The papers collected in this volume are the fruits of a conference held in 2015 in Turin. An introduction by the editor lays out a justification for the titular framing devices—“norm” and “exercise”—in Nietzschean terms, alongside some commentary on comparative scholarly approaches to the study of asceticism. A brief postface by Conrad Leyser summarizes the papers and reflects again on the legacy of Nietzschean ascetology. Nine papers under three headings make up the body of the volume, seven in English and two in French.
Gian Antonio Gilli's paper opens the first section with a fascinating effort to reconstruct Symeon the Elder's individual “body map” via the saint's vitae. Writing against efforts to understand extreme asceticism as masochistic or repressive, Gilli posits an image of Symeon as a “vestibular specialist” who found satisfaction in stimulation of the inner ear via both immobility and repetitious prostration. Next, Emiliano Rubens Urciuoli explores the neglected ascetology of Franz Overbeck, church historian and friend of Nietzsche.
The second section features three essays. Adele Monaci Castagno offers a reading of Athanasius's Life of Antony as a rule in the tradition of Philostratus's Life of Apollonius. Pablo C. Díaz contrasts two seventh-century Iberian monastic rules: one harsh (Fructuosus of Braga's) and the other latitudinarian (Isidore of Seville's). Meanwhile, Sylvain Jean Gabriel Sanchez offers a portrait of Priscillian as an Origenian mystic.
The last section opens with a brief exploration of food and drink in ascetic/monastic contexts by Veit Rosenberger. Alessandro Rossi presents a portrait of the circumcellions as ascetics in a prophetic mold. Finally, two reflections return to Symeon the Elder: Chiara Cremonesi explores potential analogies between Sophocles's Philoctetes and Symeon's Greek vita and Almut-Barbara Renger and Alexandra Stellmacher trace the reception of Symeon's performance through biographers, artists, and modern imitators.
Although their quality varies, the papers in this volume will be of interest to any student of social history and religion in the period. Gilli's and Rossi's stand out in particular to this reviewer as innovative and interesting.
