
The Final Pagan Generation: Rome's Unexpected Path to Christianity - Transformation of the Classical Heritage 53 (Hardback)
Edward J. Watts (author)
£30.00
Hardback
356 Pages
Published: 30/01/2015
Published: 30/01/2015
Email me when available
Stay one step ahead and let us notify you when this item is next available to order
Email me when available
Enter your email below and we will notify you when this item is next available to order.

The Final Pagan Generation: Rome's Unexpected Path to Christianity - Transformation of the Classical Heritage 53 (Hardback)
£30.00
Thank you
We will contact you when this item is next available to order.
The Final Pagan Generation recounts the fascinating story of the lives and fortunes of the last Romans born before the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. Edward J. Watts traces their experiences of living through the fourth century's dramatic religious and political changes, when heated confrontations saw the Christian establishment legislate against pagan practices as mobs attacked pagan holy sites and temples. The emperors who issued these laws, the imperial officials charged with implementing them, and the Christian perpetrators of religious violence were almost exclusively young men whose attitudes and actions contrasted markedly with those of the earlier generation, who shared neither their juniors' interest in creating sharply defined religious identities nor their propensity for violent conflict. Watts examines why the "final pagan generation" born to the old ways and the old world in which it seemed to everyone that religious practices would continue as they had for the past two thousand years proved both unable to anticipate the changes that imperially sponsored Christianity produced and unwilling to resist them.
A compelling and provocative read, suitable for the general reader as well as students and scholars of the ancient world.
Publisher: University of California Press
ISBN: 9780520283701
Number of pages: 356
Weight: 590 g
Dimensions: 229 x 152 x 25 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
"A fantastic slice of classical history." Foreword Reviews "Well researched and proficient ... awash with well-organized historical information." -- Kathleen Dupre Library Journal Accessible and engaging for students and general readers. -- Thomas M. Banchich Bryn Mawr Classical Review "Accessible to non-specialists and useful as an undergraduate text in courses...an absorbing, erudite, and highly useful book from which anyone studying late antiquity or early Christianity will profit." -- James A. Francis Journal of Early Christian Studies "Edward Watta's The Final Pagan Generation is among the best works of academic history I've ever read." -- Yuval Levin National Review "Watts demonstrates his mastery of both primary and modern sources ... The text is virtually flawless." -- Linda Jones Hall The Classical Journal
You may also be interested in...
Please sign in to write a review
Sign In / Register
Not registered? CREATE AN ACCOUNTCREATE A plus ACCOUNT
Sign In
Download the Waterstones App
Would you like to proceed to the App store to download the Waterstones App?
Click & Collect
Reserve online, pay on collection
Thank you for your reservation
Your order is now being processed and we have sent a confirmation email to you at
When will my order be ready to collect?
Following the initial email, you will be contacted by the shop to confirm that your item is available for collection.
Call us on or send us an email at
Unfortunately there has been a problem with your order
Please try again or alternatively you can contact your chosen shop on or send us an email at