Urban religion in late antiquity

Urban Religion is an emerging research field cutting across various social science disciplines, all of them dealing with “lived religion” in contemporary and (mainly) global cities. It describes the reciprocal formation and mutual influence of religion and urbanity in both their material and ideational dimensions. However, this approach, if duly historicized, can be also fruitfully applied to antiquity. Aim of the volume is the analysis of the entanglement of religious communication and city life during an arc of time that is characterised by dramatic and even contradicting developments. Bringing together textual analyses and archaeological case studies in a comparative perspective, the volume zooms in on the historical context of the advanced imperial and late antique Mediterranean space (2nd–8th centuries CE).

Intersecting religion and urbanity in late antiquity -- A tale of no cities -- The children of Cain -- Faith and the city in the 4th century CE -- Intellectualizing religion in the cities of the Roman Empire -- The city of the dead or: the making of a cultural geography -- A new “topography of devotion” -- City of prophecies -- Creating a city of believers: Rabbula of Edessa -- Sacred spaces and new cities in the Byzantine East -- Roman baths as locations of religious practice -- Index