The central theme of this collected volume, published on the occasion of Gillian Clark's retirement as Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Bristol, explores what it meant to become and be Christian in the ancient Mediterranean world, in particular in the late antique period. The theme is well chosen since it was and still is so pivotal to Clark's own scholarship. She published widely on the Christianization of the Graeco-Roman world in general, on St. Augustine specifically, but also on women in late antiquity; and she wrote the useful booklet Late Antiquity: A Very Short Introduction (2011). Apart from that she was one of the driving forces behind the series Translated Texts for Historians (TTH). Clark's contributions to scholarship are eloquently described by Averil Cameron in the introductory chapter of the volume.

The volume contains fifteen contributions by British and American friends and colleagues of Clark, most of them scholars of great renown in the field of studies of late antique studies. Almost all relate to Clark's own scholarly work. The book is divided into three parts each consisting of five papers. Part I, “Being Christian through Reading, Writing, and Hearing,” delves into the question of how literary genre, writing, reading and hearing functioned in the construction of the meaning of being Christian. Two contributions struck me as particularly significant. Simon Goldhill discusses why there are no biographies in the rabbinical Judaism tradition. He considers this a deliberate strategy separating Talmudic texts from Christian and pagan literary genres which contain biographical elements; biography explains behavior through character and post-Temple Jewish writings abstain from such explanations; rabbinical writing has another conception of the self; and lack of biography expresses a sense of cultural identity which is intrinsically religious. Guy Stroumsa's paper draws attention to books and reading among Christians. Both are of importance for the identity of the various Christian communities. In particular the introduction of the codex which gradually replaced the scroll had profound consequences. Christians preferred the codex because it could be consulted more easily and be read more intensively than the scrolls. As a consequence Christian intellectuals gained deep knowledge of the scriptures (and probably of other texts), which in turn made them authoritative figures in a world that was predominantly oral and literacy was the privilege of few. Early Christian communities were reading communities in which the book was held in high honor and played an important part in ritual. Christian cultural and religious capital was to a large degree characterized by books.

Part II, “Being Christian in Community,” deals with how Christians created and maintained their communities, and related them to their contemporary power structures and existing forms of organizing human societies. It contains inter alia an interesting contribution on the interpretation of civitas in Augustine by Catherine Conybeare and one on the transformation of the concept of auctoritas by Karla Pollmann. Neil McLynn's contribution on Julian the Apostate's measure requiring that teachers of classical, pagan literature should honor the gods treads new ground. McLynn argues against the general opinion on the topic that Julian's law on teachers (Cod. Theod. 13.3.5) was not central to his political policy and did not create immediate uproar. By carefully scrutinizing and discussing all the available source material on the topic, McLynn concludes that after the issue of the law, probably in Ancyra while Julian was on his way to Antioch, the emperor did not give the matter much thought anymore and left implementation (or not) entirely to the city councils. The measure only generated debate after Julian's death and was criticized particular by Christian authors (and Ammianus Marcellinus), and was interpreted as a central element of Julian's religious program.

The contributions to Part III, “The Particularities of Being Christian,” discuss what it meant to be Christian from various perspectives and representations, i.e. gender, location, education, and culture. Fergus Millar examines the Life of sixth-century Symeon Stylites the Younger (by far the longest of all saints' lives of the pre-Islamic period) and makes clear how significant the location of the “Wondrous Mountain” was where Symeon set up the pillar on which he lived for 55 years. In a valuable contribution Dennis Trout discusses the poems, in particular the epigram by Constantina and the elogium by Damasus, set up for St. Agnes at her graveside at the Via Nomentana in Rome where Constantina erected a grand basilica for the virgin saint. Fascinating is the article by Jill Harries about the imperial women from the years 300–360, in particular the empresses from the Constantinian family: Fausta, Helena and Constantina. According to Harries, Constantine was responsible for a change in court culture that gave women more influence, within limits. Even though they remained invisible to a large extent they seem to have played the role of mediators. Harries likes to see the Constantinian women as forerunners of the women of the Theodosian house some of whom, particularly Pulcheria, had some leverage on court politics. Pulcheria's influence drew on a powerful discourse of Christian asceticism and that may be why Harries presents women like Helena and Constantina as pious and spiritual. In the case of Helena, at least, that is questionable. However, in many respects nothing changed: the principal role of imperial women remained that of mother and producers of offspring and heirs.

This is a wonderful collection of essays worthy of its honorand. Without doubt it is a valuable contribution to the study of late antiquity and of great interest to all those interested in early Christianity, late-antique literature and culture, gender or Augustine.