Skip to main content

Peter Van Nuffelen

Ghent University, History, Faculty Member

Followers

2,405

Following

797

Co-authors

12

Public Views

Having obtained his Ph.D. in Leuven (2003), Peter Van Nuffelen was first a post-doctoral research fellow and then a lecturer at the University of Exeter. Since 2009 he is a Research Professor at Ghent University. His research currently focuses on late antique history, literature and historiography, ancient religion, toleration and religious violence. He also has an interest in the re-assessment of modern social and political issues with ressources drawn from Antiquity. and in the history of Modern Greece. The monograph Rethinking the Gods. Philosophical Readings of Religion in the Post-Hellenistic Period was published with Cambridge University Press (2011), and a further monograph on Orosius (2012) with Oxford University Press. A book on late antique toleration is forthcoming (Penser la tolérance durant l'Antiquité tardive). Edited volumes on the reception of Antiquity (Peeters), episcopal elections (De Gruyter), the Melitian Schism (Collected papers of Hans Hauben, Ashgate), 4th century literature (Brill), competition and religion (Latomus) and late antique historiography (De Gruyter) have been published in recent years. A longer term project is the study of late antique historiography, for which he was awarded various grants, including an ERC consolidator grant (2013-2017). Since 2017 he is Korrespondierendes Mitglied des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. Kommission für Alte Geschichte und Epigraphik, Munich.
Address: Department of History
Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 35, Office 120.008
9000 Ghent
Belgium

less

Dublin City University

AISB Associazione Italiana Studi Bizantini

Baptiste Fiette

Collège de France

Joanna Töyräänvuori

University of Helsinki

Università degli Studi di Bergamo (University of Bergamo)

Vanessa Bigot Juloux

Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes

Delft University of Technology

Randall Younker

Andrews University

Dionisius A Agius

Exeter University

InterestsView All (36)

Uploads

Books by Peter Van Nuffelen

P. Van Nuffelen, ed., Space and Historiography in Late Antiquity, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2019.

P. Van Nuffelen, ed., Daniel Varoujan: Un Arménien à Gand, Revue belge de Philologie et d’Histoire 97, 2019, 773-934

P. Van Nuffelen and L. Van Hoof, eds., Clavis Historicorum Antiquitatis Posterioris. An Inventory of Late Antique Historiography (A.D. 300-800), Brepols, Turnhout, 2020.

by Peter Van Nuffelen and Lieve Van Hoof

P. Van Nuffelen and L. Van Hoof, Jordanes: Romana and Getica (Translated Texts for Historians 75), Liverpool University Press, Liverpool, 2020

by Peter Van Nuffelen and Lieve Van Hoof

L. Van Hoof and P. Van Nuffelen, The Fragmentary Latin Histories of Late Antiquity (AD 300-620): Edition, Translation and Commentary, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2020.

by Peter Van Nuffelen and Lieve Van Hoof

2018. Penser la tolérance dans l’Antiquité tardive (Collection « Conférences de l'École pratique des hautes études »), Editions du Cerf, Paris, 2018

2017. E. Delacenserie, P. Manafis, P. Van Nuffelen, eds., Excerpta constantiniana. Special section of Byzantinoslavica 75, 2017

by Peter Van Nuffelen and Panagiotis Manafis

2017. P. Van Nuffelen, E. Delacenserie, P. Manafis, eds., Techniques of compilation in late ancient and medieval historiography, Special section of Sacris Erudiri 56, 2017

by Peter Van Nuffelen and Panagiotis Manafis

2016. P. Gemeinhardt, L. Van Hoof, and P. Van Nuffelen, eds., Education and Religion in Late Ancient Christianity: Reflections, Social Contexts, and Genres, Routledge, Abingdon and New York, 2016.

2015. P. Blaudeau and P. Van Nuffelen, eds., Historiographie tardo-antique et transmission des savoirs (Millennium-Studien 55), Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, 2015.

by Peter Van Nuffelen and Philippe Blaudeau

2014 L. Van Hoof and P. Van Nuffelen, eds., Literature and Society in the Fourth Century A.D.: Performing Paideia, Constructing the Present, Presenting the Self (Mnemosyne Supplements 373), Brill, Leiden, 2014.

