Christianity in the Later Roman Empire: A Sourcebook

This sourcebook gathers into a single collection the writings that illuminate one of the most fundamental periods in the history of Christian Europe. Beginning from the Great Persecution of Diocletian and the conversion of Constantine the first Christian Roman emperor, the volume explores Christianity's rise as the dominant religion of the Later Roman empire and how the Church survived the decline and fall of Roman power in the west and converted the Germanic tribes who swept into the western empire. These years of crisis and transformation inspired generations of great writers, among them Eusebius of Caesarea, Ammianus Marcellinus, Julian 'the Apostate', Ambrose of Milan, John Chrysostom, Jerome and Augustine of Hippo. They were also years which saw Christianity face huge challenges on many crucial questions, from the evolution of Christian doctrine and the rise of asceticism to the place of women in the early Church and the emerging relationship between Church and state. All these themes will be made accessible to specialists and general readers alike, and the sourcebook will be invaluable for students and teachers of courses in history and church history, the world of late antiquity, and religious studies.

Auteur

David Gwynn is lecturer in ancient and late antique history at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Contenu

Introduction
Acknowledgements
Chronological Table

1. Christianity and Rome
2. The Great Persecution
3. The Conversion of Constantine
4. Constantine and the Imperial Church
5. The Donatist Schism
6. The Doctrine of the Trinity
7. Scripture and Liturgy
8. The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy
9. Emperor and Bishop
10. Asceticism and Monasticism
11. Christianization
12. Paideia: Christianity and Classical Culture
13. Christians, Jews and Manichees
14. Gender and Society
15. Holy Men and Holy Women
16. Pilgrimage and Relics
17. Missionaries and Kings
18. The City of God
19. The Christological Controversies
20. Christianity and the Barbarian Invasions
    Epilogue: The Dawn of Medieval Christendom
    General Bibliography
    Index of authors and texts
    Index of Scriptural citations
    General Index