THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
Anastasius: Antipope 855. As cardinal-priest of St. Marcellus, in Rome, he had been in decided opposition to Pope Leo IV., and from 848 to 850 had been obliged to absent himself from that city. After twice inviting him to appear before a synod, Leo finally excommunicated him (Dec. 16, 850), and pronounced a still more solemn anathema against him at Ravenna (May 29, 853), repeating it in a council at Rome (June 19), and deposing him from his priestly functions (Dec. 8). Anastasius, however, relied on his wealth and his connections in Rome, and aspired to be elected pope on the death of Leo. Leo died on July 17, 855, and the Roman clergy at once chose Benedict III. to succeed him. Anastasius set himself up as a rival candidate. Accompanied by some friendly bishops and influential Romans, he intercepted the imperial ambassadors on their way to Rome, and won them over to his side. On Sept. 21 he forced his way into the Lateran, dragged Benedict from his throne, stripped him of his pontifical robes, and finally threw him into prison. These proceedings, however, caused great indignation in Rome. Not only almost all the clergy, but also the populace sided with Benedict, who was liberated and consecrated (Sept. 29) in St. Peter's. Hergenrother identifies Anastasius with the librarian of the Roman Church of the same name (see Anastasius Bibliothecarius), but this seems doubtful. The antipope relied on secular assistance, while the author was a convinced adherent of the strict ecclesiastical party. (A. Hauck.)
Bibliography: Liber pontificalis, ed. Duchesne, ii. 106 sqq., Paris, 1892; MPL, cxxviii., pp. 1331, 1345; Bower, Popes, ii. (1845) 227-228; J. Langen, Geschichte der rbmischen Kirche bis Nicholas I., pp. 837, 844, Bonn, 1885; Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, iv. 178 sqq.
ANASTASIUS BIBLIOTHECARIUS: One of the few important men among the Roman clergy in the middle of the ninth century; d. 879. He grew up in Rome, and inherited from his uncle Arsenius (whose visits to the Carolingian courts in 865 had such an important influence on the development of the papal power) close relations with both the spiritual and secular powers of the day. He was for some time abbot of what is now Santa Maria in Trastevere, and about the end of 867 Adrian II. made him librarian of the Roman church. In 869 Emperor Louis II. sent him to Constantinople to arrange the marriage of his daughter Irmengard with the eldest son of Basil the Macedonian. Here he attended the last session of the eighth ecumenical council; and when the acts of the council, entrusted to the Roman legates, were taken from them by pirates on the homeward journey, he supplied a copy of his own. He seems to have influenced John VIII. in favor of his friend Photius. Hincmar of Reims begged his intercession, which was successful, with Adrian II. The references in Hincmar's writings seem to identify the librarian with the cardinal-priest of St. Marcellus who was the iconoclastic candidate for the papacy in 855, and was several times excommunicated. (On the question of his part in the compilation of the Liber Pontijicalis see Liber Pontificalis.) His Chronographia tripartita is important for its influence on
the study of general church history in the West. In a rough age, when East and West were drifting further asunder, he labored zealously to make the fruits of Eastern culture accessible to the Latins. Most of his works are in MPL, cxxix.; the Chronographia tripartita is in Theophanis chronographia, ed. C. de Boor, Leipsic, 1883, pp. 31-34b.
(F. Arnold.)
Bibliography: J. Hergenrother, Photius, ii. 228-241, Regensburg, 1868; P. A. Lap6tre, De Anastasio bibliothecario, Paris, 1884; Krumbacher, Geschichte, pp. 122-124, 127; Liber Pontificalis, ed. Duchesne, ii., pp. vi., 188, Paris, 1892; Wattenbach, DGQ, 304, ii. 510.
ANATHEMA, a-nath'e-ma: Among the Greeks the word anathema denoted an object consecrated to a divinity; a use of the word which is explained by the custom of hanging or fastening (anatithesthai) such objects to trees, pillars, and the like. The weaker form anathema was originally used side by side with anathema in the same sense. The double form explains the frequent variations of manuscripts between the two, which later become confusing, since anathema took on a restricted signification and was used in a sense exactly opposite to, anathema. This later usage arose partly from the use of anathema in the Septuagint as an equivalent for the Hebrew herem, which is correct enough according to the root-idea of the Hebrew word; but the latter had acquired a special meaning in the religious law of the Old Testament, designating not only that which was dedicated to God and withdrawn from ordinary use as holy, but also and more especially that which was offered to God in expiation, to be destroyed. In like manner anathema came to denote not only what belonged irrevocably to God, but what was abandoned to him for punishment or annihilation. This double meaning is explicable by the interrelation of law and religion under the old covenant. The declaration of herem recognized God's right to exclusive possession of certain things and to the annihilation of whatever offended his majesty. Under this law booty taken in war was wholly or partly destroyed (Deut. xiii. 16; Josh. vi. 18, viii. 26), idolatrous peoples were put to death, and cities were razed, never to be rebuilt (Josh. vi. 26; I Kings xvi. 34). The same double sense of herem, anathema, is found in the early Greek and Roman law, which has the same combination of religious and secular bearing; devotio in one aspect is the same as the Greek kathierosis, in another as imprccatw, maledictio, exsecratio.
In postexilic Israel the herem found a new use as a penal measure directed to the maintenance of the internal purity of the community. It then denoted the penalty of exclusion or excommunication, sometimes with confiscation of property (Ezra x. 8). It was developed by the synagogue into two grades, niddui (Luke vi. 22; John ix. 22, xii. 42) and herem, which included the pronouncing of a curse. It was now an official act with a formal ritual. The connection between exclusion and cursing explains the use of anathema in the sense of simple cursing (Mark xiv. 71) or of binding by a solemn vow (Acts xxiii. 12). In the technical sense the word anathema occurs in four passages