2014. with D. Engels, eds., Competition and Religion in Antiquity (Collection Latomus 343), Brussels

2012. ed. Studies on the Melitian Schism in Egypt (AD 306-335). Collected studies by Hans Hauben (Variorum Reprints), Ashgate, Aldershot

2012. with L. Van Hoof (ed.), Oud maar niet out. Denken en doen met de Oudheid vandaag, Peeters, Leuven

2012. Orosius and the Rhetoric of History, Oxford University Press

2011. Rethinking the Gods. Philosophical Readings of Religion in the Post-Hellenistic Period, Cambridge University Press

2011. J. Leemans, P. Van Nuffelen, S. Keough, and C. Nicolaye, eds., Episcopal Elections in Late Antiquity (Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 119), Walter de Gruyter, Berlin

2010. with S. Mitchell, eds., Monotheism in Late Antiquity Between Christians and Pagans (Peeters, Leuven)

2010. with S. Mitchell (ed.), One God. Pagan Monotheism in the Roman Empire (Cambridge University Press)

2009. (ed.) Faces of Hellenism (Studia Hellenistica 48), Peeters, Leuven

P. Van Nuffelen, ed., Space and Historiography in Late Antiquity, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2019.

P. Van Nuffelen, ed., Daniel Varoujan: Un Arménien à Gand, Revue belge de Philologie et d’Histoire 97, 2019, 773-934

P. Van Nuffelen and L. Van Hoof, eds., Clavis Historicorum Antiquitatis Posterioris. An Inventory of Late Antique Historiography (A.D. 300-800), Brepols, Turnhout, 2020.

by Peter Van Nuffelen and Lieve Van Hoof

P. Van Nuffelen and L. Van Hoof, Jordanes: Romana and Getica (Translated Texts for Historians 75), Liverpool University Press, Liverpool, 2020

by Peter Van Nuffelen and Lieve Van Hoof

L. Van Hoof and P. Van Nuffelen, The Fragmentary Latin Histories of Late Antiquity (AD 300-620): Edition, Translation and Commentary, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2020.

by Peter Van Nuffelen and Lieve Van Hoof

2018. Penser la tolérance dans l’Antiquité tardive (Collection « Conférences de l'École pratique des hautes études »), Editions du Cerf, Paris, 2018

2017. E. Delacenserie, P. Manafis, P. Van Nuffelen, eds., Excerpta constantiniana. Special section of Byzantinoslavica 75, 2017

by Peter Van Nuffelen and Panagiotis Manafis

2017. P. Van Nuffelen, E. Delacenserie, P. Manafis, eds., Techniques of compilation in late ancient and medieval historiography, Special section of Sacris Erudiri 56, 2017

by Peter Van Nuffelen and Panagiotis Manafis

2016. P. Gemeinhardt, L. Van Hoof, and P. Van Nuffelen, eds., Education and Religion in Late Ancient Christianity: Reflections, Social Contexts, and Genres, Routledge, Abingdon and New York, 2016.

2015. P. Blaudeau and P. Van Nuffelen, eds., Historiographie tardo-antique et transmission des savoirs (Millennium-Studien 55), Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, 2015.

by Peter Van Nuffelen and Philippe Blaudeau

2014 L. Van Hoof and P. Van Nuffelen, eds., Literature and Society in the Fourth Century A.D.: Performing Paideia, Constructing the Present, Presenting the Self (Mnemosyne Supplements 373), Brill, Leiden, 2014.

