Early Christianity

objections. An important debate on the topic was played out in

the pages of the journal Past and Presentin the early 1960s: see

Ste Croix 1963, with the criticism of Sherwin-White 1964, and

Ste Croix’s own response in 1964. These essays are conveniently

available together in Finley 1974. Bowersock 1995 provides a

recent synthesis, and Boyarin 1999 sets the topic in the context

of contemporary Judaism.

Pagan attitudes to Christianity are analysed by Wilken 2003.

The basis for our knowledge of anti-Christian legislation is

subjected to scrutiny by Barnes 1968. For individual persecutions,

see Salisbury 1998 on Perpetua and Rives 1999 on Decius. The

‘great persecution’of Diocletian receives detailed treatment in any

history of the age, e.g. Barnes 1981 and Drake 2000; Twomey

and Humphries (forthcoming) will present a series of essays on

various aspects of this persecution. For the texts of the martyr

acts, Musurillo 1972 is unreliable (also in its translation), but a

new edition is promised.

The question of alienation and accommodation between

Christianity and the Roman empire is examined in various of

the works already mentioned. Note, however, Brown 1988, excel-

lent on attitudes towards sexuality and the body; and Edwards,

Goodman, and Price 1999, an important collection of essays

that sets Christian apologetic in a broader pagan and Jewish

context.

The fortunes of Christianity in the period after Constantine

are traced in many general surveys, notably Rousseau 2002 and

Clark 2004. E. D. Hunt 1998 analyses the emergence of the church

as an institution of the empire. Cameron 1991 examines the devel-

opment of a Christian discourse. For Christianity at the end of

antiquity, see Markus 1990.

For Pliny and Trajan, the starting point is Sherwin-White’s

massive commentary on Pliny’s Letters (Sherwin-White 1966). A

short but incisive analysis may be found in Wilken 2003: 1–30.

The role of the emperor can be elucidated by reference to

Millar 1992 and Talbert 1984. The situation in Asia Minor can

DISCOVERING EARLY CHRISTIANITY

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