Ancient Mediterranean religions

Ancient Mediterranean religions
The Pantheon in Rome, originally built as a temple to all gods, exemplifies the syncretic nature of ancient Mediterranean religions
Type	Historical religious traditions
Classification	Polytheism, Mystery religions, Civic religion
Scripture	Various mythic texts, ritual manuals, oracles
Theology	Polytheistic, ritualistic, civic-centered
Polity	City-states, empires, household cults
Moderator	Priests, magistrates, oracles, mystery initiates
Language	Greek, Latin, Egyptian, Hebrew, Phoenician, others
Headquarters	Various cult centers (Delphi, Olympia, Memphis, Jerusalem, Rome)
Territory	Mediterranean Basin
Origin	Bronze Age (c. 3000 BCE)
Defunct	Late Antiquity (c. 600 CE)

Athens

Rome

Delphi

Olympia

Memphis

Jerusalem

Baalbek

Delos

Syracuse

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Major religious centers

Ancient Mediterranean religions refers to the diverse ritual systems, mythic corpora, and social institutions practiced around the Mediterranean basin from the Bronze Age to Late Antiquity. These traditions were intertwined with household life, city institutions, and imperial power. They traveled along routes of trade, migration, warfare, and colonization, which created patterns of family resemblance across the region while preserving distinctive local histories. ^{[1] [2]}

Despite local diversity, scholars note recurring structures: households sustained small shrines and ancestor offerings, civic and imperial authorities sponsored sacrifice, festivals, and processions, sanctuaries accumulated wealth through treasuries and vows, and specialists interpreted omens, managed cult images, and led initiations that promised healing or salvation. ^{[3] [4] [5] [6]}

Across cultures, ancient religion centered on practice, described by British classicist Mary Beard as Roman religion is "doing rather than believing" to stress its ritual and civic orientation. ^{[4] [7]} The everyday reality of Roman religious experience was one of an integrated spiritual landscape where, as Jörg Rüpke observes, Romans approached "gods, dead ancestors, demons, and the like" with the same practical care and attention, suggesting that the sacred permeated daily life rather than occupying a separate realm. ^[8] Egyptologist Jan Assmann highlighted "the translatability of gods," pointing to ancient habits of equating divine powers across languages and polities, a habit that made cross-Mediterranean religious exchange routine. ^[9]

Overview

See also: Greco-Roman world

The ancient Mediterranean covers the peoples of the Aegean, Anatolia, the Levant, North Africa including Egypt, and the northern and western shores of the Mediterranean in Italy, southern Gaul, and the Iberian peninsula. Scholars usually begin with Bronze Age Crete, Mycenae, Egypt, and the Hittite world. They end with the religious transformations of Late Antiquity, when Christianity became dominant in the Roman Empire and temple cults diminished or were reconfigured. ^{[1] [10] [11]}

Ancient Mediterranean religions were largely polytheist and relational. They localized divine power in places, things, and persons. They marked time with festivals. They maintained civic and household altars. They honored deities with animal sacrifice, libation, incense, vows, and public games. They consulted diviners, cast lots, and visited oracles. Roman jurists summarized reciprocity with the phrase do ut des , I give so that you may give, which scholars use to analyze ritual exchange. ^{[3] [4] [5]} Movement around the sea fostered what Assmann called "the translatability of gods," in which Heracles could be read as Melqart and Amun as Zeus, without erasing local specificity. ^[9]

Evidence comes from inscriptions, papyri, coins, architecture, images, and literary works, each with distinct biases of genre, audience, and survival. ^{[12] [13] [14]}

Late antique transformations

Main articles: Christianization of the Roman Empire, Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire, and Late Antiquity

Fourth and fifth century legislation, episcopal leadership, new patterns of patronage, and changes in urban life reshaped religious landscapes. Many sanctuaries closed, were repurposed, or continued in altered form. Philosophical schools adapted where monasteries and shrines to saints became new sites for pilgrimage and local economies. British historian Peter Brown and American classicist Alan Cameron debate how quickly and completely ancient cults disappeared, with Brown stressing "a long late antiquity" and Cameron documenting the tenacity of civic pagan elites in Rome. ^{[15] [11]}

