On October 11, Prof. Menze will be joined by Richard Price (University of London) to discuss his newest publication. Prof. Price will introduce the book and set it within its context.
Praised by Peter Brown as "truly a master-work-- a triumph of everything that is best in Kirchengeschichte. I was riveted as the portrait of Dioscorus slowly but surely emerged as almost totally unexpected and yet deeply convincing. I have not ever read such a drastic revision of a major Early Christian figure [...] truly the beginning of a new age in Patristic studies”, Patriarch Dioscorus of Alexandria: The Last Pharaoh and Ecclesiastical Politics in the Later Roman Empire provides the first serious historical analysis of Dioscorus as an ecclesiastical politician and reformer. He explores through Dioscorus' life and historical role in Later Roman imperial politics and its mechanisms for implementing 'Orthodoxy', and revises Dioscorus' role in the Christological Controversy. The book reframes key events in Early Christian history, such as the Council of Chalcedon and the so-called 'Robber-council' and offers new insights into Cyril of Alexandria's tenure as patriarch.
Volker L. Menze is a historian of Late Antiquity, dedicated to Political Church History. He studies ecclesiastical history 300-700 CE as part of domestic politics as no church history can do without taking into account human abilities & ambitions as well as political realities.
Richard Price is professor emeritus and the foremost specialist on early church councils; he has translated the surviving texts of the ecumenical councils into English (with "Translated Texts for Historians" at Liverpool University Press).
Please check "DOWNLOAD FLYER" on the right side if you are interested in purchasing the book.