Christianity in Ancient Rome


Book Description

of the Pope." --Book Jacket.







Early Christians Adapting to the Roman Empire


Book Description

In Early Christians Adapting to the Roman Empire: Mutual Recognition Niko Huttunen challenges the interpretation of early Christian texts as anti-imperial documents. He presents examples of the positive relationship between early Christians and the Roman society. With the concept of “recognition” Huttunen describes a situation in which the parties can come to terms with each other without full agreement. Huttunen provides examples of non-Christian philosophers recognizing early Christians. He claims that recognition was a response to Christians who presented themselves as philosophers. Huttunen reads Romans 13 as a part of the ancient tradition of the law of the stronger. His pioneering study on early Christian soldiers uncovers the practical dimension of recognizing the empire.




Christianity and the Roman Empire


Book Description

The rise of Christianity during the first four centuries of the common era was the pivotal development in Western history and profoundly influenced the later direction of all world history. Yet, for all that has been written on early Christian history, the primary sources for this history are widely scattered, difficult to find, and generally unknown to lay persons and to historians not specially trained in the field. In Christianity and the Roman Empire Ralph Novak interweaves these primary sources with a narrative text and constructs a single continuous account of these crucial centuries. The primary sources are selected to emphasize the manner in which the government and the people of the Roman Empire perceived Christians socially and politically; the ways in which these perceptions influenced the treatment of Christians within the Roman Empire; and the manner in which Christians established their political and religious dominance of the Roman Empire after Constantine the Great came to power in the early fourth century CE. Ralph Martin Novak holds a Masters Degree in Roman History from the University of Chicago. For: Undergraduates; seminarians; general audiences




The Acts of the Apostles


Book Description

Acts is the sequel to Luke's gospel and tells the story of Jesus's followers during the 30 years after his death. It describes how the 12 apostles, formerly Jesus's disciples, spread the message of Christianity throughout the Mediterranean against a background of persecution. With an introduction by P.D. James




The Christians as the Romans Saw Them


Book Description

This book offers an engrossing portrayal of the early years of the Christian movement from the perspective of the Romans.




The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Nero


Book Description

A lively and accessible guide to the rich literary, philosophical and artistic achievements of the notorious age of Nero.




Christianizing the Roman Empire


Book Description

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




Pagans and Christians in the Late Roman Empire


Book Description

Do the terms 'pagan' and 'Christian,' 'transition from paganism to Christianity' still hold as explanatory devices to apply to the political, religious and cultural transformation experienced Empire-wise? Revisiting 'pagans' and 'Christians' in Late Antiquity has been a fertile site of scholarship in recent years: the paradigm shift in the interpretation of the relations between 'pagans' and 'Christians' replaced the old 'conflict model' with a subtler, complex approach and triggered the upsurge of new explanatory models such as multiculturalism, cohabitation, cooperation, identity, or group cohesion. This collection of essays, inscribes itself into the revisionist discussion of pagan-Christian relations over a broad territory and time-span, the Roman Empire from the fourth to the eighth century. A set of papers argues that if 'paganism' had never been fully extirpated or denied by the multiethnic educated elite that managed the Roman Empire, 'Christianity' came to be presented by the same elite as providing a way for a wider group of people to combine true philosophy and right religion. The speed with which this happened is just as remarkable as the long persistence of paganism after the sea-change of the fourth century that made Christianity the official religion of the State. For a long time afterwards, 'pagans' and 'Christians' lived 'in between' polytheistic and monotheist traditions and disputed Classical and non-Classical legacies.




Fires of Rome


Book Description

"Fires of Rome" is the companion work to "Year of the Passover" and covers the early Christian era from the crucifixion of Jesus in A.D. 36 to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and beyond to the end of the revolt in A.D. 73. New Testament accounts of the crucifixion and early Christian events are examined against secular history written by accepted ancient Roman historians. "Fires of Rome" makes the case for a conspiracy against the Christians by the Jerusalem Second Temple High Priesthood which ultimately led to the persecutions in Rome, outwardly incited by Emperor Nero in A.D. 64. Earlier, in A.D. 62, the Jewish priests were responsible for the elimination of the Jerusalem Christian leadership, including James the Just, the brother of Jesus. Of necessity, "Fires of Rome" delves deeply into Roman history, with chapters on Roman Emperors Caius (Caligula), Claudius, and Nero, as well as chapters on the Jewish revolt of A.D. 66-73. "Fires of Rome" also profiles the powerful women of the early Christian era, including the infamous Herodias, Jewish Queen Bernice and her sister Drusilla, Agrippina the Younger, and others. Empress Poppea Sabina, the wife of Nero, is especially interesting, with her eclectic and semi-secret court of mystics, philosophers, and religious figures-which included historian Flavius Josephus and former Jerusalem Second Temple High Priest Ismael. Fires of Rome is a must read for every serious student of Christian history. Soft revision March 2013.