNagast. The
legend of Queen Makeda or Queen of Sheba and her
Solomonic romance and the Solomonic dynasty attests to this
fact (Bowersock 2013:82). Additionally, the prevalence of
Judaism in Himyar, a territory under Ethiopian rule (in
certain eras), implied a confluence of Christianity and
Judaism after the imperial conversion from paganism. It is
likely that given the nature of monotheistic Judaism,
Ethiopian Christianity would be conservative regarding its
theology (view of the deity). This would have implications as
to which side it would incline in Christological controversy.
The rejection of the Chalcedonian council of 451 CE as
dyaphysite could be the result of the Judaic influence upon
Ethiopian theology. The KebraNagast would castigate the
emperor Marcianus who oversaw the council as a heretic
(Bowersock 2013:83). Consequently, the Christianity of
Ethiopia would be monophysite as that of Syria and Palestine
and divergent from the Byzantine orthodoxy. This poses a
new dynamic in the three chapters controversy given the
geographical location of Ethiopia.
As an African church conformity to Chalcedon was the norm,
yet for reasons unlike those of the emperor Justinian who
denounced the council as an imperial political score, the
Ethiopians formed their anti-Nestorian party along
theological lines. Interestingly, the association with
Palestinian and Syriac Christianity resonated with their
Judaic-Christian background. Irrespective of the complexity
of the relationship between the Christianity of Ethiopia and
Byzantine Christianity, what can be established is how ethno-
political dynamics shaped the Ethiopian orthodoxy. The
other notion possibly surrounding the Ethiopian rejection of
Chalcedonianism was the council’s rejection by Coptic Egypt
(Binns 2017:23). Whilst Ethiopia’s Abuna system was
aggregately derived from the patriarch of Alexandria (Isaac
2013), Ethiopia’s regional significance expanded its role
within Eastern Christianity. It came to comprise the pro-
Eastern Christian propaganda that showed Ethiopia as a
defender of Christianity from Islam and superior to Byzantine
heresy (Pseudo-Methodius Hendrickx 2012; Penn 2015).
Being Jewish is a matter of both practice and ethnicity; the
confluence of Ethiopian territory with Judaism and Christianity
and correspondingly their historical transition from Judaism-
paganism into Christianity was definitive. The Ethiopian
religious outfit would be a stand-alone relative to Byzantine or
North African orthodoxy. This however does not complete the
picture of the Byzantine and Ethiopian religious cooperation.
Conclusion: Imperial Byzanne and
the Kingdom of Ethiopia
The Constantinian influence was not restricted geographically
and chronologically as it would seem. The ability
of Constantine to attach himself to the bandwagon of a
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world-capturing religion correspondingly perpetuated his
legacy. The impact of the Constantinian era upon
Christendom, rather than the interaction between Christianity
and politics, was far-reaching. Introspectively, the definitive
nature of a religious polity upon Christianity cannot be
undermined; additionally, the socio-ethnic dynamics are
precursor to the development of Christianity throughout its
narrative.
The autonomy and uniqueness of Christianity in Africa and
its resistance to imperial imposition have been noted as
definitive of African Christianity. The possibility of resistance
being nurtured ideologically and ethnically perpetuated in
the person of Donatism implied the home advantage or
rather nationalism. These considerations build a composite
picture for an organic orthodoxy. Whilst there has been
intrinsic emphasis upon the divergent nature of African
Christianity as the background to Ethiopian orthodoxy, the
balance between political and religious divergence is
noteworthy.
The autonomy and independence of North African
Christianity as established cannot be swept underneath a
nationalistic sentiment in resistance to the imperial orthodoxy
establishment. African bishops could be anti-Byzantine
orthodox yet not Donatists. This deduces the in-equitability
of theological or religious divergence and political divergence.
The Ethiopian narrative conforms to this theory.
The cooperation between Ethiopia and Byzantine Rome in
support of persecuted Christians in Jewish Arabian Najran is
a notable account. The Byzantine emperor Justin and
Ethiopian negus Kaleb invaded Himyar in 525 (Bowersock
2013:106). This conceived a geopolitical alliance between the
two kingdoms: expansion of Ethiopian territory and for the
Byzantines a neutralisation of the Persian power (Dewing
1914–1928:1:178–195; Procopius Wars I.19–20). The conquest
was a bid in the re-entrenchment of Christian presence in the
Arabian Peninsula; undoubtedly, this was a continuation of
imperially backed religion and inevitably this implied an
Ethiopian client of Christianity in Himyar.
Lastly, an explicit exhibit of conformity to Rome was a form
of imitatio imperii [imperial imitation] by certain Ethiopian
rulers. One could say an Ethiopian Constantine. The
archaeological evidence implies his name was MHDYS and
his rule was in the early 450 CE (Bowersock 2013:76). This
emperor reiterated the Constantinian utterances upon his
coinage like Constantine’s in hoc signo vinces ‘that is in this
cross you will MHDYS claimed also to ‘temawe’ [Ethiopic] he
will conquer by the ‘masqal’ [Ethiopic] cross (Bowersock
2010:218–219). This established the fact that theological
divergence was not a rejection of the influence of Rome
intrinsically (Cameron & Hall 1999:38–39).
The major deduction of accepting an autonomously
independent Christianity that was not subservient to
Byzantine, but one that interacted at a level of equality,
enhances the African Christianity narrative. The Ethiopian
Christian empire, given its autonomous background,
implies the development and expansion of a unique
Christian outfit. Shaped by socio-ethnic dynamics beyond
Roman influence, an Ethiopian orthodox would be organic
to Ethiopia and its region.
Acknowledgements
Prof. Erna Oliver‘s guidance is acknowledged. The authors
thank the University of South Africa for the research support.
Compeng interests
The authors have declared that no competing interest exist.
Author(s) contribuons
Both authors contributed equally to this work. R.R. is the
main author and Prof. E. Oliver is the co-author and provided
guidance and helped in consolidation process.
Ethical consideraon
This article followed all ethical standards for a research
without direct contact with human or animal subjects.
Funding informaon
This research received no specific grant from any funding
agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Data availability statement
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data
were created or analysed in this study.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of
the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or
position of any affiliated agency of the authors.
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