Late Roman Italy : Imperium to Regnum / edited by Jeroen Wijnendaele.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Wijnendaele, Jeroen W. P., editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economic history.

Italy--Economic conditions--To 476.

Italy.

Italy--History--To 476.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (520 p.) : 32 B/W illustrations

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh, Scotland : Edinburgh University Press Ltd, [2023]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Explores the major political, social, economic, religious and cultural changes impacting what was once the most important region of the Roman worldThe first modern research volume on a core region of Late AntiquityA tight and distinctly chronological focus on the second quarter of the first millennium CE, that allows for a different vision of the many vicissitudes of Late Roman Italy, among other works on Ancient and Late Antique Italy.An emphasis on one of the key features of Late Antiquity: the transformation of the Roman Empire in the West into successor polities.A balanced range of topics, including ones rarely encountered in this type of work (such as gender or environmental history), with a special focus on political transformation and violence.This research volume reassesses one of the most fundamental transformations in Late Antiquity, centered on a pivotal region: the transition from 'Empire' to 'Kingdom' in Italy c. 250-500. During the first quarter of the first millennium, Italy was still the heart of the Roman Empire; the only political superstructure ever managing to encompass the entire Mediterranean world and its European hinterland. Yet during the second quarter of this millennium, Italy underwent dramatic evolutions from demotion to a provincialized region (c. 285-395), to a new imperial hub kept afloat by cannibalizing other provinces' resources (c. 395-476), to an autonomous regnum governed by non-Roman rulers as part of an Eastern Roman 'Commonwealth' (c. 475-535).

Contents:

Intro

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

List of Contributors

Introduction: Italy and Its Place in the Roman Empire of Late Antiquity

Part I: Political Developments

1. Italy from the Crisis of the Third Century to the Tetrarchy

2. New Paths to Power: The Bipartite Division of Italy and Its Realignment of Society and Economy in the Fourth Century

3. Court, Crisis and Response: Italy from Gratian to Valentinian III

4. The Final Western Emperors, Odoacer and Late Roman Italy's Resilience

Part II: Institutions

5. Administering Late Roman Italy: Geographical Changes and the Appearance of Governors

6. How the West Was Run: Local Government in Late Roman Italy

7. Armed Forces in Late Roman Italy

Part III: Society, Economy and Environment

8. Elite Women and Gender-Based Violence in Late Roman Italy

9. Land of the Free? Considering Smallholders and Economic Agency in Late Antique Italy

10. The Human Landscape and Palaeoecology of Late Roman Italy

11. Cities and Urban Life in Late Roman Italy: Transformations of the Old, Impositions of the New

Part IV: Religion

12. From Local Authority to Episcopal Power: The Changing Roles of Roman and Italian Bishops

13. Violence and Episcopal Elections in Late Antique Rome, ad 300-500

14. Religious Minorities in Late Roman Italy: Jewish City-Dwellers and Their Non-Jewish Neighbours

Part V: Culture

15. Christian Sarcophagi in Late Roman Italy: Culture and Connection

16. Late Roman Italy in Latin Panegyric: From the Panegyrici Latini to Ennodius

17. Stepping Out of the Shadows: Italy in Late Antique Historiography

Epilogue: Late Roman Italy - Paths Explored and Paths to Explore

Index.

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 01. Nov 2023)

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-3995-1804-6