2014. with D. Engels, eds., Competition and Religion in Antiquity (Collection Latomus 343), Brussels

2012. ed. Studies on the Melitian Schism in Egypt (AD 306-335). Collected studies by Hans Hauben (Variorum Reprints), Ashgate, Aldershot

2012. with L. Van Hoof (ed.), Oud maar niet out. Denken en doen met de Oudheid vandaag, Peeters, Leuven

2012. Orosius and the Rhetoric of History, Oxford University Press

2011. Rethinking the Gods. Philosophical Readings of Religion in the Post-Hellenistic Period, Cambridge University Press

2011. J. Leemans, P. Van Nuffelen, S. Keough, and C. Nicolaye, eds., Episcopal Elections in Late Antiquity (Arbeiten zur Kirchengeschichte 119), Walter de Gruyter, Berlin

2010. with S. Mitchell, eds., Monotheism in Late Antiquity Between Christians and Pagans (Peeters, Leuven)

2010. with S. Mitchell (ed.), One God. Pagan Monotheism in the Roman Empire (Cambridge University Press)

2009. (ed.) Faces of Hellenism (Studia Hellenistica 48), Peeters, Leuven

Job Announcement post doctoral fellowship New Polities Ghent 1 April

Two postdoctoralfellowships (three years) on political thought in the field of Hebrew studies, Pe... more

2021 True to their words. Theodore Lector and his predecessors, in R. Kosinski and A. Szopa, eds., Studies in Theodore Lector (Studi e testi sulla Tarda Antichità 19). Turnhout: Brepols, 2021, 17-37.

2021 A relationship of justice. Becoming the people in Late Antiquity, in. C. Brélaz and E. Rose, Civic identity and civic participation in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, Turnhout, Brepols, 2021, 249-270.

Index nominum Index rerum The idea of studying the transformations of citizenship and civic parti... more Index nominum Index rerum The idea of studying the transformations of citizenship and civic participation from a diachronic perspective, from the Roman imperial period down to the early Middle Ages, originally emerged during a conversation we had during our stay at Princeton in the fall of 2015, Els Rose as a Member of the Institute of Advanced Study, School of Historical Studies, and Cédric Brélaz as a Stanley J. Seeger Visiting Research Fellow in Hellenic Studies at Princeton University. It soon became clear for us that the best way to address this topic would be to invite experts of different periods and areas to contribute to a collected book whose purpose would be to deal with the changes which affected civic identities over time for the period c. 300-1000 ce. First drafts of chapters were discussed during a conference held on 29-30 November 2018 in Rome, at the Reale Istituto Neerlandese di Roma and at the Istituto Svizzero di Roma. We would like to thank both institutions for hosting the conference, as well as their directors and staff for their interest in our project from the outset, for their generous support, and for their help in organizing the event: Prof. Dr Harald Hendrix, Ms Kathleen van Dijk, and Ms Agnieszka Konkol at the Dutch Institute, and Mrs Joëlle Comé, Dr Adrian Brändli, and Mrs Anna Schulz Seyring at the Swiss Institute. The conference and the publication of this book were made possible thanks to generous grants from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO VICI-Rose 277-30-002 Citizenship Discourses in the Early Middle Ages, 400-1100 and NWO Open Access grant 36.201.012), from Utrecht University, from the Swiss National Science Foundation, and from the Fonds de recherche du Centenaire of the University of Fribourg. We also thank Dr Megan Welton, Teun van Dijk BA, Anne Sieberichs BA, and Xavier Mabillard BA for their help in the preparation and editing of the manuscript. Finally, our acknowledgement goes to Prof. Yitzhak Hen (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) for welcoming this volume in the 'Cultural Encounters in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages' series of which he is the director and for his constant support, to the anonymous reviewer of the manuscript, to Guy Carney as editorial manager of the series, as well as the staff of Brepols Publishers for taking care of the publication of the book, as both hard copy and open access simultaneously, in the best possible way.

