The Final Pagan Generation: Rome's Unexpected Path to Christianity

Format: Paperback Language: English ISBN: 0520379225 ISBN13: 9780520379220 Release Date: August 2020 Publisher: University of California Press Length: 352 Pages Weight: 1.12 lbs. Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.9" A compelling history of radical transformation in the fourth-century--when Christianity decimated the practices of traditional pagan religion in the Roman Empire.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