A good simile for a certain rugged tenacity, in this case referring to the nascent Christian community as it emerged from being a possibly evanescent sect into a full blown religion.

‘Because it thought of itself as ‘the true Israel’, the Christian community was able to remain rooted in every town in which it was established, like a limpet on a rock when the tide recedes.’

Peter Brown’s vivid writing brings to life an era rich in ideas and vitality, which yet often appears remote, benighted and somehow colourless.

Source: Peter Brown, The World of Late Antiquity, AD 150-750 (London: Thames & Hudson, 1971 (1995)), p. 66

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