2021 The two justices. Moral limits to state power in Late Antiquity, in Classica e Christiana 16, 2021, 572-585.

lence politique pendant l'Antiquité tardive : remarques préliminaires [Political Violence in Late... more lence politique pendant l'Antiquité tardive : remarques préliminaires [Political Violence in Late Antiquity: Preliminary Remarks] / 417 Andrea BALBO, La violenza nel tardoantico e l'oratoria: la declamazione calpurniana [Oratory and violence in Late Antiquity: Calpurnian declamations] / 435 Edoardo BONA, O beata uiolentia! Osservazioni sull'uso del termine uiolentia negli autori cristiani antichi: esempi dall'omiletica latina [O beata uiolentia! Observations on the use of the term uiolentia in ancient Christian authors: examples from Latin homiletics] / 457 Sylvain DESTEPHEN, Urban violence in Alexandria in Antiquity: a historical distortion? / 475 Sylvain JANNIARD, La violence des soldats lors des prélèvements fiscaux et parafiscaux (IV e-VI e siècle de n. è.) [The violence of soldiers during fiscal and parafiscal levies (4 th-6 th century CE)] / 495 Bruno POTTIER, Mémoire historique et mémoire chrétienne des victimes de l'Etat en Afrique sous le règne de l'empereur Valentinien : l'affaire de Lepcis Magna (365-373) vue par Ammien Marcellin et les persécutions contre les donatistes [Historical and Christian memories of the victims of the State in North Africa under the emperor Valentinian : the Lepcis Magna affair (365-373) as seen by Ammianus Marcellinus and the persecution of Donatists] / 519

2021 Sources of Religious Knowledge, in M. Edwards, ed., The Routledge Handbook of Early Christian Philosophy, London, Routledge, 2021, 15-26

Introduction: the debate about pagan monotheism

Pagan Monotheism in the Roman Empire, 2010

2020 What happened after Eusebius? Chronicles and narrative identities in the fourth century, in R. Flower, M. Ludlow, eds., Rhetoric and religious identity in Late Antiquity, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2020, 160-79

2020 Coercion in Late Antiquity: a brief intellectual history, in J. Dijkstra and C. Raschle, eds., Religious violence in the ancient world, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020, 266-285.

This paper seeks to understand how coercion was conceptualised in Late Antiquity and to trace its... more This paper seeks to understand how coercion was conceptualised in Late Antiquity and to trace its origins. It argues that coercion and persuasion are part of a single system of thought, that is, the principles that underpin the choice for persuasion to solve religious conflict also produce the reasons to use coercion in particular circumstances. Such ideas can be found in pagan and Christian sources alike and represent the adoption by Christian authors of principles of classical philosophy. The paper devotes particular attention to Augustine's justification of the use of state coercion against the Donatists and argues that his thought is fundamentally coherent and in line with late ancient ideas about persuasion and coercion .

2020 The Christian reception of Julian, in H.-U. Wiemer and S. Rebenich, eds., Brill’s Companion to Julian, Brill, Leiden, 2020, 356-393.

Keywords 1: Hagiography, Ecclesiastical history, Historiography 2: Eastern Mediterranean, Italy 3... more

2019 The Many and the One: Communities and Ecclesiastical Histories in the Age of Theodosius II In W. Pohl, V. Wieser, eds., Historiography and Identity I: Ancient and Early Christian Narratives of Community, Turnhout: Brepols, 2019, 299-314

The second half of the reign of Theodosius II witnessed an intense historiographical production i... more The second half of the reign of Theodosius II witnessed an intense historiographical production in the East, mainly in Constantinople. After Eusebius' initial impetus at the beginning of the fourth century, and the one-off translation and continuation in Latin by Rufinus, the genre of church history takes a new start in Greek, most conspicuously for us in the successive works of Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoretus. But these preserved histories are only part of the story: after 426 but before Socrates (439) the Constantinopolitan presbyter Philip of Side published his Christian history, the title indicating that he covered the whole of human history. 2 Hesychius of Jerusalem probably wrote his church history around 448-449. 3 The best-known of these fragmentary histories is that of the eunomian Philostorgius, presumably also composed in Constantinople. Other works are too fragmentary to allow certain conclusions. 4 Besides church history, other genres were practised too, Olympiodorus of Thebes being the main 'secular' historian of this period. 5

2019 Beside the rim of the Ocean. The edges of the world in fifth and sixth century historiography, in P. Van Nuffelen, ed., Space and Historiography in Late Antiquity, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2019, 36-56

2019. Fortuna of fatum? Klimaat, ziektes en de val van Rome, Kleio 48, 2019, 75-82

Kleio, 2019

Fortuna of fatum? Klimaat, ziektes en de val van Rome.

