Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
This volume focuses on Christianity in Attica and its metropolis, Athens, from Paul’s initial visit in the first century up to the closing of the philosophical schools under the reign of Justinian I in the sixth century. Underscoring the relevance of epigraphic resources and the importance of methodological sophistication in analysing especially archaeological evidence, it readdresses many questions on the basis of a larger body of evidence and aims to combine literary, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence in order to create the outlines of a narrative of the rise and development of Christianity in the area. It is the first interdisciplinary study on the local history of Christianity in the area.
Price: $216.00
Pages: 602
Publisher: Brill
Imprint: Brill
Series: Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity
Publication Date:
17 November 2022
ISBN: 9789004509603
Format: Hardcover
“The book is a solid piece of scholarship on Christianization of Athens and Attica. It is a significant achievement as it utilizes an immense amount of research to offer a panoramic and detailed picture of the development of Christianity […] The authors persuasively combine historical, literary, archaeological and epigraphical information, to give specialists in Late Antiquity a comprehensive picture of Christianity in Athens from its beginnings in the first century. At the same time, the enormous and systematically collected information opens the way to further research into a variety of other related subjects and stimulates discussion on many controversial issues.”
Helen Saradi, Professor of Byzantine History and Byzantine Civilization, University of the Peloponnese, Kalamata. In: Plekos 26 (2024) 155–170
"The authors should be congratulated on the huge amount of primary and secondary literature they have managed to bring together, present, and discuss. Remaining loyal to the philosophy of the series, Breytenbach and Tzavella’s project proves to be mostly aggregative and expository [...] The most important ancient texts and all the Christian inscriptions discussed are cited in full and have been translated. The quality of the English and the editing is excellent."
Georgios Deligiannakis, Open University of Cyprus. In: Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2024.03.26
"Das Werk bietet […] einen einfachen und übersichtlichen Zugang zu den vielzähligen verarbeiteten Quellen und Diskursen. In dieser Bereitstellung eines Zugangs zum frühen Christentum in Athen und Umgebung, seinen Quellen und den in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten verfassten Forschungspositionen besteht die große Leistung der Autoren, der sich so als Ausgang weiterer Überlegungen anbietet. Dem eingangs formulierten Anspruch, einen Überblick über die relevante Evidenz verschaffen zu wollen, wird das Werk in seiner Gesamtheit gerecht, wobei die erstmalige synoptische Präsentation des archäologischen Materials diesen Charakter abrundet." Felix Schäfer, Universität Münster. In: The Byzantine Review 6 (2024) 86-98.
“Breytenbach and Tzavella [produce] an extensively argued analysis, compendiously rooted in evidence which is made straightforwardly available to the reader, enabling their book to function both as synthesis and, to a great extent, as a topically arranged catalogue and repository. [… They] have produced what will undoubtedly be the definitive resource for the foreseeable future for evidence and discussion about early Christianity in this region.” – Peter Oakes, Manchester, UK. In: Theologische Literaturzeitung 149 (2024) 12, 1165-1166.
"This book contributes significantly to current scholarly debates surrounding the development of Christianity in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly the complex transition from polytheistic to Christian practices. Breytenbach and Tzavella offer a fresh perspective by focusing on material evidence rather than relying solely on literary sources. Their careful documentation of archaeological sites and inscriptions adds depth to our understanding of how Christianity was physically embedded in the urban and rural landscapes of Attica.”
– Richard S. Ascough, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada. In: Religious Studies Review 50/3 (2024) 615.
Helen Saradi, Professor of Byzantine History and Byzantine Civilization, University of the Peloponnese, Kalamata. In: Plekos 26 (2024) 155–170
"The authors should be congratulated on the huge amount of primary and secondary literature they have managed to bring together, present, and discuss. Remaining loyal to the philosophy of the series, Breytenbach and Tzavella’s project proves to be mostly aggregative and expository [...] The most important ancient texts and all the Christian inscriptions discussed are cited in full and have been translated. The quality of the English and the editing is excellent."
Georgios Deligiannakis, Open University of Cyprus. In: Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2024.03.26
"Das Werk bietet […] einen einfachen und übersichtlichen Zugang zu den vielzähligen verarbeiteten Quellen und Diskursen. In dieser Bereitstellung eines Zugangs zum frühen Christentum in Athen und Umgebung, seinen Quellen und den in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten verfassten Forschungspositionen besteht die große Leistung der Autoren, der sich so als Ausgang weiterer Überlegungen anbietet. Dem eingangs formulierten Anspruch, einen Überblick über die relevante Evidenz verschaffen zu wollen, wird das Werk in seiner Gesamtheit gerecht, wobei die erstmalige synoptische Präsentation des archäologischen Materials diesen Charakter abrundet." Felix Schäfer, Universität Münster. In: The Byzantine Review 6 (2024) 86-98.
“Breytenbach and Tzavella [produce] an extensively argued analysis, compendiously rooted in evidence which is made straightforwardly available to the reader, enabling their book to function both as synthesis and, to a great extent, as a topically arranged catalogue and repository. [… They] have produced what will undoubtedly be the definitive resource for the foreseeable future for evidence and discussion about early Christianity in this region.” – Peter Oakes, Manchester, UK. In: Theologische Literaturzeitung 149 (2024) 12, 1165-1166.
"This book contributes significantly to current scholarly debates surrounding the development of Christianity in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly the complex transition from polytheistic to Christian practices. Breytenbach and Tzavella offer a fresh perspective by focusing on material evidence rather than relying solely on literary sources. Their careful documentation of archaeological sites and inscriptions adds depth to our understanding of how Christianity was physically embedded in the urban and rural landscapes of Attica.”
– Richard S. Ascough, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada. In: Religious Studies Review 50/3 (2024) 615.
Cilliers Breytenbach (Dr. theol. 1983; Dr. theol. habil. 1986, both LMU Munich) is Professor Emeritus for New Testament at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Professor Extraordinary for New Testament and for Ancient Studies at Stellenbosch University. He is inter alia the co-author of Early Christianity in Lycaonia and Adjacent Areas (Leiden, 2018) and author of The Gospel according to Mark as Episodic Narrative (Leiden, 2021).
Elli Tzavella (PhD in Byzantine Studies 2013, University of Birmingham) is archaeologist at the Ephorate of Antiquities of Boeotia, Hellenic Ministry of Culture. She has published many articles on Athens and Attica during late antiquity and the Byzantine period and she is author of Byzantine Attica: An Archaeology of Settlement and Landscape (4th–12th c. AD) (Turnhout, in press).
Elli Tzavella (PhD in Byzantine Studies 2013, University of Birmingham) is archaeologist at the Ephorate of Antiquities of Boeotia, Hellenic Ministry of Culture. She has published many articles on Athens and Attica during late antiquity and the Byzantine period and she is author of Byzantine Attica: An Archaeology of Settlement and Landscape (4th–12th c. AD) (Turnhout, in press).