The closing of the Western mind: the rise of faith and the fall of reason

Thomas Aquinas and "the triumph of faith"

The quest for certainty

The quest for virtue

Changing political contexts : Alexander and the coming of the Hellenistic monarchies

Absorbing the East, Rome and the integration of Greek culture

"All nations look to the majesty of Rome" : the Roman empire at its height

The empire in crisis, the empire in recovery : political transformations in the third century

Jesus

Paul, "the founder of Christianity"?

"A crowd that lurks in corners, shunning light" : the first Christian communities

Constantine and the coming of the Christian state

"But what I wish, that must be canon" : emperors and the making of Christian doctrine

"Enriched by the gifts of matrons" : bishops and society in the fourth century

Six emperors and a bishop : Ambrose of Milan

Interlude : Quintus Aurelius Symmachus and the defence of paganism

The ascetic odyssey

Eastern Christianity and the emergence of the Byzantine Empire, 395-600

The emergence of Catholic Christianity in the West, 395-640

"We honour the privilege of silence which is without peril" : the death of the Greek empirical tradition

Thomas Aquinas and the restoration of reason.