This volume brings together a large number of sources with which to illustrate the problem of religious violence in relation to the history of Christianity in the Roman Empire and post-Roman world. The sources are presented in both the original languages and in new English translation and are accompanied by introductions, comments, and short bibliographies. Thematically, Dirk Rohmann focuses on the ways in which Christians were subjected to violence by their pagan surroundings, on the development and scope of the very Christian ideas of martyrdom and of persecution, on how Christians thought about the nature of God and of holy wars, as well as on the problem of violence within the world of early monasticism and asceticism. Drawing on the amount of texts extant from the first to seventh centuries, this book will be of interest to both students and academics in the areas of ancient and early medieval history, classics, and religious studies.
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Table of Contents 5
Abbreviations 11
Introduction 13
1. Early Christianity and the Roman Empire: The Age of Persecution (66-306) 15
The Roman arena and the spectacle of power 17
2. An Emperor’s Dream: Christianity Takes Centre Stage (311-384) 67
‘By this sign you shall conquer’: Constantine’s conversion 71
3. The Road to Christendom: Christianity from Theodosius to the Fall of Rome (379-476) 99
Ambrose and Theodosius 102
4. Men of Arms and Men of God: Latin Europe after the Fall of Rome (476-751) 157
5. Bibliography 203
Mengenai Pengarang
PD Dr. Dirk Rohmann lehrt Alte Geschichte und Geschichte des Frühmittelalters an der Universität Wuppertal.