Syncretism

The gods Persephone-Isis and Hades-Serapis, an example of Greco-Egyptian religious syncretism

Religious contact around the sea encouraged syncretism. Traders, soldiers, migrants, and officials carried rites and divine names between port cities and inland corridors, which created new combinations without erasing local boundaries. ^{[1] [2]} Scholars use the language of interpretatio to describe how communities translated divine powers across languages. Egyptologist Jan Assmann called this the "translatability of gods," a habit visible in pairings such as Heracles and Melqart or Amun and Zeus. ^{[9] [4]} These translations could authorize shared worship at mixed sanctuaries and could also underwrite political claims in imperial settings. ^[4]

The cult of Isis, formed in Hellenistic Egypt, spread by adapting speech, imagery, and ritual to local publics from the Aegean to the Atlantic. R. E. Witt described Isis as "a kindly mother goddess," and historians analyze the movement through the lens of "assimilation and resistance" to capture the varied local responses it met. ^{[16] [6]} Mithraic groups recruited in military and urban networks, while their iconography offered what Canadian classicist Roger Beck calls a "ritual map of the cosmos," a portable language that tolerated local difference within a recognizable frame. ^{[17] [18]}

Dionysus with long torch sitting on a throne, with Helios, Aphrodite and other gods. Antique fresco from Pompeii.

In the Roman world, ruler honors and the imperial cult provided a shared civic grammar that bound communities to the center while preserving municipal agency. British ancient historian Simon Price analyzed this field as "rituals and power," showing how local elites negotiated honors that worked in both directions. Danish classical scholar Ittai Gradel traced the variety of forms those honors took, from altars to festivals, across cities of the Greek East and Latin West. American classicist Eric Orlin documented how Romans integrated imported cults into civic life, not by erasing difference but by giving it a place in law and ceremony. ^{[19] [20] [21]}

Uriyahu inscription, Khirbet el-Qom, 8th c. BCE, "Blessed is/be Uriyahu by Yahweh"

Monotheist communities navigated this environment in distinctive ways. Ancient Judaism participated in shared rituals of religion, including sacrifice, pilgrimage, fasting, and almsgiving, but maintained exclusive loyalty to the God of Israel. In diaspora settings, Jews adapted to civic frameworks while policing boundaries through law and practice, a pattern traced by American biblical scholar Shaye J. D. Cohen and American historian Seth Schwartz. ^{[22] [23]} The Jewish community at Elephantine in Egypt co-existed with shared cult temples, maintaining their own temple to Yahweh alongside Egyptian sanctuaries to Khnum, Satet, and Anuket in the same complex. ^[24] Early Christians emerged inside this plural world and developed "exclusive devotion to Jesus" in a way that could collide with civic expectations and neighboring cults. ^{[25] [26]} Syncretism did not produce a single Mediterranean religion. It produced overlapping repertoires and recognizable family resemblances, alongside local legal codes and ritual languages that stayed meaningful at home. David Frankfurter sums up the dynamic as "assimilation and resistance" across time and place. ^{[6] [5] [27] [28]}

Demeter, enthroned and extending her hand in a benediction toward the kneeling Metaneira, who offers the wheat that is a recurring symbol of the mysteries (Varrese Painter, red-figure hydria, c. 340 BC, from Apulia)

