Synopses & Reviews
Eusebius'
Ecclesiastical History (402/3 CE) gives a vivid account of the confrontation between the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius and the Western usurper Eugenius. To many, the defeat of Eugenius and his pagan followers along the Frigidus River in 394 was the last gasp of a vigorous pagan revolt in the late fourth century, one spearheaded by the Roman aristocracy. This elaborate campaign to derail Christianity, as the story goes, consisted of identifiable pagan literary circles, pagan patronage of the classics, and pagan propaganda in art and literature. Recently, however, scholars have shown this picture to be wanting in accuracy and nuance. Alan Cameron's
The Last Pagans of Rome will replace this view with a richly detailed portrait of pagan society during the pivotal fourth and early fifth centuries.
The subject of his book is not the conversion of the last pagans but rather the duration, nature, and consequences of their survival. It is widely believed that pagan aristocrats remained in the majority till at least the 380s, and continued to be a powerful force well into the fifth century. On this basis the main focus of much modern scholarship has been on their supposed stubborn resistance to Christianity. Rather surprisingly, these aristocrats have been transformed from the arrogant, philistine land-grabbers most of them were into fearless champions of senatorial privilege, literature lovers, and aficionados of classical (especially Greek) culture. The dismantling of this romantic myth is one of the main goals of Cameron's book. If a pagan aristocracy did not mount a defiant political and cultural rearguard action, what did they do? If elite culture at this time was not starkly divided between pagan and Christian, what did it look like? By sifting through the abundant textual evidence--from the Church Fathers Ambrose, Augustine, and Jerome to the classicizing authors Claudian, Macrobius, and Aullus Gellius--as well as the visual evidence (diptychs, illuminated manuscripts, silverware, and ivories), Cameron develops sophisticated and comprehensive answers to these questions. Among the provocative conclusions he makes is that the many activities and artifacts previously identified as hallmarks of a pagan revival were in fact just as important to the life of cultivated Christians. Far from being a subversive pagan activity designed to rally pagans, the promotion of classical literature, learning, and art--and its acceptance by many elite Christians--may actually have helped the last reluctant pagans to finally abandon the old cults and adopt Christianity. Throughout Cameron's careful analysis he engages, often with wit and pugnacity, with the mountain of scholarship on the subject. The culmination of several decades of research, The Last Pagans of Rome will be quite simply a landmark publication.
Review
"The Last Pagans of Rome is a book of a generation. A model of erudition and integrity of argument, it is also a book that will be with us for many generations to come."--Peter Brown, New York Review of Books
"As befits a scholar whose work in this area since 1964 includes countless articles and reviews and six books, the weighing of ancient evidence and modern scholarly opinion in The Last Pagans of Rome is meticulous. It is also controlled by the broader understanding of cultural processes and human motivations that makes a thinking senior scholar a scholar worth reading rather than a scholiast who has made it to old age."--Tom Palaima, Times Higher Education
"This impressive book is a masterpiece, result of decades of research in the field of Late Antique Literature and History. Alan Cameron provides a sharp and stimulating reassessment of common assumptions about the confrontation between pagans and Christians in Late Antiquity. We must hope that people will take the time to read right through this very dense and rich book, which will undoubtedly become essential reading in the field of late Antique literature, religions, and history."--Bryn Mawr Classical Review
"Alan Cameron provides students of historical inquiry with one of the finest examples of methodology in this magnum opus. He proves that he has few equals in the interpretation of the events surrounding the transition of Roman culture from predominantly pagan to predominantly Christian. The Last Pagans of Rome is an important work that will become a dog-eared necessity in the teaching of late antiquity. Few who manage to digest its contents will argue against the might and mastery of Cameron's conclusions."--The Councilor: The Journal of the Illinois Councilor for the Social Studies
