Religious Dissent in Late Antiquity reconsiders the religious history of the late Roman Empire, focusing on the shifting position of dissenting religious groups - conventionally called 'pagans' and 'heretics'. The period from the mid-fourth century until the mid-fifth century CE witnessed a significant transformation of late Roman society and a gradual shift from the world of polytheistic religions into the Christian Empire.
This book challenges the many straightforward melodramatic narratives of the Christianisation of the Roman Empire, still prevalent both in academic research and in popular non-fiction works. Religious Dissent in Late Antiquity demonstrates that the narrative is much more nuanced than the simple Christian triumph over the classical world. It looks at everyday life, economic aspects, day-to-day practices, and conflicts of interest in the relations of religious groups.
Religious Dissent in Late Antiquity addresses two aspects: rhetoric and realities, and consequently, delves into the interplay between the manifest ideologies and daily life found in late antique sources.
It is a detailed analysis of selected themes and a close reading of selected texts, tracing key elements and developments in the treatment of dissident religious groups. The book focuses on specific themes, such as the limits of imperial legislation and ecclesiastical control, the end of sacrifices, and the label of magic. Religious Dissent in Late Antiquity examines the ways in which dissident religious groups were construed as religious outsiders, but also explores local rituals and beliefs in late Roman society as creative applications and expressions of the infinite range of human inventiveness.
Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction: Rhetoric and realities SECTION ONE: Imperial and ecclesiastical authority Chapter 1 The emperor and the dissenters Chapter 2 The realities of legislation Chapter 3 The bishops and the dissenters Chapter 4 The local limits of imperial and ecclesiastical power Chapter 5 Authority and aggression SECTION TWO: People in rhetoric and realities Chapter 6 Individuals, groups, and plural possibilities in Late Antiquity Chapter 7 Otherness outside: Making pagans Chapter 8 Deviance or otherness inside: Construing heretics Chapter 9 Reactions SECTION THREE: Time, place, practices Chapter 10 The transformation of practices Chapter 11 Economics of practices Chapter 12 Sacred places and spaces Chapter 13 Sacred times and spaces Chapter 14 Rhetoric and realities of magic Conclusion: The darkening age or the victory of John Doe? Bibliography Index locorum
Maijastina Kahlos is University researcher and Docent of Latin language and Roman literature at University of Helsinki and author of Forbearance and Compulsion: Rhetoric of Tolerance and Intolerance in Late Antiquity and Debate and Dialogue: Christian and Pagan Cultures, c. 360-430.
Reviews for Religious Dissent in Late Antiquity, 350-450
"""Kahlos offers a valuable survey of trends in recent historical scholarship that should force serious reflection on the terms and categories employed in the study of late antique religion."" -- Brian Dunkle, Church History Reviews ""Kahlos offers a multifaceted gem. Current scholarship and methods, standing historiographical problems, and refractory sources, assembled in her argument, are all mutually illumined."" -- Review of Biblical Literature ""Religious Dissent in Late Antiquity is a welcome addition to the scholarship on late antique Christianity. This work laudably zeros in on many of the bigger issues at play in the ongoing debates concerning 'Christianisation' and boils them down into concise, informed discussions. This monograph will therefore be particularly useful for the purposes of university-level education, where many chapters would be ideal for undergraduate reading."" -- Michael Wuk, Bryn Mawr Classical Review"
