What is a triumph? As the Romans understood the word, a triumph was not just a victory, but an annihilation, and this is exactly what happened to a lot of the Classical World when Christianity took over. Statues, temples, books, religious sites, philosophy, science, everything had to be destroyed and/or desecrated in the name of the new god. Catherine Nixey tells the story of the rise of Christianity and the devastation it left in its path.
I was sure that this book would make me extremely angry and sad at the same time because I love the classical era. It was a fascinating and alien time that was full of war, blood, and savagery on one hand, but brought forth unimaginable beauty, progress, and the foundations of our modern intellectual world on the other hand. And indeed, the book made me furious because so much was lost due to the ignorance and small-mindedness of early Christians that were driven by fanatism, greed, and a strange obsession with martyrdom. It also saddened me because it is estimated that only 10% of classical and 1% of Latin literature survived, the most beautiful building of its time, the Temple of Serapis in Alexandria, was completely destroyed, the prominent philosopher and mathematician Hypatia was gruesomely murdered by a Christian mob, and books were burned in the street. And on and on it goes with the destruction, the violent attacks on ‘pagans’, the forced conversions, and the staggering intolerance.
So, what I least expected was for the book to truly entertain me. There were some parts that made me laugh even, for instance, when Nixey describes the pearl-clutching over the aggressively displayed sexuality and overall decadence of the heathen. She has a wry sort of humour and a sharp tongue, and because her style in general is more journalistic than scientific, she manages to lighten the mood in a text that should not have any laughs really. On the other hand, it definitely makes it seem like she has an axe to grind. I don’t mind this slant so much as I am an atheist who pretty much loathes religion due to the crimes that have been committed in its name for millennia, and who mourns greatly for the lost achievements of those long gone times, but I imagine that this book would be offensive to some readers, as she not only paints a very poor picture of the early Christians and their leaders, but also seems to outright mock them in some places for their prudery and obtuseness.
A much greater problem is that the book is poorly structured in that there is a lot of jumping around on the timeline, and also some repetitiveness in describing the destruction of the temples and statues. It led to some déjà vu moments where I wasn’t sure if I hadn’t already read a certain passage. I’m also not a fan of the very narrow focus of the book. There is basically no context provided on the state of the Roman Empire at this point in time, for instance, that it already was on the decline due to barbarian invasions, civil wars, extensive corruption, and more, which led to a society that became more and more divided and thus provided an excellent breeding ground for a new religion that promised much better for the afterlife.
Nonetheless, I enjoyed it a great deal, and it sheds light on some topics that are not as well-known as they should be. A lot of sources are provided for those who want some deeper insight, and I particularly liked the many quotes from the writers and contested works of the time, as far as they still exist. Nixey is also a great writer in that she knows exactly how to make one invested in the story. At the end of the book, when the last philosophers finally have to leave Athens in the wake of a new law by Emperor Justinian that was aimed at the total destruction of paganism and through which he basically outlawed philosophy, I felt as defeated as they did. This, in fact, was the triumph of Christianity, or, as the Romans saw it, the total annihilation of an enemy.