A necessary c o r o lla r y o f any c o n s id e ra tio n o f th e r e la tio n s between husband and w ife , p a r t ic u la r ly i f both were C h ris tia n s in the 4 th - 5 th c e n tu ry p e rio d is an assessment o f t h e ir a tt it u d e tow ards s e x u a lity and p ro d u cin g c h ild re n . The C h ris tia n com m unities were co n sp icu o u sly more 'body c o n s c io u s ' th a n t h e ir p a ^ n fo re b e a rs had been, w hether because th e y 'c o u ld show t h e ir concern f o r o rd e r and co he sio n in th e more d om estic sphere o f sexual s e lf - d is c ip lin e ' o r w hether because th e co n q u e rin g o f the sexual d r iv e , more s ig n if ic a n t ly th a n any o th e r human tra n s fo rm a tio n was h e ld to sym b o lize 'a s ta te o f u n h e s ita tin g a v a i la b il it y to God and o n e 's fe llo w s , a s s o c ia te d w ith the id e a l o f th e s in g le -h e a rte d p e rs o n '. Thus a f t e r fifte e n - o d d y e a rs o f concubinage, A u g u stin e made the d e c is io n th a t 'th e re is n o th in g I must fle e more th a n th e c o n ju g a l b e d '. [3 3 ] The p u b lic a d o p tio n o f such a tra n s fo rm a tio n was p re -e m in e n tly one o f th e le a d e rs h ip id e a ls o f th e e a r ly ch urch, to denote p ro p e r d is ta n c e and d e d ic a tio n in a c e lib a te c le r g y ; but w ith the
spread o f th e appeal o f a s c e tic is m , i t may be seen th a t th e s tru g g le was b eing broadened in the in c re a s in g ly e s c h a to lo g ic a l m e n ta lity o f the la t e Em pire. To seme in t h is c lim a te , th e sim p le a c t o f ta k in g a w ife re p re s e n te d th e lu r e o f th e w o rld and the d e v il: f o r the m uch-adm ired d e s e rt monks, where i l l i c i t f o r n ic a t io n was re g arde d as a tem porary, and th e re fo re v e n ia l, f a l l from grace, a d m ittin g o f p e n ite n ce and a r e tu r n to th e f o ld , th e l e ^ l and a p o s to lic a lly - p r o v id e d f o r in s t i t u t i o n o f m a rria g e re p re s e n te d a f a r more s e rio u s th r e a t; the r e tr e a t in to th e w o rld . Thus a 'g re a t man' whose d is c ip le was tem pted and went o f f to g et m a rrie d is p o rtra y e d in th e S ayings as h a v in g prayed th a t the d is c ip le m ig h t not be p o llu te d , to such e ff e c t th a t 'th e moment he was bound to th e woman* th e young man d ie d - 'and so was not p o llu t e d '. The same view h e ro iz e d th e stance o f Abba Theonas who d e se rte d h is w ife as a s e d u ctre ss when she d e c lin e d the same scheme th a t Amoun had s u c c e s s fu lly imposed on h is b rid e . A t such a tim e , th e n , th e view o f A ug u stine was r e la t iv e ly m o d erate : he s tre s s e d th e view th a t id e a lly , in te rc o u rs e should take p la ce o n ly to conceive c h ild re n , which was no more th a n a u s te re pagans had demanded; th a t man was, a f t e r a l l a s o c ia l a n im a l, th a t c h ild r e n were th e g lo ry o f m a rria g e , and th a t obedience was b e tte r tha n c o n tin e n c e . N e v e rth e le s s , to view a th in g as in e v ita b le is not th e same as p ro m o tin g i t : he a ls o a d vise d h is c o n g re g a tio n th a t the y should lo v e the s e x u a lity o f t h e ir w ive s and the p h y s ic a l bonds o f t h e ir fa m ilie s o n ly as a C h r is tia n must lo v e h is enem ies. [3 4 ] 'A u g u stin e e lu c id a te d those a sp e cts o f in te rc o u rs e th a t seemed to b e tra y a deep-seated d is lo c a t io n o f w i l l and in s t in c t . E re c tio n and orgasm h o ld h is a tte n tio n , f o r th e w i l l seemed to have no access to e ith e r . . f o r A u g u stin e , these were v iv id and a p p a re n tly ir r e v e r s ib le tokens in a l l human b e in g s, men and women, m a rrie d and c o n tin e n t, o f the w ra th o f God a g a in s t th e p rid e o f Adam and Eve in c u tt in g them selves o f f from th e w i l l o f God. ' [3 5 ] However i t was p e rc e iv e d , w ith such r h e to r ic p re v a le n t in v a ry in g degrees amongst a l l the g re a t o rth o d o x w r ite r s , an
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a c tiv e c h o ic e , f o r f u l l m a rrie d l i f e and 'th e bed u n d e file d ' o r f o r c o n tin e n c e and 'th e g re a t e m u la tio n o f G od's m a rria g e w ith the Church* was incum bent on a l l C h r is tia n m a rrie d co u p le s.
