The culture of late antiquity was a curious blend of classical pagan forms and newly developed Christian ones. This chapter deals solely with aspects of late antique literary culture, and investigates the degree to which the rise of Christianity impacted traditional Greco-Roman literary forms. It provides an introduction to the six most outstanding proponents of literary genres: Jerome, Ambrose of Milan, Augustine of Hippo, John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Theodoret of Cyrrhus. The most interesting aspect of the Christian appropriation of pagan genres involves how they adapted these forms to suit new audiences and new themes. The chapter examines the continuities with existing genres, and the innovations and subversions introduced by Christian authors. After dealing briefly with the genre of florilegia, the chapter examines the effect of the eastern expansion of Christian culture on the Syriac, Armenian and Coptic communities, which were somewhat freer from the constraints of the Hellenistic heritage.

The focus of the narrative history of Francia in the seventh century is its ruling dynasty, the Merovingians. This chapter begins at the start of the seventh century with the unification of Francia under a single ruler, which lengthened the distance between ruler and ruled and made necessary the development of political consensus. In the mid to later seventh century much of Francia was run by people schooled in this fashion through the courts of Chlothar II, Dagobert and his son, Clovis II. According to the Chronicle of Fredegar, Chlothar took control of both Burgundy and Austrasia by agreement with the magnates of each kingdom. There was a marked rise in religious activity as Christian culture overflowed from its traditional urban strongholds to penetrate deep into the countryside. It was in fact the overall stability of the Frankish polity which made child kingship possible. The seventh century therefore saw Francia maturing economically as well as politically and culturally.

Nemesius was a Christian bishop of Emesa, a major city of the Roman province of Phoenicia Libani, in the territory of Syria. Nemesius seems to have an excellent knowledge of medical science; in De natura hominis in particular one can trace the influence of treatises of Galen, of which he reveals a notable mastery. The De natura hominis is built upon a skilful reworking of pagan philosophical doctrines, many of which had already become part of the heritage of Christian thought. Nemesius brings to the forefront a complex question which had been introduced into philosophical debate by late Platonism and in particular by Porphyry. Far from being an unoriginal restatement of doctrines, the De natura hominis, develops a specific anthropological project, one that derives from the traditional mould of the Christian culture of the time but is capable of putting into question certain philosophical choices to which the Church had restricted itself.