Roman Defeat, Christian Response, and the Literary Construction of the Jew

by David M. Olster

Overview

Olster explores Byzantine Christian reactions to the catastrophic Persian and Arab invasions, challenging long-held assumptions that divided "religious" from "secular" literature and exempted religion from contemporary social, political, and intellectual discourse.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780812231526
Publisher:	University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
Publication date:	06/29/1994
Series:	The Middle Ages Series
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.83(d)
Lexile:	1480L (what's this?)

About the Author

David M. Olster is Professor of History at the University of Kentucky.

Editorial Reviews

Demonstrates that writers of the seventh century accounted for the continuing collapse of the Roman Empire by attributing the Christian concepts of sin, punishment, repentance, and restoration to the imperial and historical dimension. Also argues that the flowering of anti-Jewish literature at the time did not reflect Christian-Jewish conflict, but was an attempt to construct a people whose greater misfortune could mitigate their own. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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