Rome's Age of Revolution

by Tim Whitmarsh

How did Christianity, starting out as a minor offshoot of Judaism, grow into an international faith that shaped the world as we know it? Rome’s Age of Revolution corrects the triumphalist narrative that the Christian message was so persuasive, and indeed superior, that people converted in huge numbers, abandoning their pagan beliefs, thereby turning a small persecuted sect into the state religion of the Roman Empire.

Tim Whitmarsh shows that Christianity would never have succeeded if it had not taken advantage of the infrastructure and culture of the Roman Empire; in turn the new religion was indelibly shaped and transformed by Roman beliefs and ideas, especially those circulating in the Greek-speaking, or Hellenistic, eastern parts of the empire. This radical transformation, Tim argues, can only be described as a revolution. The consequences are with us to this day.

Genres: History, Christianity, Religion, Ancient History

384 pages, Hardcover

First published June 4, 2026

About the author

Tim Whitemarsh is A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at Cambridge University. He works on all areas of Greek literature and culture, specialising particularly in the world of Greeks under the Roman Empire. He is the author of Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World (2015).

Reviews

[Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting work, looking at the influence between Christianity and the Western world from the opposite lens as it is usually viewed. A lot of claims made in this book seem very obvious or very far fetched, but there are enough that are incredibly profound that I have not heard anywhere else that I found very interesting. In particular, part 3, going over the role of philosophers/theologians in Greek and Roman antiquity. Recommended to those who have a secular interest in Christian thought.