Daily Life of Christians in Ancient Rome

(Hardback)

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Christians in ancient Rome were a persecuted minority, living in communities of worship and sometimes in fear. Despite this, their daily lives were largely similar to that of the Romans they lived among. This volume explores the private and public daily lives of Christians in the ancient Roman worldprimarily in the city of Romefrom the death of Jesus to Emperor Constantine's legalization of Christianity in 354 C.E. From the New Testament's vivid descriptions of the earliest Christians, the followers of Jesus of Nazareth, to the archaeological evidence from ancient Rome itself (catacombs, inscriptions, etc.), to the bloody accounts of the Roman states occasional persecution of Christians, this compelling title in the Greenwood Daily Life through History series brings to vivid life the ancient Christians of the Roman empire. Thematic chapters examine the day to day behavior of Christians in the Roman world , including the conversion of Gentiles, religious practices and afterlife, food, housing and clothing, interaction with paganism, and private and public life.

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Ermatinger explores the differences between Christians and others in their daily lives, and how Christianity developed and identified itself in a hostile environment before it was legalized. * Reference & Research Book News *

Author Bio

JAMES W. ERMATINGER is Professor and Chair, Department of History at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. He is the author of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Greenwood 2004) and Economic Reforms of Diocletian (1996), as well as other articles on late Roman history.