kata ta biblia

a blog exploring Christian origins, biblical studies, social/cultural history, method, education and the journey through academia

Martyrdom: What are the Best Books and Articles?

Saint Felicity and the Maccabean Martyrs by Antonio CiseriNot how-to books. When you think of martyrs, martyrdom, and martyrology among early Christians and Jews, what are the must-read secondary sources? Along with a couple other grad students at UCLA, I will be doing a reading course with Boustan following along with his undergrad seminar: “Martyrdom and Religious Violence in the Ancient Mediterranean World: Israelites, Greeks, Jews, Romans, and Christians.”

We’re trying to supplement the undergrad syllabus with additional readings that interest us grad students. What are your ideas?

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6 Comments by Patrick George McCullough  /  September 12, 2009  /  Posted in: courses, martyrdom, ucla
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  • http://danielomcclellan.wordpress.com/ Daniel O. McClellan

    My favorite, hands down, is Daniel Boyarin’s Dying for God: Martyrdom and the Making of Christianity and Judaism [link].

    Bowersock’s Martyrdom and Rome [link] is also good.

    W. H. C. Frend also has a book called Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church [link], and Elizabeth Castelli has one called Martyrdom and Memory: Early Christian Culture Making [link].

  • http://mjburgess.wordpress.com/ Matthew Burgess

    Two relatively recent books immediately came to my mind: Daniel Boyarin’s Dying for God: Martyrdom and the Making of Christianity and Judaism [link], and Elizabeth Castelli’s Martyrdom and Memory: Early Christian Culture Making [link].

    In many ways, the standard study of the subject is still W.H.C. Frend’s Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church [link]. Frend’s work has been reexamined and challenged in many ways, but I think it’s a good place to start.

  • http://patmccullough.com/ Patrick George McCullough

    Thanks, guys. Great minds think alike!

    Castelli is already on the syllabus, but I’m actually surprised that Boyarin didn’t make it on there. Probably because he doesn’t want to make the undergrads’ brains explode.

    Those are all great suggestions. Keep ‘em coming!

  • http://toshunka.blogspot.com Michael Helfield

    Jan Willem Van Henten has several articles on martyrdom. A “rambi search” might be the way to go (last name “Henten”). For an undergrad course, maybe his chapter in Saints and Role Models in Judaism and Christianity (2004) 163-181, edited by M. Poorthuis and J. Schwartz [link]. I would also mention Tessa Rajak’s “Dying for the law : the martyr’s portrait in Jewish-Greek literature” in The Jewish Dialogue with Greece and Rome (2001) 99-133 [link].

    Michael

  • http://patmccullough.com/ Patrick George McCullough

    Thanks, Michael! We do have a couple essays by van Henten on tap for the grad students, but I hadn’t seen that one.

    And nothing from Rajak yet, so that’s helpful.

    Peace.

  • http://patmccullough.com/2009/09/22/roman-emperor-worship-or-imperial-cult-best-sources/ Roman Emperor Worship (or Imperial Cult): Best Sources? « kata ta biblia

    [...] Jump to Comments I received some good feedback (both on the blog and off) after my post looking for good sources on martyrdom. I would like to ask the same question about emperor worship [...]