JbAC 6465 (2021/2022) Seiten: 5-15

Based on Shaye Cohen’s contribution on ancient Judaism, this article investigates whether Christians could be perceived as a distinct group based on external features (clothing or habitus) and whether they differed from their non-Christian neighbours. This study examines the findings of Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian in the early Christian period and of John Chrysostom and Caesarius of Arles in Late Antiquity. The results, which reveal an attempt to distinguish oneself from the environment through alterity, are furthermore linked to the discourse of identity in ancient studies.