Pagans and Christians in Late Antiquity: A Sourcebook

Review by Lucas Mcmahon for Pagans and Christians in Late Antiquity: A Sourcebook
Rating:
do not like sourebooks, however, I really like this sourcebook. This book has three features that really make it outstanding.

1. It focuses on the obscure. While there are certainly passages from well-known historians such as Eusebius, Lactantius and Procopius, this book includes artwork, archaeological evidence and letters. These minor pieces of evidence are really important because they are so hard to find. Anyone can go to a library and check out a copy of ‘de Mortibus Persecutorum’, but not everyone has the time, interest or resources to go through the reports of the Dura-Europos excavations. This book is greatly enhanced by a wide breadth of atypical source material.

2. It provides context. Lee writes a little passage before each source snippet to put it into context. While that is helpful, he also references scholarly works in those snippets, so not only is this a sourcebook of ancient sources, but also modern interpretations.

3. It’s organization is very good. The first half of the book or so is divided up chronologically and ends in the 6th century. The book then has a section on other religions, but it ends with excellent thematic chapters, detailing material resources, women, bishops and monasticism. These later source materials also provide references to relevant passages in the earlier chapters, making it very easy to navigate through this book.

In sum, this is a first-rate sourcebook.