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Document Details : Title: Christians and Roman Imperial Politics Subtitle: The Changing Positions of Christians in the Third Century A.D. Author(s): DE BLOIS, Lukas Journal: Journal of Eastern Christian Studies Volume: 53 Issue: 1-2 Date: 2001 Pages: 105-123 DOI: 10.2143/JECS.53.1.1046 Abstract : In the third century A.D., particularly in war-ridden areas and especially during the years of crisis (249-284), Christians became involved in worldly matters, in fighting at the borders of the Empire and in public life, particularly in regions where Christians were numerous. Christian writers like Origen still stuck to traditional views and aloofness but were overtaken by daily practice. On their side, Roman emperors learned a lot about Christian communities, their leaders and their properties. Already in 260, Christians in Alexandria in Egypt took sides with the Emperor Gallienus, who had stopped persecuting the Christians, against anti-Christian pretenders to the throne. Their bishop, Dionysius, describing this emperor’s victory, started to use terminology which he borrowed from formulas of imperial propaganda and the imperial cult. In this way, the integration of the Christians in Roman political life started, more than fifty years before Constantine the Great inaugurated the first Christian age in the history of the Roman Empire. |
