Leo T. reviewed The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World on + 1775 more book reviews
Who would think that someone with a degree in the classics could publish a book that might attract general readers? (Note the obscure titles and journals in the bibliography where her comrades publish!). She seems well versed in the subject, has read widely, consulted with experts in the minutiae of the field, and includes a somewhat impish style at times. I heard her flogging the book on a long radio interview and obtained a copy from the LA County library. "This is a book about the Christian destruction of the classical world (xxxi)." And as a Classicist, she is saddened, as noted in the journey of Damascius and several other philosophers who were forced to flee Athens in 532.
An excellent start to the book: "The destroyers came from out of the desert. Palmyra must have been expecting them: for years, marauding bands of bearded, black-robed zealots, armed with little more than stones, iron bars and an iron sense of righteousness, had been terrorizing the east of the Roman Empire. Their attacks were primitive, thuggish and very effective. These men moved in packs--later in swarms of as many as five hundred--and when they descended utter destruction followed. Their targets were the temples and the attacks could be astonishingly swift. Great stone columns that had stood for centuries collapsed in an afternoon; statues that had stood for half a millennium had their faces mutilated in a moment; temples that had seen the rise of the Roman Empire fell in a single day (xvii)."
One doesn't have to read every chapter (I didn't) but it is a fast read. As the Christians acted so badly toward the peoples of the Roman Empire, this is not the book for those who believe in the martyrs that are so celebrated. In fact, only ten can be verified, and while she is sure that there were many more, there were only a few years when a push was on to martyr non-believers. "The idea, therefore, of a line of satanically inspired emperors, panting for the blood of the faithful, is another Christian myth (63)."
She does give Emperor Nero a few pages but he was thinking of his own pleasure always. I found it interesting that Ms. Nixey cites what people of that time thought, such as many residents of Rome believing that Nero himself burnt the city so as to free up a large parcel of land for his new palace.
Of course hermits were notable in the early Church and martyrs greatly honored in lurid tales. Penalties for those who sinned in their lifetime were 'atrocious.' "Even children don't escape. At the edge of a lake filled with the 'discharge and the stench;' of those who were tortured are babies that are 'born before time'--a blameless crime one might have thought, but not so here. These babies will cry for eternity, alone (201)."
Chapter 13 is especially good to read, with its depictions of the sermons against partying, etc. However, the descriptions of the punishments are disgusting. I would be leery of using much of this book as collateral reading in a high school history class.
Index (it seems limited to me), endnotes, bibliography, nice line drawing map of the Roman Empire, full color plates of vandalized statues and the like.
An excellent start to the book: "The destroyers came from out of the desert. Palmyra must have been expecting them: for years, marauding bands of bearded, black-robed zealots, armed with little more than stones, iron bars and an iron sense of righteousness, had been terrorizing the east of the Roman Empire. Their attacks were primitive, thuggish and very effective. These men moved in packs--later in swarms of as many as five hundred--and when they descended utter destruction followed. Their targets were the temples and the attacks could be astonishingly swift. Great stone columns that had stood for centuries collapsed in an afternoon; statues that had stood for half a millennium had their faces mutilated in a moment; temples that had seen the rise of the Roman Empire fell in a single day (xvii)."
One doesn't have to read every chapter (I didn't) but it is a fast read. As the Christians acted so badly toward the peoples of the Roman Empire, this is not the book for those who believe in the martyrs that are so celebrated. In fact, only ten can be verified, and while she is sure that there were many more, there were only a few years when a push was on to martyr non-believers. "The idea, therefore, of a line of satanically inspired emperors, panting for the blood of the faithful, is another Christian myth (63)."
She does give Emperor Nero a few pages but he was thinking of his own pleasure always. I found it interesting that Ms. Nixey cites what people of that time thought, such as many residents of Rome believing that Nero himself burnt the city so as to free up a large parcel of land for his new palace.
Of course hermits were notable in the early Church and martyrs greatly honored in lurid tales. Penalties for those who sinned in their lifetime were 'atrocious.' "Even children don't escape. At the edge of a lake filled with the 'discharge and the stench;' of those who were tortured are babies that are 'born before time'--a blameless crime one might have thought, but not so here. These babies will cry for eternity, alone (201)."
Chapter 13 is especially good to read, with its depictions of the sermons against partying, etc. However, the descriptions of the punishments are disgusting. I would be leery of using much of this book as collateral reading in a high school history class.
Index (it seems limited to me), endnotes, bibliography, nice line drawing map of the Roman Empire, full color plates of vandalized statues and the like.
Leo T. reviewed The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World on + 1775 more book reviews
I haven't yet seen it but Ms. Nixey was on Mitt Jeserich's show on KPFA today (7/30/2018) for half an hour flogging it. She has found much evidence of Christians' destroying the places of worship and the very statues erected before Christ.
