Alan Cameron (1) (1938–2017)

This was a somewhat strange read, because it's in large part devoted to dismantling a view of the Byzantine "circus factions" with which I was largely unfamiliar, but apparently ascendant when he wrote in the seventies. One assumes, then, his dismantling by and large convinced byzantinists - an assumption that receives some justification from the entry on the factions in the Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium.

In Cameron's telling, the factions - the "circus" part of their usual designation is a show more bit of a misnomer as in Byzantium they became involved also with the theatre - were numerically small associations of hooliganistically inclined sports fans that acquired a role in imperial ceremonial. In what he calls the traditional view, they were ascribed much greater importance as divisions of the whole of urban society with a variety of political, religious, and military functions alongside their role at the circus and theatre. show less

An extensive, exhaustive, and persuasive treatment of the Roman Pagans - and strictly Roman, distinguished from not only the Greek east but from other Latin areas such as Gaul or North Africa - at the end of the Fourth and beginning of the Fifth Centuries.

Cameron deals with a wide range of different topics, but he has one major thesis: that the Roman paganism, the paganism of the Senatorial class and the old Roman civic cultus, went out with a whimper rather than a bang, and (as a show more corollary) that so far from there having been an alignment of Pagan/Classical culture versus Christian/uncultured, the Christian converts were among those preserving and expressing classicism.

Inevitably, some of Cameron's points may need qualification or correction, but the overall argument he presents (which complements the work of other historians such as Markus) has to be considered as firmly established.

This is a fascinating and engrossing book, but one should be warned: weighing in at five pounds and covering more than eight hundred large pages this takes a considerable time to read (one reviewer talked of "needing an uninterrupted week to spare"). show less

I've tried a couple of times to write a full-on review like I usually do and keep ending up with something so long that I have a feeling nobody will read it. Instead I'm going to sum this up with what would be an abstract of that review.

What Cameron has done here is summarized a 50-year career in one volume. The various topics addressed are those he has been involved with and written on since the 1960's. The book has outstanding points and weak points. It is outstanding in its examination of show more source evidence and the breadth of topics which it covers. It is weak as, when I was reading it, I had a sense that what I was going through was less a single book than a series of articles. It also has weaknesses as in many cases Cameron has neglected to take notice of and discuss the most recent work on the various topics. Instead his discussions of the respective topics quite often seem to consider the state of work in the fields to be the same as when he originally wrote upon them.

As I so often do, I can recommend this book in a qualified way. It is long, detailed, filled with information, and affordable, once you consider how much information it contains. However it should not be read alone. Arguments counter to Cameron's are sometimes glossed over or, if they are recent, ignored and you should do additional reading to discover the most recent arguments and research. Buy it, read it, and for the areas which interest you, read more. show less