This encyclopaedic work of reference covers an era in church history in which pagan ideas still existed and in which the symbiosis between Empire and Church was so close as to make them seem almost one, with the Emperor in the East often playing a dominant role in religious matters, while in the West the authority of the emperors had faded, allowing the papacy to assume increasing secular authority. The domination of the East ' reflected in the triumph of Greek over Latin as the language of administration ' meant that Rome itself and the Western provinces were seen as rather provincial. The...

This encyclopaedic work of reference covers an era in church history in which pagan ideas still existed and in which the symbiosis between Empire and Church was so close as to make them seem almost one, with the Emperor in the East often playing a dominant role in religious matters, while in the West the authority of the emperors had faded, allowing the papacy to assume increasing secular authority. The domination of the East: reflected in the triumph of Greek over Latin as the language of administration; meant that Rome itself and the Western provinces were seen as rather provincial. The...