Justinian und die Armee des frühen Byzanz by Clemens Koehn (review)

Abstract

Insofar as the analysis breaks new ground in our understanding of the affec­ tive lives of families, it opens up new areas for exploration. As I read, I found myself wondering about the grouping together of children of varying ages. Was the loss of a son or daughter on the brink of mar­ riage (and thus procreation) felt differ­ ently—perhaps even more sharply—than the death of an infant or toddler? Doerf­ ler certainly signals awareness of such distinctions and acknowledges that “late antiquity contained many competing scripts” for grieving (17), but the struc­ ture of her study, which moves easily from rituals commemorating the death of the very young to biblical stories of the loss, or near loss of adult children, tends to occlude them. Another question arises in connection with Job. Might the fre­ quency with which his loss was invoked be attributable not only to fears of illicit ritual action but also to the fact that his children died in a catastrophic house col­ lapse, precipitated by a wind storm? If the story was perceived as useful in respond­ ing to natural disasters, then it might be profitably analyzed alongside that of the Holy Innocents, which, as Doerf er notes, offered comfort to parents whose children had died as a result of accident or war (180). Finally, does the concept of emotional scripts, although undeni­ ably powerful and illuminating, defect attention from other possible affective functions performed by the homiletic am­ plification of narrative? The fact that Doerfer’s work invites such questions, even as it presents a rich and satisfying analysis is, of course, an additional mark of its excellence. This is a remarkable study, and one that is cer­ tain to appeal to a wide audience, as well as to scholars of Late Antiquity. Justinian und die Armee des frühen Byzanz Clemens Koehn Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter, 2018. Pp. viii + 309. ISBN: 978­3­11­059701­1