The intellectual conflict between pagan philosophy and Christian theology is one of the fascinating – if not booming – topics in current studies of the third and fourth centuries. This is impressively borne out by the energetic Porphyry scholarship of recent years, and continuing research on pagan criticism (Porphyry, Julian) and Christian apologetics of this era (Origen, Cyril, Macarius Magnes). Possibly the most fascinating intellectual discussion took place during the years described by Eusebius as a long period of peace and prosperity in the Church (260–303) which, as he saw it, had practically asked for subsequent divine judgement as punishment for its complacency and episcopal divisions. Elizabeth DePalma Digeser shares Eusebius' view of these years, but focuses on the amicable relationship between pagans and Christians which was brought to an abrupt end by the Great Persecution (303–13). She knowledgeably describes the progressing development from ‘permeable circles to hardened boundaries’ in five steps: she portrays the (Christian?) neoplatonist Ammonius Saccas (1) and his ‘student’ Origen (2). She then goes on to investigate Plotinus and Porphyry (3), and to analyse two ‘schisms in the Ammonian community’: the conflict between Porphyry and Iamblichus (4), and between Porphyry and Methodius of Olympus (5) who, according to Depalma Digeser, ‘saw Porphyry as an important critic of his … work’. She thus stresses the importance of the increasingly fierce argument between Christians and pagan intellectuals on hotly contested issues such as the bodily resurrection for the rising ‘hostility toward Christians that culminated in … Diocletian's persecution of 303’ (p. 164). DePalma Digeser is convinced that it was Porphyry who brought the dangers of Origen's exegesis and Christian ritual practice to the attention of the royal court. His dispute with Iamblichus on ritual practices raised his awareness about these matters, and Methodius' writings persuaded him of the scale of the Christian threat to public rites and welfare. DePalma Digeser's book is a valid attempt to bring together the often fragmented research on the Christian and pagan sides of this discourse. It also highlights the immense importance of both Porphyry and Origen – not only for third-century thought, but also for the eventual developments in the realm of politics and Roman society.