From Paul to Valentinus: Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries.

From Paul to Valentinus: Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries. By Peter Lampe. Trans. Michael Steinhauser, ed. Marshall D. Johnson. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003. xvii and 525 pages. Cloth. $42.00.

This path-breaking study of the rise and shape of the earliest churches in Rome integrates history, archaeology, theology, and social analysis. Peter Lampe, Professor of New Testament at Heidelberg University, uses epigraphic evidence to complement Christian texts: from Paul's Letter to the Romans to the writings of Clement of Rome, Justin Martyr, Montanus, and Valentinus. Thoroughly reworked and updated by the author, this English-language edition is broad in scope yet closely detailed.

The six parts, comprising fifty-one chapters and four appendices, greatly advances our knowledge of the shape of leadership and the Christians' relation to the Judeans living in Rome. The examination of the city areas in which Jews and Christians lived provides a new context for interpreting early Christians' social status. An examination of Roman Christianity from Romans through the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus concludes that the majority were poor in the first century, a minority came from higher social classes in the second, with Greek as their first language, left few archaeological remains behind; with a greater percentage of women in the higher social classes.

Section 4 is a prosopographic study of all Roman Christians known by name, an extremely valuable contribution. A large proportion were immigrants to Rome. From Commodus on, members of the familia Caesaris and people of senatorial rank (especially women) appear in growing numbers. The last section examines the factionalism of the Roman Christians from Paul's Romans on. In the first two centuries this was based on the scattered house churches. Some were probably based on geographic origins, e.g. Montanists and Quartodecimans who came from Asia Minor and continued their customs and theology in Rome. The latter were more attached to their native bishops than to Bishop Victor of Rome. There were also social and educational causes; ultimately it was the will of the majority that led to the triumph of orthodox views.

The German first edition of this work won universal acclaim on its publication in 1987. A quick perusal of this English translation shows why: Lampe's work is comprehensive, balanced, extensively documented, yet clearly written. It is a must-read for every student of Paul's Romans and early Christian history, a marvelous achievement, based on detailed knowledge of the sources, literary, epigraphic, and archaeological. This work will be basic for the study of Roman Christianity for years to come.