Ascetic Behavior in Greco-Roman Antiquity A Sourcebook

At once profoundly counter-cultural and related to secular society, ascetic movements left rich, fascinating, and often difficult to interpret literary documents. The twenty-eight texts translated in Ascetic Behavior in Greco-Roman Antiquity are an invaluable resource for reconstructing the ascetic movements of the ancient world in all their diversity, volatility, and contemporary excitement. These texts reveal not only the assumptions, values, and teachings of ascetic authors but also the practices by which ascetic women and men wove these commitments into their bodies and life-styles. As a sourcebook, this volume contributes generouslyacross religious and philosophical persuasionsto our knowledge of asceticism in antiquity. Margaret R. Miles, Harvard Divinity SchoolWimbush, Vincent L. is the author of 'Ascetic Behavior in Greco-Roman Antiquity A Sourcebook', published 1990 under ISBN 9780800631055 and ISBN 0800631056.