Literature And History

Sulpicius Severus’ (c. 363-425) life of St. Martin is one of the great hagiographies – a portrait of a timeless saint, but also of a human being and working bishop. Episode 93 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-93-quiz Episode 93 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-093-severus-life-of-saint-martin Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Athanasius (c. 297-373) wrote a wildly popular biography of the desert hermit St. Antony, touting the ideals of asceticism and triumph over demonic temptation. Episode 92 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-92-quiz Episode 92 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-092-athanasius-life-of-antony Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

In Carthage, in 203 CE, a Roman noblewoman and her retinue were butchered in an amphitheater. Learn her story, and the earliest history of Christian martyrs. Episode 91 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-91-quiz Episode 91 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-091-the-passion-of-perpetua Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Learn the documentary history behind how the Catholic Church was founded and set up as an organization, together with some of the works of the earliest church fathers. Episode 90 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-90-quiz Episode 90 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-090-ante-nicene-catholicism Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Heliodorus of Emesa (3rd/4th century CE) wrote the longest novel to have survived from antiquity, an adventurous romance that reemerged into Europe in the 1500s. Episode 89 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-89-quiz Episode 89 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-089-the-aethiopica-of-heliodorus Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory Great Anthology of Ancient Greek Fiction: B.P. Reardon's Collected Ancient Greek Novels

In roughly the 160s CE, the Greek satirist Lucian of Samosata wrote A True History, one of history’s earliest surviving novels, with strong tinges of what we’d call science fiction. Episode 88 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-88-quiz Episode 88 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-088-ancient-greek-sci-fi Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The satirist Lucian (c. 125-180) was popular in his own time and during the Renaissance, among other things probably being the first author of science fiction. Episode 87 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-87-quiz Episode 87 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-087-lucian-of-samosata Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Once pervasively described as a period of fall and decline, today Late Antiquity is often understood as a period of cultural flowering and economic revolution. Episode 86 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-86-quiz Episode 86 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-086-an-introduction-to-late-antiquity Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

A primer on Biblical canon formation, retrospective on what we’ve covered so far, and introduction to the upcoming season. Episode 85 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-085-river Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

After 300 CE, Manichaeism spread quickly from its origins in modern day Iraq and Iran. Recent archaeological discoveries have finally allowed us to learn about it firsthand. Episode 84 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-84-quiz Episode 84 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-084-manichaeism Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory  

The Nag Hammadi Library, Codex Tchacos, and Berlin Codex, as they came to light in the twentieth century, radically changed our understanding of early Christianity. HarperOne Nag Hammadi Scriptures https://harperone.com/9780061626005/the-nag-hammadi-scriptures/ Episode 83 Quiz https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-83-quiz Episode 83 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-083-gnosticism Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Learn the basic tenets and early history of Zoroastrianism, one of the most important and widespread religions in the ancient world, and possibly earth’s oldest living monotheism. Episode 82 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-82-quiz Episode 82 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-082-zoroastrianism Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

One of the most spectacular pieces of writing in the world’s religious texts, Revelation influenced generations of writers and theologians. Episode 81 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-81-quiz Episode 81 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-081-revelation Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory Write Large Podcast: https://www.writlarge.fm/

The later epistles of the New Testament show early Christian theology expanding and evolving in the Ancient Mediterranean. Episode 80 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-80-quiz Episode 80 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-080-the-general-epistles Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Possibly the most influential theologian in history, Paul codified and clarified Christianity as it emerged into the diverse world of the Eastern Mediterranean. Episode 79 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-79-quiz Episode 79 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-079-the-pauline-epistles Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The story of Christianity’s first missionaries is a sweeping , intercontinental narrative, filled with danger, strange encounters, and the hope for a better future. Episode 78 Quiz: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-78-quiz Episode 78 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-078-the-book-of-acts Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory  

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are the heart of the New Testament. And today, historians and Biblical scholars know more about them than ever before. Episode 77 Quiz: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-77-quiz Episode 77 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-077-the-gospels Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

The Roman client king Herod (c. 73-4 BCE) ruled Judea for thirty years. Learn about his rule, and the political and religious climate of Judea just before the birth of Christ. Episode 76 Quiz: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-76-quiz Episode 76 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-076-judea-under-herod Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

A retrospective on the material we’ve covered thus far as we head into Early Christianity and Late Antiquity, plus some announcements. Episode 75 Transcription: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-075-dusk-and-starlight Bonus Content: https://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory

Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations show an intelligent emperor coping with the realities of an empire buckling under its own weight. Episode 74 Quiz: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-74-quiz Episode 74 Transcription: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/episode-074-marcus-aurelius Bonus Content: http://literatureandhistory.com/index.php/bonus-content Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/literatureandhistory