Debating the Saints' Cults in the Age of Gregory the Great

• Includes 8 illustrations
• Challenges a central strand of thinking on the role and nature of religion, especially Christianity, in late antiquity
• Contextualises how the strict monotheism of the Quran emerged out of the late Roman/early Byzantine world

Readership: For scholars and students interested in ancient history, Byzantine studies, history of religion, and Near Eastern studies.

Matthew Dal Santo, Fellow, Trinity College, Cambridge

Matthew Dal Santo was until recently a research fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Acknowledgements
List of figures
Introduction
Gregory the Great and the saints' cult in late antiquity
1: Gregory the Great and Eustratius of Constantinople: the Dialogues on the Miracles of the Italian Fathers as an apology for the cult of saints
2: The fourth dialogue of Gregory the Great: the early Byzantine context of a Latin disquisition on the soul
3: Contesting the saints' miracles: the witness of early Byzantine Lives and miracle collections
4: The saints' inactivity post mortem: soul sleep and the cult of saints east of the Euphrates
Concludion
Debating the saints cult in the age of Gregory the Great and Muhammad
Epilogue
Visualizing the God-guarded empire with the Sinai Icon of the Virgin and Child
Appendix
Anastasius of Sinai and Pseudo-Athanasius: Question and Answer writers
Bibliography