Worshippers of the Gods
Debating Paganism in the Fourth-Century Roman West
Series: Oxford Studies in Late Antiquity;
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Product details:
- Publisher OUP USA
- Date of Publication 21 July 2020
- ISBN 9780190082444
- Binding Hardback
- No. of pages252 pages
- Size 236x160x25 mm
- Weight 454 g
- Language English 80
Categories
Short description:
Worshippers of the Gods shows how fourth-century Latin writers rethought traditional religion during Christianity's rise. Through five interlocking studies of inscriptions, laws, senatorial papers, and Christian polemics, it traces shifting conceptions of paganism from the Tetrarchic persecution, through Constantine's reign, to the 'disestablishment' of the Roman cults in the 380s.
MoreLong description:
Worshippers of the Gods tells how the Latin writers who witnessed the political and social rise of Christianity rethought the role of traditional religion in the empire and city of Rome. In parallel with the empire's legal Christianisation, it traces changing attitudes toward paganism from the last empire-wide persecution of Christians under the Tetrarchy to the removal of state funds from the Roman cults in the early 380s. Influential recent scholarship has seen Christian polemical literature-a crucial body of evidence for late antique polytheism-as an exercise in Christian identity-making. In response, Worshippers of the Gods argues that Lactantius, Firmicus Maternus, Ambrosiaster, and Ambrose offered substantive critiques of traditional religion shaped to their political circumstances and to the preoccupations of contemporary polytheists.
By bringing together this polemical literature with imperial laws, pagan inscriptions, and the letters and papers of the senator Symmachus, Worshippers of the Gods reveals the changing horizons of Roman thought on traditional religion in the fourth century. Through its five interlocking case studies, it shows how key episodes in the Empire's religious history-the Tetrarchic persecution, Constantine's adoption of Christianity, the altar of Victory affair, and the 'disestablishment' of the Roman cults-shaped contemporary conceptions of polytheism. It also argues that the idea of a unified 'paganism', often seen as a capricious invention, actually arose as a Christian response to the eclectic, philosophical polytheism in vogue at Rome.
Gassman forcefully and compellingly provides a narrative of the 'polymorphic' discourse on 'traditional Roman Religion' in the fourth century (168). His book is very good, very clear and erudite.... Those who teach or research Christian polemic or apologetic, fourth century paganism, or Roman religious history more broadly will need to reckon with Gassman's book. And those working closely on one of the figures or works he considers closely, such as Lactantius or Symmachus' Relatio 3, will be well served by Gassman's erudite and often unique analysis in the relevant sections.
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Introduction
1. 'Like a Stream of Tullian Eloquence': Lactantius, Cicero, and the Critique of Roman Religion in the Divine Institutes
2. On the Error of Profane Religions: Emperors and Traditional Religion after Constantine
3. 'The Manifold Divinity of the Gods': 'Paganism' in Fourth-Century Rome
4. Rome, Religion, and Christian Emperors: Rethinking the Altar of Victory Affair
5. Commemorating Vettius Agorius Praetextatus: Senators and Traditional Religion in 380s Rome
Conclusion
Bibliography
