As is often the case with books based on the author's doctoral dissertation, the project tackled here is an ambitious one. Produced under the mentorship of Christoph Markschies, it reflects the quality of the research concerning the socio-culturally transformative processes of late antiquity emerging from the Berlin Topoi Excellence Cluster ‘The Formation and Transformation of Space and Knowledge in Ancient Civilizations'. One of the characteristics of this group of scholars is their openness to applying theories from other disciplines to their specific area of investigation. As a result, this is a book that at times references complex sets of ideas that require careful attention on the part of the reader. In pursuing the agency of preaching and the ‘competition’ metaphor in Christianising the Antiochene public space, on the one hand Krautheim takes a well-worn set of topics (the transformation of the urban space; competition between paganism and Christianity and the rise of the martyr cult, with their attendant agonistic language; Chrysostom's preaching on martyrs) and demonstrates their interrelationship. On the other hand, her book goes well beyond the usual in Chrysostom studies precisely because of its debt to and application of theories from a number of disciplines, continental philosophy and hermeneutics included. Among other theorists, she invokes Habermas on the public sphere, Riceour on metaphor and interpretation, and Foucault on heterotopia. The questions that this review will address are whether these theories suit the source material analysed, and whether they further our understanding of the transformative processes on which the book focuses.

The book's structure highlights what is included in and missing from discussion. After a brief introduction, the study divides into three parts: the first engaged with the semantics of public spaces in Antioch, concluding with analysis of Chrysostom's homily on Babylas; the second with the ‘competition’ discourse in Chrysostom's martyr homilies on Romanus and the Maccabean brothers and their mother; the third with agōn discourse as a paradigm of transformation. There are seven chapters in all, the last section comprising a single chapter, the first two each three chapters of varying lengths. The discussion of theory is distributed mostly throughout the first two sections, with chapter i devoted to a detailed discussion of the evolution of the definition and concept of the public sphere/space, and chapter iv incorporating an extended discussion of metaphor theory, both philosophical and (cognitive-)linguistic. A further discussion of metaphors and cognition occurs in part iii (ch. vii. 3). Guiding the use of these theories is the work of Martina Löw in the field of the sociology of space, with regard to the nexus between the (physical and conceptual) construction of public space and discourse/language. The thesis that the realia of the built environment and the linguistic conceptualisation of it mutually influence one another is most explicitly brought out at p. 72: to paraphrase, language and reality are interdependent; language as a medium of meaning-formation structures and reflects cultural systems; agonistic language thus plays a key role in the development of a late antique concept of the public domain in that through the cognitive and linguistic process of metaphorisation the two are placed in a new context of meaning; metaphor both reflects and constructs reality. What is of importance for the argument presented by Krautheim is that she adopts here a specifically socio-cultural understanding of metaphor and language with only passing reference to the substantial work in the field of cognitive linguistics on conceptual blending and conceptual metaphor theory. Since the book is about meaning-making, this has implications for the direction in which she takes her analysis. Additionally, while there is considerable discussion of the somewhat slippery modern concept Öffentlichkeit (publicité) and of the classical to Christian evolution of the concept of agōn, there is scant reference to the major discussion in recent scholarship on the shift in late antiquity from religious competition to religious conflict. An excursus unpacking the scholarly paradigm – whether valid or invalid – of classical polytheistic religious competition with accompanying theorisation might, in parallel with chapter i, have deepened the discussion in the final chapter. It could likewise usefully have informed the excursus on the transformation of agōn as metaphor from classical to Christian times in chapter ii. While the language of religious rivalry, competition and conflict is assumed throughout and the analysis does reference the work of Bernd Isele, one thinks here of the lengthy theoretical discussion by David Engels and Peter Van Nuffelen in the introduction to their edited volume Religion and competition in antiquity (Brussels 2014). Finally, in part i, with its lengthy discussion of the public spatial realia of Antioch in late antiquity, noticeably absent is reference to the significant work on the topography of Antioch by Catherine Saliou. Her work is particularly important for its unpacking of the rhetorical nature of the construction of the city's space by Julian, Libanius and Malalas, its purpose and its relationship to topographic and architectural reality.

These omissions are raised not to diminish the analysis that is presented but to define its limitations and to set it in context. Krautheim's emphasis is socio-cultural and this drives her choice of theories and discussion of semantics. In this respect her analysis follows closely in the footsteps of the substantial body of scholarship on late antiquity, Christianisation and identity formation. Christianisation and identity inform the detailed analysis of the metaphoric use of agonistic language pursued in part ii. Identity is also a focus of part iii. There theories of performativity are also used to progress the argument. There is much that is valuable in the analysis and in its overarching thesis. Krautheim is to be commended for progressing the application of complex theory to analysis of Chrysostom's homilies and rhetorical agenda. There remains a question as to whether the particular theories that she pursues allow her to grapple fully with the phenomenon – the Christianisation of urban public space – that she seeks to explain. There is perhaps too much emphasis on defining the public space as reality and concept, when the issue of metaphor, meaning-making and perception are issues for which the selected theories offer only a partially satisfactory explanation. As an experiment in investigating the agency of metaphor, however, this study deserves scholarly attention.