Empires of Faith The Fall of Rome to the Rise of Islam, 500-700

by Sarris, Peter

• ISBN13: 9780199261260
• ISBN10: 0199261261
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-11-10
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Drawing upon the latest historical and archaeological research, Dr Peter Sarris provides a panoramic account of the history of Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Near East from the fall of Rome to the rise of Islam. The formation of a new social and economic order in western Europe in the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries, and the ascendancy across the West of a new culture of military lordship, are placed firmly in the context of on-going connections and influence radiatingoutwards from the surviving Eastern Roman Empire, ruled from the great imperial capital of Constantinople. The East Roman (or 'Byzantine') Emperor Justinian's attempts to revive imperial fortunes, restore the empire's power in the West, and face down Constantinople's great superpower rival, the SasanianEmpire of Persia, are charted, as too are the ways in which the escalating warfare between Rome and Persia paved the way for the development of new concepts of 'holy war', the emergence of Islam, and the Arab conquests of the Near East. Processes of religious and cultural change are explained through examination of social, economic, and military upheavals, and the formation of early medieval European society is placed in a broader context of changes that swept across the world of Eurasia fromManchuria to the Rhine. Warfare and plague, holy men and kings, emperors, shahs, caliphs, and peasants all play their part in a compelling narrative suited to specialist, student, and general readership alike.

Author Biography

Peter Sarris was born in St Albans and educated at St. Albans School and Balliol College, Oxford, where he specialized in Medieval and Byzantine history. After Balliol, he was elected to a Prize Fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford, and is currently Senior Lecturer in Late Roman, Early Medieval, and Byzantine History at the University of Cambridge, where he is a Fellow of Trinity College. He has lectured and published widely on early medieval and Byzantine history both in the UK and abroad, and has appeared on historical programmes on television and radio and written on archaeological matters for The Times.

Table of Contents

List of Maps	p. xiii
List of Figures	p. xv
Introduction and Acknowledgements	p. 1
The World that had been Rome	p. 4
Roman Imperialism from Augustus to the Third Century	p. 4
The 'Crisis' of the Third Century	p. 8
The Age of the Soldier Emperors	p. 14
Diocletian, Constantine, and the Consolidation of the Late Roman State	p. 17
The Late Roman Empire: Society and Institutions	p. 25
The Demise of the Western Roman Empire	p. 33
The Formation of Post-Roman Society	p. 41
Introduction	p. 41
The Decline of the Western Empire: Chronology and Facts	p. 44
'Romans' and 'Barbarians' in an Age of Transition	p. 55
'Romanitas' and its Limits	p. 68
Continuity and Discontinuity in the Post-Roman Economy	p. 73
The Romano-Germanic Kingdoms: The Era of Theoderic and Clovis	p. 83
Introduction: The Building Blocks of the Romano-Germanic Kingdoms	p. 83
Identity, Lordship, and Kingship	p. 84
The Vandal Kingdom of Africa	p. 89
The Kingdom of Odoacer in Italy	p. 97
Theoderic and the Ostrogoths	p. 99
The Struggle for Mastery in Italy	p. 101
The Consolidation and Nature of Theoderic's Regime	p. 102
The Kingdom of Theoderic: Signs of Growing Tension	p. 109
The Fall of the Ostrogothic Kingdom	p. 112
The Roman Reconquest of Italy	p. 115
The Frankish Expansion	p. 120
Clovis' Conversion	p. 122
The View from the East: Crisis, Survival, and Renewal	p. 125
Introduction: Surviving the Fifth Century	p. 125
The Limitations and Frailties of the East Roman State	p. 127
The Roman Response under Anastasius and Justin	p. 134
Justinian, Khusro, and Imperial Renewal	p. 145
The Resumption of Hostilities	p. 153
The Advent of the Plague	p. 158
The Emperor and the Church	p. 160
Byzantium, the Balkans, and the West: The Late Sixth Century	p. 169
Introduction: Death of an Emperor	p. 169
The West Eurasian Steppe in the Mid-Sixth Century	p. 170
The Balkan Context to Justinian's Avar Policy	p. 171
The Consolidation of Avar Power and its Consequences	p. 177
Francia and Hispania	p. 182
The Consolidation of Power in Lowland Britain	p. 195
Religion and Society in the Age of Gregory the Great	p. 205
Royal Conversion and the Consolidation of Roman Christianity	p. 205
Royal, Imperial, and Episcopal Authority	p. 208
Asceticism and Authority	p. 210
Gregory the Great Between East and West	p. 215
Discordant Voices	p. 220
Heraclius, Persia, and Holy War	p. 226
Justin II, the Court Aristocracy, and the Eastern Front	p. 226
Roman-Persian Relations from Tiberius to Maurice	p. 232
Mounting Social Tensions and Military Revolt	p. 236
The Persian Advance	p. 242
Heraclius' Rebellion and Coup	p. 243
The Fall of the Roman Near East	p. 245
'Persia Burning'	p. 249
The Prophet Amongst the Saracens	p. 258
The'Abode of War'	p. 268
Reasons for Arab Success	p. 272
The Age of Division	p. 275
The Fragility of the New World Order	p. 275
The Near East in the Balance	p. 279
'The day of their destruction is close'	p. 286
New Constantines, New Justinians, New Davids	p. 292
A World Transformed	p. 302
The Princes of the Western Nations	p. 307
Byzantium and the Balkans in the Seventh Centuiy	p. 307
Society, Identity, and Law in Langobard Italy	p. 310
The Visigoths and the Catholic Monarchy of Toledo	p. 317
Kings, Nobles, and Councils	p. 321
The Crisis of the Visigothic Realm	p. 326
The Merovingian Commonwealth of Kingdoms	p. 329
Kingship and Consensus	p. 333
The Frankish Nobility: Consolidation and Entrenchment	p. 338
The Mayors of the Palace and the Rise of the Noble Faction	p. 343
Controlling the King	p. 347
The Age of the Bretwaldas and the Era of Marchland Expansion	p. 353
The Dynamics of Power in Seventh-Century Britain	p. 361
Bishops, 'Bookland', and the Gens Anglorum	p. 370
Epilogue	p. 377
Abbreviations	p. 380
Select Bibliography and Further Reading	p. 381
Index	p. 413
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