Early Christianity in Macedonia

Julien M. Ogereau, PhD (2014), Macquarie University, is a research fellow at the University of Vienna. He is the author of Paul’s Koinonia with the Philippians (Mohr Siebeck, 2014) and of several other articles on Paul and the early Christian communities of Macedonia.

“Ogereau has made a significant contribution to the studies of Early Christianity in Macedonia, and he can be congratulated on providing us with this extremely rich volume. His study covers the information provided by literary sources and epigraphy in great detail, presenting the texts in their context, with translations, and Ogereau has added in his discussion information from Early Christian architecture and iconography in Macedonia.” – Arja Karivieri, Stockholm University, H-Soz-Kult.“Julien M. Ogereau lays out the evidence published to date for Christianity in Macedonia in the first six centuries CE in his ambitious and thorough Early Christianity in Macedonia […] The multitude and variety of evidence allows Ogereau to come to a more nuanced conclusion than prior scholars have reached on Christianity’s growth in Macedonia, showing how there were a multitude of ways that Christians left their presence in the historical record. […] Early Christianity in Macedonia is a model for regional history and bridging sources of different media.” – Brittany N. Joyce, University of Michigan, in: Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2024.10.35. "In the early Christian world the claim of an apostolic heritage elevated the prestige of regions and cities. […] But despite this long pedigree, literary sources for the expansion and development of Christianity in Macedonia after the early second century are scarce. The solution is the use of material culture, and Julien Ogereau has now splendidly compensated for the void by looking to archaeology and, especially, epigraphy." – Raymond Van Damm, University of Michigan, in: Church History (2025). “As these few remarks have tried to show, [Ogereau’s] book will be considered a landmark in the scholarship about the history of Christianity in Macedonia. By bringing together all the extant evidence related to Christianity, from the testimony of New Testament literature to archaeological remains and inscriptions down to the sixth century, and by addressing the history of early Christianity as an overall phenomenon over six centuries […], O. has opened up new avenues for the study of early Christianity far beyond the example of Macedonia alone.” – Cédric Brélaz, University of Fribourg, in: Novum Testamentum, 67 (2025), 255–267.“It is an invaluable sourcebook and an excellent in-depth analysis of more than five hundred years of Christianity in Macedonia that will contribute to the study of this geographical area.” – Ann Lefteratou, University of Cambridge, in: Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 76/3 (2025).“Insgesamt hat Ogereau in vorbildlicher Weise die wirklich beeindruckende Fülle epigraphischer und archäologischer Befunde auf aktuellstem Stand und unter intensiver Autopsie zusammengetragen ... Damit hat er, ganz der Idee der Reihe entsprechend, ein Werk geschaffen, das hoffentlich als Ausgangspunkt vertiefender Forschungen – mögliche Wege wurden hier bereits angedeutet – dienen wird.”– Philipp Pilhofer, University of Vienna, in: Theologische Literaturzeitung 149 (2024).

• PrefaceList of Maps, Charts, and FiguresAbbreviations1 Introduction1 Beyond Harnack’s Mission und Ausbreitung des Christentums2 History of Research3 Sources and Methodological Considerations4 Chronological and Geographical Boundaries5 Outline of Study2 Macedonia in Roman Antiquity1 Introduction2 Geographical Setting3 Urban Infrastructures and Transportation Network4 Ethnic and Socio-cultural Outlook5 Religious Context6 Summary3 Christian Beginnings in Macedonia1 Introduction2 Sources3 The Foundation of the First Christian Communities in the AD 50s4 The Consolidation of the First Christian Communities in the AD 50s–60s5 Macedonian Christianity in the Second Century6 Summary4 Early Christianity in Eastern Macedonia1 Introduction2 Philippi and Its Territory3 The Strymon Valley: Amphipolis, Serrai, and Parthicopolis4 Summary5 Early Christianity in Central Macedonia1 Introduction2 Thessalonica3 Chalcidice4 Summary6 Early Christianity in Western Macedonia1 Introduction2 Edessa3 Beroea4 The Bottiaean Plain5 Dium and the Pierian Plain6 The Western Macedonian Frontier7 Summary7 Early Christianity in Northern Macedonia1 Introduction2 Stobi3 Heraclea Lyncestis4 Northern Rural Territories5 SummaryEpilogueBibliographyConcordanceIndex