This Element is a study in cultural history, focusing on ancient Mediterranean religious traditions during the second to the early seventh centuries CE and their attempts to provide theologically sound explanations for the existence of multiple languages. The goal is to deliver a concise but balanced and, as far as possible, comprehensive treatment of the ideas about languages, linguistic diversity, and foreign language speakers across religious traditions in Late Antiquity. Therefore, this Element assumes a comparative perspective. Besides taking into account the inner heteroglossia of early Christianity, we examine sources associated with Greco-Roman polytheism, various forms of Judaism, Manicheism, and other hybrid religious forms during the late Roman and early post-Roman eras.
