The Last Pagans of Rome - Couverture rigide

Cameron, Alan

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 019974727X ISBN 13 : 9780199747276

Editeur : OUP USA, 2011

Synopsis

Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History (402/3 CE) gives a vivid account of the confrontation between the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius and the Western usurper Eugenius. To many, the defeat of Eugenius and his pagan followers along the Frigidus River in 394 was the last gasp of a vigorous pagan revolt in the late fourth century, one spearheaded by the Roman aristocracy. This elaborate campaign to derail Christianity, as the story goes, consisted of identifiable pagan literary circles, pagan patronage of the classics, and pagan propaganda in art and literature. Recently, however, scholars have shown this picture to be wanting in accuracy and nuance. Alan Cameron's The Last Pagans of Rome will replace this view with a richly detailed portrait of pagan society during the pivotal fourth and early fifth centuries. The subject of his book is not the conversion of the last pagans but rather the duration, nature, and consequences of their survival. It is widely believed that pagan aristocrats remained in the majority till at least the 380s, and continued to be a powerful force well into the fifth century.On this basis the main focus of much modern scholarship has been on their supposed stubborn resistance to Christianity. Rather surprisingly, these aristocrats have been transformed from the arrogant, philistine land-grabbers most of them were into fearless champions of senatorial privilege, literature lovers, and aficionados of classical (especially Greek) culture. The dismantling of this romantic myth is one of the main goals of Cameron's book. If a pagan aristocracy did not mount a defiant political and cultural rearguard action, what did they do? If elite culture at this time was not starkly divided between pagan and Christian, what did it look like? By sifting through the abundant textual evidence-from the Church Fathers Ambrose, Augustine, and Jerome to the classicizing authors Claudian, Macrobius, and Aullus Gellius-as well as the visual evidence (diptychs, illuminated

A propos du livre

Revue de presse :

Cameron dissects and deconstructs more than 100 years of scholarship about the transition from what we call late Roman imperial pagan culture to what is known as the triumph of Christianity. As befits a scholar whose work in this area since 1964 includes countless articles and reviews and six books, the weighing of ancient evidence and modern scholarly opinion in The Last Pagans is meticulous. (Tom Palaima, Times Higher Education)

Biographie de l'auteur :

Alan Cameron is Anthon Professor of the Latin Language and Literature at Columbia University. He is the winner of the 2013 Kenyon Medal for Classical Studies and Archaeology of the British Academy.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: OUP USA
• Date d'édition: 2011
• ISBN 10: 019974727X
• ISBN 13: 9780199747276
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 878