How Christianity conquered the Roman empire
Summary
Tim Whitmarsh discusses his book *Rome's Age of Revolution*, arguing that Augustus’s infrastructure and cultural shifts created fertile ground for Christianity’s rise. He describes early Christians as entrepreneurial adapters who utilized Roman roads and Greek intellectual traditions to spread their faith. The episode explores parallels between Jesus and Augustus, the strategic use of martyrdom narratives, and how Christianity’s focus on clerical structure and book culture ensured its long-term dominance over other cults.
Topics discussed
Introduction: Why Christianity rose to global domination
Augustus's revolution: Remaking space and time
Christianity's Jewish roots and Greek context
Early Christians as brilliant entrepreneurs
The narrative function of martyrdom
The paradox of Christians being most Roman when opposing Rome
Christianity's distancing from Jewish roots after 70 CE
Parallels between Jesus and Augustus as saviour figures
Christianity as a religion of connectivity and the road
Institutionalizing the faith: Clergy and the book
The influence of Greek and Roman book culture
Conclusion: Historical reception and book promotion
Listen ad-free on Castria