2018. “A wise madness”. A virtue-based model for crowd behaviour in Late Antiquity. in C. De Wet and W. Mayer, eds., Reconceiving Religious Conflict: New Views from the Formative Centuries of Christianity, London, Routledge, 2018, 234-258.

This chapter1 contributes only indirectly to the study of religious conflict in late antiquity. I... more This chapter1 contributes only indirectly to the study of religious conflict in late antiquity. It is concerned with a form of violence that is often studied under the label " religious violence, " namely riotous behaviour by crowds against buildings, symbols, and individuals of other religious groups. Instead of studying this as a separate form of violence, I seek to embed these phenomena in a wider study of crowd behaviour. The reason is that such " religious violence " assumes the same forms as violence directed against civic, imperial or economic targets. An understanding of crowd behaviour in general is thus an essential preliminary to the study of such phenomena. Besides offering a contextualisation for " religious violence, " I shall seek to analyse crowd behaviour with categories employed by late ancient authors themselves. Whereas modern sociology is commonly preferred as an explanatory framework (section 1), I argue in favour of a virtue-based model, which I briefly ground in the De officiis of Ambrose of Milan (section 2). After setting out how this model helps us to make sense of late ancient descriptions of crowd behaviour and violence (Section 3), I end by showing how such actions were profoundly meaningful, not just in the eyes of the beholders but also in their actual reality. In other words, crowd behaviour is shaped by the geographical and ceremonial contexts in which they took place, as well as by implicit assumptions about how social relations function.

2018. The wor(l)ds of Procopius, in C. Lillington-Martin and E. Turqoise, eds., Procopius of Caesarea: Literary and Historical Interpretations, Routledge, London, 2018, 40-55

Like most ancient authors, Procopius is mainly known to us through his own texts. 2 Somewhat para... more Like most ancient authors, Procopius is mainly known to us through his own texts. 2 Somewhat paradoxically, this may be the reason why Procopian scholarship rarely heeds the advice of literary theory that text and author are two related but distinct entities. Indeed, in our perception, Procopius does not seem to have a life outside of his texts that could be contrasted with these very texts. We therefore try to infer his opinions from the Wars, Anecdota and Buildings, so as to construct a historical person Procopius behind the author Procopius. The approach is not without its difficulties: as the recent review article by Geoffrey Greatrex illustrates, we rarely succeed in agreeing on the views of Procopius.3 We try nevertheless, because Procopius is our main source for events of the first decades of the reign of Justinian: his words project worlds, worlds that we then need to construct our own 'age of Justinian'.4 A sound idea of his opinions and passions may help us, so we hope, to filter out facts from the narrative. Not only is scholarship faced with the problematic transition from Procopius' words to Justinian's world, but Procopius had to meet a similar challenge: how to turn Justinian's world into words, or, in more general terms: how to represent reality in a historiographical narrative. His choice to write in a classicising style and to imitate episodes from classical authors has often been considered to impinge upon the representational value of his narrative, either in a negative way by introducing mere tales into what should be a narrative of facts,5 or in a positive way by having historiography convey an esoteric message of deeper and dangerous truths that cannot be stated directly.6 In either case, classicism does not seem to be an apt choice to represent reality truthfully. Such judgements are based on a modern, positivist and empiricist, presupposition according to which the function of the language of a scientific text is to represent the world by simply stating 'what is the case'. Literary features are deemed to distract from that aim. As a consequence, the narrative of Procopius is devaluated, either because it is reduced to mere tales that owe allegiance to literature and not to reality, or because it is a sign referring to other texts, where the real message resides. So far, Procopius has been the object of these debates. This chapter proposes, by contrast, that the problematic transition from world to word is an explicit theme of his narrative. Limiting myself to the Wars, I shall argue that this work reflects upon its own use of language and what it means to represent a shifting world with words that are themselves subject to change. This reflection is entangled in an even more fundamental discussion about language as man's medium to connect with reality and to exercise control over it, whilst man is, at the same time, essentially unable to fully grasp reality. Indeed, the Wars constantly highlight man's inability to really grasp what has happened and to foresee what will happen. We shall see that Procopius does not passively conform to classicism simply because it is the cultural habitus of his class and his genre, but that his text shows awareness of the tensions its espousal generates. I shall conclude by suggesting that, by engaging in such a reflection, Procopius bears witness to a general cultural dynamic driven by the Christianisation of his world during Late Antiquity.

