Peter Brown, perhaps the greatest living authority on Mediterranean civilization in late antiquity, traces the growing power of Christian bishops as they wrested influence from philosophers, who had traditionally advised the rulers of Graeco-Roman society. In the new "Christian empire," the ancient bonds of citizen to citizen and of each city to its benefactors were replaced by a common Christianity and common loyalty to a distant, Christian autocrat. This transformation of the Roman empire from an ancient to a medieval ...
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Peter Brown, perhaps the greatest living authority on Mediterranean civilization in late antiquity, traces the growing power of Christian bishops as they wrested influence from philosophers, who had traditionally advised the rulers of Graeco-Roman society. In the new "Christian empire," the ancient bonds of citizen to citizen and of each city to its benefactors were replaced by a common Christianity and common loyalty to a distant, Christian autocrat. This transformation of the Roman empire from an ancient to a medieval society, he argues, is among the most far-reaching consequences of the rise of Christianity.
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Peter Brown is always worth reading, but this book brings out a tension highly relevant today. In the Roman Empire wealth was very unequally distributed. The tradition of philanthropy reinforced the pecking order. The leading notables of each city were expected to make generous gifts to their citizens. Gifts would take the form of public entertainment, buildings or food. Most citizens could not reciprocate with material gifts, but they could escort the notables in procession, show deference, make speeches praising them, and erect statues of them. In reality it was a bargain: the rich person gained the public adulation he craved in return for spending money on the citizens. This kind of giving reinforced society's acceptance of extreme inequality. The bargain was between the notables and the citizens of the city. The rhetoric was about love of the city and the desire to honour it. Like all forms of patriotism, it drew boundaries between insiders and outsiders. The homeless, the refugees and the destitute received nothing.
The only rich people who gave anything to them were the Christian bishops. For Christians the unit of concern was much wider: the human race had been created by God and was due the necessities of life. In this way Christians challenged the corridors of power. Thereafter pagan city notables, seeing where the power was going, were often tempted to follow it and become Christian bishops themselves. With bishops like them, Christianity gradually lost its radical edge.
