When you think about it, the story of Christianity is quite odd. Some guys from the country went around telling people that the man who they followed, Jesus, had risen from the dead and had commissioned them to spread this Good News. For years they were harassed and sometimes killed for their beliefs, but it didn’t matter. Their movement kept growing and in a few hundred years it would transform the world beyond recognition.
How did it happen?
Mike Aquilina knows how. In addition to having written dozens of books on the topic, he hosts the popular Way of the Fathers podcast, dedicated to the Fathers of the Church.
Previously, Aquilina has written about the life of the Church during her apostolic years, when Peter and the other disciples of Jesus were still alive and ministering to people. Rabbles, Riots, and Ruins focuses mainly on the centuries that followed. In particular, Aquilina paints a vivid portrait of the cities where Christianity first took rook and grew, portraying them as vividly drawn characters in their own right.
Each of the cities that Aquilina takes us to has its own personality and story. It makes for a fun, fascinating, and even inspiring read. That’s why we chose Rabbles, Riots and Ruins as one of the featured books on Aleteia’s “Big Winter Reads” for 2025.
The cities where Christianity “grew up”
Some of these places Aquilina writes about will be known to you from the New Testament, but there are others that you have likely never heard of. For instance, the city of Ejmiatsin was unfamiliar to me and I didn’t know that it boasts what is probably the oldest cathedral in the world. And although I have been to Jerusalem countless times via the Bible and popular media, Aquilina’s descriptions of the ancient city helped me see it through the eyes of someone who lived 2,000 years ago.
As Aquilina explains, the early story of Christianity cannot be told without visiting such places:
“How did the Church come to be what it is today? How did the differences between East and West begin? Where did our most ancient traditions come from? How did Catholic theology find its intellectual foundations? If we want to find answers to these questions, we have to look at the different cities where the early Church grew up.”
There were, of course, numerous other cities important in early Church history, but the 12 Aquilina selected give us a great sense of the often-dizzying impact Christianity had on people's lives.
A messy story told well
Mike Aquilina does a marvelous job of giving readers a “you are there” sense of what it would have been like to gawk at the wonders of Alexandria or weave through the crowded tenements of ancient Rome. He also explains why these particular places were so crucial to Christian history.
It’s a sometimes messy story full of brave martyrs, misguided heretics, and the ordinary people who were drawn to a strange but lively religion that was utterly different from the dreary polytheism of the day. Aquilina brings many of them to life, if only briefly. In fact, my only complaint about the book is that I wish it had been longer.
Needless to say, Mike Aquilina's book is highly recommended. If you are interested in early Church history or simply want to take a mental vacation to some of the ancient world’s most fascinating places, you will love Rabbles, Riots, and Ruins.
Click on the PHOTO GALLERY below to see “12 Ancient cities where Christianity first grew,” based on the cities in Mike Aquilina’s book and featuring short quotes from his marvelous text.
