Christian Martyrdom in Late Antiquity (300-450 AD)

Classicists and church historians examine texts mostly from 350-450, when martyr cults and texts flourished and laid the foundation on which much of later medieval and Byzantine hagiography would be built. Among the topics are early Christian hagiography and the Roman historian; literary representations of moral authority in Eusebius of Caesarea's The Martyrs of Palestine; the centrality of the martyr's grace in Augustine's anti-Donatis and anti-Pelagian Sermones ad Populum; Bible, apologetics, and asceticism in the Passio Pollionis; and history and hagiography in the martyrdom of Sabas the Goth. Six of the 10 essays are in German. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Peter Gemeinhardt, Georg-August-University of Gottingen, Germany;Johan Leemans, Catholic University Leuven, Belgium.