Rome's Age of Revolution

Name: Rome's Age of Revolution
Price: 69.99 AUD
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ISBN: 9781847925343

Augustus, Empire and the Making of Christianity

Tim Whitmarsh

$69.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

The Bodley Head Ltd
25 July 2026

Ancient history: to c 500 CE; Social & cultural history; History of religion

The compelling, provocative account of how the Christian religion conquered the Roman Empire and how Rome in turn shaped Christianity- it's the story of how religion and politics combined to lay the foundations for the Western world.

How did Christianity, starting out as a minor offshoot of Judaism, grow into an international faith that shaped the world as we know it? Rome's Age of Revolution corrects the triumphalist narrative that the Christian message was so persuasive, and indeed superior, that people converted in huge numbers, abandoning their pagan beliefs, thereby turning a small persecuted sect into the state religion of the Roman Empire.

Tim Whitmarsh shows that Christianity would never have succeeded if it had not taken advantage of the infrastructure and culture of the Roman Empire; in turn the new religion was indelibly shaped and transformed by Roman beliefs and ideas, especially those circulating in the Greek-speaking, or Hellenistic, eastern parts of the empire. This radical transformation, Tim argues, can only be described as a revolution. The consequences are with us to this day.

By: Tim Whitmarsh
Imprint: The Bodley Head Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 240mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 40mm
Weight: 750g
ISBN: 9781847925343
ISBN 10: 1847925340
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 25 July 2026
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Tim Whitmarsh is Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge, working on all areas of Greek literature and culture with a particular emphasis on Greeks under the Roman Empire and religion and atheism in the ancient world. He is the author of Battling the Gods, which was shortlisted from the Runciman Award, the London Hellenic Prize and the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize and has been translated into Dutch, Greek and Chinese.

Reviews for Rome's Age of Revolution: Augustus, Empire and the Making of Christianity

The intricate relationship between early Christianity, Greek culture and the Roman Empire, is expertly articulated in this thoughtful and beautifully written book. Full of new insights and careful in its treatment of difficult and ambiguous evidence, this book is powerful and fascinating throughout -- Andrew Pettegree, author of The Book at War