In recent years, NT scholars have become interested in what ways the four Gospels engage the Roman Empire. The Gospel of Mark has been at the center of this discussion, with scholars sometimes viewing the Markan incipit (Mark 1:1), rightly in my opinion, as a direct challenge to Roman political propaganda of the emperor as son of god and beginning of good news. Gabriella Gelardinis study, Christus Militans, a Habilitation thesis submitted to Basel University, pursues this important topic further, providing an analysis of the whole of the Gospel of Mark from this perspective. The result is a hefty volume that runs to almost 1,000 pages.
Gelardini provides an introduction followed by two parts. The first part comprises two chapters; the second comprises two chapters plus the conclusion. The introduction surveys scholarship concerned with Mark against the backdrop of the Roman Empire, especially in the light of the Jewish...
