HIST 210: The Early Middle Ages, 284–1000 with Prof. Paul H. Freedman

Lecture 4 - The Christian Roman Empire [September 12, 2011]

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Overview:

The emperor Constantine’s conversion to Christianity brought change to the Roman Empire as its population gradually abandoned the old religions in favor of Christianity. The reign of Julian the Apostate, a nephew of Constantine, saw the last serious attempt to restore civic polytheism as the official religion. The Christian church of the fourth century was divided, however, by two serious heresies: Arianism and Donatism. Religious dissent led to the intervention of the emperors at church councils and elsewhere. Professor Freedman then introduces St. Augustine’s Confessions, including an overview of Platonism.

Assignments:

Brown, The World of Late Antiquity, pp. 34-112.