Thus, s c a tte re d a l l over the sources a re re fe re n c e s - n o t n e c e s s a rily la u d a tio n s , o fte n ju s t a p a ssin g m e n tio n - to co up le s lik e P a u lin u s and T h e ra s ia and Aper and Amanda, m aking the e f f o r t to c o n ta in . B ut th e re seem to be d if f e r e n t n o tio n s c u rre n t, ju s t as th e re a re in th e F a th e rs o f th e le v e l o f C h r is tia n o b lig a tio n . Amongst our to p -d ra w e r m atronae, f o r in s ta n c e , Paula had c h ild re n , even f iv e o f them; a rg u a b ly
because h e r husband wanted an h e ir , and d ie d id n o t succeed in p ro d u cin g a boy u n t il th e f i f t h c h ild . Her d a u g h te rs B le s illa , R u fin a and P a u lin a a l l m a rrie d w ith no e v id e n t p re ssure to do o th e rw is e fro m P a u la ; Eustochium was s u f f ic i e n t ly young a t th e tim e o f her d e c is io n , as we have seen, th a t i t co u ld be a t t r ib u t a b le to any v a r ie ty o f e m o tio n a l causes, n o t le a s t a d e s ire n o t to le a v e her m other. I t is w o rth a ls o b e a rin g in mind th a t E ustochium was, fo llo w in g th e C h r is tia n E m p ire 's p r o h ib it io n on th e exposure o f unwanted c h ild r e n , amongst th e f i r s t few g e n e ra tio n s th a t w ould see a new phenomenon; th a t o f s u rp lu s d a u g h te rs. Jerome does a t t r ib u t e to P a u lin a th e d e s ire th a t 'a s soon as her u n io n was b le sse d w ith o ffs p r in g , she w ould l i v e h e n c e fo rth in the second degree o f c h a s t it y ', i . e . co n tin e n ce in m a rria g e ; but h is is n o t a w itn e s s to ta ke on t r u s t in such m a tte rs , and even he makes no a tte m p t to c la im th a t she e n te re d th e u n io n r e lu c t a n t ly , o r even t r ie d f o r c h ild r e n r e lu c t a n t ly . [3 6] M e la nia th e E ld e r d u t i f u l l y produced, and l ik e M a rc e lla , showed no s ig n s o f eschewing her o b lig a tio n s to th e fa m ily u n t i l 're le a s e d * by the death o f h e r husband and two sm a ll boys. M e la n ia th e Younger was 'fo rc e d * in t o m a rriag e and w ith g re a t re lu c ta n c e persuaded to t r y f o r h e ir s ; fa m ily o b lig a t io n i n i t i a l l y ta k in g precedence o ve r C h r is tia n even f o r as m o tiv a te d and s tr o n g - w ille d a young woman as M e la n ia . T h e ra sia a ls o had a son, C elsus, who had d ie d
b e fo re she and P a u lin u s o p te d f o r c o n tin e n c e . O lym pias and M a crin a , though t h ^ are re p re s e n te d as h e a vin g a s ig h o f r e l i e f when t h e ir p ro je c te d n u p tia ls d id n o t come o f f as planned, were lin e d up f o r m a rria g e in th e usual fa s h io n w ith no re p o rte d o p p o s itio n beforehand, such as Demet r ia s u lt im a te ly d is p la y e d . The sources do n o t r e la te J u lia n a and P ro b a 's a c tu a l re a c tio n to t h is la s t , the y o n ly in f e r i t ; such devout widows must o f course be d e lig h te d - though both have p re v io u s ly dem onstrated a l l th e proper fa m ily fe e lin g , and t h e ir a s c e tic fe rv o u r is r e s t r ic t e d to re m a in in g u n lv ir a e a fte r the deaths o f t h e ir husbands, and w r it in g e l e ^ n t le t t e r s to th e fa s h io n a b le C h r is tia n p h ilo s o p h e rs o f t h e ir day. There never seems to be any q u e s tio n o f w hether th e v e ry p io u s and s tr o n g - w ille d Nonna w i l l keep 'th e bed u n d e file d ', o r h e r d a u g h te r, G orgonia, who had two sons and th re e d a u g h te rs .
Indeed, G regory o f N a zia n zu s' p o s itio n on G o rg p n ia 's m a rrie d s ta te is fa s c in a tin g . In h is fu n e ra l o r a tio n on h e r, ra th e r than sp ending h is tim e a d o p tin g one o f th e stan ce s as to w hether m a rria ^ was as good as v i r g i n i t y o r n o t, he a ccep ts both s id e s o f the argument and sim p ly u n ite s th e v ir t u e s o f each o f them in G o rg o n ia 's ra th e r u n lik e ly person.