Christian Persecution, Martyrdom, and Orthodoxy

Abstract The volume presents in seven chapters papers on early Christian topics by Geoffrey de Ste. Croix. Three of the chapters include papers which have previously been published and are widely accepted as classic studies, while the other four now appear in print for the first time – though they have already proved influential as a result of presentation at seminars and circulation in manuscript. The volume's central themes are: martyrdom, the evidence for which Ste. Croix scrutinizes closely in order to reveal the extent to which Christians, through the process of volunteering, were responsible for bouts of persecution; persecution, which extends from the Christian experience as recipients to their role as far more effective agents of the persecution of non-Christians and doctrinal opponents; orthodoxy, the determination of which through Church Councils, especially at the Council of Chalcedon, emerges as the product of calculated imperial intervention; and finally property and slavery, on which a clear divide emerges between the radical message of the Gospels and the actual practice of the early Church. In addition, the editors of the volume contribute essays on the historiographical impact of Ste. Croix's contributions to the study of early Christianity and on his views of toleration in the ancient world.