Late ancient Christianity

How has Christianity through the ages actually been lived and experienced by ordinary Christians? To address this question, this volume shifts the focus from various Christian elites, whether clerical or theological or political, to "average" people. Centered on the Roman imperial period, twelve historians search for clues to the everyday realities of Christians' lives in the era when Christianity grew from marginal sect to dominant religion. Popular fiction, childrearing and toys, rituals of inclusion, veneration of saints and shunning of heretics, the ascetic impulse, feast days and festivals--all these and more lend color and texture to the story of a "people's" Christianity in this formative stage.