Bøker av Raymond Van Dam

The reign of the emperor Constantine (306-337) was as revolutionary for the transformation of Rome's Mediterranean empire as that of Augustus, the first emperor three centuries earlier. The abandonment of Rome signaled the increasing importance of frontier zones in northern and central Europe and the Middle East. The foundation of Constantinople as a new imperial residence and the rise of Greek as the language of administration previewed the establishment of a separate eastern Roman empire. Constantine's patronage of Christianity required both a new theology of the Christian Trinity and a new political image of a Christian emperor. Raymond Van Dam explores and interprets each of these events. His book complements accounts of the role of Christianity by highlighting ideological and cultural aspects of the transition to a post-Roman world.

Investigates the transformation of Cappadocia into a Christian society. Through vivid accounts of Cappadocians as preachers, theologians and historians, this work highlights the disruptive social and cultural consequences of the formation of orthodoxies in theology, history, language, and personal identity in the ancient world.

Kingdom of Snow investigates the impact of Roman rule in Cappadocia and the fate of classical Greek culture in an increasingly Christian society.

"Van Dam's exploration . . . makes for fascinating reading and should provoke fruitful debate."-Choice

The rise of Christianity to the dominant position it held in the Middle Ages remains a paradoxical achievement. Early Christian communities in Gaul had been so restrictive that they sometimes persecuted misfits with accusations of heresy.