Description
Book SynopsisRufinus'' 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 (Ambro
Trade ReviewThe Last Pagans of Rome is a book of a generation. A model of erudition and integrity of argument, it is also a book that will be with us for many generations to come. * Peter Brown, New York Review of Books *
Table of Contents1: Pagans and Polytheists ; 2: From Constantius to Theodosius ; 3: The Frigidus ; 4: Pagan Priests and Initiates ; 5: Pagan Converts ; 6: Pagan Writers ; 7: Macrobius and the "Pagan" Culture of his Age ; 8: The Poem against the Pagans ; 9: Other Christian Invectives ; 10: The Real Circle of Symmachus ; 11: The "Pagan" Literary Revival ; 12: Correctors and Critics I ; 13: Correctors and Critics II ; 14: The Livian Revival ; 15: Greek Texts and Latin Translation ; 16: Pagan Scholarship: Vergil and his Commentators ; 17: The Annales of Nicomachus Flavianus I ; 18: The Annales of Nicomachus Flavianus II ; 19. Classical Revivals ; 20: The Historia Augusta ; Conclusion ; Appendix: The Poem against the Pagans
