Edward J. Watts Libri

A new history of the Roman Republic and its collapse

The Final Pagan Generation recounts the fascinating story of the lives and fortunes of the last Romans born before the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. Edward J. Watts traces their experiences of living through the fourth centuryÕs dramatic religious and political changes, when heated confrontations saw the Christian establishment legislate against pagan practices as mobs attacked pagan holy sites and temples. The emperors who issued these laws, the imperial officials charged with implementing them, and the Christian perpetrators of religious violence were almost exclusively young men whose attitudes and actions contrasted markedly with those of the earlier generation, who shared neither their juniorsÕ interest in creating sharply defined religious identities nor their propensity for violent conflict. Watts examines why the "final pagan generation"Ñborn to the old ways and the old world in which it seemed to everyone that religious practices would continue as they had for the past two thousand yearsÑproved both unable to anticipate the changes that imperially sponsored Christianity produced and unwilling to resist them. A compelling and provocative read, suitable for the general reader as well as students and scholars of the ancient world.

The Eternal Decline and Fall of Rome tells the story of 2200 years of the use and misuse of the idea of Roman decline by ambitious politicians, authors, and autocrats as well as the people scapegoated and victimized in the name of Roman renewal. It focuses on the long history of a way of describing change that might seem innocuous, but which has cost countless people their lives, liberty, or property across two millennia.

Riot in Alexandria is a noteworthy contribution to the study of Late Antiquity because of its original perspective. It succeeds in showing the real importance views on the past had, how they shaped communities, and how they could be manipulated. Watts refocuses attention on the internal life of communities to understand wider processes such as the Christianisation of the Empire and thus allows micro-history to elucidate macro-history. Although our sources are all written, Watts constantly reminds us that the specific memories communities created and kept alive were primarily oral and must have circulated widely. Because they impacted on group identities, such stories could also be used; conversely, when historical circumstances changed, the past could be adapted. History, in other words, really mattered.-Bryn Mawr Classical Review (BMCR)

Hypatia: The Life and Legend of an Ancient Philosopher brings to life Hypatia's intellectual and political triumphs, uncovers the unique challenges she faced as a female teacher in a man's world, details the tragic story of her murder, and shows why her story has fascinated people for 1600 years.