In Patrick McBrine’s book Biblical Epics in Late Antiquity and Anglo-Saxon England,

the themes of continuity and collapse manifest themselves through the genre of the biblical

epic. In late antiquity, the biblical epic was a poem written in the style of the Aeneid, Iliad, or

Odyssey, but had a biblical storyline. Instead of featuring pagan gods and heroes, the biblical

epics focused on Jesus and Old Testament figures such as Noah. In Juvencus’ Evangeliorum

libri quattor, one of the first biblical epics, McBrine writes that despite its evocations of

classical epics, “there is no battle, no conceited death-scene speeches, and no pantheon. There

is just the one protagonist, and he is both hero and deity.”1 The second biblical epic to be

written was Cyprianus’ Heptateuch, which centers around the events of Genesis and Exodus.

Cyprianus used the language of the pagan worship of Jupiter to describe the destruction of

Sodom and Gomorrah, creating a storyline that his early fifth-century audience would have

followed. In the Bible, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is explicitly attributed to

God; in Cyprianus’ retelling, one cannot tell whether he wrote about the Christian God or

about Jupiter. Another biblical epic, written about twenty-five years after the Heptateuch,

was Sedulius’ Carmen Paschale, which is similar to Juvencus’ work in that both retell the

story of the Gospels. Sedulius alludes to classical mythology in an explicit way by connecting

Satan with the mythical founder of Athens, and made biblical epics a source of commentary

on the Bible. The Carmen Paschale was written around the same time as the Latin Vulgate,

which was the first edition of the Bible available in Latin. Prior to this point, the Bible was a

bilingual composition, with the Old Testament in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek.

By the time of Avitus’ Historia Spiritalis, the Vulgate had been available for almost a

hundred years. Similarly to Cyprianus, Avitus wrote about the events of Genesis and Exodus.

In the sixth century, another biblical epic, Arator’s Historia Apostolica, was written. Arator

1
Patrick McBrine, Biblical Epics in Late Antiquity and Anglo-Saxon England: Divina in Laude Voluntas (Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 2017), 25.
uses epic language, calling heaven “Olympus,” Hell “Tartarus,” and God “the Thunderer,”

one of the many names for Jupiter in classical times.

Central to the book’s argument are the ideas of continuity and collapse. Continuity, as

put forth by Peter Brown, is the idea that the Roman Empire fell, but certain aspects of it

continued on into the Early Middle Ages. Collapse, as put forth by Ward-Perkins and

Gibbon, is the idea that the Roman Empire fell suddenly, and that the Early Middle Ages

were the “Dark Ages” of popular imagination. Biblical epics have some aspects that reflect

continuity with the classical past, yet other aspects suggest a break with that past and an

abrupt transition to the Early Middle Ages. The fact that all the epics are in Latin instead of in

a barbarian language shows that the authors desired a sense of continuity with the classical

age. After the Western Roman Empire fell in 476 CE, however, the number of references to

classical epics within the biblical epics declined substantially. At the same time, the tide of

literacy was receding, as an ordinary man would no longer be able to write graffiti on the

walls of his town. Literacy became the preserve of the clergy, as they were the only ones with

a valid reason to learn to read and write. The new barbarian governments had no use for

Roman-style censuses or biblical epics, and thus the rulers of these states did not learn how to

read and write. Classical education was effectively lost until the twelfth century, and many

ancient authors would not be rediscovered until the fifteenth century. The emphasis on

miracles and divine power was a mechanism for continuity within the biblical epics. Classical

authors such as Virgil and Homer used accounts of divine intervention in the lives of mortals.

Occasionally, a deity could be a parental figure for an epic hero, as in the example of

Hercules, who was the son of Jupiter and a mortal woman named Alcmene. In the biblical

epics, Jesus’ divinity does not displace his humanity. Juvencus, when writing about the

Beatitudes, did not use classical analogies, but left the original biblical text to stand for itself:

“Felices nimium, quos insectatio frendens propter iustitiam premit; his mox regia caeli
pandetur.”2 Juvencus depicts Jesus as both the epic hero and a deity, which runs counter to

what one would expect in a classical epic, but is what one would expect in a biblical epic

about Jesus.

