This edition and translation presents three Syriac hagiographies of the mid-sixth century. All of them deal with prominent converts from Zoroastrianism to Christianity, in the context of Khusrau i's second war with Rome. They were all written in circles that were conversant with Middle Persian technical terms, in religion, law and administration. The Life of Mar Abba in particular deals with the need to draw boundaries between Iranian culture and Christian religion. We can infer a social environment where some Iranians were becoming Christian (and successful Christians Iranising), and where churchmen attempted to influence lay behaviour.

The Life of Abba begins with the saint's conversion to Christianity and his travels in the Roman world (where he may have been involved in the translation of key theological texts from Greek into Syriac, such as Nestorius' Bazaar of Heracleides). He then returns to Nisibis where he lives as an ascetic before his surprising selection as catholicos. As head of the Church of the East he restores the practice of clerical celibacy and centralises the episcopal hierarchy after a long period of schism (§11). However, Zoroastrian clergy complain to the shah about specific aspects of his governance, namely his ban on Christian incestuous marriage, his enforcement of dietary requirements for Christians and his conversion of Zoroastrians. For these crimes he is banished to Azerbaijan, but even in exile he continues to convert Zoroastrians. Eventually he regains a measure of protection from the shah, partly through emphasising the numbers, loyalty and utility of the Christian population (§26).

The latter two texts have rarely been used in the history of Sasanian Christianity. One striking feature that is worth mentioning is the opposition of the Life of Grigor to Roman Chalcedonianism (§9): it is not a consistent position in the church histories, which sometimes imagine a unified Dyophysite front against the Miaphysites. Perhaps the context of Khurau's Roman war, and Justinian's involvement in the Three Chapters controversy, should explain the emphasis of religious difference with the Roman world.

Jullien's commentary is learned and effective. She pays particular attention to the issues of Abba's training in the Roman world and to the inter-religious and intra-Christian debates in the three texts. She plausibly suggests that these have a catechetical function. Even if they do not represent real debates, some may have provided intellectual ammunition for the contested issues of the day (p. xlii). Providing critical editions and translations of texts like these, which are of great importance for the social and religious history of the Sasanian world, is a great public service.

Of course, commentaries cannot cover everything, and readers may benefit from two recent works that situate this period of Sasanian history in other contexts. The first is Richard Payne's A state of mixture: Christians, Zoroastrians and Iranian political culture in late antiquity (Berkeley, Ca 2015), which includes a consideration of Abba's attempts to create an alternative legal authority for the Christians of the empire. The second is Michael R. J. Bonner's Three neglected sources of Sasanian history in the reign of Khusraw Anushirvan (Paris 2011), which illuminates the role of Christians in an unsuccessful rebellion against the shah, an event that helps to explain the suspicion in which Abba was held by the Zoroastrian clergy.