"Alan Cameron's Last Pagans of Rome is one of the best and most important books ever published on the Later Roman Empire or Late Antiquity, and it has profound consequences for our understanding of the culture of the entire Greco-Roman world. It represents the summation of decades of original contributions by one whose best published work is the equal in quality and significance to that of any classical scholar living or dead."--Timothy Barnes, University of Edinburgh
"A work of sheer brilliance that will endure for a long time in view of its definitive presentation of central issues in the story of Christianity and paganism in late antiquity. Cameron takes his reader on an exhilarating journey through debates on religion, literature, politics, art, and ancient antiquarian scholarship. Its cumulative power is immense, and all its chapters, with their vast arsenal of learning and bibliography, are beautifully interconnected. There is nothing like it, and there will not be for generations to come."--G. W. Bowersock, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
"Encyclopedic in its learning and relentless in its argument, Alan Cameron's Last Pagans of Rome is a landmark in late Roman studies...a breath-taking sortie across the cultural landscape of fourth- and early fifth-century Rome."--Classical Journal
"[T]here should be no doubt of the importance of Cameron's conclusions...Alan Cameron's brilliant and persuasive account offers an alternative view of a cultured aristocracy whose interest in the classical tradition was shared by educated Christians across the Mediterranean world, and who posed no real threat to the Empire's new religion."--The Times Literary Supplement
"...written in a highly detailed but remarkeably readable manner with prose that is sometimes humorous other times blunt, but always engaging."--Dennis P. Quinn
Synopsis
Rufinus' vivid account of the battle between the Eastern Emperor Theodosius and the Western usurper Eugenius by the River Frigidus in 394 represents it as the final confrontation between paganism and Christianity. It is indeed widely believed that a largely pagan aristocracy remained a powerful and active force well into the fifth century, sponsoring pagan literary circles, patronage of the classics, and propaganda for the old cults in art and literature. The main focus of much modern scholarship on the end of paganism in the West has been on its supposed stubborn resistance to Christianity. The dismantling of this romantic myth is one of the main goals of Alan Cameron's book. Actually, the book argues, Western paganism petered out much earlier and more rapidly than hitherto assumed.
The subject of this book is not the conversion of the last pagans but rather the duration, nature, and consequences of their survival. By re-examining the abundant textual evidence, both Christian (Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, Paulinus, Prudentius) and "pagan" (Claudian, Macrobius, and Ammianus Marcellinus), as well as the visual evidence (ivory diptychs, illuminated manuscripts, silverware), Cameron shows that most of the activities and artifacts previously identified as hallmarks of a pagan revival were in fact just as important to the life of cultivated Christians. Far from being a subversive activity designed to rally pagans, the acceptance of classical literature, learning, and art by most elite Christians may actually have helped the last reluctant pagans to finally abandon the old cults and adopt Christianity. The culmination of decades of research, The Last Pagans of Rome overturns many long-held assumptions about pagan and Christian culture in the late antique West.
About the Author
Alan Cameron is Charles Anthon Professor Emeritus of Latin at Columbia University. His previous books include
Claudian: Poetry and Propaganda at the Court of Honorius,
The Greek Anthology: From Meleager to Planudes,
Callimachus and his Critics, and
Greek Mythography in the Roman World. He is the winner of the 2013 Kenyon Medal for Classical Studies and Archaeology from the British Academy.
Table of Contents
1: Pagans and Polytheists
2: From Constantius to Theodosius
3: The Frigidus
4: Pagan Priests and Initiates
5: Pagan Converts
6: Pagan Writers
7: Macrobius and the "Pagan" Culture of his Age
8: The Poem against the Pagans
9: Other Christian Invectives
10: The Real Circle of Symmachus
11: The "Pagan" Literary Revival
12: Correctors and Critics I
13: Correctors and Critics II
14: The Livian Revival
15: Greek Texts and Latin Translation
16: Pagan Scholarship: Vergil and his Commentators
17: The Annales of Nicomachus Flavianus I
18: The Annales of Nicomachus Flavianus II
19. Classical Revivals
20: The Historia Augusta
Conclusion
Appendix: The Poem against the Pagans