Empires of faith : the fall of Rome to the rise of Islam, 500-700

579 Pages·2013·4.37 MB·English

by  Peter Sarris

THE OXFORD HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL
EUROPE
General Editors
JINTY NELSON and HENRIETTA LEYSER
Empires of Faith

The Fall of Rome to the
Rise of Islam, 500–700

PETER SARRIS
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP
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© Peter Sarris 2011
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ISBN 978-0-19-926126-0
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General Editors’ Preface

The only traditional thing about this series is that its volumes will form a
chronological sequence. Each volume will be single-authored and cover one or
two centuries. Beyond coverage of the medieval time-span, the editors have
shied away from insisting on uniformity of presentation, which can have a
stultifying effect and lead to dissimilar periods finding themselves shoe-horned
into common patterns. Instead, authors are encouraged, within whatever
geographical frame they choose for their volume (and those will vary), to treat
‘Europe’ as broadly as possible, to break away from narrowly Eurocentric
perspectives, and to range, as and when desirable, beyond Europe (e.g. to the
Near East or North Africa). Each author will be free to emphasise, and connect,
themes that they consider significant, in light of their own work and of
contemporary trends in historiography. While we expect a concern with beliefs
and ideas, values and sentiments to reflect history’s cultural turn, authors will
offer individual interpretations of their chosen periods, reflecting as they
consider appropriate on interdisciplinary approaches, especially via
consideration of material culture. The editors’ intention is that each author’s
distinctive voice should be heard loud and clear, and we expect each volume to
have its own unity and pace.
Our authors have been liberated from the need to produce a standard
authoritative account—always a rather chimerical concept—and we trust them to
write with the energy and bravado such freedom unleashes. Every historian
reflects the concerns of their own times: our series will be different only in so far
as this will be an explicit aim. The editors will encourage authors to address
twenty-first-century controversies when they think that their work offers useful
connexions, comparisons and points of departure—for in this way the volumes
will, we hope, contribute to better understandings of our own contemporary
world.
Jinty Nelson and Henrietta Leyser
To my mother
Patricia Sarris
for her many years of love, labour, and support
Contents

List of Maps
List of Figures
Introduction and Acknowledgements
1. The World that had been Rome
1.1 Roman Imperialism from Augustus to the Third Century
1.2 The ‘Crisis’ of the Third Century
1.3 The Age of the Soldier Emperors
1.4 Diocletian, Constantine, and the Consolidation of the Late Roman State
1.5 The Late Roman Empire: Society and Institutions
1.6 The Demise of the Western Roman Empire
2. The Formation of Post-Roman Society
2.1 Introduction
2.2 The Decline of the Western Empire: Chronology and Facts
2.3 ‘Romans’ and ‘Barbarians’ in an Age of Transition 55
2.4 ‘Romanitas’ and its Limits
2.5 Continuity and Discontinuity in the Post-Roman Economy
3. The Romano-Germanic Kingdoms: The Era of Theoderic and Clovis
3.1 Introduction: The Building Blocks of the Romano-Germanic Kingdoms
3.2 Identity, Lordship, and Kingship
3.3 The Vandal Kingdom of Africa
3.4 The Kingdom of Odoacer in Italy
3.5 Theoderic and the Ostrogoths
3.6 The Struggle for Mastery in Italy
3.7 The Consolidation and Nature of Theoderic’s Regime
3.8 The Kingdom of Theoderic: Signs of Growing Tension
3.9 The Fall of the Ostrogothic Kingdom
3.10 The Roman Reconquest of Italy
3.11 The Frankish Expansion