Twilights of Greek and Roman Religions— An Introduction

Abstract

This introduction sets the scene for the “Twilights of Greek and Roman Religions” special issue of Journal of Early Christian History. “‘Twilights’ is a good way to put the question, since twilight is that time between day and night, it is not quite dark but also no longer fully light. ‘Twilights’ suggest the in-between, the both-and. And this is what the essays collected in this special issue described, the both-and of Greek and Roman religions and nascent Christianity.” In our volume, several authors explore some aspects of the complex transitions and transformations we find between Christian and Greek and Roman religions at the beginning of Late Antiquity, when what has traditionally (and erroneously) been labelled “pagan” religion seemed to have been coming to an end, or transitioning into something different. Rather than a violent vanquishing of one by the other, the transition in Late Antiquity to a Christian society has only recently been described as a “soft” and generally peaceful transition, with some exceptions, of course.

Keywords:

• Greek and Roman religion
• Early Christianity
• end of religion
• ancient history
• Late Antiquity