164 Chapter 3 as recent as 901 – 902. Moreover, occasional Arab raids continued to be a threat in the region in the tenth century.560 Interestingly, Elias is not represented as using his foresight to warn other citizens of the upcoming danger (like he later did in Reggio and in Taormina) in this passage, but his vision is just a reason for Elias and Daniel to move.561 The prophecy is thus merely presented as an example of Elias’ supernatural power to foresee, hence demonstrating his sainthood, but not so much as a gift by which he aids other people besides his own disciple. In contrast to the passages in which Elias receives a divine revelation, the representation of Elias’ travel motivation in this instance only provides a reason for their departure from their place of residence, but not for the choice to go to the Peloponnese. The hagiographer perhaps did not know from his sources why Elias chose to go to the Peloponnese, or thought it an obvious choice without needing further comment, or else he considered it irrelevant for the aims of his narrative. The Peloponnese was (relatively) safe and it was well connected to southern Italy, with common maritime routes from harbours in southern Italy to Greece. Moreover, the Peloponnese was the nearest region within the Eastern Roman Empire outside of Italy. The choice not to dwell on the pull factors of the destination might indicate that the hagiographer thought it was obvious for the audience. The narrative effect of this choice is that the representation of travel motives entirely focusses on Elias’ decision to leave, and hence reminds of his prophecy. Later in the narrative, when Daniel and Elias are in the Peloponnese, the fulfilment of the prophecy is described, reminding the audience again of the reason why Elias and Daniel departed from Sicily and of Elias’ saintly ability to predict future events.562 Whereas Elias’ prophecies are mostly predictions of Arab attacks in the near future, his gift to perceive events that happen somewhere else is apparent in his knowledge of the moment of people’s death. The hagiographer uses this saintly ability to account for Elias’ and Daniel’s departure from Rome and their return journey back to southern Italy: […] ὁ θεῖος Ἠλίας, ἐν μιᾷ λέγει τῷ μαθητῇ· «Τέκνον Δανιήλ, αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ Ἰωνᾶς, ὁ πατήρ σου, τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων πραγμάτων μεθίσταται, […]». Καὶ τὸ διάστημα δὲ τὸ ἀπὸ Ταυρομενίας ἕως Ῥώμης, ἔνθα ἦν Ἠλίας, ἡμερῶν ἐστιν εἴκοσι. Ὁ δὲ Δανιὴλ ἐσημειώσατο τὴν ὥραν καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν, ἐν ᾗ τὴν κοίμησιν δεδήλωκε τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ ὁ θεῖος Ἠλίας, καὶ μετὰ τὸ ἐπανελθεῖν αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ Ῥώμης εἰς Καλαβρίαν, 560 Sack of Reggio, June 901 (cf. Life of Elias 41); sack of Taormina, August 902 (cf. Life of Elias 52); siege of Cosenza, October 902 (cf. Life of Elias 53). Occasional raids continued to be a danger, such as the attacks on Reggio in 950 and again in 952, which were dealt with by paying tribute money to effect a truce. Loud (2009), pp. 562; 564. The 960s witnessed further military encounters between the Byzantines and the Arabs over southern Italy and Sicily, most notably the failed attempt by Nicephorus II Phocas to recapture Sicily in 964. Kreutz (1996), p. 101. 561 Efthymiades discusses how other saints from Calabria were valued as well for their predictions of Arab attacks in the ninth and tenth centuries, see Efthymiadis (2012). 562 Ἀπέβη δὲ σὺν τῷ στρατηλάτῃ Βαρσακίῳ τῇ Ταυρομενιτῶν κατὰ τὴν προφητείαν τοῦ θεοφόρου πατρός. (‘The events happened to the city of Taormina and to the general Barsakios according to the prophesy of the divinely inspired father’). Life of Elias the Younger 28.
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