This book provides a new appraisal of religious change in the Roman Empire, focusing on the rise of Christianity in Northern Italy. It challenges the conventional view that the church expanded by means of co-ordinated apostolic missions (a view which has its origins in medieval legends). Bycareful consideration of archaeological evidence, as well as traditional literary sources, Dr Humphries builds up a picture of Christian origins that is sensitive to the patchy and uneven nature of the phenomenon. In particular, he emphasizes how the competing interests of bishops, emperors, andlaity were to have far-reaching implications for the political, institutional, cultural, and theological development of the church.