Following a survey of 20th century scholarship's various interpretations of "unitas" as employed by the mid-3rd century CE's Cyprian of Carthage, this volume introduces an innovative hermeneutic that utilizes a contextual analysis of all 233 instances of the term meaning -oneness/unity- in extant Latin literature's Pagan and ante-Nicene Christian authors from the 1st century BCE through the early 4th century CE. A synthesis subsequently is rendered possible, and continuity in the term's meaning without change, confusion, or contradiction remains a hallmark."