The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World
Author(s): Catherine Nixey ()
The Darkening Age is the largely unknown story of how a militant religion comprehensively and deliberately extinguished the teachings of the Classical world, ushering in centuries of unquestioning adherence to 'one true faith'. Despite the long-held notion that the early Christians were meek and mild, going to their martyr's deaths singing hymns of love and praise, the truth, as Catherine Nixey reveals, is very different. Far from being meek and mild, they were violent, ruthless and fundamentally intolerant. Unlike the polytheistic world, in which the addition of one new religion made no fundamental difference to the old ones, this new ideology stated not only that it was the way, the truth and the light but that, by extension, every single other way was wrong and had to be destroyed. From the 1st century to the 6th, those who didn't fall into step with its beliefs were pursued in every possible way: social, legal, financial and physical. Their altars were upturned and their temples demolished, their statues hacked to pieces and their priests killed. It was an annihilation. Authoritative, vividly written and utterly compelling, this is a remarkable debut from a brilliant young historian.
General Information
- :
- : Pan Macmillan
- : Macmillan
- : 0.63
- : 01 September 2017
- : 234mm X 153mm
- : United Kingdom
- : 01 September 2017
- : books
Other Specifications
- : Catherine Nixey ()
- : Hardback
- : Main Market Ed.
- : en
- : 270.1
- : 352
- : 16pp plates
- : 16pp plates
More About The Product
A gripping account of how the early Christians annihilated the art and teachings of the Classical world from a brilliant young historian
A devastating book, written in vivid, yet playful prose. Catherine Nixey reveals a level of intolerance and anti-intellectualism which which echoes today's headlines but is centuries old. -- Anita Anand Captivating and compulsive, Catherine Nixey's debut challenges our whole understanding of Christianity's earliest years and the medieval society that followed. A remarkable fusion of captivating narrative and acute scholarly judgment, this book marks the debut of a formidable classicist and historian. -- Dan Jones, bestselling author of The Plantagenets Nixey's elegant and ferocious text paints a dark but riveting picture of life at the time of the 'triumph' of Christianity, reminding us not just of the realities of our own past, but also of the sad echoes of that past in our present. -- Dr Michael Scott
Catherine Nixey studied Classics at Cambridge and subsequently worked as a Classics teacher for several years, before becoming a journalist on the arts desk at The Times, where she still works. She has also written for the FT, the Economist's Intelligent Life magazine, and all the broadsheets. She lives in south-east London with her husband.