Early Christianity in Athens, Attica, and Adjacent Areas

Cilliers Breytenbach (Dr. theol. 1983; Dr. theol. habil. 1986, both LMU Munich) is Professor Emeritus for New Testament at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Professor Extraordinary for New Testament and for Ancient Studies at Stellenbosch University. He is inter alia the co-author of Early Christianity in Lycaonia and Adjacent Areas (Leiden, 2018) and author of The Gospel according to Mark as Episodic Narrative (Leiden, 2021). Elli Tzavella (PhD in Byzantine Studies 2013, University of Birmingham) is archaeologist at the Ephorate of Antiquities of Boeotia, Hellenic Ministry of Culture. She has published many articles on Athens and Attica during late antiquity and the Byzantine period and she is author of Byzantine Attica: An Archaeology of Settlement and Landscape (4th–12th c. AD) (Turnhout, in press).

“The book is a solid piece of scholarship on Christianization of Athens and Attica. It is a significant achievement as it utilizes an immense amount of research to offer a panoramic and detailed picture of the development of Christianity […] The authors persuasively combine historical, literary, archaeological and epigraphical information, to give specialists in Late Antiquity a comprehensive picture of Christianity in Athens from its beginnings in the first century. At the same time, the enormous and systematically collected information opens the way to further research into a variety of other related subjects and stimulates discussion on many controversial issues.”Helen Saradi, Professor of Byzantine History and Byzantine Civilization, University of the Peloponnese, Kalamata. In: Plekos 26 (2024) 155–170"The authors should be congratulated on the huge amount of primary and secondary literature they have managed to bring together, present, and discuss. Remaining loyal to the philosophy of the series, Breytenbach and Tzavella’s project proves to be mostly aggregative and expository [...] The most important ancient texts and all the Christian inscriptions discussed are cited in full and have been translated. The quality of the English and the editing is excellent."Georgios Deligiannakis, Open University of Cyprus. In: Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2024.03.26"Das Werk bietet […] einen einfachen und übersichtlichen Zugang zu den vielzähligen verarbeiteten Quellen und Diskursen. In dieser Bereitstellung eines Zugangs zum frühen Christentum in Athen und Umgebung, seinen Quellen und den in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten verfassten Forschungspositionen besteht die große Leistung der Autoren, der sich so als Ausgang weiterer Überlegungen anbietet. Dem eingangs formulierten Anspruch, einen Überblick über die relevante Evidenz verschaffen zu wollen, wird das Werk in seiner Gesamtheit gerecht, wobei die erstmalige synoptische Präsentation des archäologischen Materials diesen Charakter abrundet."Felix Schäfer, Universität Münster. In: The Byzantine Review 6 (2024) 86-98.“Breytenbach and Tzavella [produce] an extensively argued analysis, compendiously rooted in evidence which is made straightforwardly available to the reader, enabling their book to function both as synthesis and, to a great extent, as a topically arranged catalogue and repository. [… They] have produced what will undoubtedly be the definitive resource for the foreseeable future for evidence and discussion about early Christianity in this region.”– Peter Oakes, Manchester, UK. In: Theologische Literaturzeitung 149 (2024) 12, 1165-1166."This book contributes significantly to current scholarly debates surrounding the development of Christianity in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly the complex transition from polytheistic to Christian practices. Breytenbach and Tzavella offer a fresh perspective by focusing on material evidence rather than relying solely on literary sources. Their careful documentation of archaeological sites and inscriptions adds depth to our understanding of how Christianity was physically embedded in the urban and rural landscapes of Attica.”– Richard S. Ascough, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada. In: Religious Studies Review 50/3 (2024) 615.

• PrefaceList of FiguresAbbreviations1 Introduction: The Christianization of Athens, Attica, and Adjacent Areas from Paul to the End of the Reign of Justinian I (527–565)1 Previous Research on the Christianization of Athens, Attica, and Adjacent Areas2 Literary Sources for the Study of Christianity in Athens3 Christian Inscriptions from Athens, Attica, and Adjacent Areas4 Archaeological Evidence on Christianity in Athens, Attica, and Adjacent Areas5 Setting Limits and Crossing Boundaries2 Stability and Crisis in Athens and Attica from Paul’s Visit to the End of Justinian’s Rule (a Geographical and Historical Overview)1 The Physical Environment: Introduction2 Geographical Overview3 Population and Settlement4 Administration5 Historical Outline of Attica between the First and the Sixth Centuries3 Christianity and Philosophy in Polytheistic Athens, Attica, and Adjacent Areas1 Introduction2 Luke’s Paul and Athenian Polytheism3 Second-Century Christian Apologists4 Religion in Athens in the Third and Fourth Centuries5 Christian Theologians and Athenian Paideia in the Fourth Century6 Christianity and the City of Athena: From the Late Fourth until the Mid-Sixth Century7 Conclusion4 The Expansion of Christianity: Archaeological Evidence1 Introduction2 The Transformation of Cultic Spaces3 The Transformation of Burial Spaces5 Christianity in Athens, Attica, and Adjacent Areas: A Survey of the Epigraphic Evidence1 Introduction to the Christian Inscriptions of Athens, Attica, and Adjacent Areas2 Christian Identity Markers3 Persons Identified as Christian by Inscriptions on Monuments from Athens and Surroundings4 Persons Identified as Christian by Inscriptions on Locatable Monuments from the Territory of Athens5 Persons Identified as Christian by Inscriptions on Monuments from Piraeus6 Attic Christianity beyond Athens7 Christianity in Areas Adjacent to Attica6 Aspects of Christianity in Athens, Attica, and Adjacent Areas1 Introduction2 Gender and Family Relations3 Occupations and Social Status4 Churches as Loci5 Churches as Organized Institution6 The Role of the Bible and Theology in Inscriptions7 Religious Violence8 Organization of Cemeteries9 Christian Hope for Life after Death10 Changing the Religious Landscape7 Résumé: Expansion of Early Christianity in Athens, Attica, and Adjacent Areas1 A Summary of the Contents2 An Exemplary Résumé of the Characteristics of Christianity in Athens, Attica, and Adjacent Regions3 Factors Determining the Rise of Christianity in Athens, Attica, and Adjacent Regions4 ConclusionAppendix: CataloguesCatalogue A: Early Christian Churches in Athens, Attica, and Adjacent AreasPart I: The Urban Zone of Athens (asty)Part II: Minor Towns and the Rural CountrysidePart III: Adjacent AreasCatalogue B: Late Antique Cemeteries of Athens, Attica, and Adjacent AreasPart I: The Urban Zone of Athens (asty)Part II: Attica and Adjacent AreasBibliographyConcordance of InscriptionsIndex of Ancient SourcesIndex of Personal NamesIndex of PlacesIndex of Buildings and MonumentsIndex of Selected Subjects and Persons