Il Cristianesimo nell'impero romano da Tiberio a Costantino

It is a widespread use to reduce the history of the first three centuries of Christianism to the history of persecutions, until Constantine, finally, in 313 AD, decided to quickly and forcibly Christianize the empire. This is the result of a ideological prejudice on which is based a good part of modern historiography on ancient Christianism: the limited number of ancient sources referring to early Christians is considered as a proof to deny their historical existence. Indeed, the Christianization of the empire was the result of a long lasting and complex process during which the relationship between Christianism and imperial authority was rich of different aspects. Moreover, if there was certainly a Christianization of the empire, it is equally sure that Christianism was widely Romanized, as the European history of the subsequent centuries clearly demonstrates. Inspired to these general guidelines, the volume pays equal attention to the great historical events and to the day by day history of the relations between early Cristianity and Rome.