Setting a Bishopric / Arranging an Archive: Traces of Archival Activity in the Bishopric of Alexandria and Antioch

: Early Christianity was heir to the archival practice and discourse of Greek and Roman societies, in which public and private archives enjoyed a great deal of consideration. Even before creating their own archives, Christian congregations, when becoming a structured society, adhered to the archival discourse of their times, and the mention of archives in their writings served apologetic and theological aims. The article argues that the main impulse to undertake archival activity came from the new form of leadership, the bishop: alone, or in connec-tions with other colleagues, in particular within the meetings (synods), the bishop produced a huge number of written records, which was to be arranged in archival form. After a brief presentation of the papyrological evidence, the article discusses the traces of ancient episcopal archives detectable in the historiographical and apologetic writings compiled in the main episcopal sees, such as Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch. questions and edicts of interdict and excommunication against individuals and villages; dealing with vagrant priests; hearing depositions and giving judgment in local suits and communicating with the magistracy; dispensing or recommending charity. In certain functions the bishop could be replaced by the archpriest who had, for instance, powers of excommunication or interdict. The bishop’s decisions might be promulgated through him; he transmits the patriarchal Festal Epistle to the clergy. The archpriest sometimes appears as attached to a particular church.

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