In the Christian empire, however, they moved from the margins to centre stage, equal with adults in the eyes of god. This is an attractive and plausible account. 1 Shaw's conclusions, however, are derived from the systematic study of a corpus of some 55,000 gravestones. An impressionistic reading of selected sources, no matter how persuasive, leaves more room for disagreement. My doubts about Wiedemann's thesis concern the invocation of the notion of marginality, the relation between administrative measures and social attitudes, and the role of the spread of citizenship.
Marginality is perhaps ill-suited to so central a role as an analytic category.
There were significant social distinctions both among and within the different groups Wiedemann regards as marginal. In other words, the city's norms were respected on its margins too. But let us accept that the concept of marginality is as useful as Wiedemann thinks. His account of boys' gradual acceptance as rulers and officials seems sound enough. Wiedemann's introductory analysis of selected literary texts is of course intended to establish that these administrative alterations were indeed attended by new modes of thought, and not only among those influenced by Christian doctrine.