The tentative conclusion is drawn that a clear definition of "pagan" and "Christian" begins at an urban level with the Christian re-monumentalization of Corinth with basilicas. Non-Christian traditions are shown to have been recognized and viable through the sixth century.
Late antique religion is defined as cult-based rather than doctrinally-based, and thus this volume focuses not on what people believed, but rather what they did.Īn emphasis on cult activity reveals a variety of types of interaction between groups, ranging from confrontational events at dilapidated polytheist cult sites, to full polysemous and shared cult activity at the so-called "Fountain of the Lamps". Ancient Greek and Roman cities are often considered prime examples of city-states, and Hansen considers the ancient Greek city-state culture to have.
The interaction and conflict between Christian and non-Christian activity is placed into its urban context and seen as simultaneously existing and overlapping cultural activity. This chapter describes the nature of historical and archaeological evidence concerning ancient Greek cities, and the environmental and agricultural context.
The work incorporates and synthesizes all available evidence, literary, archaeological and other. Most of the ancient Greek cities that formed the nucleus of the city-states (poleis) exist today in a modern form. Cities tended to be located in valleys between mountains or on coastal plains. This book addresses cult and religion in the city of Corinth from the 4th to 7th centuries of our era. Regionalism and regional conflicts were a prominent feature of ancient Greece.