Männer aus Stahl? Spätantike Kaiser zwischen Selbstsorge und Askese

Meister, Jan B. (2023). Männer aus Stahl? Spätantike Kaiser zwischen Selbstsorge und Askese. Historische Anthropologie, 31(3), pp. 383-403. Böhlau

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Men of Steel? Late antique emperors between self-care and ascetism

The fourth-century emperor Constantius II. is often praised for his ‚body of steel‘. I argue that the notion of ascetic hardening as a self-optimization of body and soul is a novel idea and must be seen as part of a larger transformation of ancient concepts of the body, self-care, and the role of the Roman emperor. The pagan „culture of the self“ (Michel Foucault) dominating elite discourses during the High Empire underwent a transition similar to Christian ascetism. This led to new images of self-optimized masculine bodies, but also to new forms of imperial representation paving the way for the pious Christian emperors of the fifth century, who no longer demonstrated their masculine prowess through military conquests.

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