Religious Practices and Christianization of the Late Antique City (4th – 7th Cent.)

Book Details

Title	Religious Practices and Christianization of the Late Antique City (4th – 7th Cent.)
Author(s)	Aude Busine (Editor)
Publisher	Brill Academic Publishers
Year	2015
Edition	First Edition
Language	English
Pages	243
ISBN	9789004294608
Genre	History / Religious Studies / Archaeology
Series	Religions in the Graeco-Roman World (Vol. 182)
Size	4 MB
Extension	PDF

Summary

Religious Practices and Christianization of the Late Antique City (4th – 7th Cent.) is a scholarly collection edited by Aude Busine and published by Brill in 2015 as volume 182 of the series Religions in the Graeco-Roman World [citation:3]. The volume brings together eleven papers by historians, archaeologists, and historians of religion who share a common concern: understanding how the gradual Christianization of the Roman Empire transformed the physical and social fabric of the ancient city. Rather than treating Christianization as a simple story of triumph or decline, the contributors examine the complex interplay between religious change and urban evolution, asking how the abandonment of traditional cults and the adoption of new Christian practices reshaped civic space, public ritual, and collective memory [citation:1][citation:6].

The book's scope is deliberately broad, encompassing both the western and eastern halves of the empire and drawing on a wide range of sources—literary texts, inscriptions, archaeological remains, and architectural evidence. Individual chapters address topics such as the persistence of pagan sacredness in the Roman Forum, the representation of urban identity in church complexes, public rituals of "depaganization," and the fate of statue habits in late antiquity [citation:1]. Several contributions focus on specific cities or regions, including Antioch, Constantinople, Rome, and the Aegean islands, offering fine-grained case studies that illuminate broader patterns. The linguistic range of the volume reflects the multilingual reality of late antique scholarship, with chapters in both English and French [citation:10].

For readers engaged in research on late antiquity, the book offers a valuable synthesis of current approaches to a central historical question. The contributors do not assume that Christianization was a uniform or linear process; instead, they attend to the unevenness of change, the survival of pagan practices, and the ways in which Christian communities appropriated and reinterpreted existing urban traditions. The concluding chapter by Hervé Inglebert, "De la cité rituelle à la communauté sacramentelle," frames the volume's findings in terms of a shift from a city defined by civic ritual to one organized around sacramental community . This conceptual framing provides a useful lens for understanding the broader significance of the individual case studies.

The volume is intended for an academic readership, particularly scholars and graduate students in late antique history, early Christianity, classical archaeology, and religious studies. The contributions assume familiarity with the historical period and with the methodological debates that animate the field, making the book less suitable for undergraduates or general readers seeking an introduction to the topic. However, for those already engaged in research, the collection offers a rich and nuanced treatment of a pivotal transformation in Mediterranean urban history. The presence of a detailed index locorum and a list of figures further enhances its utility as a scholarly resource .

Aude Busine, the volume's editor, is a professor of ancient history at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and a specialist in the religious and cultural history of the Roman East [citation:4][citation:8]. Her own research on oracular practices and civic identity in late antiquity informs the volume's approach, and her introduction sets out the intellectual stakes of the collection with clarity. While the book has not been widely reviewed outside specialist journals, it occupies a well-defined niche within Brill's distinguished Religions in the Graeco-Roman World series, which has long been a venue for innovative scholarship on ancient Mediterranean religions. For libraries and research institutions supporting programs in late antiquity, this volume is a worthwhile acquisition.

Key Features

• The volume comprises eleven original papers by an international group of historians, archaeologists, and historians of religion, offering a multidisciplinary perspective on late antique Christianization.
• It examines the Christianization of the Roman Empire specifically within the context of the transformations and decline of the Greco-Roman city, linking religious change to urban evolution.
• Contributions cover both the western and eastern provinces of the empire, with case studies on Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, and the Aegean islands.
• Several chapters address the persistence of pagan sacredness and the physical survival of traditional cult sites within an increasingly Christian urban landscape.
• The book includes a detailed index locorum, facilitating reference to specific ancient sources cited across the volume.
• Chapters in both English and French reflect the bilingual scholarly tradition of late antique studies.
• Contributors include leading scholars such as Claire Sotinel, Bryan Ward-Perkins, and David M. Gwynn, ensuring authoritative coverage of key debates.
• The concluding chapter by Hervé Inglebert offers a conceptual synthesis, framing the shift from the ritual city to the sacramental community.
• The volume is published in Brill's Religions in the Graeco-Roman World series, a recognized venue for scholarship on ancient Mediterranean religions.
• The editor, Aude Busine, is a specialist in the religious history of the Roman East and brings her expertise to the volume's introduction and overall conception.
• The book addresses the political, economic, and social dimensions of Christianization alongside the religious, avoiding a narrowly ecclesiastical focus.
• At 243 pages, the collection provides focused and substantive contributions without excessive length, making it accessible for scholars with limited reading time.

