Peasant and Empire in Christian North Africa (Volume 47) - Hardcover

Dossey, Leslie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0520254392 ISBN 13: 9780520254398

Publisher: University of California Press, 2010

Synopsis

This remarkable history foregrounds the most marginal sector of the Roman population, the provincial peasantry, to paint a fascinating new picture of peasant society. Making use of detailed archaeological and textual evidence, Leslie Dossey examines the peasantry in relation to the upper classes in Christian North Africa, tracing that region's social and cultural history from the Punic times to the eve of the Islamic conquest. She demonstrates that during the period when Christianity was spreading to both city and countryside in North Africa, a convergence of economic interests narrowed the gap between the rustici and the urbani, creating a consumer revolution of sorts among the peasants. This book's postcolonial perspective points to the empowerment of the North African peasants and gives voice to lower social classes across the Roman world.

About this title

About the Author:

Leslie Dossey is Associate Professor of History at Loyola University of Chicago.

Review:

“This fine book breaks new ground in . . . its bold interpretation of . . . the development of civil and religious communities in the African countryside.” (J. Patout Burns Church History 2012-03-01)

“A groundbreaking work. . . . Dossey has made a major contribution to the study of this important facet.” (Jesper Carlsen, University of Southern Denmark The Historian 2013-01-31)

“Fascinating. . . . Leslie Dossey has succeeded in producing an important study of North African peasants in Late Antiquity. . . . A valuable contribution.” (Eric Fournier, West Chester University of Pennsylvania Jrnl Of World History 2012-09-01)

“Powerful. . . . [Dossey] fills a major lacuna in understanding. . . . A penetrating account of archaeological and source analysis.” (M. A. Gaumer Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses 2013-03-18)

"An important contribution to a long-running debate." (Matthew Hobson Early Medieval Europe 2012-05-01)

About this edition

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0520254392
• ISBN 13: 9780520254398
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 376