The World in Time

Catherine Nixey

Friday, June 29, 2018

Sarcophagus with Scenes from the Lives of Saint Peter and Christ (detail), c. 300. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Josef and Marsy Mittlemann, 1991.

When it comes to the ancient world, what Catherine Nixey calls “the story of wicked, oppressing Romans crushing the Christians of the empire who just wanted to be free and wanted to praise God” in this episode of The World in Time is a familiar one. Unfortunately, “when you look at almost any element of that story, it’s nonsense.” In her book The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World, she sets out to dismantle this well-trod foundational myth. Nixey spoke with Lapham’s Quarterly about how ancient Christians did much to crush to the world they inhabited.

 

Lewis H. Lapham talks with Catherine Nixey, author of The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World.

 

Thanks to our generous donors. Lead support for this podcast has been provided by Elizabeth “Lisette” Prince. Additional support was provided by James J. “Jimmy” Coleman Jr.

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