ABSTRACT
The social and historical context of the Church Fathers is explored with respect to the Roman state, the imperial office and imperial cult, Greco-Roman class structures and the patron-client system. The primary focus of the work is to demonstrate the superiority of Christianity over pagan thought through its linkage to the writings of the prophets which predate those of the philosophers and poets. Syria, because of its strategic importance for the Empire, became an imperial province under the direct oversight of the emperor and the legatus Augusti, based in Antioch, the key figure in the province and in the East generally. Antioch, enjoyed a significant international role in terms of the Empire and provided both a strategic frontier against the perceived threat of the Parthians and the hub of major trade-routes. Tatian, like most Fathers of the period, declares his willingness to pay the taxes ordered by the emperor and to acknowledge his own position of subjection to the latter.
