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

Liebeschuetz, J.H.W.G.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 086078990X ISBN 13: 9780860789901

Publisher: Routledge, 2006

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.

About this title

About the Author:

J.H.W.G. Liebeschuetz is Emeritus Professor of Classics at the University of Nottingham, UK.

Review:

'Taken as a whole, this collection of Liebeschuetz' more recent work gives his articles a better accessibility and the prominence that they deserve, both for research and for teaching purposes.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 086078990X
• ISBN 13: 9780860789901
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368