The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World

310 Pages·2017·9.45 MB·English

by  Catherine Nixey

C N
ATHERINE IXEY
THE DARKENING AGE
The Christian Destruction of the Classical World
MACMILLAN
To T.,
for deciphering my handwriting.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Map
Prologue: A Beginning
Introduction: An Ending
One: The Invisible Army
Two: The Battleground of Demons
Three: Wisdom is Foolishness
Four: ‘On the Small Number of Martyrs’
Five: These Deranged Men
Six: The Most Magnificent Building in the World
Seven: To Despise the Temples
Eight: How to Destroy a Demon
Nine: The Reckless Ones
Ten: To Drink From the Cup of Devils
Eleven: To Cleanse the Error of Demons
Twelve: Carpe Diem
Thirteen: They That Forsake the Way of God
Fourteen: To Obliterate the Tyranny of Joy
Fifteen: Merciful Savagery
Sixteen: A Time of Tyranny and Crisis
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
Notes
Index
List of Illustrations
SECTION ONE
1. Triumphal Arch, ancient Palmyra, 1st–2nd century AD © De Agostini Picture
Library C. Sappa Bridgeman Images
2. A statue of Athena (‘Athena-Allat’ as she was known in Palmyra), 2nd
century AD © akg-images / Gerard Degeorge
3. A fresco of The Triumph of Christianity by Tommaso Laureti, in the Room
of Constantine, Raphael Rooms, c.1585, Vatican Museums and Galleries,
Vatican City / Photo © Stefano Baldini / Bridgeman Images
4. A portrait of the Temptation of St Antony, from the Isenheim Altarpiece by
Matthias Grünewald, c. 1512–16 © Musee d’Unterlinden, Colmar, France /
Bridgeman Images
5. Belial and the demons, from the Proces de Belial de J. de Therano by
Antonius Ruttel de Parmenchingen, 1450 on vellum © Bibliotheque de
l’Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France / Bridgeman Images
6. A funerary stele of Licinia Amias, Rome, early 3rd century AD by Unknown.
Marie-Lan Nguyen (own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
7. The Allegory of the Deadly Sins by Vincent de Beauvais, historical mirror,
Paris, 1463 © Paris, BNF, Department of Manuscripts, French 50, fol. 25
8. A bust of Epicurus (341–270 BC) in stone © Musei Capitolini, Rome, Italy /
Bridgeman Images
9. A bust of Lucretius the Roman philosophical poet (96?–55 BC) © Granger /
Bridgeman Images
10. Emperor Constantine and the Council of Nicaea with the burning of Arian
books illustrated below, Italian manuscript, 9th century AD by James
Steakleym, artwork: unknown [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
11. A fresco of the raising of Lazarus, catacombs of Via Latina, Rome, 4th
century AD © Catacomb of Via Latina, Rome, Italy / Bridgeman Images
12. A portrait of Triumph of Faith – Christian Martyrs in the Time of Nero, 65
AD by Eugene Romain Thirion, Private Collection Photo © Bonhams,
London, UK Bridgeman Images
13. The colossal head of Emperor Constantine I ‘the Great’ in stone (AD 270–
337) © Pinacoteca Capitolina, Palazzo Conservatori, Rome, Italy Index
Bridgeman Images
14. Emperor Theodosius I at the Council of Constantinople, Latin manuscript,
Turkey, 9th century © De Agostini Picture Library A. Dagli Orti Bridgeman
Images
15. The Temple of Diana at Ephesus, engraving, English School, 19th century,
Private Collection © Look and Learn Bridgeman Images
16. Hestia, Dione and Aphrodite, from the Parthenon East Pediment © Marie-
Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons, via Wikimedia Commons
17. The left-hand group of surviving figures from the East Pediment of the
Parthenon, exhibited as part of the Elgin Marbles © Andrew Dunn, 3
December 2005 via Wikimedia Commons
SECTION TWO
1. A green basanite bust of Germanicus Caesar, Roman, Egypt © The Trustees
of the British Museum
2. Saint Apollonia Destroys a Pagan Idol by Giovanni d’Alemagna, c. 1442–5
© by Daderot (own work) [Public domain or CC0], via Wikimedia
Commons
3. A photograph of a cult statue of the deified Augustus at the Ephesus museum
in Selçuk, Turkey by QuartierLatin1968 (own work) [GFDL
(http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)] via Wikimedia Commons
4. Theophilus standing on the Serapeion, Goleniscev Papyrus, 5th century,
unknown [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
5. A photo of a Byzantine Chapel in Roman amphitheatre, Duresi, Albania ©
Julian Chichester / Bridgeman Images
6. A portrait of Hypatia by Charles William Mitchell, 1885, Laing Art Gallery,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK / © Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums /
Bridgeman Images
7. The Archimedes palimpsest, c. 10th–13th century, Private Collection / Photo
© Christie’s Images / Bridgeman Images
8. Theological debate between Catholic and Nestorian Christians at Acre, 1290
CE, pictures from History / Bridgeman Images
9. A fresco of satyr and maenad at Pompeii, 1st century BC, Private Collection
Index Bridgeman Images
10. A fresco of Priapus, from the Casa dei Vettii AD c. 50–79 © Pompeii, Italy /
Bridgeman Images
11. Hell, Portuguese School, 16th century © Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga,
Lisbon, Portugal / Bridgeman Images
12. A painting of St John Chrysostom, Panagia Ties Asinou Church, Nikitart,
Cyprus © De Agostini Picture Library A. Dagli Orti Bridgeman Images
13. Roman women playing with a ball in one of the so-called ‘Bikini Mosaics’ at
Villa Romana del Casale, 4th century AD © Pictures from History /
Bridgeman Images
14. An engraving of St Simeon Stylites sitting on his column, 5th and 6th
century © Werner Forman Archive / Bridgeman Images
15. A secco painting of St Shenoute, Red Monastery Church, Egypt, c. 7th
century, unknown [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
16. A mosaic of Emperor Justinian I, Byzantine School, AD c. 547 © San Vitale,
Ravenna, Italy / Bridgeman Images

A BEGINNING