Space and Flourishing in Early Christianity and its Ancient Contexts

This volume brings together experts in ancient Mediterranean societies to explore ways in which space (real and imagined, lived and projected) contributed to conceptualisations of communal “flourishing” in Early Christianity and its broad ancient context. How to live well, or “flourish”, has long been an object of theorization; this volume approaches the issue of flourishing in Early Christianity from an historical perspective, exploring constructions of and conditions for flourishing in ancient literary, visual and material culture. An introductory chapter offers a theoretical and methodological framework for the book, while subsequent chapters examine the production of spaces (“ethnic,” urban, liturgical and religio-political) in ancient sources from the 5th century BCE to the 8th century CE, illuminating how they shape, enable or interrupt aspects of flourishing. By bringing flourishing and space together with the ancient sources, this volume offers an historically grounded account of flourishing which has the ability to clarify and balance these contemporary discussions. Balancing theory with detailed historiographical work, this book offers a crucial intervention in the field of Early Christian studies, suitable for students and scholars working on space and the spatial turn in Late Antiquity and Early Christianity.