Early Christian Centers

Edited by Sabine Feist, Katharina Heyden, Stefan Pfeiffer, Jan Rüggemeier, and Benjamin Schliesser

Early Christian Centers (ECC) is a multi-volume handbook series devoted to the pluriform emergence, development, and local expressions of Christianity in the cities of the ancient Mediterranean world. Each volume offers a comprehensive survey of one city, examining how Christianity became embedded in its social, religious, cultural, and political life from its earliest traces up to the fourth century, and how it transformed urban structures, identities, and practices.
The series is distinctive in both scope and design. Rather than presenting a collection of individual essays, ECC follows a consistent handbook structure across all volumes. This enables readers to compare cities, regions, and historical developments while still allowing each volume to respond to the particular features of its urban context. Topics include the city’s historical setting, archaeological evidence, religious landscape, social structures, literary and documentary sources, key persons, institutions, conflicts, networks, and forms of Christian identity.
ECC is multidisciplinary in orientation. It brings together perspectives from New Testament studies, church history, ancient history, archaeology, history of religion, theology, social history, religious studies, and the social sciences. The series also aims to reflect international scholarship and diverse research traditions.
The volumes are intended for use in university and seminary teaching as well as for research and reference. Contributors are encouraged to present reliable orientation, current debates, recent discoveries, and innovative approaches. By offering a structured and comparative account of early Christianity in its urban settings, the series provides an essential resource for the study of ancient cities and the history of Christianity.

ISSN: 3054-9728 / eISSN: 3054-9736 - Suggested citation: ECC