Katie Hager Conroy: "A kind of lofty tribunal": The gathering of demons for judgment in Cassian's Conference Eight

John Cassian characterizes demons as both the external enemy in the spiritual battle as well as the depiction of the opposite of the ascetic life. Cassian relates a fellow monk's vision of a demon tribunal, in which he gives interesting insights into the complexity of the body of the demons. Each demon presents his accomplishments or failures before a prince of demons who sits in a throne as if holding "a kind of lofty tribunal". This prince is taller than the rest and judges the state of each demon's tasked temptation of a particular monk. This vision not only shows the workings of the demons as a unified body of enemies, but also the complexity of community and physicality within that body. This paper will first look at the physicality of demons in relation to what Cassian states elsewhere in his works as well as to his contemporaries. Then it will turn to the contradictory nature of the chaotic yet organized demons full of infighting, only agreeing in their opposition to the monk, but who also form a community body in which they revel in the triumph of their successes and are shamed by their failures. Furthermore, it is an imitation of the heavenly organization and a perversion of the coming judgment of the Lord. All of these aspects have a significant aspect on how the monk understands and envisions his spiritual enemy and therefore how he understands and envisions his spiritual triumphs on the ascetical road to salvation.