Pagan City and Christian Capital

Pagan City and Christian Capital PDF Author: John Curran
Publisher: Clarendon Press
ISBN: 0191581976
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Book Description
The critical century between the arrival of Constantine and the advance of Alaric in the early fifth century witnessed dramatic changes in the city of Rome. In this book Dr Curran has broken away from the usual notions of religious conflict between Christians and pagans, to focus on a number of approaches to the Christianization of Rome. He surveys the laws and political considerations which governed the building policy of Constantine and his successors, the effect of papal building and commemorative constructions on Roman topography, the continuing ambivalence of the Roman festal calendar, and the conflict between Christians over asceticism and 'real' Christianity. Thus using analytical, literary, and legal evidence Dr Curran explains the way in which the landscape, civic life, and moral values of Rome were transformed by complex and sometimes paradoxical forces, laying the foundation for the capital of medieval Christendom. Through a study of Rome as a city Dr Curran explores the rise of Christianity and the decline of paganism in the later Roman empire.

Pagan City and Christian Capital

Pagan City and Christian Capital PDF Author: John Curran
Publisher: Clarendon Press
ISBN: 0191581976
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Book Description
The critical century between the arrival of Constantine and the advance of Alaric in the early fifth century witnessed dramatic changes in the city of Rome. In this book Dr Curran has broken away from the usual notions of religious conflict between Christians and pagans, to focus on a number of approaches to the Christianization of Rome. He surveys the laws and political considerations which governed the building policy of Constantine and his successors, the effect of papal building and commemorative constructions on Roman topography, the continuing ambivalence of the Roman festal calendar, and the conflict between Christians over asceticism and 'real' Christianity. Thus using analytical, literary, and legal evidence Dr Curran explains the way in which the landscape, civic life, and moral values of Rome were transformed by complex and sometimes paradoxical forces, laying the foundation for the capital of medieval Christendom. Through a study of Rome as a city Dr Curran explores the rise of Christianity and the decline of paganism in the later Roman empire.

Pagan City and Christian Capital

Pagan City and Christian Capital PDF Author: John R. Curran
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199254200
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 389

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Book Description
'a welcome addition to this distinguished series... the author has new insights to offer in every chapter... an impressive achievement, a work of great learning and meticulous documentation yet never dull and always readable.' -Fred S. Kleiner, Bryn Mawr Classical ReviewAn original and lively study of the transformation of the landscape, civic life, and moral values of the pagan city of Rome following the conversion of the emperor Constantine in the early fourth century. It examines the effects of the rise of Christianity and the decline of paganism in the later Roman empire, which laid the foundation for the capital of medieval Christendom.

Three Christian Capitals

Three Christian Capitals PDF Author: Richard Krautheimer
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520312848
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 303

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Book Description


The Final Pagan Generation

The Final Pagan Generation PDF Author: Edward J. Watts
Publisher: University of California Press
ISBN: 0520379225
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
A compelling history of radical transformation in the fourth-century--when Christianity decimated the practices of traditional pagan religion in the Roman Empire. The Final Pagan Generation recounts the fascinating story of the lives and fortunes of the last Romans born before the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. Edward J. Watts traces their experiences of living through the fourth century’s dramatic religious and political changes, when heated confrontations saw the Christian establishment legislate against pagan practices as mobs attacked pagan holy sites and temples. The emperors who issued these laws, the imperial officials charged with implementing them, and the Christian perpetrators of religious violence were almost exclusively young men whose attitudes and actions contrasted markedly with those of the earlier generation, who shared neither their juniors’ interest in creating sharply defined religious identities nor their propensity for violent conflict. Watts examines why the "final pagan generation"—born to the old ways and the old world in which it seemed to everyone that religious practices would continue as they had for the past two thousand years—proved both unable to anticipate the changes that imperially sponsored Christianity produced and unwilling to resist them. A compelling and provocative read, suitable for the general reader as well as students and scholars of the ancient world.

