From Roman Provinces to Medieval Kingdoms

by Noble; Thomas F. X.

• ISBN13: 9780415327411
• ISBN10: 0415327415
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-04-28
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

In 300 C.E. the Roman Empire stretched from Britain to Mesopotamia, from the North Sea to the Sahara Desert. A mere three hundred years later the Roman imperial structure was gone, replaced by a series of barbarian kingdoms that became the basis of Europe's eventual medieval and modern states. In this anthology Thomas F.X. Noble presents a collection of key articles, written by leading scholars over the last twenty years, that examine how and why the dominance of the Roman Empire ended and how new forms of government and society were established. Since the Renaissance, historians have tended to understand the events of the period in terms of a dramatic "decline and fall" of Rome. However, these revisionist essays provide an overview of how contemporary historians have furthered the debate, reassessing how abruptly the shift from Roman Empire to barbarian Europe occurred, and the origins and causes of the development of the Middle Ages and the new order. Rome played a key role in guiding thistransformation and these essays also include a wealth of material on the characteristics and experiences of the barbarian tribes, the relationships they forged with the Romans and how far their new kingdoms were influenced by Rome. With an accessible and informative introduction, and thorough editorial material accompanying each section,From Roman Provinces toMedieval Kingdomsis highly readable and informative compilation of current work and recent perspectives, making complex debates accessible to students and exposing them to the key debates surrounding the study of the era.

Table of Contents

List of maps	viii
List of figures	ix
Contributors	x
Series editor's preface	xiv
Acknowledgments	xvii
Maps	xix
A chronology of Romans and barbarians in Late Antiquity	xxiii
Introduction: Romans, barbarians, and the transformation of the Roman Empire	1	(28)
Thomas F. X. Noble
PART I Barbarian ethnicity and identity	29	(204)
The crisis of European identity	33	(10)
Patrick J. Geary
Gothic history as historical ethnography	43	(27)
Herwig Wolfram
Origo et religio: ethnic traditions and literature in early medieval texts	70	(21)
Herwig Wolfram
Does the distant past impinge on the invasion age Germans?	91	(19)
Walter Goffart
Defining the Franks: Frankish origins in early medieval historiography	110	(10)
Ian Wood
Telling the difference: signs of ethnic identity	120	(48)
Walter Pohl
Gender and ethnicity in the early middle ages	168	(21)
Walter Pohl
Grave goods and the ritual expression of identity	189	(44)
Bonnie Effros
Part II: Accommodating the Barbarians	233	(92)
The barbarians in late antiquity and how they were accommodated in the West	235	(27)
Walter Goffart
Archaeologists and migrations: a problem of attitude?	262	(15)
Heinrich Harke
Movers and shakers: the barbarians and the fall of Rome	277	(15)
Guy Halsall
Foedera and foederati of the fourth century	292	(17)
Peter J. Heather
Cities, taxes, and the accommodation of the barbarians	309	(16)
Wolf Liebeschutz
Part III: Barbarians and Romans in Merovingian Gaul	325	(64)
The two faces of King Childeric: history, archaeology, historiography	327	(18)
Stephane Lebecq
Frankish victory celebrations	345	(13)
Michael McCormick
Administration, law, and culture in Merovingian Gaul	358	(18)
Ian Wood
`Pax et disciplina': Roman public law and the Merovingian state	376	(13)
Alexander Callander Murray
Index	389