What can be known about the elusive process of Christianization? As Aude Busine notes in her introduction to this collection of essays (based on a conference, ‘Religious Practices and Christianization of the Late Antique City’ held at the Université libre de Bruxelles in January 2012), ‘Christianization’ refers to both the process and its outcome (2). In this slim volume, eleven archaeologists and historians of religion — some well-known (Claire Sotinel) and others, up-and-coming (Kristine Iara, Ine Jacobs) — bring their expertise to the task of charting Christianization within the context of the late antique city in both the Western and Eastern Empires.

Busine's introductory chapter proposes a three-stage process of Christianization: first, ‘secularization’, then the Christian appropriation of local practices, and finally, the gradual abandonment of these practices. From this opening salvo, the essays that follow fall roughly into two categories: broader, historical examinations of urban Christianization (Sotinel, Saliou, Gwynn, Iara and Hahn) and archaeological approaches (Jacobs, Mulryan, Ward-Perkins and Deligiannakis). Claire Sotinel's ‘Christianisme antique et religion civique en Occident’ addresses the civic function of nascent Christianity by exploring the phenomenon of city protection, whether by gods, saints or civic ritual at times of invasion. It is not until the fifth century that Sotinel finds evidence for as-yet-unofficial Christian civic protection, in the form of small crosses incised into city fortification walls. David M. Gwynn's ‘Christian controversy and the transformation of fourth-century Constantinople’ concerns itself with matters of theology to foreground its discussion of Christianization. Gwynn underscores the significance of polemic and response around the Arian controversy between 337 and 381 for shaping Constantinople as the pre-eminent Christian capital that it came to be under the Theodosian dynasty.

Rather different is Kristine Iara's ‘Lingering sacredness. The persistence of pagan sacredness in the Forum Romanum in Late Antiquity’. Iara notes significant continuities in the Roman Forum's built environment into Late Antiquity. Yet I might fully define what she means by ‘sacredness’ — a fault she shares with many other scholars, who tend to use the term carelessly. She writes of ‘lingering sacredness in the form of collective memory’ (160), but without any reference to critical studies of collective memory; without a more sound definition and application of theory nor any primary sources on the matter, her claim that the Forum was imbued with ‘sacredness’ remains unconvincing. To be fair, none of the essays in this collection incorporate critical theory, which — while typical of the state of the field — is unfortunate.

Iara's contribution forms an uneasy pair with Johannes Hahn's ‘Public rituals of depaganization in Late Antiquity’, which examines the evidence for ‘depaganization’ rituals. Hahn emphasizes that these were not all of a kind, and indeed, legislation indicates that in most cases, the transition from pagan temple to something else (or the complete destruction of a temple without rebuilding) was a long, pragmatic and unritualized process. Depaganization rituals, by contrast, constituted the language by which the Church expressed its power. Such rituals carried symbolic force only to Christians; as Hahn suggests, non-Christians may have felt differently about their own ancient cult sites.

Also concerned with the transition from polytheism to Christianity is Catherine Saliou, ‘Les lieux du polythéisme dans l'espace urbain et le paysage mémoriel d'Antioche-sur-I'Oronte, de Libanios à Malalas (IV^e–VI^e s.)’. Saliou draws on Libanius and Malalas to develop a catalogue of polytheistic cult sites in late antique Antioch, suggesting that Christianization of these sites was more Malalas' rhetorical presentation than reality.

The rest of the essays in this volume are explicitly archaeological. The fourth chapter, by Ine Jacobs (‘Holy goals and worldly means. Urban representation elements in church complexes') criticizes earlier generations of archaeologists and architectural historians of late antique churches for focusing on prayer halls as the most significant elements of a church complex to the exclusion of other buildings or features (71). Jacobs guides us through various ecclesiastical complexes from North Africa to Syria, including the Damous-el-Karita complex at Carthage, the episcopal complexes at Stobi and Salona and the great pilgrimage site at Abu Mina. She highlights architectural features at these sites that would have evoked specific associations with the Graeco-Roman city, including colonnades, nymphaea, arches and tetrapyla. From these, Jacobs argues that the most significant ‘work’ of these ecclesiastical complexes was not that which was accomplished through devotional acts in a prayer hall, but their displays of ecclesiastical power, wealth and connection to the past.

Michael Mulryan contributes ‘A few thoughts on the Tituli of Equitius and Sylvester in the late antique and early medieval Subura in Rome’. Taking a ‘micro street-level’ (166) approach, Mulryan examines the Titulus Equitii and Silvestri complexes near or on the site of San Martino ai Monti. These two tituli, both in the Subura by the fourth century, illustrate how seamlessly Christian space and place integrated into Roman urban life.

Ch. 8, ‘Four bases from Stratonikeia: a (failed) attempt to Christianize the statue habit’, is Bryan Ward-Perkins' contribution. He focuses on four fifth-century inscriptions on statue bases from Stratonikeia. He finds, in these bases, a ‘curious mix of the traditional language of secular munificence and its rewards, with the language of Christianity’ (184). Despite the problem of opposing values — civic honour in the form of statues for the wealthy versus the Christian ideology of euergetism — Ward-Perkins argues that the bases represent a serious attempt to adapt the statuary habit to Christianity.

The ninth chapter, Giorgios Deligiannakis' ‘Pagans, Christians and Jews in the Aegean islands: the Christianization of an island landscape’, presents fascinating source materials: a Silenus relief dedicated by a Christian; an Ikarian inscription recording anti-Jewish slander (which Deligiannakis interprets, intriguingly, as directed at Christians); and finally a late antique oracle of Apollo. Deligiannakis nimbly thinks beyond simplistic religious designations such as ‘Christian’ or ‘pagan’, presenting evidence that complicates terminological or group identities.

The book concludes with Hervé Inglebert's summary of the colloquium and its scope; the essay is useful for its pragmatic and schematic approach to the late antique city, which Inglebert points out was not one thing but differed considerably depending on where (and when) a city might be situated in the late Empire to the early Middle Ages.

In sum, this volume offers a corrective to older studies of Christianization, many of which have been founded upon implicit notions of Christian superiority or the centrality of Christian theology. Taking both broad and particular views and case-studies — and in virtually all cases, paying close attention to material culture, archaeology, and shifts or continuities in the built environment — this book well exemplifies a paradigm shift in the field. It has its own very minor peculiarities: an understandable typo on the very first line ‘constitues’ for ‘constitutes’, and perverse and inconsistent decisions on capitalization (for example, ‘Pagan’, but small m ‘mass’ for the Christian rite). More vexing is the lack of a subject index and even a brief biographical listing for the contributors. Nevertheless, the book is well illustrated with maps, photographs and an index of primary source citations, and is a welcome addition to the subject.