La marginalità come prospettiva ascetica in ambiente siriaco tra IV e V secolo: Liber Graduum, Rabbula di Edessa e Isacco di Antiochia

The years between the middle of the fourth and the end of the fifth century identify a period of great evolution for the Syriac Church. Indeed, these see the beginning of a process of hierarchization of the internal ecclesiastical structures and a gradual change in the pre-monastic movement and in the use of traditional ascetical categories. In this paper, I will propose some short passages from three different authors of the time to analyze the way in which they use and understand the marginality as ascetic device, observing potential differences and affinities. In addition to well-known Syriac works such as Liber graduum and the canonical literature attribuited to Rabbula of Edessa, I will propose some excerpts from a little-studied poetic cycle on the Enclosed Brethren and ascribed to a still almost unknown author, Isaac of Antioch.