Shared elements across ancient Mediterranean religions

Element	Description	Religions with them
Amulets, magic, and curse tablets	Protective charms, binding spells, and handbooks that combined Egyptian, Greek, and Levantine repertoires.	Egyptian, Greek, Roman [29] [6]
Celestial battles and cosmic dualism	Narratives of divine warfare between forces of light and darkness, order and chaos, often involving astral deities and eschatological themes.	Egyptian mythology (Set vs. Osiris), Persian Zoroastrianism, Mithraic cosmology, Jewish apocalyptic literature, early Christian demonology [17] [6] [18]
Cult statues and divine images	Priests washed, dressed, and processed cult images to manifest divine presence within temples and on city streets.	Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Phoenician and Punic, Canaanite [9] [3] [4] [6] [30]
Dying and rising savior gods	Narratives of death, dismemberment, and return to life framed seasonal renewal and articulated the hope of deliverance for devotees.	Egyptian (Osiris), Greek (Dionysus, Persephone), Mesopotamian (Tammuz or Dumuzid), Anatolian (Attis), Phoenician (Adonis), Christian (Jesus) [18] [6] [16] [31] [32]
Festivals and processions	Calendared festivals synchronized civic life with ritual parades, music, athletics, and shared dining.	Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Hittite, Phoenician and Punic [9] [4] [28] [2]
Healing sanctuaries and incubation	Sleep, incubation, and ritual petitions sought cures from gods such as Asclepius, Sarapis, and Isis.	Greek, Roman, Egyptian [5] [16] [6]
Household cult and ancestors	Daily rites at domestic shrines honored household gods, ancestors, and protective spirits with food, incense, and libation.	Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Etruscan [9] [4] [5]
Imperial and ruler cult	Civic honors for living and dead rulers that articulated loyalty and defined local status.	Roman, Greek cities of Asia Minor, Egyptian royal traditions [19] [20] [21]
Interpretatio and cross-identification of gods	Communities translated divine names across languages, pairing figures such as Heracles with Melqart and Amun with Zeus.	Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Phoenician and Punic [9] [4]
Mystery initiations	Rites promising protection or a better fate through secrecy and staged experience, for example Eleusis, Isis, and Mithras.	Greek and Roman settings across the empire [18] [16] [17]
Oracles and divination	Inspired speech, lots, entrail reading, and celestial observation guided decisions and mediated divine will.	Greek, Etruscan, Roman, Anatolian, Babylonian [33] [27] [3]
Personal devotion and salvation	Movements promised individual protection, afterlife benefits, or transformation through initiation, moral discipline, or divine favor.	Mystery religions (Eleusis, Isis, Mithras), Orphism, early Christianity, some forms of Egyptian religion [18] [16] [6] [25]
Priestly colleges and civic magistrates	Priests, magistrates, and household patrons coordinated ritual calendars, oversaw offerings, and mediated between communities and gods.	Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Egyptian, Israelite [4] [7] [5] [23] [22]
Purification by water and fire	Immersion, sprinkling, fumigation, and torch processions cleansed worshipers for contact with sanctuaries and gods.	Egyptian temple rites, Greek mystery initiations, Jewish mikvah, early Christian baptism, Mithraic ablutions [18] [6] [17] [5]
Sacred banquets and communal meals	Meals following sacrifice or initiation reinforced solidarity among participants and their divine patrons.	Greek, Roman, mystery groups, early Christian communities [3] [18] [4] [17]
Sacred law, oaths, and ritual regulation	Inscribed rules governed purity, sacrifice, treaty oaths, priestly succession, and festival order.	Greek, Etruscan, Hittite, Roman, Canaanite, Israelite [5] [27] [28] [4] [30] [23]
Sacrifice, vows, and libation	Animal offerings, drink libations, and vowed gifts enacted reciprocity between worshipers and divine patrons.	Greek, Roman, Canaanite, Phoenician and Punic, Israelite in the Jerusalem Temple, Etruscan, Hittite [3] [5] [30] [28]
Temple economies and treasuries	Sanctuaries managed land, hired labor, stored wealth, and issued loans that tied religion to civic and imperial finance.	Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Phoenician and Punic, Israelite [2] [5] [4] [21] [23]
Votive dedications and pilgrimage networks	Worshipers deposited offerings and inscribed thanks while traveling to renowned sanctuaries and holy festivals.	Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Levantine [5] [6] [2]
War, victory, and thanksgiving rites	Armies sought omens before campaigns and dedicated spoils, trophies, or triumphs to the gods after success.	Greek, Roman, Anatolian, Israelite [3] [4] [5] [30]

Religions

Egyptian

Main articles: Ancient Egyptian religion and Religions of the ancient Near East

Nun lifts the solar barque with the new-born sun from the waters of creation.

