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Christians in Caesar's Household : The Emperors' Slaves in the Makings of Christianity / Michael Flexsenhar III.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Inventing Christianity ; 1Publisher: University Park, PA : Penn State University Press, [2021]Copyright date: ©2019Description: 1 online resource (208 p.) : 17 illustrations/2 mapsContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780271084091
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 274.45/3201 23
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- List of Abbreviations -- Introduction -- 1 Paul, the Philippians, and Caesar's Household (Phil 4:22) -- 2 Paul, Peter, and Nero's Slaves: Martyrdoms and Apostolic Acts -- 3 Rome's Imperial Household in Christian Polemic and Apologetic -- 4 Christian Piety and a Martyred Slave of Caesar -- 5 Material Evidence for a Christian Imperial Freedman -- 6 Christians and Imperial Personnel in Rome's Catacombs -- Conclusion: The Memory of Imperial Slavery in Early Christianity -- Appendixes -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index
Summary: In this volume, Michael Flexsenhar III advances the argument that imperial slaves and freedpersons in the Roman Empire were essential to early Christians' self-conception as a distinct people in the Mediterranean and played a multifaceted role in the making of early Christianity.Scholarship in early Christianity has for centuries viewed Roman emperors' slaves and freedmen as responsible for ushering Christianity onto the world stage, traditionally using Paul's allusion to "the saints from Caesar's household" in Philippians 4:22 as a core literary lens. Merging textual and material evidence with diaspora and memory studies, Flexsenhar expands on this narrative to explore new and more nuanced representations of this group, showing how the long-accepted stories of Christian slaves and freepersons in Caesar's household should not be taken at face value but should instead be understood within the context of Christian myth- and meaning-making. Flexsenhar analyzes textual and material evidence from the first to the sixth century, spanning Roman Asia, the Aegean rim, Gaul, and the coast of North Africa as well as the imperial capital itself. As a result, this book shows how stories of the emperor's slaves were integral to key developments in the spread of Christianity, generating origin myths in Rome and establishing a shared history and geography there, differentiating and negotiating assimilation with other groups, and expressing commemorative language, ritual acts, and a material culture.With its thoughtful critical readings of literary and material sources and its fresh analysis of the lived experiences of imperial slaves and freedpersons, Christians in Caesar's Household is indispensable reading for scholars of early Christianity, the origins of religion, and the Roman Empire.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780271084091

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- List of Abbreviations -- Introduction -- 1 Paul, the Philippians, and Caesar's Household (Phil 4:22) -- 2 Paul, Peter, and Nero's Slaves: Martyrdoms and Apostolic Acts -- 3 Rome's Imperial Household in Christian Polemic and Apologetic -- 4 Christian Piety and a Martyred Slave of Caesar -- 5 Material Evidence for a Christian Imperial Freedman -- 6 Christians and Imperial Personnel in Rome's Catacombs -- Conclusion: The Memory of Imperial Slavery in Early Christianity -- Appendixes -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

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http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

In this volume, Michael Flexsenhar III advances the argument that imperial slaves and freedpersons in the Roman Empire were essential to early Christians' self-conception as a distinct people in the Mediterranean and played a multifaceted role in the making of early Christianity.Scholarship in early Christianity has for centuries viewed Roman emperors' slaves and freedmen as responsible for ushering Christianity onto the world stage, traditionally using Paul's allusion to "the saints from Caesar's household" in Philippians 4:22 as a core literary lens. Merging textual and material evidence with diaspora and memory studies, Flexsenhar expands on this narrative to explore new and more nuanced representations of this group, showing how the long-accepted stories of Christian slaves and freepersons in Caesar's household should not be taken at face value but should instead be understood within the context of Christian myth- and meaning-making. Flexsenhar analyzes textual and material evidence from the first to the sixth century, spanning Roman Asia, the Aegean rim, Gaul, and the coast of North Africa as well as the imperial capital itself. As a result, this book shows how stories of the emperor's slaves were integral to key developments in the spread of Christianity, generating origin myths in Rome and establishing a shared history and geography there, differentiating and negotiating assimilation with other groups, and expressing commemorative language, ritual acts, and a material culture.With its thoughtful critical readings of literary and material sources and its fresh analysis of the lived experiences of imperial slaves and freedpersons, Christians in Caesar's Household is indispensable reading for scholars of early Christianity, the origins of religion, and the Roman Empire.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Aug 2021)