The reasons why continuity and collapse are themes in McBrine’s work are because

of the scholarship in the field before him. In 1776, Edward Gibbon published the first volume

of his work The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Gibbon’s account

began with the Antonine era, describing it as “the period in the history of the world, during

which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous.”3 Once Christianity

arrived in Rome and became its state religion, Gibbon’s account turns hostile. He believed in

the Enlightenment doctrine of anticlericalism, which opposed the influence that the clergy,

especially Catholic clergy, had on governments in Europe. Gibbon criticized monasticism

and barbarian conversions to Christianity as factors in the destruction of the Roman Empire.

Gibbon also criticized the veneration of relics and Christian martyrs, as “the minute particles

of these relics, a drop of blood, or the scrapings of a bone, were acknowledged, in almost

every province of the Roman world, to possess a divine and miraculous virtue.”4 After

Christians began venerating relics, Gibbon believed that the Roman Empire began to show

visible signs of decay. Ward-Perkins points out that the Romans treated barbarians poorly,

and depictions of Roman oppression of barbarian peoples were visible on triumphal arches

across the Roman world. The dismissive and hostile attitude the Romans had towards

barbarians is epitomized by an aristocrat named Symmachus, who in the year 393 “brought a

group of Saxon prisoners to Rome, intending that they publicly slaughter each other in

gladiatorial games.”5 Ward-Perkins writes about how these prisoners committed suicide

rather than kill each other in the arena for the pleasure of the Romans. Ward-Perkins
2
“Blessed are those whom persecution haunts in the name of justice, for the kingdom of heaven shall open
unto them.” (Juvencus, Evangeliorum libri quattor, 465-68)
3
Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (London: Penguin, 1995), 83.
4
Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (London: Penguin, 1995), 356.
5
Bryan Ward-Perkins, The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), 24.
continues: “For us, their terrible death represents a courageous act of defiance. But

Symmachus viewed their suicide as the action of a group of men ‘viler than Spartacus.’”6 The

barbarian invaders were aware of Roman policy towards them, and even though some

barbarian groups had incorporated themselves into the Roman world, there was resentment

when a barbarian became powerful. The decline in literacy after the fall of the Western

Roman Empire is listed as a reason for the idea of collapse, as is the lack of well-made

pottery and coinage. Settlements became sparser, as many cities occupied in 100 CE were

deserted by the end of the eight century. Towns such as Veii, just north of Rome, fell into

ruins, while others, such as the city of Rome itself, shrank to account for barbarian raids that

ravaged the countryside. Pottery in the imperial era, according to Ward-Perkins, was well-

made and durable, while early medieval pottery was poorly made, even when buried with

kings. He uses the example of a jar found in Sutton Hoo with an Anglo-Saxon king and

compares it to Roman amphorae. While not aesthetically pleasing, the jar from Sutton Hoo

served a purpose in its early medieval setting, just as the amphorae served a purpose in their

Roman setting. The lack of coinage in the Early Middle Ages is largely due to the fact that

trade was impacted by constant raids carried out by barbarian warbands. Under the Romans,

there was a centralized authority that made all the laws and minted coins that were legal

tender across the Mediterranean world. In the early medieval world, this central authority

vanished and was replaced by different barbarian kingdoms, all with their own laws and

languages. Coins fell into disuse, as there was little need for them when trade was constricted

by marauding warbands. Even in the eighth century, when the fallout from the collapse of the

Roman Empire was less tangible, raids still occurred, especially in Britain. Continuity is the

primary theme in Peter Brown’s work The World of Late Antiquity. The old senatorial

families still held power, the Eastern Roman Empire still existed, Latin was still used,

Christianity was still the primary religion, and the art styles were similar between late
6
Bryan Ward-Perkins, The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), 24.
antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Christianity was framed in Roman terms, as God in the

fourth-century Christian worldview was “an emperor writ large.”7 Like a Roman emperor,

God commanded absolute obedience, and only a few could approach the divine presence.

