Abstract

In this article I examine the roles and social functions of some figures of early Phrygian Montanism, analyzing the polemical sources that report them—in particular, those sources quoted by Eusebius of Caesarea in the "Ecclesiastical History" when dealing with the birth and spread of the "New prophecy." Although prophets play a central role in the movement, other figures (such as the martyrs-confessors Alexander and Themiso, the administrator Theodotus, etc.) seem to have a precise function too, in different forms. One, for example, consists of offering their support to the prophets–also, but not exclusively, in a "physical" manner. This role appears in some descriptions of attempted refutations of Montanist prophets, where the anti-Montanists opponents are sent away by these figures.