This book examines the sermons and hagiography associated with Symeon Stylites the Younger (521–592), a holy man who presided over a monastery during a period marked by earthquakes (526, 528, 550s, 577 and 588), plague (starting in the 540s) and the Persian sack of Antioch in 549. This is an unfortunately timely book, calling to mind the devastation caused by the earthquakes of February 2023, which left at least 56,000 dead and 3 million displaced, in a region already devastated by the Syrian Civil War. This contemporary context should cause readers to think even more deeply about Lucy Parker’s central points related to the lasting impact of disasters and, particularly, how people living through difficult times can be drawn to local holy figures while also doubting their powers when their intercessions failed to prevent disasters.
As the title indicates, this book focuses on the study of hagiography. Clearly, Symeon’s Life aimed to glorify the saint and his shrine, but Parker is especially interested in what the Life was arguing against: the text’s apologetic nature is ‘a reflection of genuine concerns about maintaining a saint’s reputation’ (8). As a result, Parker’s book engages with more topics than its title lets on, including but not confined to: conflicts within a monastery; an overview of the archaeology of Antioch and its environs; an introduction to Symeon’s sermons; and a discussion of the Life of Martha, the stylite’s mother. While focusing on local issues related to Symeon’s monastery, Parker keeps the study plugged into the bigger picture of the Eastern Empire.
Chapter One surveys the textual evidence for the disasters that struck Antioch and its environs, as well as a survey of the archaeological evidence for the region (including the Limestone Massif). Chapter Two examines Symeon’s 30 homilies. Parker highlights three prevalent themes in these sermons: conflicts with demons, the association of wealth with sinfulness and paganism, and eschatology. This section includes a helpful table with a list of topics found in each sermon (73–74).
Chapter Three turns to the Life of Symeon the Younger. Parker demonstrates that despite Christological disputes, the hagiographer aimed to encourage visitors to Symeon’s shrine, regardless of sectarian affiliation, and was more concerned with local challenges to Symeon’s authority: the stylite ‘faced wide-ranging scepticism’ and ‘accusations of failure in the aftermath of the disasters’ (113). Various tensions arose with local priests, farmers and within the monastery. More than anything else, Symeon’s failure to prevent disasters led to doubts about his ability to intercede with God. The Life attempts to explain disasters as Job-like tests of Symeon, while also blaming the sins of wealthy ‘pagans’.
Chapter Four examines the Life of Martha, the stylite’s mother. Parker analyses this unusual text’s representation of piety in terms of the impact of disasters. Martha presents a model of sanctity that shifted the responsibility for miracles (or their failure) to the individual worshipper and away from the saint. Likewise, the text’s emphasis on small-scale healing miracles indicates a world view of diminished expectations. This Life reflects a ‘diverse landscape of salvation’ (178) that included relics, martyr shrines, contemporary ascetics and the sacraments.
The final chapter contextualizes the discussion of Symeon with other examples of texts attempting to explain why God appeared to punish virtuous people along with the sinful, and why holy men had been unable to intercede sufficiently and prevent earthquakes, plague and military defeat. Like Symeon’s Life, these other texts reflected the ‘uneasy position of intercessors in times of crisis’ (195).
Although centred on a man who lived atop a pillar from early childhood, the book does not often discuss this aspect of Symeon’s life. Parker describes how the saint blessed sticks, which were used by monks to perform cures on the ground (137–38). Are there other examples of this approach to managing a monastery from a pillar? Passing references to Symeon’s ‘friends’ such as Evagrios Scholastikos raise questions about the nature of friendship (or any relationship, including with his mother) for a stylite. Parker briefly mentions archaeological evidence of other stylite shrines near Antioch (138), an intriguing suggestion which could have implications for how we understand Symeon the Younger’s monastery. While these topics do not fit with the book’s focus on disasters, further discussion of the pillar could tell us more about the holy man’s relationship with his community and the limits of his authority.
Throughout this book, Parker’s analysis of fascinating texts is supported by her concise and insightful overviews of existing scholarship, as well as her knowledge of the region’s archaeology. One of the book’s greatest strengths is its balance between the specific and the general: Symeon the Younger’s monastery was grounded in its own particular disputes and personalities, while also being embedded in the broader political, socio-economic and religious developments of the period.