Similarly, a Roman emperor could only be approached in a reverential manner, either to pay

tribute or to petition the imperial government for some favor. Beginning with the Principate,

Roman senatorial families saw their power slowly eroded by that of the state. The power they

held was largely ceremonial, as the Senate was no longer a legislative body that represented

the Roman people, but was instead a means for the emperor to approve his policies. By late

antiquity, the senatorial families made up the core of the imperial bureaucracy. The fact that

the Eastern Roman Empire continued to exist until 1453 is evidence of continuity in that half

of the Roman world. Despite some later scholars decrying the Eastern Roman Empire as an

“Orientalized” Byzantine Empire due to its use of eunuchs as bureaucrats and the veneration

of icons, the success of the Roman model was shown by the Byzantine Empire. However, the

Muslim conquests overwhelmed the Byzantines, depriving them of areas such as Egypt, the

breadbasket of the Roman world. However, a theological quandary emerged when the

Muslims took the land that currently forms Israel and the West Bank, as this gave a non-

Christian group control of Jerusalem. The Byzantines still occupied Anatolia, but the

Muslims began to strike at those holdings, causing the Byzantine emperor to beg Western

Europe, which had already splintered into various barbarian kingdoms, for help. This plea for

help caused Pope Urban II to call a crusade, as well as the gradual loss of Byzantine territory

to the Muslims. Latin was used after the Western Roman Empire fell as the language of the

Catholic Church. The law began to use Latin heavily, as the barbarian kingdoms all had legal

systems based off of Roman law. Only Anglo-Saxon Britain had a legal system based off of

common law instead of Roman law, which provided the cornerstone for later developments in

democratic thought such as the Magna Carta. Roman law was a system based off of the
7
Peter Brown, The World of Late Antiquity: AD 150-750 (London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 2022), 101.
ancient Twelve Tables and the decrees of previous emperors. In the barbarian kingdoms

where it held sway, the will of the ruler shaped the laws. Latin was also the language of

learning, as scientists and physicians throughout Europe corresponded with each other in

Latin, a practice that continued until the eighteenth century, when English displaced it due to

the expansion of the British Empire. Even today, medicine, the law, the church, and the

natural sciences use Latin terms, whether to name a species of animal or to identify a policy

stance. Christianity became the predominant religion in Western Europe through its

legalization and elevation to state religion of the Roman Empire. In the Early Middle Ages, it

became a faith centered on the edicts of the Pope, who in late antiquity was known as the

Bishop of Rome. In late antiquity, many different interpretations of Christianity emerged that

ran counter to the official doctrine established by the Edict of Nicaea. These interpretations

were labeled heresies by churchmen eager to eradicate dissident Christological opinions. The

medieval world also saw heresies emerge, most famously that of the Cathars in Provence,

who were exterminated by the Albigensian Crusade in the thirteenth century.

The methodology of McBrine’s book is to analyze the biblical epics as they pertain to

ideas of classical and biblical influences. In Juvencus’ Evangeliorum libri quattor, written

during the reign of Constantine, the classical influences on the work were more pronounced

than in the sixth century, when Arator wrote his Historia Apostolica. However, Arator still

incorporated classical vocabulary into his epic, even though classical paganism was no longer

widely practiced in Europe. His audience was no longer educated Romans, as was the case

with Juvencus, but was instead fellow members of the clergy. The decline in literacy from the

classical era and the fact that barbarian rulers did not need to learn how to read and write

contributed to this limitation. Most biblical epics had influences from the classical epics

written by Virgil and Homer, even though the references to these epics would not have been

understood by everyone in the audience. Juvencus’ Evangeliorum libri quattor, like the rest
of the biblical epics in McBrine’s work, shows God intervening in favor of specific people.

This is similar to how the pagan gods intervened on behalf of heroes such as Achilles or

Aeneas; however, unlike in the biblical epics, the classical heroes could also fall victim to

divine intervention when they became too powerful, as in the case of Achilles. In the Iliad,

Achilles’ death is not referenced, as it ends with Hector’s funeral. The Aeneid, by contrast,

depicts a nearly invincible Achilles being killed by an arrow in his heel, as this was the only

part of his body that was vulnerable to injury. In biblical epics, God intervenes when

humanity is sinful, as in the case of the Flood, or when humanity needs redemption for its

sins, as in the case of Jesus’ character arc. Sometimes, these categories can overlap, as in the

case of Sodom and Gomorrah, where God spares Lot and his family from the devastation so

they can spread God’s message. Cyprianus incorporates Abraham into the narrative, showing

him as a witness to the destruction of the cities.