Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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54 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Masterful Survey of the End of Paganism, November 3, 2000
By A Customer
Fox has written a definitive, if not THE definitive, study of the transition from Greco-Roman paganism to a Christian Empire. Fox paints a picture of a thriving pagan worldview, and debunks the view that paganism in late antiquity was already on its deathbed when Christianity came onto the scene. The book is divided into three major sections. The first examines the the nature of paganism in the Hellenistic World, and explores what it meant to "practice pagan religion" in the 3rd century Roman Empire. Fox pays considerable attention to the role of oracles in expounding pagan theology, and provides a more concrete study of how the ancients viewed the gods than I have seen elsewhere. In the second section of the book, Fox turns to the early Christians. He fleshes out the social and economic situation under which Christianity developed. The concerns and attitudes of 3rd century Christians are seen to be very different from those of their modern counterparts. Early Christians are seen to have had an obsessive, perhaps pathological, concern with sexuality and martydom that to modern sensibilities will seem extreme, even to a committed Christian. Fox considers such questions as to how quickly Christianity spread, how widespread it was in the generation before Constantine (not very), and who was likely to become Christian. Fox also considers why Christians were persecuted, while other groups (Jews, for instance) were not. In the final section of the book, Fox turns to the figure who proves to be most responsible for the triumph of Christianity--the emperor Constantine. Constantine is seen to have played a pivotal role in organizing the church, settling doctrinal disputes, and aggressively promoting the new religion, at the expense of the established paganism. Fox's answer to why Christianity triumphed seems in the end to be Constantine himself. The chance rise to power of a Christian emperor, who then put all the power of an emperor behind his religion, made all the difference. The rise of Christianity is then seen not as a result of any inherent superiority in that faith, or any fatal weakness in paganism, but rather as the result of what was essentially a historical accident. The biggest drawback of this book is that it ends with the death of Constantine. At the time of his death, the Empire was by no means Christian, nor was the end of paganism assured. Fox sets the stage for the rise of Christianity as a major religious force, but does not cover the endgame, which was to play out over the next two centuries.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Build up to a revolution, December 13, 2005
In the autumn of 312CE a revolution took place. It was a relatively violent one that had an improbable beginning. The classical world was turned upside down. The old gods were banished. The temples destroyed and ancient festivals and rituals were forgotten or appropriated in a new guise. The revolution extended over the whole of Europe and much of Turkey and Egypt over a period of some two centuries during its most intense and violent phase. The improbable event was emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity - and once this became the "legal franchise" any competition was ostracised or hunted out of existence.
Yet what kind of world was the world of the "Pagan"? This book lovingly brings to life the kind of religion that prevailed in the civilised Western world from around 500BCE to around 400CE and its increasingly fraught relationship through its ups and downs with Christianity. Most of the action centres from 150 to 312CE. Paganism is losely defined and we can see that all it stands for is "other than Christianity". We begin to see the world of the Pagan that existed not just in the areas once occupied by the Romans but also extending east to the Middle East and beyond. Regions that were subsequently overrun by alternative versions of monotheism, perhaps taking their cue from Western Christianity.
This subject would be too vast for any canvas. Noted scholar Robin Lane Fox teases together the most vital threads of Paganism and Christianity, how they were similar, how they differed and how they were united. The book is a monumental work of some 800 plus pages yet we can see that the scope is yet narrow. Nothing here about architecture or specific details of daily life. You are expected to come with some background knowledge though the book is suitable for the interested beginner.
Paganism gives way to Christianity in a well balanced gradation of chapters. Towards the end, the revolution is only summarised. This book is concerned with the build up. We note that Christianity's triumph was slow and convoluted - even improbable.
We are treated to topics such as oracles, the prominent sites of paganism with good maps, the distinctions between Greek and Roman approaches to paganism - the attitudes of Pagans to different gods, their views on sex and marriage and their topics of concern. Civic metropolitan life (including private lives) in general leaps out of the pages. We begin to understand what the gods meant to the ancients. Many details are blurred, e.g., on Pagan attitudes to re-incarnation. I feel that Fox's grasp of this issue is vague and uncertain. He does not advance the ideas from Protograros and Meno (Plato) or Pythagoras. There may be other areas in this book that a Classical scholar could pick holes in. Perhaps the ideas of Gnostic Christians and the various sects of Christianity and their differences are not highlighted.
On Christianity in general the topics are fuller than for Paganism - the latter is presented more as a pastiche to contrast it to its evolving rival. A very large chapter on the Christian view of sex, marriage or celibacy. On bishops, martyrdom, Constantine's conversion and a blow by blow analysis of one of his famous speeches which is restored to its true context. Fox seems to have done quite a bit of detective work and his brilliant knowledge of Latin and Greek has given him a razor sharp understanding of certain issues that other scholars would miss. There is a section on Mani and his religion.
Entertaining, gripping, this book never gets too sentimental and remains a balanced portrait of the nuts and bolts of the evolution of early Christianity as a gentile religion. We can see the good and bad sides of both camps - wanton animal sacrifice vs., intolerance and irrationality? Perhaps the Christian intolerance was a symptom of how they had been persecuted quite a few times by successive emperors. The persecution is put under a microscope. Christianity's claims to compassion are also vivified.
This is a book on the general evolution and involution of that aspect of culture we call religion in a very broad sense and thus useful for anyone interested in history. Sensitive, poignant with blunt edges.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Definitive study, April 16, 2005
This is a masterpiece of historical writing. However for reasons I will explain below, it can be a difficult book to read, so if you find yourself getting bogged down, here is some guidence on one way to approach it. I believe it is out of print and not as popular as it could be for lack of understanding what kind of book this is.
First, read the Amazon review by "A Reader" from 2000 below, which provides an excellent high-level summary and context. Next, understand this is an academic history book by a professional historian, it is a "survey", it is not a narrative. While one can read it cover to cover word for word, it is not required, and except for the most dedicated, it would present a challenge of time and energy. This is a survey of Paganism and Christianity in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, up to the time of Constantine.
The book is laid out in 3 sections (as described by "A Reader" below) and a total of 13, very long, chapters. Each Chapter is broken in to sections, 3 to 5 each, labeled simply (I, II, III..). The trick is to decipher what each chapter, and section, is about. Fox gives his Chapters obtuse names, and sadly doesnt name the sections at all, however, he does provide guidence for the patient reader: By reading the first few paragraph intro, and the last few paragraphs summary, of each section and chapter, one can determine what that section is about. In this way its possible to get a lay of the land cover to cover in a few hours. Then, go back and read those sections you are most
interested in, underlining interesting phrases (the book is full of gold quotable nuggets), and come back to or skim the rest later. I give it 4 stars because of the vauge Table of Contents, otherwise this is a history classic.
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