Sunday in Roman Paganism

Sunday in Roman Paganism PDF

Author: Robert Leo Odom

Publisher: TEACH Services, Inc.

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 9781572582422

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With most of the Christian world honoring Sunday as their day of worship, the question of its origin becomes important. Over the past hundred years much has been written about the use of the week among ancient pagan peoples. However, little has been done to compile such historical material into an easily accessible book for the general public. Robert Leo Odom for years has conducted special research on the Sabbath-Sunday question. In Sunday in Roman Paganism, he leads readers through the pages of history showing the rise of the planetary week and its day of the Sun in the heathenism of the Roman world during the early centuries of the Christian era. This book is not a capsulated history of Sunday as a church festival, but rather the history of the planetary week as it was known and used in the pagan world, and to show whether or not its day of the Sun was then regarded by pagans as being sacred to their Sun-god.

Paganism in the Roman Empire

Paganism in the Roman Empire PDF

Author: Ramsay MacMullen

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 1981-01-01

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 9780300029840

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"MacMullen...has published several books in recent years which establish him, rightfully, as a leading social historian of the Roman Empire. The current volume exhibits many of the characteristics of its predecessors: the presentation of novel, revisionist points of view...; discrete set pieces of trenchant argument which do not necessarily conform to the boundaries of traditional history; and an impressive, authoritative, and up-to-date documentation, especially rich in primary sources...A stimulating and provocative discourse on Roman paganism as a phenomenon worthy of synthetic investigation in its own right and as the fundamental context for the rise of Christianity.”--Richard Brilliant, History "MacMullen’s latest work represents many features of paganism in its social context more vividly and clearly than ever before.”--Fergus Millar, American Historical Review "The major cults...are examined from a social and cultural perspective and with the aid of many recently published specialized studies...Students of the Roman Empire...should read this book.”--Robert J, Penella, Classical World "A distinguished book with much exact observation...An indispensable mine of erudition on a grand theme.” Henry Chadwick, Times Literary Supplement Ramsay MacMullen is Dunham Professor of History and Classics at Yale University and the author of Roman Government’s Response to Crisis, A.D. 235-337 and Roman Social Relations, 50 B.C. to A.D. 284

Pagans and Christians in the Late Roman Empire

Pagans and Christians in the Late Roman Empire PDF

Author: Marianne Sághy

Publisher: Central European University Press

Published: 2017-10-10

Total Pages: 382

ISBN-13: 9633862566

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Do the terms 'pagan' and 'Christian,' 'transition from paganism to Christianity' still hold as explanatory devices to apply to the political, religious and cultural transformation experienced Empire-wise? Revisiting 'pagans' and 'Christians' in Late Antiquity has been a fertile site of scholarship in recent years: the paradigm shift in the interpretation of the relations between 'pagans' and 'Christians' replaced the old 'conflict model' with a subtler, complex approach and triggered the upsurge of new explanatory models such as multiculturalism, cohabitation, cooperation, identity, or group cohesion. This collection of essays, inscribes itself into the revisionist discussion of pagan-Christian relations over a broad territory and time-span, the Roman Empire from the fourth to the eighth century. A set of papers argues that if 'paganism' had never been fully extirpated or denied by the multiethnic educated elite that managed the Roman Empire, 'Christianity' came to be presented by the same elite as providing a way for a wider group of people to combine true philosophy and right religion. The speed with which this happened is just as remarkable as the long persistence of paganism after the sea-change of the fourth century that made Christianity the official religion of the State. For a long time afterwards, 'pagans' and 'Christians' lived 'in between' polytheistic and monotheist traditions and disputed Classical and non-Classical legacies.

Roman Religion

Roman Religion PDF

Author: Valerie M. Warrior

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2006-10-16

Total Pages: 251

ISBN-13: 1316264920

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Examining sites that are familiar to many modern tourists, Valerie Warrior avoids imposing a modern perspective on the topic by using the testimony of the ancient Romans to describe traditional Roman religion. The ancient testimony recreates the social and historical contexts in which Roman religion was practised. It shows, for example, how, when confronted with a foreign cult, official traditional religion accepted the new cult with suitable modifications. Basic difficulties, however, arose with regard to the monotheism of the Jews and Christianity. Carefully integrated with the text are visual representations of divination, prayer, and sacrifice as depicted on monuments, coins, and inscriptions from public buildings and homes throughout the Roman world. Also included are epitaphs and humble votive offerings that illustrate the piety of individuals, and that reveal the prevalence of magic and the occult in the spiritual lives of the ancient Romans.

