Pagans and Christians in late antique Rome : conflict, competition, and coexistence in the fourth century / edited by Michele Salzman, University of California, Riverside, Marianne Sághy, Central European University, Rita Lizzi Testa, Università di Perugia.

Includes bibliographies and index.

"This book sheds new light on the religious and consequently social changes taking place in late antique Rome. The essays in this volume argue that the once-dominant notion of pagan-Christian religious conflict cannot fully explain the texts and artifacts, as well as the social, religious, and political realities of late antique Rome. Together, the essays demonstrate that the fourth-century city was a more fluid, vibrant, and complex place than was previously thought. Competition between diverse groups in Roman society - be it pagans with Christians, Christians with Christians, or pagans with pagans - did create tensions and hostility, but it also allowed for coexistence and reduced the likelihood of overt violent, physical conflict. Competition and coexistence, along with conflict, emerge as still central paradigms for those who seek to understand the transformations of Rome from the age of Constantine through the early fifth century."--

Part I. Senatorial Politics and Religious Conflict in Rome: 1. Constantine and the Roman senate: conflict, cooperation, and concealed resistance / Michele R. Salzman; 2. Beyond pagans and Christians: politics and intra-Christian conflict in the controversy over the Altar of Victory / Robert Chenault; 3. Were pagans afraid to speak their mind in a Christian world? The correspondence of Symmachus / Alan Cameron; Part II. The Construction of New Religious Identities: 4. Christians and the invention of paganism in late antique Rome / Thomas Jurgasch; 5. Late antique divi and imperial priests of the late fourth and early fifth centuries / Douglas Boin; 6. Artis heu magicis: the label of magic in the fourth-century conflicts and disputes / Maijastina Kahlos; 7. Crowd behavior in late antique Rome / Danielle Slootjes; Part III. Pagans and Christians: Coexistence and Competition: 8. Re-interpreting the cult of Mithras / Jonas Bjornebye; 9. Making difference: the Carmina contra Paganos and the invention of late Roman paganism / Dennis E. Trout; 10. Poetry and pagans in late antique Rome: the case of the senator 'converted from the Christian religion to servitude to the idols' / Neil McLynn; 11. Professiones gentiliciae: the collegia of Rome between paganism and Christianity / Francesca Diosono; 12. Reinterpreting pagans and Christians from Rome's late antique mortuary evidence / Nicola Denzey Lewis; 13. On the form and function of Constantine's circiform funerary basilicas in Rome / Monica Hellstrom; 14. Romanae Gloria plebis: Bishop Damasus and the traditions of Rome / Marianne Saghy. 15. Storytelling and cultural memory in the making: celebrating pagan and Christian founders of Rome / Gitte Lonstrup Dal Santo; 16. Rome and imagery in late antiquity: perception and use of statues / Caroline Michel d'Annoville; 17. What to do with Sacra Antiqua? A reinterpretation of the sculptures from S. Martino ai Monti in Rome / Silviu Anghel; 18. Myth and Salvation in the Fourth Century: Representations of Hercules in Christian Contexts / Levente Nagy; Concluding remarks: vrbs Roma between Pagans and Christians / Rita Lizzi Testa.

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