Christianizing the Roman Empire

Christianizing the Roman Empire

Author: Ramsay MacMullen

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 1984-01-01

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 9780300036428

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Offers a secular perspective on the growth of the Christian Church in ancient Rome, identifies nonreligious factors in conversion, and examines the influence of Constantine


Paganism in the Roman Empire

Paganism in the Roman Empire

Author: Ramsay MacMullen

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 1981-01-01

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 9780300029840

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"MacMullen...has published several books in recent years which establish him, rightfully, as a leading social historian of the Roman Empire. The current volume exhibits many of the characteristics of its predecessors: the presentation of novel, revisionist points of view...; discrete set pieces of trenchant argument which do not necessarily conform to the boundaries of traditional history; and an impressive, authoritative, and up-to-date documentation, especially rich in primary sources...A stimulating and provocative discourse on Roman paganism as a phenomenon worthy of synthetic investigation in its own right and as the fundamental context for the rise of Christianity.”--Richard Brilliant, History "MacMullen’s latest work represents many features of paganism in its social context more vividly and clearly than ever before.”--Fergus Millar, American Historical Review "The major cults...are examined from a social and cultural perspective and with the aid of many recently published specialized studies...Students of the Roman Empire...should read this book.”--Robert J, Penella, Classical World "A distinguished book with much exact observation...An indispensable mine of erudition on a grand theme.” Henry Chadwick, Times Literary Supplement Ramsay MacMullen is Dunham Professor of History and Classics at Yale University and the author of Roman Government’s Response to Crisis, A.D. 235-337 and Roman Social Relations, 50 B.C. to A.D. 284


Christianizing Asia Minor

Christianizing Asia Minor

Author: Paul McKechnie

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-08

Total Pages: 343

ISBN-13: 1108481469

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Explores the growth of Christianity in inland Roman Asia, as cities and rural communities moved away from polytheistic Greco-Roman religion.


Voting about God in Early Church Councils

Voting about God in Early Church Councils

Author: Ramsay MacMullen

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2008-10-01

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 0300135297

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In this study, Ramsay MacMullen steps aside from the well-worn path that previous scholars have trod to explore exactly how early Christian doctrines became official. Drawing on extensive verbatim stenographic records, he analyzes the ecumenical councils from A.D. 325 to 553, in which participants gave authority to doctrinal choices by majority vote. The author investigates the sometimes astonishing bloodshed and violence that marked the background to church council proceedings, and from there goes on to describe the planning and staging of councils, the emperors' role, the routines of debate, the participants' understanding of the issues, and their views on God's intervention in their activities. He concludes with a look at the significance of the councils and their doctrinal decisions within the history of Christendom.


There Is No Crime for Those Who Have Christ

There Is No Crime for Those Who Have Christ

Author: Michael Gaddis

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2005-10-14

Total Pages: 415

ISBN-13: 0520241045

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Focusing on the 4th and 5th centuries, Michael Gaddis explores how various groups employed the language of religious violence to construct their own identities, to undermine the legitimacy of their rivals, & to advance themselves in the competitive & high stakes process of Christianizing the Roman Empire.


The Art of Empire

The Art of Empire

Author: Lee M. Jefferson

Publisher: Fortress Press

Published: 2015-10-01

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 1506402844

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In recent years, art historians such as Johannes Deckers (Picturing the Bible, 2009) have argued for a significant transition in fourth- and fifth-century images of Jesus following the conversion of Constantine. Broadly speaking, they perceive the image of a peaceful, benevolent shepherd transformed into a powerful, enthroned Jesus, mimicking and mirroring the dominance and authority of the emperor. The powers of church and state are thus conveniently synthesized in such a potent image. This deeply rooted position assumes that ante-pacem images of Jesus were uniformly humble while post-Constantinian images exuded the grandeur of power and glory. The Art of Empire contends that the art and imagery of Late Antiquity merits a more nuanced understanding of the context of the imperial period before and after Constantine. The chapters in this collection each treat an aspect of the relationship between early Christian art and the rituals, practices, or imagery of the Empire, and offer a new and fresh perspective on the development of Christian art in its imperial background.


Changes in the Roman Empire

Changes in the Roman Empire

Author: Ramsay MacMullen

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2019-02-19

Total Pages: 413

ISBN-13: 0691656665

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Written by one of the foremost historians of the Roman Empire, this collection of both new and previously published essays forms a colorful picture of daily life in the Mediterranean world between A.D. 50 and 450. Here, for example, the author applies statistical analysis to broad groups of people on matters ranging from justice through medicine to language. In so doing he is able to substantiate general statements about routines in ordinary people's behavior and to detect within these routines the very changes that constitute history. Such analysis also shows how this era benefits from the same historiographical approaches that have so successfully elucidated sociocultural phenomena in other periods. Drawing from statistical analysis and many other historical approaches, these essays on popular mores in the Roman Empire cover such topics as language and art, acculturation, thought and religion, sex and gender, cruelty and slavery, and aspects of class and power relations. The author introduces the collection with several essays on historical method, as it pertains to the richness of documentation and variety to be found in the region and period chosen. Ramsay MacMullen is Dunham Professor of History and Classics at Yale University. The most recent of his many books include Corruption and the Decline of Rome and Christianizing the Roman Empire: A.D. 100-400, both published by Yale. Originally published in 1990. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.


Rituals and Power

Rituals and Power

Author: S. R. F. Price

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1984

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 9780521312684

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Simon Price attempts to discover why the Roman Emperor was treated like a god.


Constantine and the Cities

Constantine and the Cities

Author: Noel Emmanuel Lenski

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2016-02-29

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 0812247779

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Roman Emperor Constantine raised Christianity from a minority religion to imperial status, but his religious orientation was by no means unambiguous. In Constantine and the Cities, Noel Lenski demonstrates how the emperor and his subjects used the instruments of government in a struggle for authority over the religion of the empire.


Defending Constantine

Defending Constantine

Author: Peter J. Leithart

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2010-09-24

Total Pages: 374

ISBN-13: 0830827226

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Peter Leithart weighs what we've been taught about Constantine and claims that in focusing on these historical mirages we have failed to notice the true significance of Constantine and Rome baptized. He reveals how beneath the surface of this contested story there lies a deeper narrative--a tectonic shift in the political theology of an empire--with far-reaching implications.