MARC Record from harvard_bibliographic_metadata

LEADER: 03842cam a2200409 a 4500
001 012629324-4
005 20110112162737.0
008 100309s2011 nyua b 001 0 eng
010 $a 2010009147
020 $a9780199747276
020 $a019974727X
035 0 $aocn553365192
040 $aDLC$cDLC$dYDX$dYDXCP$dUKM
043 $ae------$aff-----$aaw-----
050 00 $aBR170$b.C36 2011
100 1 $aCameron, Alan,$d1938-
245 14 $aThe last pagans of Rome /$cAlan Cameron.
260 $aNew York :$bOxford University Press,$c2011.
300 $ax, 878 p. :$bill. ;$c26 cm.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 809-854) and index.
505 0 $aPagans and polytheists -- From Constantius to Theodosius -- The frigidus -- Priests and initiates -- Pagan converts -- Pagan writers -- Macrobius and the 'pagan' culture of his age -- The poem against the pagans -- Other Christian verse invectives -- The real circle of Symmachus -- The 'pagan' literary revival -- Correctors and critics I -- Correctors and critics II -- The Livian revival -- Greek texts and Latin translation -- Pagan scholarship : Vergil and his commentators -- The Annales of Nicomachus Flavianus I -- The Annales of Nicomachus Flavianus II -- Classical revivals and 'pagan art' -- The Historia Augusta.
520 $aRufinus' vivid account of the battle between the Eastern Emperor Theodosius and the Western usurper Eugenius by the River Frigidus in 394 represents it as the final confrontation between paganism and Christianity. It is indeed widely believed that a largely pagan aristocracy remained a powerful and active force well into the fifth century, sponsoring pagan literary circles, patronage of the classics, and propaganda for the old cults in art and literature. The main focus of much modern scholarship on the end of paganism in the West has been on its supposed stubborn resistance to Christianity. The dismantling of this romantic myth is one of the main goals of Alan Cameron's book. Actually, the book argues, Western paganism petered out much earlier and more rapidly than hitherto assumed. The subject of this book is not the conversion of the last pagans but rather the duration, nature, and consequences of their survival. By re-examining the abundant textual evidence, both Christian (Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, Paulinus, Prudentius) and "pagan" (Claudian, Macrobius, and Ammianus Marcellinus), as well as the visual evidence (ivory diptychs, illuminated manuscripts, silverware), Cameron shows that most of the activities and artifacts previously identified as hallmarks of a pagan revival were in fact just as important to the life of cultivated Christians. Far from being a subversive activity designed to rally pagans, the acceptance of classical literature, learning, and art by most elite Christiansmay actually have helped the last reluctant pagans to finally abandon the old cults and adopt Christianity. The culmination of decades of research, The Last Pagans of Rome will overturn many long-held assumptions about pagan and Christian culture in the late antique West.
650 0 $aChristianity and other religions$xRoman.
650 0 $aChurch history$yPrimitive and early church, approximately 30-600.
651 0 $aRome$xHistory$yEmpire, 30 B.C.-476 A.D.
650 0 $aChristianity and other religions$xPaganism$xHistory$yEarly church, approximately 30-600.
650 0 $aPaganism$xRelations$xChristianity.
650 0 $aEmperors$zRome.
651 0 $aRome$xReligion.
651 0 $aRome$xCivilization.
650 0 $aChurch history$yPrimitive and early church, ca. 30-600.
650 0 $aChristianity and other religions$xPaganism.
650 0 $aChristianity and culture$xHistory$yEarly church, ca. 30-600.
899 $a415_565478
899 $a415_565533
988 $a20101203
906 $0DLC