In this paper, I argue that Roman biography serves as an important
literary antecedent of early Christian hagiography. Specifically, I
examine the prologues to the Passion of Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, Pontius the Deacon’s Life of St. Cyprian, and Paulinus of Nola’s Life of St. Ambrose
in order to demonstrate that their similarities in content, language,
and tone are also discernable in the prologue to Tacitus’ Agricola,
a species of Roman biography. Since the function of the prologue in
Roman biography was to justify the author’s intention to present a Roman
statesman as worthy of praise and emulation, I argue that Christian
hagiographers adopted this literary practice in order to style the
Christian saints as models of sanctity. I will further argue that
utilizing this literary practice was a sensible move on the part of
early hagiographers, since hagiography was designed to foster the
development of an ecclesial community founded on Gospel values just as
Roman biography was designed to promote a civic community grounded in
Roman ideals. Through an examination of the relationship between Roman
biography and Christian hagiography, this paper will contribute to
scholarly discussions on the early Christian practice of adopting and
transforming elements of Roman culture in light of the Gospel message.
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