October 24, 2012

"Gives a great reading of much late Roman visual culture."

"A breathtaking study of the manner in which forensic arguments shaped Christianity - a task at which all imperial bishops excelled."

"Neil McLynn's essays on Gregory of Nazianzus, one of the most central Greek Christian thinkers, in his Christian Politics and Religious Culture in Late Antiquity, and his work on Ambrose of Milan,  another one of what I call the imperial bishops, are invaluable."

"Neil McLynn's essays on Gregory of Nazianzus, one of the most central Greek Christian thinkers, in his Christian Politics and Religious Culture in Late Antiquity, and his work on Ambrose of Milan, another one of what I call the imperial bishops, are invaluable."

"Reveals the changing shape of imperial ideology and how it was disseminated - again, crucial for understanding the ways in which the Roman empire was governed so successfully for so long."

"Along with Matthews' Western Aristocracies and Laying Down the Law, the third wonderful book about the practice of ruling the later Roman empire."

"Both Laying Down the Law and his other book Western Aristocracies examine in an exemplary way the practice of ruling the later Roman empire, that is, how the imperial courts, of which there were several, in motion, interacted with local leaders and the other way round."

"Both Western Aristocracies and his other book Laying Down the Law examine in an exemplary way the practice of ruling the later Roman empire, that is, how the imperial courts, of which there were several, in motion, interacted with local leaders and the other way round."

"The foundational book for the relation between classical learning, its impact on the elites, and their use of that learning to approach and influence their emperors."