Muscae Moriturae Donatistae Circumvolant: La costruzione di identita 'plurali' nel cristianesimo dell'Africa Romana. By ALESSANDRO ROSSI.

Abstract

This book takes a detailed, multifaceted approach to texts (with some reference to archaeological evidence), investigating the origins, development, characteristics, and nature of the Donatist movement in North Africa. It is a well-designed, comprehensive account of the problems, debates, and discussions related to the study of Donatism. This book is of interest to the wider public but can be used specifically by students aiming to acquire basic knowledge on Donatism, as it provides a detailed account of the existing studies on the subject and a rich bibliography. At the same time it is an important tool for scholars specializing in the discipline, as it contains an in-depth analysis of various aspects of the Donatist movement. The book is very clearly organized, beginning with a discussion of some important debates, such as the definition and use of the term ‘Donatism’, and the call by some scholars (like Brent Shaw, ‘African Christianity: Disputes, Definitions, and “Donatists” ’, in M. R. Greenshields and T. A. Robinson [eds.], Orthodoxy and Heresy in Religious Movements: Discipline and Dissent [Lampeter, 1992], p. 23) to refer to the movement as ‘the African Church’, considering it was the strongest monotheistic religious movement in North Africa in the fourth century. It also states very clearly in the ‘premessa’ the difficulty of going beyond textual evidence. The book contains a specific history of the study of Donatism, from the sixteenth century onward, pointing out that the Donatist movement still retained a negative image even in the eighteenth century. The principal book on Donatism, The Donatist Church: A Movement of Protest in Roman North Africa, published in 1952 by William H. C. Frend, is also reconsidered at length, raising specifically the linguistic problem (Libyan–Berber vs. Latin, pp. 48–53). The introduction contains a discussion on the role of rural settlements and on their transformation from the third century to the tenth into urban sectors.