Summary of Rodney Stark's Cities of God

Summary of Rodney Stark's Cities of God PDF Author: Everest Media,
Publisher: Everest Media LLC
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 37

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Book Description
Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The history of the early church is often told through the accounts of various books that were written about it. But many historians today don’t believe in evidence, and instead argue that since absolute truth must always elude the historian’s grasp, evidence is inevitably nothing but a biased selection of suspect facts. #2 The world’s first missionaries were Jews, and the world’s first converts became Jews. Jewish missionary activities decayed once Christianity became safely ensconced as the Roman state church. #3 The history of Judaism is clear: it was the first great missionary religion. Jews sought converts, and they were quite successful in doing so. The best estimate is that by the first century, Jews made up 10 to 15 percent of the population of the Roman Empire, nearly 90 percent of them living outside Palestine. #4 The Romans and the Greeks were both God-fearers, meaning they were Jewish monotheists who remained marginal to Jewish life because they were unwilling to fully embrace Jewish ethnicity.

Pagan and Christian Rome

Pagan and Christian Rome PDF Author: Rodolfo Amedeo Lanciani
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Art, Roman
Languages : en
Pages : 480

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Book Description


City of God

City of God PDF Author: St Augustine
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1625583540
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 996

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Book Description
Saint Augustine of Hippo is one of the central figures in the history of Christianity, and this book is one of his greatest theological works. Written as an eloquent defense of the faith at a time when the Roman Empire was on the brink of collapse, it examines the ancient pagan religions of Rome, the arguments of the Greek philosophers, and the revelations of the Bible. Pointing the way forward to a citizenship that transcends worldly politics and will last for eternity, this book is one of the most influential documents in the development of Christianity. One of the great cornerstones in the history of Christian thought, The City of God is vital to an understanding of modern Western society and how it came into being. Begun in A.D. 413, the book's initial purpose was to refute the charge that Christianity was to blame for the fall of Rome (which had occurred just three years earlier). Indeed, Augustine produced a wealth of evidence to prove that paganism bore within itself the seeds of its own destruction. However, over the next thirteen years that it took to complete the work, the brilliant ecclesiastic proceeded to his larger theme: a cosmic interpretation of history in terms of the struggle between good and evil. By means of his contrast of the earthly and heavenly cities-- the one pagan, self-centered, and contemptuous of God and the other devout, God-centered, and in search of grace-- Augustine explored and interpreted human history in relation to eternity.

The History of Christianity from the Birth of Christ to the Abolition of Paganism in the Roman Empire

The History of Christianity from the Birth of Christ to the Abolition of Paganism in the Roman Empire PDF Author: Henry Hart Milman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Church history
Languages : en
Pages : 522

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Book Description


Pagans and Christians in Late Antique Rome

Pagans and Christians in Late Antique Rome PDF Author: Michele Renee Salzman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 131646783X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 440

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Book Description
This book sheds new light on the religious and consequently social changes taking place in late antique Rome. The essays in this volume argue that the once-dominant notion of pagan-Christian religious conflict cannot fully explain the texts and artifacts, as well as the social, religious, and political realities of late antique Rome. Together, the essays demonstrate that the fourth-century city was a more fluid, vibrant, and complex place than was previously thought. Competition between diverse groups in Roman society - be it pagans with Christians, Christians with Christians, or pagans with pagans - did create tensions and hostility, but it also allowed for coexistence and reduced the likelihood of overt violent, physical conflict. Competition and coexistence, along with conflict, emerge as still central paradigms for those who seek to understand the transformations of Rome from the age of Constantine through the early fifth century.

Pagan Rome and the Early Christians

Pagan Rome and the Early Christians PDF Author: Stephen Benko
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
As perceived by the average Roman citizen, the early rites and behavior of Christians laid them open to charges of cannibalism, immorality, and the practice of magic and conspiring and fomenting rebellion aganst the state. The early church fathers rejected these accusations and portrayed pagans as victims of misinformation or perpetrators of ill will. Benko proposes to give the pagans the benefit of the doubt and analyzes their charges against Christianity under the premise that they may have been right within the context of the times. He has provided a persuasively argued and refreshing -- if controversial -- perspective on the confrontation of the pagan and early Christian worlds.