Julius Africanus, Origen, and the Politics of Intellectual Life under the Severans

Abstract

The prominence gained by two Christian scholars, Julius Africanus and Origen, under the Severan dynasty and the connections to the imperial household that they enjoyed cannot be explained simply as a consequence of newfound imperial interest in Christianity, contrary to the prevailing scholarly consensus. The successes of Africanus and Origen were instead a result of their ability to gain mainstream legitimacy among the empire’s intellectual elite, something that no earlier Christian scholars had achieved. Unlike earlier Christian scholars, Africanus and Origen were able to gain legitimate status because they had ready access to money to support their education and research. They were also basically indistinguishable from non-Christian scholars in their ability to serve and interact with the imperial household.