Empire to Commonwealth

Consequences of Monotheism in Late Antiquity
Erscheinungsjahr 1994
ISBN: 978-0-691-01545-3
Verlag: Princeton University Press

Buch, Englisch, 226 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 392 g

In this bold approach to late antiquity, Garth Fowden shows how, from the second-century peak of Rome's prosperity to the ninth-century onset of the Islamic Empire's decline, powerful beliefs in One God were used to justify and strengthen "world empires." But tensions between orthodoxy and heresy that were inherent in monotheism broke the unitary empires of Byzantium and Baghdad into the looser, more pluralistic commonwealths of Eastern Christendom and Islam. With rare breadth of vision, Fowden traces this transition from empire to commonwealth, and in the process exposes the sources of major cultural contours that still play a determining role in Europe and southwest Asia.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Fowden, Garth

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Naher & Mittlerer Osten
• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islam & Islamische Studien
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Kirchengeschichte Frühes Christentum, Patristik, Christliche Archäologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of illustrationsAbbreviationsNote on transliteration and referencesPrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroduction31The world's two eyes: Iran, Rome, and the pursuit of world empire12The geographical focus12Iran, the Greeks, and Polytheist Rome19Sasanian universalism242Polytheist Rome: Toward cultural universalism within empire37Seeds of polytheist universalism37Alexandria44Rome45The third century50Julian and Helios-Mithras52Universalism and Rome's identity573The Fertile Crescent: Cultural universalism between and beyond empires61The Sabians of Harran62Judaism65Manichaeism72Christianity764Constantine: Christian empire and crusade80Antecedents of Christian Rome80Constantine's strategy85Empire and Church86Mission90Iran935The First Byzantine Commonwealth: Interactions of political and cultural universalism100The geographical focus101Iberia and Armenia104Southern Arabia and Ethiopia109Nubia116The Arabs119Christians of Iran and beyond121The politico-cultural entity1246Islam: World empire, then commonwealth138The building of world empire138Empire and religion152The Islamic Commonwealth160Epilogue169Bibliography177Index201