From the Editor

Beginning in April 2013, I had the honor of taking the reins at the Journal of Late Antiquity from my admirable colleague Ralph W. Mathisen. Ralph founded the journal in 2008 but has already brought it to international prominence in just five and a half years. It is thus with pleasure that I assume control of a journal that is both well run and widely recognized as a world leader in the field of Late Antiquity. I am extremely grateful but also humbled by his accomplishments and hope only that I can keep the journal moving as smoothly as he has done.

I very much hope to continue in the tradition of JLA by encouraging publication on all areas of Late Antiquity, from narrative to social history, from religion to literature, from art and archaeology to textual and source criticism. I will also strive to include the work of scholars from across the globe while maintaining high standards of readability for a primarily Anglophone audience. The Journal of Late Antiquity has, from the beginning, prided itself on publishing studies by scholars with the full range of experience, from quite senior to very junior. This too will continue, as will a commitment to close and careful editing of all submissions.

There will also be some small changes, as is the natural order, but these are more matters of style than substance. First and foremost, we bid farewell to Associate Editor Claudia Rapp with thanks for her service and welcome in her stead Judith Evans Grubbs as well as Andrew Cain. We also thank Richard Lim as he steps down from five years of service as book review editor, and welcome Jitse Dijkstra as a new member of the Advisory Board. In addition, beginning with issue 7.1, articles will be cast in a new and more streamlined style. Authors are encouraged to visit the journal’s homepage for further information: https://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_late_antiquity/

As editor, I plan to encourage the targeted publication of groups of articles organized around themes. This is already evident in a series of four studies published in this issue which grew from a seminar held at the 144th annual meeting of the American Philological Association in Seattle in January 2013 that explored the impact of a major new book by Brent Shaw, Sacred Violence: African Christians and Sectarian Hatred in the Age of Augustine (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011). Clifford Ando provided the impetus for the seminar and, in light of the enthusiastic response of the audience, encouraged us to publish the papers, including one of my own, which were fully vetted by external reviewers. This part of the issue is thus meant to serve as a sort of introductory reference to Shaw’s study and a guidepost for future research on its themes.

The volume also publishes four studies by well-established scholars including, we are proud to say, Ralph Mathisen himself. His magnum opus on the Council of Turin should become decisive on this long disputed question. It brings some satisfaction to me that in this issue, as I take my pull at the harness, our studies work side by side helping the journal move forward – iunge pares, et coge gradum conferre iuuencos.