A.D. PAGE Ostrogothic kingdom-Death of Athalaric-of Amalasuntha 333 ib. Conquest of Italy by Justinian. Rome surrendered to Belisarius Vigilius. Silverius degraded-Vigilius Pope ib. CORRIGENDA-VOL. I. P. 65, line 9, for Constantine read Constantius. P. 339, line 4 from bottom, dele rather. P. 344, dates, for 545 read 554, for 546 read 556. OF LATIN CHRISTIANITY. INTRODUCTION. DESIGN AND PLAN OF THE WORK. in its origin THE great event in the history of our religion and of mankind, during many centuries after the extinction of Paganism, is the rise, the development, and the domi- Latin Chrisnation of Latin Christianity. Though the religion tianity. of Christ had its origin among a Syrian people-though its Divine Author spoke an Aramaic dialect-Chris- Christianity tianity was almost from the first a Greek religion. Greek. Its primal records were all, or nearly all, written in the Greek language; it was promulgated with the greatest rapidity and success among nations either of Greek descent, or those which had been Grecised by the conquests of Alexander; its most flourishing churches were in Greek cities. Greek was the commercial language in which the Jews, through whom it was at first disseminated, and who were even now settled in almost every province of the Roman world, carried on their intercourse. Primitive Christianity no doubt continued to speak in Syriac to vast numbers of disciples in those provinces; it spread eastward to a considerable extent, in Babylonia and beyond the Euphrates, into regions where Greek ceased to be the common tongue. Oriental influences, influences even from the remoter East, worked into its doctrine and into its system; yet even these flowed in chiefly or in great VOL. I. B |