Roman Imperial Identities in the Early Christian Era (Routledge Monographs in Classical Studies)

Perkins, Judith

ISBN 10: 0415397448 / ISBN 13: 9780415397445

Published by Routledge, 2008

About this Item

Explores the ways in which fictional narratives were used to explore tensions between the individual and the dominant culture attendant on the rise of Christianity, and the displacement of Greeks from the hegemonic position in the Roman empire. This book focuses on marginalized and suppressed identities, subtleties and the sub-rational. Series: Routledge Monographs in Classical Studies. Num Pages: 224 pages, black & white illustrations. BIC Classification: HDDK; HR. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational; (UP) Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly; (UU) Undergraduate. Dimension: 234 x 156 x 20. Weight in Grams: 476. . 2008. 1st Edition. hardcover. . . . .

Seller Inventory # V9780415397445

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Roman Imperial Identities in the Early Christian Era (Routledge Monographs in Classical Studies)
• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0415397448
• ISBN 13: 9780415397445
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Through the close study of texts, Roman Imperial Identities in the Early Christian Era examines the overlapping emphases and themes of two cosmopolitan and multiethnic cultural identities emerging in the early centuries CE – a trans-empire alliance of the Elite and the "Christians." Exploring the cultural representations of these social identities, Judith Perkins shows that they converge around an array of shared themes: violence, the body, prisons, courts, and time.

Locating Christian representations within their historical context and in dialogue with other contemporary representations, it asks why do Christian representations share certain emphases? To what do they respond, and to whom might they appeal? For example, does the increasing Christian emphasis on a fully material human resurrection in the early centuries, respond to the evolution of a harsher and more status based judicial system?

Judith Perkins argues that Christians were so successful in suppressing their social identity as inhabitants of the Roman Empire, that historical documents and testimony have been sequestered as "Christian" rather than recognized as evidence for the social dynamics enacted during the period, Her discussion offers a stimulating survey of interest to students of ancient narrative, cultural studies and gender.

About the Author

Judith Perkins is professor of Classics and Humanities at Saint Joseph College, Connecticut. Her research focuses on the social and cultural dynamics of early Christian representation in its historical matrix. She is the author of  The Suffering Self (Routledge 1995).