Pagans Christians Barbarians Identity and Empire in the Roman World

3 credits · Undergraduate

This course addresses the interaction of diverse cultural and religious identities in the Roman world, especially from the rise of Christianity in the early Empire through late antiquity. This encounter between Christianity and traditional Roman culture is one often defined in terms of conflict and triumph, but it is also one of toleration and exchange: by the time Christianity became an official religion, it was also deeply Roman. In the process of tracing these historical developments, this course will likewise consider how cultural and religious differences are constructed, resisted and adopted. Readings include a combination of modern scholarship and ancient literary and documentary texts.