Hellenic Religion and Christianization, C. 370-529

Discussing the decline of Greek religion and the christianization of town and countryside in the eastern Roman Empire between the death of Julian the Apostate and the laws of Justinian the Great against paganism, circa 370-529, this work examines such questions as the effect of the laws against sacrifice and sorcery; temple conversions; the degradation of pagan gods into "daimones"; the christianization of rite; and the social, political and economic background of conversion to Christianity. Several local contexts are examined in great detail: Gaza, Athens, Alexandria, Aphrodisias, central Asia Minor, northern Syria, the Nile basin and the province of Arabia. Particular emphasis is put on the criticism of epigraphy, legal evidence and hagiographic texts. The demographic growth of Christianity and the chronology of this process in selected local contexts is traced. The book also seeks to understand the behavioural patterns of conversion.