2017. De Migratione Abrahami als eine Exilschrift, in M. Niehoff, ed., Philo von Alexandrien. Abrahams Aufbruch (SAPERE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, 2017, 203-218.

Der folgende Beitrag legt dar, dass die Topoi der griechisch-römischen Exilliteratur in Philons D... more Der folgende Beitrag legt dar, dass die Topoi der griechisch-römischen Exilliteratur in Philons De migratione Abrahami aufgegriffen werden. Obwohl Abraham strenggenommen kein Exilant, sondern ein Migrant ist, war sein Aufbruch durch die göttliche Weisung unfreiwillig – ein Merkmal, das ein griechisches und römisches Publikum an das wenig beneidenswerte Schicksal eines Exilanten erinnert haben mag. Philon antwortet auf solch ein mögliches Verständnis von Abrahams Wanderung, indem er aufzeigt, wie die verschiedenen Gaben, die er von Gott erhält, die Sorgen und Nöte aufheben, die die antike Philosophie mit dem Exil assoziiert. Indem er die positive Natur von Abrahams Aufbruch betont und ihn als Reise der Seele hin zur Tugend allegorisiert, ergreift Philon auch Partei für die antike Idee vom Exil als privilegierter Gelegenheit, ein der Tugend gemäßes Leben zu beginnen oder zu führen, da der Betreffende der gesellschaftlichen Bindungen entledigt ist, die ihn zurückhalten könnten im Prozess, sich der Tugend zuzuwenden. Obwohl es sich bei De migratione Abrahami um einen exegetischen Traktat handelt, der sich primär an ein spezialisiertes, jüdisches Publikum richtet, lässt sich erkennen, dass Philon sich differenziert mit möglichen griechischen und römischen Lesarten befasst, was wiederum die eingehende Resonanz dieser Kultur bei Philon und seinem Publikum zeigt. Das Exil war eine gebräuchliche Strafe in der antiken Welt, die entweder als unabhängige Sanktion oder als Alternative zur Todesstrafe verhängt wurde. 2 In der Antike war (zumindest für die – meist männliche – Elite) die Konstante, die den Menschen in erster Linie ihre soziale Identität verlieh, der Bürgerstatus, d.h. Mitglied einer bestimmten Stadt zu sein. Verbannung wurde daher oft als Form des sozialen Todes verstanden, denn es bedeutete den Ausschluss aus der Gemeinschaft, die dem Leben des Einzelnen Sinn gab.3 Es überrascht nicht, dass das Exil eine intensive Trostliteratur hervorgebracht hat, die in der Regel von Philosophen verfasst wurde. Erhaltene Beispiele des Genres sind Senecas Consolatio ad Helviam, der seine Mutter über sein eigenes Exil tröstet (42 oder 43 n. Chr.), Diatribe IX von Musonius Rufus Dass das Exil kein Übel ist (62 n. Chr.), die dreizehnte Rede von Dion Chrysostomos (die zur Regierungszeit Kaiser Domitians 81–96 n. Chr. spielt), Favorinus' Rede De exilio (die während der Jahre 130–138 spielt), und Plutarchs Abhandlung mit demselben Titel (nach 96 n. Chr.). Alle diese Werke lassen sich ungefähr in die Periode 50–150 n. Chr. einordnen und nur eine einzige frühere Schrift ist erhalten, die Diatribe des Kynikers Teles, 4 die in das dritte vorchristliche Jahrhundert datiert.5 Diese Schriften sind die Überreste eines in der Antike weitverbreiteten Genres. Auch wenn die oben aufgelisteten Werke verschiedene literarische Formen umfassen, wie Briefe, Diatriben und Reden, hatte das Genre doch einen hohen Grad an Kohärenz was die verwendeten Topoi angeht, eine Tatsche, die bereits Cicero ausdrücklich festgestellt hat. 6 Dies macht es schwierig, präzise Berührungspunkte zwischen den verschiedenen Schriften auszumachen, aber es erlaubt uns die Annahme, dass sich die Topoi bereits zu der Zeit etabliert hatten, als Philon geschrieben hat. Tatsächlich datieren die meisten erhaltenen Werke nach Philon, und die Schrift von Teles ist die einzige, die er gekannt haben kann, denn er war wahrscheinlich nicht in der Lage, das lateinische Werk von Seneca zu lesen. Dennoch zeigen die klaren Übereinstimmungen zwischen der

