CUP (2026) p/b 376pp (ISBN 9781009714655)
The later fourth to sixth centuries AD, roughly between the reigns of Constantine and Justinian’s successors, saw Christianity change from a tolerated, recently persecuted, minor religion to become the standard, approved and later imposed by the emperor—and holding this position not only in the Eastern Empire but also (in different versions) in the various kingdoms which replaced the collapsed empire in the West.
How this huge change happened has fascinated many scholars, as this book makes clear. In recent years the tendency has been to think that the process was slower than previously envisaged: elite Romans sought political careers as they always had, and emperors would not much care what they believed in so long as they fulfilled their functions properly; bishops and other religious leaders had little political clout. W. takes issue with this view. Unlike other writers, he focuses on the people who serviced the secular state—governors, palace officials etc. —and argues that there is evidence that they could be, and usually were, genuine believers (as opposed to merely claiming to be so in order to get the job).
Throughout this book, W. gives a wide-ranging examination of the evidence, which is difficult. There is substantial correspondence, biographies of holy people, account of sermons and so on, and records of disputes, but most of these express the views of religious actors (bishops, priests, ascetics and so on) addressing the secular world with petitions, exhortations to good behaviour, sometimes complaints; it is relatively rare to get a reply, let alone an expression of feeling, from someone serving the state in some official capacity.
After a lengthy introduction explaining his purpose, W. divides his narrative into three parts: ‘requirements’ (to what extent the state required conformity in belief and practice and how this changed over the period); ‘models’ (how Christian officials were expected to behave in their general conduct); and ‘entanglements’ (how they actually did behave in the palaces where they worked, their churchgoing, expected and actual, and so on). W. does a wide sweep through the patchy evidence and concludes, on the one hand, that emperors and kings did not worry about what individuals practised so long as they did their jobs well and kept within the official line and, on the other hand, that most officials saw no conflict between serving the state (for the common good) and being practising Christians. And he finds all this applies not only in the Eastern Empire based in Constantinople but also in the kingdoms which replaced the Western Empire—Ostrogothic, Visigothic, Burgundian etc. —even those who, unlike the East, had adopted unorthodox Aryan Christianity.
This is a book for other scholars rather than for the general reader. Knowledge of the basic history of the period is assumed in the reader: there are no timelines, maps or useful summaries. There are however copious references on almost every page and a substantial bibliography of relevant academic literature. Novices to the period would be well advised to read other material first to get up to speed before tackling this book. The sheer wealth and quantity of matter discussed can seem a little overwhelming and, at first, it is not an easy read—but it may well repay going through it a second time, and is not without humour.
Colin McDonald