DOI: 10.25549/usctheses-c40-195910
title: Symeon and the making of the Stylite: the construction of sanctity in late antique Syria

description: This dissertation addresses the construction of sanctity and the genesis of a saint’s cult in the late antique Near East. Scholars have long focused on the social role of saints in late Roman society, deeming Symeon the Stylite the Elder (d. 459) the quintessential “holy man.” In recent years, scholars have insisted that saints must be studied not only as historical figures, but also as literary and artistic representations. Individuals and communities controlled the process of making a saint by producing texts and artifacts, orchestrating devotion, and creating representations of the saint. Thus, the construction of a saint’s authority was bound up with the history of that saint’s cult. ❧ These advances in scholarship make it possible to see Symeon with fresh eyes. Famous for standing on top of a column in Syria for forty years, Symeon drew devotees from across the Mediterranean and the Middle East. This dissertation focuses on Symeon’s cult-makers and the process of cult-making, rather than Symeon himself, as previous scholars have done. It integrates archaeological evidence, the Greek literary tradition, and newly discovered Syriac texts to show how cult-keepers generated Symeon’s sanctity during his life and after his death. ❧ Chapter One illuminates the tension between Symeon’s own personality and the broader religious structures in which he participated, which he challenged, and at times rebuked. It situates Symeon’s socio-economic background and the composition of his cult within the human geography of Syria, analyzes epistolary evidence to clarify his self-presentation as a spiritual adviser and economic patron, and highlights his involvement in debates over correct ascetic performance. Chapter Two inspects, for the first time, eight manuscripts of Symeon’s longest biography, the Syriac Life of Symeon the Stylite. It establishes Symeon’s cult site as a center of manuscript production, thus placing the composition and distribution of this text within a specific historical context. Chapter Three sheds light on the contestation over ritual at Symeon’s cult site between 440 and 490. Whereas previous scholars have used the cult site’s architectural remains to reconstruct ritual, this chapter interprets the History of the Monks of Syria by Theodoret of Cyrrhus, the Syriac Life of Symeon, and the archaeological evidence as assertions within a debate over institutional support for Symeon’s cult and proper ritual performance in the cult of saints. It demonstrates the consistent effort of the ecclesiastical community to adjudicate cultic ritual. It also points to the attempt by Symeon’s personal disciples to control non-ecclesiastical ritual, in particular the distribution of dust, water, and oil from Symeon’s cult site. Chapter Four addresses the veneration of Symeon within coenobitic monastic communities. Between 480 and 520, monks who initially rejected Symeon’s authority began to claim his ascetic vocation as their own. Archaeological evidence shows that monasticism at Symeon’s cult site expanded to institutional strength, while monastic communities across Syria incorporated the practice of column-standing into the physical space of their monasteries. Two homilies by Jacob of Serugh, one of which was previously unknown to scholars, make Symeon a model of monastic life. This incorporation of stylitism into monastic practice coincided with the integration of independent holy men into monastic communities and the consolidation of Syrian monasticism. ❧ This interdisciplinary project establishes the history of the cult of one of the most prominent saints of Late Antiquity. It provides a case study on the transformation of a community from pilgrims loosely gathered around a holy man into a coenobitic monastery administering a major cult site. It offers a glimpse into the workings of a saint’s cult at the earliest stage of its existence. Finally, it clarifies the historical processes by which a holy man’s devotees crafted the boundaries of sanctity for their saint.