The Transmission of Early Christian Memories in Late Antiquity: On the editorial activity of laymen and philoponoi

This paper has been devoted to tracing the editorial activity carried out on already written texts relating the Christian memories of a city. The hypothesis proposed here is that some groups, such as the Christian members of the civic elite, the Alexandrian philoponoi, or the ascetic bnay qyāmā, interested in stressing their role in the history of the urban congregation, were responsible for this editorial activity. Hagiographic texts or historical narratives that, although in line with the orthodoxy of the church, cannot be considered the official documentation of a bishopric are the categories of texts in which marginal notes and interpolations could take place more easily. My guess is that the editors of these texts are not only the clerics but also such elite circles as the Edessene aristocracy or such lay movements as the Egyptian confraternities. These groups are conscious that through funding and supporting the cult in the chapels of the martyrs and saints they have played an im

L'attività editoriale su testi agiografici e storiografici precostituiti da parte di gruppi laicali intressati a far conoscere le proprie attività e la propria identità.