Christians as a Religious Minority in a Multicultural City: Modes of Interaction and Identity Formation in Early Imperial Rome

Imperial Rome truly was one of the most "multicultural" cities in antiquity. Syrians, Africans, Gauls, Egyptians, Jews and other groups flocked into the city and formed their communities-as well as Christians. The essays here examine questions such as: How did these ethnic and religious minority groups maintain and develop their identity? How did the "cultural majority" react towards these sometimes exotic groups?

The first section gives a general survey about living conditions in early Christian Rome and how Christians, Jews and Egyptians related to their urban context. The second part focuses on the interaction between majorities and minorities in the early Christian community of Rome on the basis of New Testament texts and traditions. The third and final part follows the development of the post-New Testament Christian community into the second and third centuries.

• Table of contents
• Preface
• List of Abbreviations
• List of Contributors
• Part I Minorities Living in Early Imperial Rome
  • Wohnen in der antiken Grosstadt. Zur sozialen Topographie Roms in der frühen Kaiserzeit - Christiane Kunst
  • Early Christians in the city of Rome. Topographical and social historical aspects of the first three centuries - Peter Lampe
  • Shaping of the identity of the Jewish community in Rome in antiquity - Margaret H. Williams
  • Being an Egyptian in Rome. Strategies of identity formation - David Noy
• Part II Rome, Roman Christians and their Relationship in Early Christian Writings and Archaeology
  • Part IIa: New Testament Reflections on the Early Christian Community of Rome
  • 'Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ' (Acts 28.31). Paul's public proclamation in Rome as the finale of a shipwreck - Michael Labahn
  • Olive trees and ethnicities. Judeans and Gentiles in Rom. 11.17-24 - Caroline Johnson Hodge
  • Strong, the weak and the Mosaic Law in the Christian communities of Rome (Rom. 14.1-15.13) - Antonio Pitta
  • Part IIb: Persons and Positions in the Early Christian Community of Rome
  • Who buried Peter and Paul? - John C. O'Neill
  • Gebeine des Apostelfürsten? Zu den angeblich frühchristlichen Gräbern unter der Peterskirche in Rom - Jürgen Zangenberg
  • Das Christentum in Rom im Spiegel des ersten Clemensbriefes - Martin Meiser
  • Valentinian teachers in Rome - Ismo Dunderberg
  • Petrus versus Paulus in den Pseudoklementinischen Homilien 17 - Jürgen Wehnert
• Index of References
• Index of Authors