Castor and Pollux have come a long way since their arrival in Rome at the start of the Republic. As traced in the preceding three chapters, they were linked to the preservation of the Republic and their Forum temple was a rallying point for popular action, but they had also been connected to the elite equites equo publico and prominent generals throughout the Republic. The Dioscuri thus appealed to a broad cross-section of the Roman populace. This final aspect of their cult is therefore perhaps not such a jarring change as it first might appear. Instead, it is a return to the foundation of their divinity: their fraternal harmony. They were the best of brothers, completely devoted to each other to the extent of sharing their immortality so both could live.

The city of Rome was filled with temples which would have often been the most obvious manifestation of the cults they housed. Roman temples were religious locations, containing the statues of the deities and their altars, where priests performed rituals, and where worshippers might come to beg a boon from the gods, to fulfil a vow and to give a dedication in thanks for their aid. However, this was not their exclusive purpose, as temples also possessed other functions from the political and cultural spheres.

In Roman society, the upper classes operated according to their own social “common sense” that determined how they viewed themselves in contrast to people with less money, less prestige, and less power. Their social values and self-presentation, which would later be at odds with certain Christian teachings, were not monolithic: in some contexts, Roman writers idealized austere peasants and criticized the extravagantly wealthy; at other times, any association with agricultural or manual labor would be an easy way to attack an enemy or dismiss a rival. Roman writers of the first and second centuries CE reflected (and helped to establish) the conventional ideas about social and economic status, which would be the starting points for upper-class worldviews in Late Antiquity. In addition to sharing much of the mindset of the broader society, Christian writers in the early Empire also drew upon Jewish and Christian sacred texts when they discussed issues related to economic disparity and social hierarchy. This chapter will examine these conventional Roman social attitudes and then turn to focus on the early Christians. The contrast between how upper-class Roman writers and early Christian writers (many of whom were also from well-off backgrounds) viewed social and economic divisions – such as the value they placed on manual labor – will provide the basis for examining how the social “common sense” would change in Late Antiquity.

Christian scriptures raised questions about the prevailing social order by proclaiming that the meek would inherit the earth, the exalted would be humbled, and the wise of this world would be cast down. Jesus message was initially spread by manual labors who lacked the credentials that typically proved one’s spiritual or cultural authority. But, by the mid-fourth century, Christianity did not seem to pose a threat to the status quo. Well-off Christians continued to maintain their high status and to express their advantages through their behavior and appearance. Likewise, Christian communities did not rally for social reversals on earth, nor did they expect their leaders to be manual laborers like the apostles. The domestication of socially disruptive Christian teachings that had begun with the second- and third-century apologists continued in the late fourth and early fifth centuries, when a generation of influential church leaders produced what would become the standard answers about many questions on doctrine and biblical interpretation. In order to understand the factors at play when these theologians and preachers dealt with the social critique embedded within their religious tradition, it is necessary to take into account their social and economic backgrounds, as well as the prevailing upper-class attitudes toward wealth, poverty, social status, and manual labor.

During the lengthy, complex, and uneven process of Christianization in Late Antiquity, various aspects of “common sense” were changing. Recent studies of attitudes about sexuality, wealth and poverty, and slavery have examined how worldviews adjusted while traditional Roman culture was absorbing Christian values, and vice versa. This book aims to contribute to these discussions by examining the friction between the traditional social values of the Roman elite and the potential social radicalism of Christian teachings. How did upper-class Christian authorities make sense of their own social, economic, and cultural privileges while embracing a religious tradition founded by carpenters and fishermen? What social values did well-born Christian writers exhibit or promote when they addressed each other and laypeople in their letters and treatises? What social values did they exhibit or promote when they addressed laypeople in their sermons?

Some of the teachings of the New Testament were far from intuitive for members of the Roman upper class. For instance, Paul’s attention to the social position of God’s messengers might have seemed peculiar to well-off, educated bishops in Late Antiquity.