The Roman Empire at bay, AD 180-395 / David S. Potter.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Potter, David, 1957- author.

Series:

Routledge history of the ancient world

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rome--History--Empire, 30 B.C.-476 A.D.

Rome.

Rome (Empire).

History.

Power (Social sciences)--Rome.

Power (Social sciences).

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xxiv, 766 pages ; 24 cm.

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon : Routledge, 2014.

Summary:

"The Roman Empire at Bay is the only one volume history of the critical years 180-395 AD, which saw the transformation of the Roman Empire from a unitary state centred on Rome, into a new polity with two capitals and a new religion, Christianity. The book integrates social and intellectual history into the narrative, looking to explore the relationship between contingent events and deeper structure. It also covers an amazingly dramatic narrative from the civil wars after the death of Commodus through the conversion of Constantine to the arrival of the Goths in the Roman Empire, setting in motion the final collapse of the western empire.The new edition takes account of important new scholarship in questions of Roman identity, on economy and society as well as work on the age of Constantine, which has advanced significantly in the last decade, while recent archaeological and art historical work is more fully drawn into the narrative than it was in the past. At its core, the central question that drives The Roman Empire at Bay remains, what did it mean to be a Roman and how did that meaning change as the empire changed? Updated for a new generation of students, this book remains a crucial tool in the study of this period"-- Provided by publisher.

"The Roman Empire at Bay is the only one volume history of the critical years 180-395 AD, which saw the transformation of the Roman Empire from a unitary state centred on Rome, into a new polity with two capitals and a new religion, Christianity"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part I The Shape of the Roman Empire 1

1 Culture, Ecology, and Power 3

Power 3

Ecology 10

Cult and culture 25

2 Government 40

The divisions of the land 40

The revenues of the state 51

The emperor and his officials 61

The governing classes 66

Part II Reshaping the Old Order 83

3 Crises in Government 85

The reign of Commodus 85

The new emperor 93

Murder 95

Revolution 98

Civil war 101

The solidification of power 109

Alternative realities 120

The succession 122

4 The Army in Politics; Lawyers in Government 125

The Roman army 125

The murder of Geta: the politics of pay and citizenship 134

Caracalla on the march 140

Death in the desert 145

The emperor Macrinus 146

The new regime 151

Elagabalus ascendant 153

The age of Ulpian 157

Alexander Severus 162

Maximinus Thrax 167

5 Intellectual Trends in the Early Third Century 172

Fish, food, and sophists 172

The sophist and the sage 179

The war at Troy 182

Reacting and inventing 193

Plato's new world 200

Origen and Hippolytus: classical thought and Christianity 204

The power of tradition 210

Part III The Roman Empire and its Neighbors: 225-99 211

6 The Failure of the Severan Empiree 213

The impact of the Sasanids 213

The Roman view 223

The government of Gordian III 225

Historiography and the war with Persia 228

Philip, Rome, and the millennium 232

Decius, history, historiography, and the "Skythai" 237

The aftermath of Abritus: Gallus and Sapor 242

The fall of the Severan empire 247

The empire of Gallienus 253

7 The Emergence of a New Order 259

Claudius Gothicus 259

The restoration of the central government 264

The legacy of Aurelian 268

The search for stability 271

The creation of the Tetrarchy: 284-93 275

Rome and Persia 285

The restorers of the whole world 290

Part IV The Constantinian Empire 295

8 Alternative Narratives: Manichaeans, Christians, and Neoplatonists 297

Alternative narratives: 260-303 297

The revelations of Mani 298

Christians and the imperial government 308

Plotinus and Porphyry 317

Alternative polytheisms 323

9 Rewritings of the Tetrarchy: 300-13 326

Reconstruction: 300-03 326

Persecution and politics: 303-05 329

The succession 332

Constantinian historiography and the collapse of the Tetrarchy: 305-07 335

Oriens Augustus: the ascent of Constantine: 307-11 340

The conversion of Constantine and the end of the Tetrarchy: 311-13 347

10 Restructuring The State: 313-37 357

Licinius in the east 357

The government of the empire 360

The victory of Constantine 370

The New Rome 375

The imperial aristocracy 380

Urban elites 385

11 Constructing Christianity in an Imperial Context 394

Donatists 395

The Arians 402

Athanasius 412

Christianity and government 414

The architecture of coexistence: Rome, Constantinople, and the Holy Land 427

The vision of Constantine 430

Part V Losing Power 431

12 Church and State: 337-55 433

Christianity and foreign relations 434

The Roman army 437

The death of Constantine 449

The sons of Constantine 452

Persia 457

Dynastic catastrophes 461

The government of Constantius 466

Julian 472

13 The Struggle for Control: 355-66 474

The control of religion 475

Asceticism 477

The imperial ascetic and apostate 484

Julian in Gaul 487

Julian Augustus 493

The restoration of the gods 496

Antioch, Persia, and catastrophe 502

Valentinian and Valens 507

Procopius and the end of the Constantinian dynasty 509

14 The End of Hegemony: 367-95 513

Adrianople and the Frigidus 516

Emperors and their courts: 364-95 520

Emperors and bishops 539

Rituals of violence and reconciliation 551

The view from Antioch 555

From Libanius to Alaric 559.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780415840545

0415840546

9780415840552

0415840554

OCLC:

844789722