2017. De zogenaamde Germaanse oorsprong leert ons veel over de geschiedenis van Kerstmis, Knack.be, 22 december 2017

Gemeinhardt P. - Van Hoof L. - Van Nuffelen P. (2016) ‘Education and Religion in Late Antiquity: An Introduction’. In P. Gemeinhardt - L. Van Hoof - P. Van Nuffelen (eds.), 1-9.

by Lieve Van Hoof and Peter Van Nuffelen

Van Hoof L. and Van Nuffelen P. (2017) 'The Historiography of Crisis: Jordanes, Cassiodorus and Justinian in mid-sixth-century Constantinople.' Journal of Roman Studies 107: 1-26.

by Lieve Van Hoof and Peter Van Nuffelen

This article presents a new interpretation of the historiographical production of Jordanes by sit... more This article presents a new interpretation of the historiographical production of Jordanes by situating it in the political and social environment of Constantinople of the years 550–552. It argues that these years were a period of crisis in Justinian's reign and that this is reected in the pessimistic view of Roman power and the critique of Justinian's military and religious policy we can see in Jordanes' Romana. If this prevents us from understanding Jordanes as a mouthpiece of the court, he cannot be reduced to a mere reproducer of Cassiodorus either: while there is more evidence for a close interaction between Jordanes and Cassiodorus (in particular the use of the Historia Tripartita in the Romana) than usually adduced, this is balanced by Jordanes' explicit attempts to keep his distance from the senator. If the latter can be explained by Jordanes' much lower social and literary status and his Moesian rather than Italian origin, which made him only a marginal member of Cassiodorus' circle in Constantinople, the agreement between both men is the result of a conuence of views caused by the turn of the Italian war in 540–550. Jordanes, then, appears as a unique voice in what must have been a polyphony of opinions in mid-sixth-century Constantinople.

Van Hoof L., Manafis P. and Van Nuffelen P. (2017) ‘Philo of Carpasia : Ecclesiastical History’. Revue d’Histoire Ecclésiastique 112, 35-52.

by Peter Van Nuffelen and Lieve Van Hoof

Bruno Bleckmann & Hartwin Brandt (hrsgg.), "HISTORIAE AUGUSTAE. Colloquium Dusseldorpiense", Atti dei Convegni sulla Historia Augusta, Munera 42, Edipuglia 2017.

by EDIPUGLIA srl, François Chausson, Ulrike Peter, Diederik Burgersdijk, Jörg Fündling, Beatrice Girotti, Gunther Martin, Felix Mundt, Peter Van Nuffelen, and Samuel Zinsli

Review of C. Berardi, Linee di storiografie ecclesiastica in Sozomeno di Gaza, 2016, in Histos 11, 2017:

2007. G. Sabbah e.a. Sozomène, Histoire ecclésiastique (Sources chrétiennes) and A. Martin e.a. Théodoret, Histoire ecclésiastique (sources chrétiennes)

2007. K. Rosen, Kaiser Julian (JbAC 2007)

Forthcoming. P. Van Nuffelen, Considérations sur l'anonyme homéen.docx

Dans l'annexe VII de son édition de Philostorge, J. Bidez a publié les fragments qu'il attribuait... more Dans l'annexe VII de son édition de Philostorge, J. Bidez a publié les fragments qu'il attribuait à un historien anonyme arien 1 . A la suite de D. Gwatkin et P. Battifol 2 , il situait cet auteur hypothétique vers la fin du quatrième siècle, le considérait de tendance homéenne, et lui attribuait une histoire d'environ 303 jusqu'à la mort de Valens en 378.