In Egypt, temple cults anchored regional life and royal ideology. Gods such as Amun, Ra, Ptah, Osiris, and Isis were honored in complex ritual cycles that coordinated cosmic order, earthly kingship, and the fate of the dead. Priests managed estates, festivals, and processions. Households nurtured piety with images and small offerings. The elaborate process of mummification and tomb construction reflected beliefs about preserving the body for eternal life, while magical texts like the Book of the Dead guided souls through the underworld. Egyptian conceptions of the afterlife, including judgment before Osiris, traveled widely in Hellenistic and Roman periods through the worship of Isis and Sarapis. ^{[9] [6]}

Canaanite, Phoenician, and Punic

Main articles: Ancient Canaanite religion, Phoenician religion, and Religion in Carthage

Baal with Thunderbolt stele from Ugarit (Musée du Louvre, Paris)

Northwest Semitic traditions of the Levant honored deities such as El, Baal, Astarte, and Anat from at least the 3rd millennium BCE, with cults centered on sanctuaries, vows, and offerings. From the 12th century BCE onward, Phoenician migrants carried these forms across the Mediterranean, where they took on local shapes in colonies such as Carthage (founded 814 BCE). Deities like Melqart and Tanit structured civic identity, diplomatic rituals, and trade networks throughout the 1st millennium BCE. Archaeological evidence from sites dating to the 8th-2nd centuries BCE reveals elaborate temple complexes and ritual deposits, including the controversial tophet burials that may reflect child sacrifice practices, though scholars debate their interpretation. ^[34] These religious traditions also featured seasonal festivals, maritime blessing ceremonies, and elaborate funerary rites that reflected beliefs about divine protection in both life and death. Modern historians caution against homogenizing this world, with British ancient historian Josephine Quinn arguing that "the Phoenicians" were a later label rather than a self-designation. ^{[30] [35]}

Israelite and Judaism

Main articles: Ancient Israelite religion and Second Temple Judaism

Ancient Israelite religion shares a Levantine background but moved toward exclusive loyalty to Yahweh, eventually shaping Jewish monotheism. From the 10th to 6th centuries BCE, ritual life centered on sacrifice in Jerusalem, pilgrimage, and purity observance. After the Babylonian exile (586 BCE) and through Persian (539-332 BCE) and Hellenistic periods (332-63 BCE), Torah study, synagogue assembly, and diaspora networks became lasting institutions. The formation and writing of the Pentateuch during the Persian period (5th-4th centuries BCE) provided a foundational narrative and legal framework that unified diverse traditions into a coherent religious identity. The development of written Jewish law and interpretive traditions from the 3rd century BCE onward created a portable religious system that could maintain coherence across dispersed communities. This emphasis on textual study and legal discourse distinguished Jewish practice from the primarily ritual-based religions of their Mediterranean neighbors. American biblical scholar Shaye J. D. Cohen traces how Judaism took recognizable shape in the late Second Temple period (516 BCE-70 CE) and early rabbinic periods (70-500 CE). American historian Seth Schwartz situates this process within imperial settings, noting the pressures and opportunities created by conquest and autonomy from the Hellenistic period through late antiquity. ^{[30] [22] [23]}

Greco-Roman

Greek

Main article: Ancient Greek religion

Ancient Greek religion was embedded in the city and its households from the 8th century BCE through the Roman period (6th century CE). Festivals like the Panathenaia (established 566 BCE), sacrifices at civic altars, and dedications at sanctuaries such as Delphi (active from the 8th century BCE) and Olympia (Olympic Games from 776 BCE) structured communal time and space. Oracles and diviners advised citizens and states throughout the Classical (5th-4th centuries BCE) and Hellenistic periods (323-146 BCE). Scholars often call this a "polis religion," to underline the primacy of civic institutions and neighborhood practice. ^{[3] [5]} Greek philosophical reflection from the 6th century BCE onward interacted with cult, sometimes reinforcing ritual norms and sometimes offering critique. The pantheon of gods, from Zeus and Athena to local heroes and nymphs, provided divine patrons for every aspect of life, from warfare and crafts to marriage and agriculture. Athletic competitions at sites like Olympia (776 BCE-393 CE) combined religious devotion with interstate diplomacy, creating shared Hellenic identity across politically fragmented city-states. American classicist Sarah Iles Johnston observes that divination functioned as "a technology of decision" in Greek politics and family life. ^[33]