The Last Pagans of Rome

The Last Pagans of Rome PDF

Author: Alan Cameron

Publisher: OUP USA

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 891

ISBN-13: 019974727X

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In a detailed analysis of the visual and textual evidence, this book disputes the widely held view that the late fourth century saw a vigorous and determined "pagan reaction" to the take-over of the Roman world by Christianity, at both the political and cultural level.

The Final Pagan Generation

The Final Pagan Generation PDF

Author: Edward J. Watts

Publisher: University of California Press

Published: 2020-08-25

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 0520379225

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A compelling history of radical transformation in the fourth-century--when Christianity decimated the practices of traditional pagan religion in the Roman Empire. The Final Pagan Generation recounts the fascinating story of the lives and fortunes of the last Romans born before the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. Edward J. Watts traces their experiences of living through the fourth century’s dramatic religious and political changes, when heated confrontations saw the Christian establishment legislate against pagan practices as mobs attacked pagan holy sites and temples. The emperors who issued these laws, the imperial officials charged with implementing them, and the Christian perpetrators of religious violence were almost exclusively young men whose attitudes and actions contrasted markedly with those of the earlier generation, who shared neither their juniors’ interest in creating sharply defined religious identities nor their propensity for violent conflict. Watts examines why the "final pagan generation"—born to the old ways and the old world in which it seemed to everyone that religious practices would continue as they had for the past two thousand years—proved both unable to anticipate the changes that imperially sponsored Christianity produced and unwilling to resist them. A compelling and provocative read, suitable for the general reader as well as students and scholars of the ancient world.

Christian and Pagan in the Roman Empire

Christian and Pagan in the Roman Empire PDF

Author: Tertullian

Publisher: CUA Press

Published: 2001-09

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 0813210216

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In this volume, Robert D. Sider undertakes a judicious pruning of the original texts and brings a fresh accessibility to the important writings of Tertullian.

Paganism in the Roman Empire

Paganism in the Roman Empire PDF

Author: Ramsay MacMullen

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 1981-01-01

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 0300029845

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"MacMullen...has published several books in recent years which establish him, rightfully, as a leading social historian of the Roman Empire. The current volume exhibits many of the characteristics of its predecessors: the presentation of novel, revisionist points of view...; discrete set pieces of trenchant argument which do not necessarily conform to the boundaries of traditional history; and an impressive, authoritative, and up-to-date documentation, especially rich in primary sources...A stimulating and provocative discourse on Roman paganism as a phenomenon worthy of synthetic investigation in its own right and as the fundamental context for the rise of Christianity.”--Richard Brilliant, History "MacMullen’s latest work represents many features of paganism in its social context more vividly and clearly than ever before.”--Fergus Millar, American Historical Review "The major cults...are examined from a social and cultural perspective and with the aid of many recently published specialized studies...Students of the Roman Empire...should read this book.”--Robert J, Penella, Classical World "A distinguished book with much exact observation...An indispensable mine of erudition on a grand theme.” Henry Chadwick, Times Literary Supplement Ramsay MacMullen is Dunham Professor of History and Classics at Yale University and the author of Roman Government’s Response to Crisis, A.D. 235-337 and Roman Social Relations, 50 B.C. to A.D. 284

Pagan Rome and the Early Christians

Pagan Rome and the Early Christians PDF

Author: Stephen Benko

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 1986-07-22

Total Pages: 198

ISBN-13: 9780253203854

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"In the early Roman empire, Christians were seen by pagans as overthrowers of ancient gods and destroyers of the prevailing social order. Allegations that Christians recognized each other by secret marks, met at night and made love to one another indiscriminately, worshipped the head of an ass and the genitals of their high priests, and ate children were widely believed. In examining these charges and the Christian response to them, Benko has provided a persuasively argued and refreshing, if controversial, perspective on the confrontation of the pagan and early Christian worlds."[book cover].