Simon J V Malloch

Sub Specie Aeternitatis

And Man Created God: Kings, Cults, and Conquests at the Time of Jesus

By

Atlantic Books 393pp £20 order from our bookshop

In AD 390 the Christian Roman Emperor Theodosius I was held responsible for the massacre of seven thousand people in Thessalonica in retaliation for the murder of one of his generals during a riot. When Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, learnt of the slaughter, he threatened Theodosius with excommunication, and after seven months of penance the emperor was readmitted to the pale of the church. In 1619–20 Anthony van Dyck vividly captured the bishop’s power in a painting that showed Ambrose barring Theodosius from entering the cathedral at Milan.

Follow Literary Review on Twitter

  • Last Tweets

    • With our February issue about to go to press, enjoy a slice of LR history - Hilary Mantel on Joan Haslip's biograph… ,
    • What did London look like in the 6th Century? Rory Naismith's 'Citadel of the Saxons' tries to answer that questi… ,
    • Start your week with a dose of Russian Revolutionary zeal. Donald Rayfield reviews Tobie Mathew's 'Greetings From t… ,
    • A treat from the LR Archive: exactly 20 years ago, Malcolm Bradbury reviewed John Updike's 'Bech at Bay' ,
    • ‘When bullets come close, the noise they make as they go past changes from a zing to a crack’ John Lanchester's dy… ,
    • Man with a Bloody Paintbrush: Robin Simon on Lucian Freud ,
    • Jane Ridley reviews The Diaries of Kenneth Rose (ed. D R Thorpe) ,
    Follow Us