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.
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