Early Christianity in Macedonia

From Paul to the Late Sixth Century

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In this volume Julien M. Ogereau investigates the origins and development of Christianity in the Roman province of Macedonia in the first six centuries CE. Drawing from the oldest literary sources, Ogereau reconstructs the earliest history of the first Christian communities in the region and explores the legacy of the apostle Paul in the cities of Philippi, Thessalonica, and Beroea. Turning to the epigraphic and archaeological evidence, Ogereau then examines Christianity’s dissemination throughout the province and its impact on Macedonian society in late antiquity, especially on its epigraphic habits and material culture.
Copyright Year:
2023
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978-90-04-68120-0
Publication:
09 Oct 2023
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ISBN:
978-90-04-68119-4
Publication:
11 Oct 2023
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Julien M. Ogereau, PhD (2014), Macquarie University, is a research fellow at the University of Vienna. He is the author of Paul’s Koinonia with the Philippians (Mohr Siebeck, 2014) and of several other articles on Paul and the early Christian communities of Macedonia.
“Ogereau has made a significant contribution to the studies of Early Christianity in Macedonia, and he can be congratulated on providing us with this extremely rich volume. His study covers the information provided by literary sources and epigraphy in great detail, presenting the texts in their context, with translations, and Ogereau has added in his discussion information from Early Christian architecture and iconography in Macedonia.”
– Arja Karivieri, Stockholm University, H-Soz-Kult.

“Julien M. Ogereau lays out the evidence published to date for Christianity in Macedonia in the first six centuries CE in his ambitious and thorough Early Christianity in Macedonia […] The multitude and variety of evidence allows Ogereau to come to a more nuanced conclusion than prior scholars have reached on Christianity’s growth in Macedonia, showing how there were a multitude of ways that Christians left their presence in the historical record. […] Early Christianity in Macedonia is a model for regional history and bridging sources of different media.”
– Brittany N. Joyce, University of Michigan, in: Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2024.10.35.

"In the early Christian world the claim of an apostolic heritage elevated the prestige of regions and cities. […] But despite this long pedigree, literary sources for the expansion and development of Christianity in Macedonia after the early second century are scarce. The solution is the use of material culture, and Julien Ogereau has now splendidly compensated for the void by looking to archaeology and, especially, epigraphy."
– Raymond Van Damm, University of Michigan, in: Church History (2025).

“As these few remarks have tried to show, [Ogereau’s] book will be considered a landmark in the scholarship about the history of Christianity in Macedonia. By bringing together all the extant evidence related to Christianity, from the testimony of New Testament literature to archaeological remains and inscriptions down to the sixth century, and by addressing the history of early Christianity as an overall phenomenon over six centuries […], O. has opened up new avenues for the study of early Christianity far beyond the example of Macedonia alone.”
– Cédric Brélaz, University of Fribourg, in: Novum Testamentum, 67 (2025), 255–267.

“It is an invaluable sourcebook and an excellent in-depth analysis of more than five hundred years of Christianity in Macedonia that will contribute to the study of this geographical area.”
– Ann Lefteratou, University of Cambridge, in: Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 76/3 (2025).

“Insgesamt hat Ogereau in vorbildlicher Weise die wirklich beeindruckende Fülle epigraphischer und archäologischer Befunde auf aktuellstem Stand und unter intensiver Autopsie zusammengetragen ... Damit hat er, ganz der Idee der Reihe entsprechend, ein Werk geschaffen, das hoffentlich als Ausgangspunkt vertiefender Forschungen – mögliche Wege wurden hier bereits angedeutet – dienen wird.”
– Philipp Pilhofer, University of Vienna, in: Theologische Literaturzeitung 149 (2024).

Preface
List of Maps, Charts, and Figures
Abbreviations

1 Introduction
 1 Beyond Harnack’s Mission und Ausbreitung des Christentums
 2 History of Research
 3 Sources and Methodological Considerations
 4 Chronological and Geographical Boundaries
 5 Outline of Study

2 Macedonia in Roman Antiquity
 1 Introduction
 2 Geographical Setting
 3 Urban Infrastructures and Transportation Network
 4 Ethnic and Socio-cultural Outlook
 5 Religious Context
 6 Summary

3 Christian Beginnings in Macedonia
 1 Introduction
 2 Sources
 3 The Foundation of the First Christian Communities in the AD 50s
 4 The Consolidation of the First Christian Communities in the AD 50s–60s
 5 Macedonian Christianity in the Second Century
 6 Summary

4 Early Christianity in Eastern Macedonia
 1 Introduction
 2 Philippi and Its Territory
 3 The Strymon Valley: Amphipolis, Serrai, and Parthicopolis
 4 Summary

5 Early Christianity in Central Macedonia
 1 Introduction
 2 Thessalonica
 3 Chalcidice
 4 Summary

6 Early Christianity in Western Macedonia
 1 Introduction
 2 Edessa
 3 Beroea
 4 The Bottiaean Plain
 5 Dium and the Pierian Plain
 6 The Western Macedonian Frontier
 7 Summary

7 Early Christianity in Northern Macedonia
 1 Introduction
 2 Stobi
 3 Heraclea Lyncestis
 4 Northern Rural Territories
 5 Summary

Epilogue
Bibliography
Concordance
Index
Anyone interested in early Christianity in Greece, Christian epigraphy and archaeology, ancient Macedonia, late antiquity, and the Christianization of the Roman Empire.
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