Etruscan

Main article: Etruscan religion

Zeus aiming his thunderbolt at a winged and snake-footed Typhon. Chalcidian black-figured hydria (c. 540–530 BC), Staatliche Antikensammlungen (Inv. 596).

Etruscan communities in central Italy developed elaborate systems of divination and ritual law, later known to Romans as disciplina Etrusca. Haruspices interpreted entrails, augurs watched the sky, and sanctuaries gathered local confederations. Myths and images reveal close conversation with Greek forms yet preserve distinct narratives and divine figures. ^[27]

Roman

Main article: Religion in ancient Rome

Roman religion organized households, collegia, and the city from the 8th century BCE through the 6th century CE. Magistrates and priests sponsored sacrifice and games, while families honored ancestors at domestic hearths and tombs. The imperial cult, established under Augustus (27 BCE-14 CE), bound local elites to Roman rule by honoring emperors at temples and festivals throughout the imperial period (27 BCE-476/1453 CE). British classicist Mary Beard characterizes Roman practice as "doing rather than believing" to stress performance and law. Danish classical scholar Ittai Gradel analyzes emperor worship as a civic strategy that created loyalty while allowing local variety. Roman religious flexibility from the Republican period (509-27 BCE) onward allowed the incorporation of foreign deities and practices, creating a syncretic system that adapted to imperial expansion across the Mediterranean (3rd century BCE-3rd century CE). This pragmatic approach to divine power helped maintain social cohesion across diverse populations while preserving traditional Roman values and hierarchies. The Roman calendar, reformed under Julius Caesar in 46 BCE and further refined under Augustus, was structured around religious festivals and observances, with over 100 days per year dedicated to various gods and ceremonies that reinforced both divine favor and social order. Religious offices like the pontifex maximus (established in the 8th century BCE) and various priestly colleges maintained ritual expertise and sacred law, ensuring continuity of practice across generations and territorial expansion from the conquest of Italy (4th-3rd centuries BCE) through late antiquity (3rd-6th centuries CE). ^{[4] [20] [7]}

Mystery religions and transregional cults

Main articles: Mystery religions, Eleusinian Mysteries, Orphism (religion), Mithraism, Cult of Isis, and Imperial cult of ancient Rome

Alongside civic cults, groups offered initiations that promised knowledge, protection, or a better fate. The Eleusinian Mysteries focused on Demeter and Kore, with evidence of initiation rites dating from the 7th century BCE through the 4th century CE. Orphic poems and rituals circulated in portable texts and deposits from the 6th century BCE onward. The cult of Isis grew into a cosmopolitan movement that narrated salvation and care, spreading from Egypt throughout the Mediterranean from the 4th century BCE and flourishing particularly during the Hellenistic (323-146 BCE) and Roman periods (146 BCE-476 CE). ^[18] The mysteries of Mithras recruited primarily in military and urban settings from the 1st to 4th centuries CE. ^[37] These mystery religions often required secrecy and personal transformation, creating intimate communities bound by shared ritual experiences that transcended traditional civic and ethnic boundaries. The appeal of such cults grew particularly strong during periods of political upheaval and cultural change from the 3rd century BCE through the 3rd century CE, when individuals sought more personal relationships with divine powers than traditional state religions could provide. ^[38] German historian Walter Burkert emphasized the social and performative dimensions of these movements, and Canadian classicist Roger Beck analyzed Mithraic iconography as a ritual map of the cosmos. R. E. Witt called Isis "a kindly mother goddess," speaking to ancient claims about divine care while acknowledging diversity across cities. ^{[17] [16] [6]}

