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Type-written. ; Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, 1926. ; Bibliography: p. 242-254. ; Mode of access: Internet.

This dissertation examines the material evidence of honorific statue monuments of the administrative elite throughout the Roman world from the third through sixth centuries CE. This includes the extant portrait heads, statue bodies, and inscribed bases, and their significance as indicators of and participants in the larger socio-cultural conversation about the relationship between religion and politics during Late Antiquity. What was the effect of Christianity on local and imperial politics during this transitional period? Were members of the administrative elite pressured to convert to Christianity and advertise their conversion because of imperial pressure? What social benefits and/or liabilities were involved in publically proclaiming religious affiliation? How is material evidence involved in the projection of religious self identity, especially in public arenas and visual form? How were these visual messages communicated, understood, and received by the viewing audience? I argue that the honorific monuments of the late antique elite reveal a surprising tension between politics and Christianity, and while neither the honorands nor the honorers fully proclaim their religious affiliations, they are not entirely silent either. I argue we should adopt a more nuanced conception of Christianity's role in the political landscape during this transitional period precisely because ambiguity, religious fluidity, and a broad, if vague, public appeal was politically and socially useful. Previous scholarship has tended to isolate either the sculptures or the inscribed bases of honorific monuments and examine them separately, that is, art historically or epigraphically, respectively. Removed from the archaeological, spatial, and historical contexts, these approaches are fundamentally flawed in that they ignore at least half of the monuments as a whole, and therefore do not consider the most immediate display context. When components are found and studied in isolation, as is overwhelmingly the case, it may indeed appear that portrait heads are divinely inspired by a Christian god, statue bodies are wearing priestly costumes and holding attributes loaded with religious meaning, and honorific inscriptions are overrun with Christian crosses and direct appeals to God. However, the components of honorific monuments were deliberately combined by a single agent and were intended to be received as a single statement, and thus should be similarly studied together for full comprehension. This project draws its dataset of portrait heads, statue bodies, and inscribed bases from the excellent database of the Last Statues of Antiquity project, directed by R.R.R. Smith and Bryan Ward-Perkins at Oxford University. My dataset includes evidence from across the Roman world, dating from 284 to 550 CE. This chronological range encompasses the primary core of the late antique statue habit. In order to more closely study the interactions between politics and religion, the identity of the honorands has been restricted to isolate the main players in late antique politics. Therefore, monuments honoring women, athletes, deities, personifications, and heroes, emperors, and the imperial family have been excluded. My examination of the religious and political imperatives communicated by late antique honorific monuments is divided into three sections. In the first section, I examine the physical evidence independently by component: portrait heads (Chapter II), statue bodies (III), and inscribed bases (IV). This is appropriate as they are most often found alone and detached from the other parts of the honorific monument, and very few of them can be positively and reliably reattached to their constituent components. While similar studies have already been conducted on portraits and bodies, the compilation of the honorific inscriptions from this period is novel, and has yielded surprising insights into late antique administration, linguistics, and social structure. In the second section, I examine the only six monuments Empire-wide that can be reliably reconstructed with head, body, and base as test cases against the much larger corpus of disassembled pieces (V). The combination of complementary and contrasting identities, the mix of new and reused materials, and the varied historical and social contexts they represent produce complex and surprising composites. In the last section, I extend the results of the six test cases to the larger body of disarticulated elements in order that they might be understood and examined as a cohesive body of evidence, within their literary, archaeological, and especially historical and religious contexts (VI). This dissertation reaches three main conclusions: 1) while the disparate components of honorific monuments are almost always found separately, sheer numbers indicate that they were all part of the same honorific dialogue and should therefore be studied as a cohesive whole; 2) when the components are recombined, the late antique honorific monument was overwhelmingly political in nature, and was not concerned with openly telegraphing religious affiliation, but rather tends to avoid the question; and 3) elite players may not have immediately chosen sides because they were not actively devoted to one religion over another, or more interestingly, because religious ambiguity was socially and politically useful. Contrary to the traditional scholarship that still posits religious extremism and the cultural crush of Christianity across all realms of life, I argue that the landscape was less polarized and more mediated, and that religious identity was more fluid than we once might have thought.

This article seeks to problematise religious figures and politicians who use religious discourses, narratives and functions to justify oppressive hegemonic systems and structures. In doing so, we show how various religious figures have amalgamated or joined together with oppressive political figures to maintain the status quo, paving the way for what we term the 'consecration' and 'enthronement' of political figures. Furthermore, we show how religious figures who failed the ZANU PF's political part of their ideology, were dislodged from enthronement due to their different understanding of democracy. To problematise oppressive religious discourses used in the politics of an oppressive status quo, we position our article within critical emancipatory research (CER) discourse, by paying attention to its tenets, such as social justice, elimination of false consciousness, and emancipation. The article references our observations and findings, deriving from document analysis, on how religious leaders have related to the ZANU PF over the years. The argument is that religion, in the context of politics, should be aimed at improving human conditions, promoting social justice and achieving emancipation, and challenging oppressive political structures. It should unmask violence and represent all religious followers fairly and equally, regardless of political affiliation.

The volume collects eminent works on the relationship between politics and religion by leading figures in Cultural Studies. The contributors share in the basic belief that the roots of contemporary conflicts have to be uncovered from the historical descent of religion

Beginning in the 1960s, new forms of living the faith emerged in Latin America that linked it with a political dimension. The Catholic Church changed its pastoral orientation, and ecclesiastical base communities were established as part of an "option for the poor." The reflection that accompanied this process was known as liberation theology. By the end of the 1970s these communities were organizing conferences, publications, and theological reflections with strong international links and included hundreds of believers both in the countryside and in the city. During the following two decades, they were active participants in the construction of leftist political alternatives. While a minority pastoral practice today, they continue to hold national gatherings and maintain their international contacts. In-depth interviews with three members of ecclesiastical base communities in a working-class neighborhood in Mexico City show how these individuals have built their socio-religious practice and their religious beliefs. Their experience is part of a global reconstitution of belief systems in Mexico that affects all of the salvation enterprises in their various expressions. A partir de la década de los sesenta, nuevas formas de vivir la fe surgieron en América Latina que las asociaron con una dimensión política. La Iglesia Católica Romana cambió su orientación pastoral, y las comunidades eclesiales de base nacieron como parte de una "opción por los pobres". Se conocía la reflexión que acompañó a este proceso como teología de liberación. Para finales de los setenta estas comunidades estaban organizando congresos, publicaciones, y reflexiones teológicas con fuertes lazos internacionales, comprendiendo centenares de creyentes tanto en la campiña como en la ciudad. Durante las siguientes dos décadas, fueron participantes activas en la construcción de alternativas políticas de izquierda. Si bien es una práctica pastoral minoritaria hoy en día, continúan convocando reuniones nacionales y mantienen sus contactos internacionales. Entrevistas a fondo con tres miembros de comunidades eclesiales de base en un barrio obrero en la ciudad de México demuestran cómo estos individuos han construido su práctica socio-religiosa y sus creencias religiosas, que implican una comprensión de Dios no como juez sino como aliado. Su experiencia forma parte de una reconstrucción de sistemas de creencias en México que afecta a todas las entidades salvíficas en sus varias expresiones.