Robin Whelan, "Serving the Christian State in Late Antiquity" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

Wo gibt's eigentlich die weißen Rosen aus Athen? Und wo regnet's für mich nochmal rote Rosen? Natürlich im Europarosarium Sangerhausen, mit der größten Rosensammlung der Welt. Viele tausend Rosenarten warten auf Sie, mit prachtvollen Blüten und herrlichem Duft. Dosájom DI Welcome to the New Books Network. Hello and welcome to the new books in Late Antiquity, presented by Ancient U Review.

I'm Mike Montilla. Today we're talking with Robin Whelan about serving the Christian state in late antiquity. Here's a pretty common story that someone might use to explain what happened in the world of late antiquity. In the fourth century, there's this young man, his name is John, and like many ambitious young men, this guy goes on to study rhetoric. He has some talent. Eventually he becomes the star student of probably the most famous rhetoric teacher in the world. Uh a pagan named Libanius. And John, he could have made it as a court spokesman. He kind of could have made it anywhere.

But he becomes this golden mouth. Preacher. And eventually he becomes the bishop of of Antioch and then of Constantinople. And a story like that can make it seem like what happened in late antiquity is that a different career path opens for ambitious young men who like the sound of their own voice.

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