Conceptions of Tolerance in Antiquity and Late Antiquity

The focus of this essay is on ancient and late antique views on the tolerance of insult. It explores the honor-centered structure of ancient and late antique thinking on this subject, and it draws out the implications of Christian attitudes toward tolerance of insult for the possibility of religious tolerance in late antiquity. The author concludes by contrasting the late antique conceptions of tolerance with contemporary conceptions, and suggests that the contrasts helps us to see some of the salient conditions of contemporary attitudes toward religious tolerance and freedom of religion.