About the Author

Aude Busine is Professor of Ancient History at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and an Honorary Researcher at the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S.-FNRS) [citation:4]. Born in 1976, she has established herself as a leading scholar of the religious and cultural history of the eastern, Greek-speaking part of the Roman Empire, with a particular focus on civic discourses on time and space [citation:4][citation:8]. She earned her doctorate in 2003 and has since published extensively on oracular practices, the cult of saints, and the transformation of urban landscapes in late antiquity. Her monograph Paroles d'Apollon: Pratiques et traditions oraculaires dans l'Antiquité tardive (IIe–VIe siècles) (Brill, 2005) remains a standard reference on late antique oracles, and she has edited the present volume on Christianization and the late antique city.

Busine's research has been supported by numerous institutions, including the Maison Suger in Paris, where she was a researcher in residence in 2024, and the École Pratique des Hautes Études [citation:4]. Her current work on "Memories of Stones" investigates the construction of a memorial landscape in the Late Roman East, examining how the physical transformation of cities—the closure of temples, the construction of churches, the reuse of statues and inscriptions—was accompanied by new forms of collective memory and civic discourse [citation:4]. This research interest directly informs the present volume, which brings together case studies on precisely these themes. Busine is also the President of the History Program at ULB and has served as a qualified researcher for the FNRS [citation:8]. Her combination of editorial rigor and substantive expertise makes her an ideal guide to the complex subject of Christianization and urban change.

Related Books

• The Making of Late Antiquity — Peter Brown
• The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, A.D. 200-1000 — Peter Brown
• Christianization and Communication in Late Antiquity — Jaclyn Maxwell
• The Cambridge Companion to Late Antiquity — Philip Rousseau (Editor)
• Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World — G.W. Bowersock, Peter Brown, and Oleg Grabar (Editors)
• Pagans and Christians — Robin Lane Fox
• The Final Pagan Generation — Edward J. Watts
• Urban Centers and Rural Contexts in Late Antiquity — Thomas S. Burns and John W. Eadie (Editors)

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FAQ

Q : What is the ISBN of Religious Practices and Christianization of the Late Antique City?

R : The hardback edition published by Brill in 2015 carries ISBN 9789004294608, and the e-book edition has ISBN 9789004299047 [citation:3][citation:7]. The volume is 243 pages plus a list of figures and an index locorum, and it is number 182 in the Religions in the Graeco-Roman World series [citation:3]. A paperback reissue appeared in 2021 [citation:4].

Q : Is this book a monograph or an edited collection?

R : It is an edited collection of eleven papers by different scholars, brought together by Aude Busine. The contributors include Claire Sotinel, Catherine Saliou, Ine Jacobs, Johannes Hahn, Kristine Iara, Michael Mulryan, Bryan Ward-Perkins, Georgios Deligiannakis, David M. Gwynn, and Hervé Inglebert . Busine contributes the introduction, which frames the volume's central questions about Christianization and urban transformation.

Q : What is the central argument of the book?

R : The volume as a whole does not advance a single argument but rather explores a shared question: how did the progressive abandonment of traditional cults and the adoption of Christian practices transform the late antique city? The contributors examine the links between religious change and political, economic, and social mutations, and they attend to the unevenness of Christianization rather than treating it as a uniform process [citation:1][citation:6]. The concluding chapter by Inglebert proposes a shift from the "ritual city" to the "sacramental community" as a way of conceptualizing the transformation .

Q : Who is the intended audience for this volume?

R : The book is aimed at scholars and graduate students in late antique history, early Christianity, classical archaeology, and religious studies. The contributions assume familiarity with the historical period and with current methodological debates, making the volume less accessible to undergraduates or general readers. For researchers, however, the collection offers a valuable set of case studies and a useful synthesis of approaches to Christianization and urban change.

Q : Who is Aude Busine?

R : Aude Busine is Professor of Ancient History at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and an Honorary Researcher at the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S.-FNRS) [citation:4]. She specializes in the religious and cultural history of the Roman East and has published extensively on oracular practices, the cult of saints, and urban transformation in late antiquity. Her monograph Paroles d'Apollon (Brill, 2005) is a standard work on late antique oracles, and she edited the present volume.

Q : Does the book cover both the Western and Eastern Roman Empire?

R : Yes, the volume's scope is deliberately broad. Individual chapters address Rome and the Roman Forum, Antioch, Constantinople, the Aegean islands, and other regions across both halves of the empire [citation:1]. This geographical range allows readers to compare patterns of Christianization and urban change across different local contexts, and it reflects the volume's commitment to avoiding a narrowly Rome-centered or Constantinople-centered perspective.

Q : In what languages are the chapters written?

R : The volume includes chapters in both English and French. The publisher lists the languages as English and French, and the table of contents confirms that several contributions are in French, including chapters by Claire Sotinel, Catherine Saliou, and Hervé Inglebert [citation:1][citation:10]. This bilingual format reflects the scholarly traditions of late antique studies in both the Anglophone and Francophone academic worlds.

Q : Is this volume still available for purchase?

R : The book is available from Brill and through academic library suppliers. The hardback ISBN is 9789004294608 and the e-book ISBN is 9789004299047 [citation:3][citation:7]. A paperback reissue was published in 2021 [citation:4]. Given its specialized subject matter and academic publisher, the book is primarily sold to institutions and scholars rather than through general retail channels.