Decline and Change in Late Antiquity: Religion, Barbarians and their Historiography (Variorum Collected Studies)

Synopsis

The essays in this second collection of articles by Professor Liebeschuetz deal with several aspects of the history of Late Antiquity. One theme is the prehistory of Late Antique ethical monotheism, which is illustrated by studies of pagan cults, Mithraism and Judaism. Several essays discuss the nature of the people who took over large areas of the Western Roman Empire, especially the Visigoths and the Vandals. The author insists that the continuing 'ethnogenesis' of these groups was made possible by customs and traditions, some of them going back before the entry of these peoples into the Empire. It is argued that the fact that formal possession of Roman citizenship became unimportant, helped the barbarian settlers to expand their groups and to consolidate their ethnic solidarity. Other papers deal with the historiography of Late Antiquity, and, more generally, with the writings of historians from Thucydides to A.H.M. Jones and Peter Brown. The anxiety of today's historians to reject the concept of decline is linked to current political concerns, especially to the ideology of multiculturalism. A recurring theme is the relationship between the historian's own background and his or her writing.

Copyright:

2006

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

ISBN-13:

9781040244630

Related ISBNs:

9781040237601, 9781003554097, 9780860789901

Publisher:

Taylor & Francis

Date of Addition:

10/28/24

Copyrighted By:

J.H.W.G. Liebeschuetz. J.H.W.G. Liebeschuetz has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

History, Nonfiction

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.