beset by visions and temptations, 218
clothing, 217–18
considered mad and repellent, 215
description of, 213–14, 217–18
diet and starvation, 217
grim tales concerning, 219–20
as poor and illiterate, 216
reasons for peculiar practices, 218–19
slaves advised to become, 216
and thoughts of death, 219–20
as vicious and thuggish, 215
See also monks
De Ste. Croix, G.E.M., 67
Devil, 6, 22, 73, 131, 146, 203, 204, 207, 208, 218, 221, 233–34, 236
Diocletian, Emperor, 82
Diogenes, 153–54
Dionysus, 123
Domitian, Emperor, 56
Domitius, 55
Drake, H. A., 22n
E
Eco, Umberto, 149, 175
Edict of Milan (313), 22, 99
Einstein, Albert, 40
Elgin, Lord, 113
empiricism, 31
Engels, Friedrich, 216
Ephesus, 105, 106, 124, 128
“Epigram 1.90,” 151
Eratosthenes, 140
erotica
and bathhouses, 205–6
Christian moralizing on food, sex and women, xxix, 191–97
classical statues, 187
and homosexuality, 208
in literature, 151–53, 155, 175, 188, 191, 204
at Pompeii, 184–87
sexual practices in the Roman world, 188–92
and sex within marriage, 208–9
Euclid, 140
Eulalia, 81, 82, 83
Eunapius, 94, 227
Euripides, 139
Eusebius, 99, 100, 163
F
Firmicus Maternus, 104
Flora, 202
food and drink, xxix, 193–95
fossores (diggers of the catacombs), 136
Frend, W.H.C., 82
From the Holy Mountain (Dalrymple), 218n
G
Galen
at Alexandria, 140
Christian attitude towards, 158
disparagement of Christians and physicians, 40–41
on faith, 41
observations and understanding of neuroanatomy, 30–31
pig experiment, 29, 31, 32
Galileo Galilei, 40
Garden of Eden, 36
Gaul, 127–28
Gaza, 124, 126
Geffcken, Johannes, 107
Gell, Sir William, 186
Germanicus, 113–14
Gessius, Flavius Aelius, 228–30
Gibbon, Edward, 33–34, 35, 66, 94, 106, 170, 249
Gnostic, Gnosticism, 158
God
as all-seeing, 181–83, 197, 232
attitude towards pagans, 191–92
Augustine’s appeal to, 13
Celsus’s comments on, 37, 43
choosing between Satan and God, 23
as the creator, 38–39, 42
and demons, 18
Galen’s comments on, 32
of Genesis, 42–43
and language of the Bible, 159–60
pagans’ attitude towards, 22
Porphyry’s comments on, 49–50
and removal of abominations from His presence, 227–28
and the saving of mankind, 49–50
shape and form of, 46
as Shenoute’s guide, 229, 230
The Golden Legend (Jacobus de Voragine), 60
Gratian, Emperor, 130
Great Persecution (AD 303), 66, 67
Greco-Roman world
as cynical, 46
and divine benevolence, 47
hedonism of, 3–4
lusty pantheon of gods, 152–53
omens, 46
religious intensity in, 234
religious system, 8, 18–19, 102
variety of worship, 48
worship of gods forbidden, 34
Greenblatt, Stephen, 40
H
Hell, 6, 39, 156, 197, 201, 236
Hercules, 122
Hermes, 250
Hermopolis, Egypt, 121
Herodotus, 48, 163–64
Hipparchus, 140
Homer, 152, 161, 162
Iliad, 150
homosexuals, xxix, 188, 192, 207–9
Hopkins, Keith, 63
Horace, 151, 190, 197, 219
Hours of Jeanne de Navarre, 149
Hypatia of Alexandria
as astronomer and mathematician, 137
as local celebrity, 138
murder of, 146, 163, 164, 243, 245
non-partisan behavior of, 142
pupils of, 142, 251
romantic notions concerning, 137
rumors concerning, 145–46
I
Iliad (Homer), 150
Imperium sine fine (empire without end), 181
Index Librorum Prohibitorum, 34
Inquisition, 44
Isidore, 244, 246
Isis, 18, 247
Islamic State, 114
J
Jacobus de Voragine, 60
Jehovah’s Witnesses, 170n
Jerome, St., xxix, 13, 151, 156, 159, 161, 174, 197, 239
Jesuits, 154, 175
Jesus Christ
Celsus’s comments on, 35–36, 37, 43, 45
conception of, 35–36
divinity of, 37
Galen comments on credulity of Christ’s followers, 32
miracles of, 37, 45
resurrection of, 37
and the saving of mankind, 49–50
and turning the other cheek, 234
Jesus College, Oxford, 149
Jews, Judaism, 83
violence against, 143–44
John Chrysostom (John “Goldenmouth”), xxxiii, 120, 121, 143, 156–57, 169, 173–74, 176, 183, 203–4, 220–22, 234–35, 239, 258
Johnson, Samuel, xxxiv
John the Baptist, 13, 93, 226
Jones, A.H.M., 184
Joyce, James, 20
Judge, E. A., 183
Julia (daughter of Augustus), 190
Julian the Apostate, 64, 103, 116–17, 154, 161, 175
Julius Caesar, 90
mockingly called “the Queen of Bithynia,” 188
