MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive Library



    Pagani e Cristiani a Siracusa tra il III e il IV secolo d. C.


    Humphries, Mark (2005) Pagani e Cristiani a Siracusa tra il III e il IV secolo d. C. Classical Review, 55. pp. 299-300.

    [img] Download (74kB)


    Share your research

    Twitter Facebook LinkedIn GooglePlus Email more...



    Add this article to your Mendeley library


    Abstract

    Rosario Greco’s study of the religious dynamics of third- and fourth-century Syracuse starts with a promise to approach the subject free from the Christianizing preconceptions that have often bedevilled such studies in the past (p. 7). His first chapter (on pagan cults in late antique Syracuse) begins in a style that holds true to this intention: a broadside against the use of the monolithic term ‘paganism’ and the author’s preference for an emphasis on plural ‘pagan religions’ (p. 13). He is similarly scathing of any credence given to legends of the apostolic foundation of Christianity at Syracuse (p. 53 and n. 10). Some readers might see the need to make such points as rather quaint. But pious, Christianizing whimsy (memorably characterized as ‘maudlin flapdoodle’ by E. A. Thompson in Who Was St Patrick? [Woodbridge, 1985], 165) can be remarkably tenacious: thus G.’s polemical declarations are worth making.

    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: Syracuse
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Arts,Celtic Studies and Philosophy > Ancient Classics
    Item ID: 617
    Depositing User: M Humphries
    Date Deposited: 20 Jul 2007
    Journal or Publication Title: Classical Review
    Publisher: Cambridge University Press
    Refereed: Yes
    URI:
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

    Repository Staff Only(login required)

    View Item Item control page

    Downloads

    Downloads per month over past year

    Origin of downloads