Languages show variations according to the social class of speakers and Latin was no exception, as readers of Petronius are aware. The Romance languages have traditionally been regarded as developing out of a 'language of the common people' (Vulgar Latin), but studies of modern languages demonstrate that linguistic change does not merely come, in the social sense, 'from below'. There is change from above, as prestige usages work their way down the social scale, and change may also occur across the social classes. This book is a history of many of the developments undergone by the Latin language as it changed into Romance, demonstrating the varying social levels at which change was initiated. About thirty topics are dealt with, many of them more systematically than ever before. Discussions often start in the early Republic with Plautus, and the book is as much about the literary language as about informal varieties.

Social Variation and the Latin Language

The writings of the Church Fathers form a distinct body of literature that shaped the early church and built upon the doctrinal foundations of Christianity established within the New Testament. Christian literature in the period c.100–c.400 constitutes one of the most influential textual oeuvres of any religion. Written mainly in Greek, Latin and Syriac, Patristic literature emanated from all parts of the early Christian world and helped to extend its boundaries. The History offers a systematic account of that literature and its setting. The works of individual writers in shaping the various genres of Christian literature is considered, alongside three general essays, covering distinct periods in the development of Christian literature, which survey the social, cultural and doctrinal context within which Christian literature arose and was used by Christians. This is a landmark reference book for scholars and students alike.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/info/23049402

The Cambridge History of Early Christian Literature

“Roman religion” as used here is an abbreviation for “religious signs, practices,
and traditions in the city of Rome.” This is a local perspective. Stress is not given
to internal differences between different groups or traditions. Instead, the accent is
placed on their common history (part I) and range of media (part II), shared or
transferred practices (part III), and the social and institutional context (part IV)

/pdf/a-companion-to-roman-religion-2v3sh2sidg.pdf

A Companion to Roman Religion

1. Introduction Part I. The Polemical Making of Marcion the Heretic: 2. The beginnings of the construction of a heretic: Justin Martyr 3. Irenaeus and the shaping of a heretic 4. Marcion through Tertullian's eyes 5. The heresiological tradition 6. Theology and exegesis against Marcion 7. Marcion in Syriac dress Part II. Marcion through his Scriptures: 8. Marcion as editor and interpreter I: Marcion's Gospel 9. Marcion as editor and interpreter II: Marcion's Apostolikon 10. Marcion's other writings Part III. The Second-Century Shaping of Marcion: 11. Marcion in his second-century context 12. Principles of Marcion's thought and their context I: God 13. Principles of Marcion's thought II: the Gospel 14. Principles of Marcion's thought III: life and practice 15. Principles of Marcion's thought IV: the contradictions of the Gospel 16. Afterword: Marcion and the making of a heretic.

Marcion and the Making of a Heretic: God and Scripture in the Second Century

1. Eloquence and virtue in Cicero's statesman 2. Justice and the limits of the soul 3. Christ and the formation of the just society 4. Divine eloquence and virtue in the scriptures 5. Wisdom's hidden reasons 6. Eloquence and virtue in Augustine's statesman.

https://bilder.buecher.de/zusatz/21/21044/21044212_vorw_1.pdf

Christ and the just society in the thought of Augustine

Ancient rhetoric and the art of Tertullian

Tertullian. Adversus Marcionem

Tertullien, De carne Christi, 5,4| citation usuelle, deformee| paradoxe, non pas pensee absurde.

Credo Quia Absurdum

Tertullian is a primary source for a modern understanding of the issues that once confronted - and still confront - Christians living in a non-Christian world. Unfortunately, his writings have often been cast aside as too difficult to read. In this volume, Robert D. Sider undertakes a judicious pruning of the original texts and brings an accessibility to the important writings of Tertullian.

Robert D. Sider

Papers

Ancient rhetoric and the art of Tertullian

Tertullian. Adversus Marcionem

Credo Quia Absurdum

Christian and Pagan in the Roman Empire : the witness of Tertullian

Tertullian und das römische Reich