Julius (veteran soldier), 81, 83
Jupiter, 18
Justinian, Emperor, 192, 235, 257
Juvenal, 57, 165
K
Kendrick, Walter, 186
Khosrow, King of Persia, 254–55, 256, 257
King James Bible, 159
Kingsley, Charles, 137
L
Lacarrière, Jacques, 107
Lane Fox, Robin, 62
Latin, 149
“Law 1.11.10.2,” 248–49, 255
Libanius (Greek orator), 117–18, 126–27, 129, 173, 202, 215–16, 238
Liberalia, feast of, 189, 196
Libya, 141
Life of Brian (film, 1979), 36n
Life of St. Martin, 119–20
Life of Peregrinus (Lucian of Samaosata), 44
literature
as acceptable, 150
accusations of magic made against, 170n, 171–72
as alarming, 157
assimilation of classical texts, 159, 160–61
banning of, 34, 44, 168
as bawdy and obscene, 152–53, 155, 175, 185, 188, 191, 208
Bible read allegorically, 161–62
burning and eradication of, xxviii–xxix, 39–40, 50, 94, 167–68, 170–73, 175–76, 258
censorship and mutilation of, 154–55, 167–68, 175
Christian attitude towards, 158–59
Christian moralizing on food, sex and women, 191–97
as contaminating, 150–55, 170
copies made of, xxviii, 138, 175–76, 258
as demonic and devilish, 114–15, 167, 169
editing of classical canon, 154–55
; effect of Christianity on, 39
and the Great Library at Alexandria, 90–91, 94, 138–40, 141, 143, 173
Greek, 252–53, 258
intellectual achievements of pagans, 160
and language of the Bible, 159–60
manual on public speaking, 214–15, 215n
in monastic libraries, 139–40, 149–50, 175
polytheist, 155
sadistic, 201
threatening Christian writings, 155–57
and the writing of history, 163–64
Livy, 175
Lucan, 175, 176
Lucian of Samosata, 43–45, 83–84
Life of Peregrinus, 44
nicknamed “the Blasphemer,” 44
Lucretius
atomic theory, 38–39, 40
On the Nature of Things, 38–39
M
MacMullen, Ramsay, 131, 164
Magdalen College, Oxford, 149
Malchus, 105–6, 128
Marcellus, Bishop, 119, 123, 125, 126
Marcus Aurelius, 29–30, 83, 152
Martial, 151, 155, 205, 206
Martin, St., xxxiii, 13, 119–20, 121, 125–26, 127–28
martyrdom
eagerness of Christians to become martyrs, 77–84
early books on, 60–61
female martyrs, 65, 81–82, 83
glory and rewards, 63–64
historical facts concerning, 63, 65–67
influence of, 63
killed while breaking idols, 123–24
martyrs as art, 62
and Pliny’s “Letter 10.96,” 74–76, 79–80, 84–85
popular narratives concerning, 61–63
and problem of sacrifice, 79, 80
reluctance of officials to execute, 76–77, 79–86
and saints, 67
and suicide, 77, 79
Maxentius, 99
Maximus (prefect), 81, 83
Meditations (Marcus Aurelius), 29–30
Metamorphoses (Ovid), 41–42
Michael (reader of fantasy novels), 171n
Michelangelo, 187
Minerva, 115
Minucius Felix, 38
Mithras, 115
monasteries
erasure of classical works, 258
lands belonging to, 231
life in, 230–32
and preservation of classical knowledge, xxvii
rules of, 230–31
monasticism, 5, 120
monks
in a time of miracles, 13
attack Orestes in Alexandria, 145
break into house of Gessius, 227–29
copying of manuscripts, xxviii, 138, 175–76, 258
demonic attacks, 15–16
demonic descriptions, 14
in the desert, 213–14, 216–20
destruction of manuscripts, 175–76
fear of, 237
and fornication, 17–18
intensity and violence of, 117–18, 120–21
life in a monastery, 230–32
powerful image of, 149
self-help guides, 214
as vulgar, stinking and ill-educated, 118, 145, 227
See also desert monks
Monte Cassino, 120, 247
Moses, 32, 36
Moss, Candida, 63
Murdoch, Iris, 206
Muses of Helicon, 103
Muslims, 62
The Name of the Rose (Eco), 149
N
Nazi Germany, 143
Neoplatonism, 169–70
Nero, Emperor
blames Christians for Great Fire, 59–60
builds extravagant Golden House, 58–59
family background, 55
famous novel written about, 62
persecution and execution of Christians, 55, 59–60
sexual passions, 55–56
watches Rome burn, 58
Newton, Isaac, 40
Nicomedes, King, 188
Nietzsche, Friedrich, 216
O
Oedipus the King, 150–51
On the Nature of Things (Lucretius), 38–39
On the True Doctrine (Celsus), 49
Orestes, governor of Alexandria, 142, 143–45, 146
Origen, 35, 41, 66, 208
Orphism, 154
Ovid, 41–42, 152, 168, 175, 189, 190, 195–96, 204, 208, 220
Art of Love, 191
Metamorphoses, 41–42
P
