The Darkening Age
The Christian destruction of the Classical World
Catherine Nixey
Pan Macmillan, 2017
In The Darkening Age, Catherine Nixey tells the largely unknown - and deeply shocking -
story of how a militant religion deliberately extinguished the teachings of the Classical world,
ushering in centuries of unquestioning adherence to ´one true faith´.
The Roman Empire had been generous in embracing and absorbing
new creeds. But with the coming of Christianity, everything
changed. This new faith, despite preaching peace, was violent,
ruthless and intolerant. And once it became the religion of empire,
its zealous adherents set about the destruction of the old gods.
Their altars were upturned, their temples demolished and their
statues hacked to pieces. Books, including great works of philosophy
and science, were consigned to the pyre. It was an annihilation.
Taking readers across the Mediterranean - from Rome to Alexandria,
from Bithynia in northern Turkey to Alexandria, and from the deserts
of Syria to Athens - The Darkening Age is a vived and richly populated
account of centuries of obliteration. It is a dazzling debut from a
brilliant young historian.
(The text above comes from the back of the book)
Reviews
Unbalanced polemical book:
History for Atheists.com