Everyday Religion and Sacred Work in Roman Antiquity and Medieval Societies

Everyday Religion and Sacred Work in Roman Antiquity and Medieval Societies offers a groundbreaking exploration of religious attitudes and practices surrounding labor in Roman Antiquity and Medieval societies, bringing together diverse religious traditions and methodologies. It examines how work was imbued with religious significance, the practices of working people, and the boundaries between “religion” and “work” across pagan, Christian, Jewish, and Islamic contexts, spanning from ancient Rome to the later Middle Ages in Europe. The book offers a critical analysis of how premodern societies conceptualized and regulated the relationship between religion and labor, challenging modern categories and interpretations. The chapters from interdisciplinary perspectives critique the traditional narrative that a Christian valuation of work in Late Antique monasticism replaced classical disdain for labor, ultimately contributing to the emergence of capitalism. By addressing these themes, the book offers fresh insights into the cultural, social, and economic dimensions of work in ancient and medieval contexts.

Ideal for students, scholars, and informed non-specialist readers, the book is particularly suited to those interested in religious studies, history, medieval studies, classics, sociology, and related fields globally.

Tony Keddie is Associate Professor of Ancient Mediterranean Religions and Fellow of the Ronald Nelson Smith Chair in Classics and Christian Origins at the University of Texas at Austin, USA. His publications include Class and Power in Roman Palestine (2019), The Struggle over Class (2021), and Revelation and Material Religion in the Roman East (2024).

Martha G. Newman is Mary Helen Thompson Centennial Professor in the Humanities and Professor of History, emerita, at the University of Texas at Austin, USA. Her publications include Cistercian Stories for Nuns and Monks (2020) and The Boundaries of Charity (1996).