The Ertegun Lecture: Countering Christianity: Imperial Rome and Tokugawa Japan

Professor Neil McLynn compares anti-Christian policies in the Roman Empire to those employed in Early Modern Japan, and asks the question why did the Japanese succeed in eliminating the religion when the Romans so comprehensively failed?

Professor Neil McLynn studied Classics at Oxford (Lincoln, 1979-83) and went on to complete a DPhil on Roman History in 1988. In 1990 he started teaching in Japan, primarily in the Law Faculty of Keio University (1990-2007; Professor from 2002); he also taught in the Western Classics department of the Humanities Faculty of Tokyo University (1993-2007). In 2007 he returned to Oxford, as University Lecturer in Later Roman History in the Classics Faculty and a fellow of Corpus Christi. His most recent publication is Exploring Gregory of Nyssa: Philosophical,Theological,and Historical Studies (Oxford, 2018), co-edited with Anna Marmodoro.

More information about the event will follow but booking for the lecture is now open to all Oxford alumni through the Oxford Alumni website.