Pagans, Saints and Magic in Late Antiquity

This is a cultural history course that looks at issues that were at the centre of social change in Late Antiquity (3rd-6th centuries AD). The later Roman empire witnessed major cultural upheavals and political collapse; according to many contemporaries, the rise of Christianity and its attempts to be the only religion within the empire was at the centre of much of this change. Debate spilled out onto streets as civil riot, pogroms and vandalism in places such as Athens, Alexandria and Antioch. European views of religious (in)tolerance, orthodoxy, heresy and magic developed within this period, as did the notion of the 'holy man', power of the 'relic' and personal asceticism as an ideal. In particular, this course will use literary sources in translation to examine the history of pagan religions in Late Antiquity, their reactions and challenges to the rise of Christianity. We will study the rise of the cult of the martyr and of asceticism, using contemporary poetry, letters and biographies. Finally, the intertwining concepts of magic and miracles will be explored in the context of Christianity and a variety of pagan and philosophical groups, with an emphasis on the eastern Mediterranean world.