Late antiquity as a period of cultural transformation

Late antiquity is increasingly recognised as a period of important cultural transformation. One of its crucial aspects is the emergence of a new awareness of human individuality.

Interdisciplinary and international scholarship

In this book an interdisciplinary and international group of scholars documents and analyses this development. Authors assess the influence of seminal thinkers, including the Gnostics, Plotinus, and Augustine, but also of cultural and religious practices such as astrology and monasticism, as well as, more generally, the role played by intellectual disciplines such as grammar and Christian theology.

Comprehensive introduction

Broad in both theme and scope, the volume serves as a comprehensive introduction to late antique understandings of human individuality.