Il corepiscopato nel V secolo attraverso l’epistolario di Firmo di Cappadocia

The epistolary of Firmus, bishop of Cappadocian Caesarea, composed of 46 letters, although significantly smaller than those of Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus, constitutes a very precious source for the study of economic aspects, social dynamics and religious and doctrinal controversies which characterized the Cappadocian region in the first half of the 5th century AD. In comparison with the regulatory framework of the conciliar canons of the same time, the firmian missives document a historical reality of Cappadocia that is not only different from the image of the ecclesial unity of the cities, but also decidedly more varied: in particular, the presence of chorbishops (‘bishops of the countryside’) as collaborators of the metropolitan is well attested, since they administer the extra-urban territory and receive from Caesarea – the episcopal see and provincial capital – answers or warnings on the correct conduct to be adopted: therefore there is no trace of a process of gradual disappearance or even of intentional suppression of this peculiar ecclesiastical office subordinate to the urban bishop.