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Constantine and the Cities: Imperial Authority and Civic Politics. By Noel Lenski. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 2016. Pp. ix, 404. $79.95. ISBN 978-0-8122-4777-0.)
The emperor Constantine continues to engender productive debate among historians of the later Roman Empire. Noel Lenski's outstanding new study will be required reading for scholars working on Constantine, late Roman imperial administration, civic identity in the provinces, and the rise of bishops as civic leaders in the fourth century.
In contrast to recent approaches that have downplayed the degree to which Christianity was the driving force behind Constantine's policies, Lenski returns to a more traditional view. What is distinctive about Lenski's approach, however, is his reliance on "secular" evidence, especially laws, to establish Constantine's Christian credentials.
The heart of Lenski's study is his analysis of a number of interactions between Constantine and the cities of his empire. He argues that Constantine usually preferred carrots to sticks, skillfully leveraging imperial...