Magic and divination

Main articles: Magic in the Greco-Roman world and Greek divination

One of the 130 Bath curse tablets. The inscription in British Latin translates as: "May he who carried off Vilbia from me become liquid as the water. May she who so obscenely devoured her become dumb"

Practitioners across the Mediterranean used incantations, amulets, curse tablets, and handbooks to act on gods, demons, or rivals. Collections of ritual recipes known as the Greek Magical Papyri show how traditions from Egypt, Greece, and the Levant combined in practice. Divination, from liver reading to astrology, provided ways to make decisions under uncertainty. American classicist Sarah Iles Johnston describes divination as "a technology of decision" integral to household and civic life. These practices operated alongside official cults, sometimes complementing temple rituals and sometimes offering alternative paths to divine power. Magic and divination thus formed a parallel religious landscape that crossed social boundaries and connected private anxieties with cosmic forces. ^{[33] [29]}

Anatolian and Aegean

Main articles: Minoan religion, Mycenaean religion, Hittite religion, Phrygia § Religion, and Cybele

Bronze Age Crete and Mycenae left rich archaeological evidence for ritual at palaces, caves, and peak sanctuaries. Hittite and Luwian archives from Anatolia record oaths, treaties, and festival calendars that illuminate state cult. In Iron Age Anatolia, Phrygian and Lydian traditions shaped the later Mediterranean reception of the Mother of the Gods, known in Greek and Latin sources as Cybele, whose ecstatic music and rites became influential in Hellenistic and Roman cities. ^{[28] [40]}

Early Christianity in the Mediterranean

Main article: Early Christianity

Map of Paul's 3rd missionary journey

From the first century CE, the Jesus movement emerged within Jewish communities across the eastern Mediterranean and made early use of synagogue settings in cities such as Antioch, Corinth, and Rome. Social historians describe these first groups as urban associations woven into diaspora Jewish networks and local civic life. ^{[41] [42] [43]} Paul of Tarsus's missionary journeys, dated by many scholars to c. 46–58 CE, established communities that extended Jewish monotheism to non-Jews through practices of table fellowship, baptism, and instruction. American New Testament scholar Larry W. Hurtado characterized the resulting pattern as "exclusive devotion to Jesus" inside a rigorously monotheistic framework. ^{[42] [25]}

The destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE reshaped Jewish communal life and catalyzed distinct institutional developments among both Christians and the emerging Rabbinic Judaism. Early Christian handbooks and letters from the late first and early second centuries, including the Didache and 1 Clement (c. 96 CE), show baptism, Eucharist, and common meals ordered with prayer, scripture reading, and leadership roles that adapted Jewish liturgical patterns to new meanings. ^{[22] [44]}

The Jewish historian Josephus (c. 37–100 CE) provides contemporary documentation of first-century Judea and its aftermath. Writing in the decades after the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), his Jewish War and Jewish Antiquities describe Jewish religious practices, sectarian divisions among Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes, and the politics that culminated in the destruction of the Second Temple. ^{[45] [46] [47] [48] [49]} His brief but significant references to Jesus (Ant. 18.63–64; 20.200) and to John the Baptist (Ant. 18.116–119) are among the earliest non-Christian notices of these figures. The passages are transmitted in the Greek text of Antiquities and modern scholarship debates the extent of later Christian interpolation. ^{[47] [50] [51] [52] [53]}

Second-century debates produced more formal structures and public argument. Justin Martyr and Irenaeus articulated doctrine in conversation with Greek philosophy and in opposition to Gnosticism, while bishops and presbyters coordinated worship and discipline across expanding urban networks. ^{[54] [55]} Apologists such as Athenagoras of Athens and Theophilus of Antioch answered charges of atheism and disloyalty by defending Christian monotheism and civic virtue. ^[56] At the same time, lists of authoritative books began to circulate. The Muratorian fragment (late second century for many scholars) reflects early efforts to delimit a Christian biblical canon, though its date and scope remain debated. ^{[57] [58] [59]}

