This volume investigates how the physical landscape, civic institutions, and moral framework of Rome shifted during the fourth century as the city transitioned from a pagan center to a Christian capital. John R. Curran, a scholar of late antiquity, utilizes archaeological evidence, contemporary literary sources, and epigraphic data to analyze the complex interplay between traditional Roman identity and the emerging Christian hegemony following Constantine’s conversion. The work argues that this transformation was not an abrupt replacement but a gradual, often contentious process of adaptation and reinterpretation of urban space.

Historians and classicists recognize this work as a significant contribution to the study of late antique urbanism and religious transition. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which makes it a valuable resource for researchers and students of Roman history.