Christianity transformed the Roman world and was transformed by it. It is an important part of the foundations of modern Western civilisation, yet it started as an obscure cult in a backwater of the eastern Mediterranean. This course looks at how Christianity moved from obscure cult to state religion, and became the guardian of Roman culture.

DELIVERY MODE

• Hybrid (F2F & Online simultaneously)

SUGGESTED READING

• Early Christian Writings (Penguin Classics)
• MacMullen, Ramsey. The Christianization of the Roman Empire, Yale, 1964
• Brown, Peter. The Rise of Western Christendom, Blackwell, 1986

COURSE OUTLINE

• Background, origin and myths about the early church; Growth, spread and persecutions
• Heresy and orthodoxy; The impact of Constantine; transformation into state church
• Foundations for the growth of the papacy; Constantine to Theodosius; A sacred text
• Spread into the countryside; The impact of the Barbarians

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Recognise the pluriform nature of early Christianity
2. Understand the appeal of Christianity in the Roman world
3. Evaluate the role of Constantine and his successors in the standardisation of Christian doctrine
4. Evaluate the role of the church in the survival of Roman civilisation