Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine, The

Trinity Journal, Spring 2007 by Carlson, Thomas

Noel Lenski, ed. The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.488 pp. $80.00 cloth; $31.99 paper.

Constantine's importance for the history of the western world is axiomatic. His era is pivotal in secular histories as well as church history. This volume attempts to make accessible to students a broad introduction to Constantine's era.

Noel Lenski, in his introduction, paints the breadth of Constantine's influence and summarizes diverse perspectives on Constantine in historical scholarship. The first chapter, "Sources for the History of Constantine" by Bruno Bleckmann, categorizes the various source materials for Constantinian history, illustrating the value and limitations of artifacts and literary sources. The remainder of the book is divided into sections covering dynastic politics, religion, legal and social history, art history, and international relations.

The first section divides the period among three articles: Simon Corcoran writes "Before Constantine"; Noel Lenski addresses "The Reign of Constantine"; and Robert M. Frakes follows "The Dynasty of Constantine to 363." These chapters orient the student to the dynastic framework and developments to which the rest of the articles can be related. Although the later chapters overlap very little, in this first section some overlap could have been reduced. Both Lenski and Frakes repeat many of the facts of the first Tetrarchy's establishment in their opening pages.

The second section traces the interactions between religion and empire: H. A. Drake examines "The Impact of Constantine on Christianity," while Mark Edwards outlines "The Beginnings of Christianize tion" in Roman society, and A. D. Lee tours the "Traditional Religions" and their fortunes under Constantine's reign. The examination of the diverse polytheistic cults, and not solely Christianity, is very helpful.

The third section explores the social history of "Bureaucracy and Government" (Christopher Kelly), "Civil Law and Social Life" (Caroline Humfress), and "Economy and Society" (Georges Depeyrot). Kelly's article helpfully explains the many new offices created or adapted under the Tetrarchs and Constantine. Humfress not only collects Constantinian laws pertaining to three major themes (social status, family, and slavery), but also points out methodological pitfalls in legal history.

The fourth section divides the art of Constantine's reign between an analysis of images by Jas Elsner, "Perspectives in Art" and a treatment by Mark J. Johnson on the "Architecture of Empire." Again, they carefully address methodological difficulties, and the many illustrations take these articles out of the realm of abstraction. Samuel N. C. lieu's article, "Constantine in Legendary Literature," completes this section, exploring the development of various legends about Constantine.

The final section starts with a general introduction to the Late Roman army and its place in society, "Warfare and the Military" by Hugh Elton. The dynamics on the two more agitated frontiers are divided between Michael Kulikowski's essay, "Constantine and the Northern Barbarians," and Elizabeth Key Fowden's chapter, "Constantine and the Peoples of the Eastern Frontier." Kulikowski in particular attempts to correct common but erroneous assumptions regarding the relationship between material culture and ethnicity in Gothic studies.

This volume is replete with helpful illustrations of coins, building plans, maps, and family trees. The citations and bibliographies are ample, and each article includes a section for further reading. The contributors not only cite works in favor of their interpretations; frequently they also cite scholars who present opposing viewpoints, even when differing interpretations occur between contributors. In comparison with these great strengths, the minor weaknesses I found seem trivial. The volume certainly succeeds in its goal of providing a rounded introduction to Constantine's reign and empire for students and gives a useful starting place for more specialized studies of this period.

Thomas Carlson

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School