a) Topics and Objectives. The objective of our project is to describe with greater precision than previously the expansion of antique Christianity against the background of two orienting categories, namely »space« and »knowledge«. To this end, the members and Fellows of our group analyze epigraphic and literary materials, but also findings pertaining to the archaeology, religious geography, and biogeography of selected regions of the Roman Empire and evaluate these in terms of a range of concepts of space. b) Methods. Data collection and historical-critical analyses of epigraphic and literary materials; incorporationof findings pertaining to the archaeology, religious geography, and biogeography of the respective regions; pluralism regarding conceptions of space. Noteworthy in particular in this context is the fundamental research of PD Dr. Ulrich Huttner, who has developed a databank of early Christian inscriptions from Asia Minor which draws upon a continuously growing collection of data. c) Current state of the discussion within the research group. No attempt is being made to coordinate our respective findings in terms of a single metatheory vis-à-vis space. Instead, physical, historico-political, social, and post-structural concepts of space are juxtaposed and contrasted with one another and deployed depending upon the respective point of departure.
