Imperial politics and religious spaces in the 3rd century

Project management: Prof. Dr. Hartmut Leppin

The project represents a contribution to the new research focus “Post/Secularism”. The questions raised by the post-secularism debate also appear to be relevant to ancient history, even though the discussion is based on contemporary societies. This is because it reflects the problem of the relationship between religion and the public sphere and its transformation, which has a significance that transcends epochs.
The project continued research by Principal Investigator Hartmut Leppin on the thesis, inspired by the post-secularism debate, that the spread of Christianity generated a neutralization of certain spaces.

The project asked how religious diversity was dealt with in the Roman Empire after Christianity had become a prominent religion that claimed both universal validity and exclusive truth. The question of the role of justificatory narratives in the formation of a new normative order has proven to be extraordinarily fruitful, especially with regard to the significance of Christian narratives for the establishment of an empire that was not foreseen in Christian discourse. Furthermore, the project has contributed to the comparative perspective, in particular to critically reflecting on certain key concepts of the cluster, namely tolerance, recognition and post-secularism.

The work was carried out on the one hand through overarching activities of the project leader, and on the other hand through a series of special studies, partly by the project leader himself and partly by (associated) collaborators. Sophie Röder’s project was the most important of these: it examined the governmental practices of Roman emperors during the years 253-268. The rulers’ reactions to the spread of Christianity were examined on the basis of legislative decrees, which allowed important insights to be gained into the effect of religious diversity on normative orders. The thesis was submitted in January 2017.

Ms. Röder’s research cast doubt on the widespread thesis that decrees by Valerian (253-260) and Gallienus (253-268) triggered the first systematic persecutions of Christians. She was able to convincingly demonstrate that this perspective stems from the Christian tradition of the sources. Particularly important within Hartmut Leppin’s research is the observation that a temporary calm could be achieved through a policy of religious neutralization of certain areas and that in this context justification narratives emerged that to modern ears have the ring of tolerance.

The most important events in this project:

Panel discussion: In the name of God? Monotheism and violence Prof. Dr. Mouhanad Khorchide in conversation with Prof. Dr. Harmut Leppin (in the series Stadtgespräch of the Cluster of Excellence “The Formation of Normative Orders”), Historisches Museum, Frankfurt am Main, April 19, 2017.

Lecture series: Modelling Transformation (lecture series of the Cluster of Excellence “The Formation of Normative Orders”), with lectures by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Knöbl, Prof. Dr. Rudolf Stichweh, Prof. Dr. Eva Geulen, Prof. Dr. Andrew Abbott, Prof. Dr. Lorraine Daston, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, summer semester 2016.

Frankfurt-Birmingham Study Day: Contesting the Sacred – Contexts of Greek and Roman Religion, University of Birmingham, December 4, 2015.

International Junior Researcher Workshop: Religious Differentiations in the Transition from the Imperial Period to Late Antiquity, Cluster of Excellence “The Formation of Normative Orders”, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, November 29-30, 2013.

The most important publications in this project:

*Leppin, Hartmut: “Christianity and the Discovery of Religious Freedom”, Rechtsgeschichte / Legal History 22, pp. 62-78. (French translation: “Le christianisme et la découverte de la liberté religieuse”, in: T. Itgenshorst and Ph. Le Doze (eds.): La norme sous la République et le Haut-Empire romains (Scripta antiqua 96), Bordeaux, 2017, pp. 217-237.

*Leppin, Hartmut: “Aspects of the Christianization of Foreign Policy in Late Antiquity: The Impact of Religious Universalism”, in: G. Hellmann/A. Fahrmeir/M. Vec (eds.): The Transformation of Foreign Policy. Drawing and Managing Boundaries from Antiquity to the Present Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016, pp. 105-124.

Leppin, Hartmut: “Religiöse Vielfalt und öffentlicher Raum in der Spätantike”, in: M. Lutz-Bachmann (ed.): Postsäkularismus (Normative Orders vol. 7), Frankfurt am Main: Campus, 2015, pp. 335-360.

*Leppin, Hartmut: “Überlegungen zum Umgang mit Anhängern von Bürgerkriegsgegnern in der Spätantike”, in: K. Harter-Uibopuu and F. Mitthof (eds.): Forgive and forget? Amnesty in Antiquity. Contributions to the first Vienna Colloquium on Ancient Legal History (Wiener Kolloquien zur Antiken Rechtsgeschichte 1), Vienna, 2013, pp. 337-358; extended English version: “Coping with the Tyrant’s Faction: Civil War Amnesties and Christian Discourses in the Fourth Century AD”, in: J. Wienand (ed.): Contested Monarchy. Integrating the Roman Empire in the 4th Century AD Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015, pp. 198-214.

Leppin, Hartmut: “Kaisertum und Christentum in der Spätantike: Überlegungen zu einer unwahrscheinlichen Synthese”, in: A. Fahrmeir and A. Imhausen (eds.): The diversity of normative orders. Conflicts and dynamics from a historical and ethnological perspective (Normative Orders Vol. 8), Frankfurt am Main, Campus, 2013, pp. 197-223.

people in this project:

Project management / contact person

Leppin, Hartmut, Prof. Dr.

Project staff

Röder, Sophie