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David L. Eastman
Paul the Martyr: The Cult of the Apostle in the Latin West
Society of Biblical Literature Writings from the Greco-Roman World Supplements 4
Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2011
Pp. xx + 238. $30.95.
The legacy and reception of Paul in late-antique Christianity has received a wealth of attention in recent decades. Most of this interest has focused on patristic appropriations of Paul's Epistles. Nevertheless, as influential as Paul was as a canonical theologian in late antiquity, David Eastman's book reminds us that Paul's reputation and influence as an apostolic "martyr" loomed equally as large. Eastman's engaging study offers a "thick description" of this phenomenon, bringing to life the places, stories, images, objects, rituals, and patronage practices that embodied and shaped the cult of Paul the Martyr in the Latin West, from its origins through the death of Pope Gregory the Great. He integrates literary, archaeological, epigraphic, and liturgical evidence into the first systematic narrative of the late-antique cult of Saint Paul.
Rome takes center stage in Eastman's study and the abundance of textual and archaeological testimony here for Pauline veneration lends itself well to the thick description of the cult he wishes to offer. He focuses his attention on the two primary sacred spaces that emerged as the loci for the city's cult of Paul: the site along the Ostian Road associated with the apostle's martyrdom and burial and the catacombs adjacent to the Appian Road where Christians venerated Paul and Peter together. In his first chapter, Eastman carefully traces the development of the Ostian site from small memorial shrine to...