"Christians to the lions!" The image of early Christian victims of pagan blood - lust in the Roman arenas are as familiar as a catechism to Christians of all ages. Dr. Richard DeVoe parallels the development of these two great social forces of the Roman Empire: Christianity; the Roman games which included not only the arena, but also the circus and the theatre. He questions why Christianity did not have more effect on the Roman games, as both institutions grew apace for four centuries. He concludes, contrary to traditional church history, that Christianity did not limit, but, in fact absorbed and perpetuated the games. Why? With regard not only to the games, but also education, the military and the imperial cult, Rome was not Christianized: Christianity was paganized! Christianity and the Roman Games traces this process of paganization from the first through the fifth centuries, discovering surprising consequences both for Christianity and subsequent history.

An analysis of the lives of ancient Rome's gladiators explores how they were both despised and hero-worshiped, chronicling how tens of thousands of gladiators perished publicly over the course of six hundred years.

The rise of Christianity during the first four centuries of the common era was the pivotal development in Western history and profoundly influenced the later direction of all world history. Yet, for all that has been written on early Christian history, the primary sources for this history are widely scattered, difficult to find, and generally unknown to lay persons and to historians not specially trained in the field. In Christianity and the Roman Empire Ralph Novak interweaves these primary sources with a narrative text and constructs a single continuous account of these crucial centuries. The primary sources are selected to emphasize the manner in which the government and the people of the Roman Empire perceived Christians socially and politically; the ways in which these perceptions influenced the treatment of Christians within the Roman Empire; and the manner in which Christians established their political and religious dominance of the Roman Empire after Constantine the Great came to power in the early fourth century CE. Ralph Martin Novak holds a Masters Degree in Roman History from the University of Chicago. For: Undergraduates; seminarians; general audiences

This book offers an engrossing portrayal of the early years of the Christian movement from the perspective of the Romans.

Constantine and the Council of Nicaea plunges students into the theological debates confronting early Christian church leaders. Emperor Constantine has sanctioned Christianity as a legitimate religion within the Roman Empire but discovers that Christians do not agree on fundamental aspects of their beliefs. Some have resorted to violence, battling over which group has the correct theology. Constantine has invited all of the bishops of the church to attend a great church council to be held in Nicaea, hoping to settle these problems and others. The first order of business is to agree on a core theology of the church to which Christians must subscribe if they are to hold to the "true faith." Some will attempt to use the creed to exclude their enemies from the church. If they succeed, Constantine may fail to achieve his goal of unity in both empire and church. The outcome of this conference will shape the future of Christianity for millennia. Free supplementary materials for this textbook are available at the Reacting to the Past website. Visit https://reacting.barnard.edu/instructor-resources, click on the RTTP Game Library link, and create a free account to download what is available.

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of the Pope." --Book Jacket.