- The Later Roman Empire, 284-602: A Social, Economic and Administrative Survey, Volumes One, Two, and Three by A. H. M. Jones (1964; ISBN 978-0801833533) Advanced Overview/General – Arnold Hugh Martin Jones was one of the greatest Ancient Rome scholars to ever live. His three volume work revolutionised the study of the later Empire, so much so that scholarship is often referred to as pre-Jones or post-Jones. Any undergraduate level or above essay should begin by consulting the enormous amount of knowledge contained on almost all topics in the LRE. The World of Late Antiquity: AD 150-750 by Peter Brown (1989; ISBN 978-0500330227) Intermediate Overview/General – Peter Brown is a revolutionary figure and largely responsible for the paradigm and field of ‘Late Antiquity’. Brown writes in reaction to the ‘Decline and Fall’ view of the Late Roman Empire, emphasising the continuity of Roman culture in this period and the reinvention, rather than the collapse, of Classical ideologies and institutions. He is also important in placing much more emphasis on thought, culture and ideology than many of his predecessors – perhaps a good contrast to AHM Jones’ highly detailed, archive-crawling reconstruction of the workings of the state. Absolutely fundamental to understanding how scholars understand and write about Late Antiquity, though the emphasis on continuity and some of the ‘rosier’ aspects of Brown’s analysis have been challenged by e.g. Peter Heather and Bryan Ward-Perkins. The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilisation by Bryan Ward-Perkins (2006; 978-0192807281) Intermediate Overview/General – An important book, but one to read with caution. Ward-Perkins challenges the ‘continuity’ view of Brown and others and the post-1980 trend away from talking about ‘collapse’ and ‘decline’ into the ‘Dark Ages’. Largely based on archaeological evidence, Ward-Perkins charts the physical destruction and economic simplification of this period, and argues that it represented a major drop in living standards for most people in the Roman world. His overall thesis is controversial but the challenge that the archaeological picture presents has not yet been satisfactorily integrated into any of the more positive histories of the period. Self-consciously iconoclastic and ‘politically incorrect’ – read alongside Halsall’s Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West. The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians by Peter Heather (2006; ISBN 978-0195159547) Intermediate Overview/General – Heather is widely regarded as one of the foremost scholars on the Goths and an advocate of modern migration theory, and this work gives the reader a solid introduction to that theory. He proposes two main hypothesis here, both of which have been widely accepted: that the Sassanids had a major role in the third century crisis, and that the loss of Roman Africa was pivotal to the decline of the west.
- Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376-568 by Guy Halsall (2008; 978-0521435437) Advanced Overview/General – Guy Halsall is one of the foremost living scholars of late antiquity and his Barbarian Migrations is considered a standard introduction to the period for any reader, as it covers every aspect from pre-migration Germanic society, to the general history, to the important aspects of Roman administration and beyond. It goes in depth into areas such as ethnogenesis and hospitalitas, without pushing it beyond the non-academic reader’s reach. The Rome that did not Fall: The Survival of the East in the Fifth Century by Stephen Williams and Gerard Friell (1998; ISBN 978-0415154031) Advanced Political Social Military – Williams and Friell do a thorough job of explaining the reasons that led to the East’s survival of the fifth century, ranging from their economic stability, to internal politics, to the greater geopolitical situation with the Sassanids and Huns.
Historical Overviews (AD 284-628)
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