In c. 112 CE, Pliny the Younger described to Trajan fixed-day assemblies and refusal to sacrifice to the gods, and the emperor replied with a cautious policy toward prosecutions. ^{[60] [26]} Writing c. 116 CE, Tacitus called Christianity a "pernicious superstition" when recounting Nero's actions after the Great Fire of 64. ^[61] Suetonius noted disturbances among Rome's Jews "at the instigation of Chrestus" under Claudius, a remark often connected to early Christian-Jewish conflicts in the capital. ^[62]

Epidemics and social disruption in the later second century, especially during the Antonine Plague (165–180 CE), created conditions some historians argue favored Christian growth through networks of care and patronage, though the scale and mechanisms remain debated. ^{[63] [64]} By the late second century, Christian communities were established from Gaul to North Africa to Asia Minor, forming durable urban networks that later intersected with imperial politics. ^[65] The transformation from persecuted minority to dominant religion under Constantine in the fourth century drew on this long institutional and theological development while introducing new forms of imperial patronage and law. ^{[66] [67] [68]}

See also

• Ancient Mediterranean world
• Religions of the ancient Near East
• Hellenistic religion
• Greco-Roman world
• Religious syncretism
• Interpretatio graeca
• Household deity

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43. Lampe, Peter (2003), From Paul to Valentinus: Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, ISBN   9780800627027
44. Holmes, Michael W., ed. (2007), The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations, Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, ISBN   9780801034688
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46. Josephus, Flavius (1928), The Jewish War, Volume III: Books 5–7, Loeb Classical Library, translated by Thackeray, H. St. J., Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, ISBN   9780674995697
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52. Mason, Steve (2003), Josephus and the New Testament (2 ed.), Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, ISBN   9780801047008
53. Van Voorst, Robert E. (2000), Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, ISBN   9780802843685
54. Minns, Denis; Parvis, Paul, eds. (2009), Justin, Philosopher and Martyr: Apologies, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN   9780199542505
55. Osborn, Eric (2001), Irenaeus of Lyons, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN   9780521800068
56. Grant, Robert M. (1988), Greek Apologists of the Second Century, Philadelphia: Westminster John Knox, ISBN   9780664219154
57. Metzger, Bruce M. (1987), The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ISBN   9780198261803
58. Hahneman, Geoffrey Mark (1992), The Muratorian Fragment and the Development of the Canon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ISBN   9780198263418
59. Ehrman, Bart D. (2003), Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN   9780195141832
60. Walsh, P. G., ed. (2006), Pliny the Younger, Complete Letters, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN   9780199538942
61. Woodman, A. J., ed. (2004), Tacitus, The Annals, Indianapolis: Hackett, ISBN   9780872205581
62. Edwards, Catharine, ed. (2009), Suetonius, Lives of the Caesars, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN   9780199537563
63. Stark, Rodney (1996), The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History, Princeton: Princeton University Press, ISBN   9780691027494
64. Harper, Kyle (2017), The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire, Princeton: Princeton University Press, ISBN   9780691166834
65. MacMullen, Ramsay (1984), Christianizing the Roman Empire, AD 100–400, New Haven: Yale University Press, ISBN   9780300036428
66. Drake, H. A. (2000), Constantine and the Bishops: The Politics of Intolerance, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN   9780801862182
67. Barnes, Timothy D. (1981), Constantine and Eusebius, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, ISBN   9780674165304
68. Hopkins, Keith (1999), A World Full of Gods: The Strange Triumph of Christianity, New York: Free Press, ISBN   9780743200103

Further reading

• Orlin, Eric M. (2010), Foreign Cults in Rome: Creating a Roman Empire, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN   9780199731572
• Price, Simon R. F. (1984), Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN   9780521312684
• Fredriksen, Paula (2018), When Christians Were Jews: The First Generation, New Haven: Yale University Press, ISBN   9780300190519
• Naiden, F. S. (2013), Smoke Signals for the Gods: Ancient Greek Sacrifice from the Archaic through Roman Periods, New York: Oxford University Press, ISBN   9780190232719

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