Paedagogus (Clement of Alexandria), 192–97
pagans, paganism
acceptable sexual practice, 188–92
add Christian god and saints to polytheistic gods, 22
Augustine’s comment on, 48
bathhouses of, 205–7
and the coming of Christianity, 106–9
Constantine’s attack on, 102–5
conversion of, 126–28, 129–30
described as madmen, 117
destruction of temples and statues, xvii–xix, 89, 94, 113–23
dispute over Altar of Victory, 130–31
intellectual achievements of, 160
interest in, 40
laws issued against, 116–17, 118–19
plead for toleration, 130–32
questions concerning religious contamination, 19–21
religion as demonically inspired, 18
resistance to raging mobs of Christians, 123–24
suppression and persecution of, 86, 106–9, 116–17, 123, 129–30, 238–40, 247–48
use of word “pagan,” xxxiv–xxxv
vanishing of, 106–9, 130
war against, 94
Palladas (Greek poet), 104–5, 173, 181
Palmyra, xvii–xix, 115
Palmyra Museum, 114
Pan, 184, 250, 259
Panopolis, 227
parabalani
attack and kill Hypatia, 146
description of, 135
devoted to the service of God, 135–36
membership of, 135–36
as a “terrorist charity,” 136
violent attacks on Jews, 144–45
Parthenon, 113, 125
Parthenos, 36n
Paul, St., 76, 158, 174, 191–92
The Penguin Dictionary of Saints, 125–26
Peregrinus, 43–44
Pergamum, 72
Persia, 255–57
Phidias, 246
Philae, 247
philosophy, philosophers
Athenian, 161, 246, 256–57
atomists, 37–40, 176
attacks on, 243–44
Christian attitudes towards, 157–59, 161–62, 168–69
competing schools of, 168–69
Damascius and the seven philosophers, xxiii–xxv, 243–57, 259
and destruction of Serapis, 94–95
Epicurean, 171
female, 137, 141–42, 146
loathing of Christianity, 49–50, 104
Peripatetics, 176
in Rome, 29
Stoics, 8, 161, 176
tortured, burned alive and beheaded, 150, 172–73
witty and humorous asides, 46, 153–54
Phoenicia, 120
Physics (Aristotle), 169
plague, 135
Plato, xxiii, xxv, 157–58, 160, 169, 170, 255
Plautus, 175
Pliny the Elder, 46, 72n, 176, 182
Pliny the Younger, 32, 176, 202
admiration for shrines, 114
comment on temple wall inscriptions, 76
execution of his slaves, 237
organizes reforms on behalf of Trajan, 72–73
uncomfortable journey to Bithynia, 71–72
watches eruption of Vesuvius, 72n, 184
writes “Letter 10.96” on the “wretched cult” of Christianity, 74–76, 79–80, 84–85
Plutarch, 39
Pollini, John, 126
polytheism, 22–23, 116, 122, 131, 155
Pompeii
access to
objects from, 186–87
bathhouses at, 3–4
erotica in, 184–87
excavations at, 184–87
guidebooks to, 186, 187, 188
Pontius Pilate, 59
Porphyry, 49–50, 159
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Joyce), 20
Priapus, 184
Probus (Roman prefect), 80–81
Procopius, 235
Protagoras, 157
Prudentius, 65
Ptolemy II, 138, 143
Ptolemy III Euergetes, 138, 139
Pythian Apollo, 103
Q
Quo Vadis (book, film, TV series), 62
R
Rabbula, Bishop, 168
Ratio Studiorum, 154
Renaissance, 40, 154
Rohmann, Dirk, 39, 163, 168, 169, 175
Roman Empire
baths and bathhouses in, 205–7
Christian architecture in, 123
Christianity in, 9, 25, 258
Christian martyrs in, 61–63, 76–86
desecration of temples in, 102–5
eradication and burning of books in, 167–68
fall of, 33
Galen’s fame in, 29
limited number of persecutions in, 63
philanthropy in, 215
provincial life in, 72–73
religious worship in, 48
reluctance to execute Christians in, 76–77, 79–86
sciences in, 258
sexual practices in, 188–92
theater and drama in, 201–4
traveling around, 71–72
tricksters and sorcerers in, 45–46
Rome
acceptance of foreign gods in, 48
Altar of Victory, Senate House, 130–31
architecture in, 89
atomists in, 37–38
Christians sent for trial to, 84
cleanliness, magnificence and noise in, 56–57
collapse of ancient cults, 132
dependent on goodwill of the gods, 47
execution and persecution of Christians, 59–62
feast of Liberalia, 189, 208
flight of intellectuals from, 141
fossores (diggers of the catacombs), 136
Galen’s gatherings in, 29–30, 32
Great Fire of, 57–59
as haunt of demons, 15
Imperium sine fine (empire without end), 181
lust, gluttony and avarice in, 3
Sack of (AD 410), 119
The Darkening Age Page 32