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 | | Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World (Harvard University Press Reference Library) by G. W. Bowersock (Editor), Peter Brown (Editor) ISBN-10: 0674511735 ISBN-10: 0-674-51173-5 ISBN-13: 9780674511736 ISBN-13: 978-0-674-51173-6 Hardcover 1999-11-18 Belknap Press Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Amazon.com Late antiquity--that period of history between 250 and 800 C.E.--was a unique and notable era, when the Roman and Sassanian empires spanned a great arc from the Atlantic coasts of Europe and Morocco across the Mediterranean, into the Balkans, and through the Middle East as far as Afghanistan. Historians have tended to dismiss this era as the decline and fall, and little more. In contrast, the editors of Late Antiquity (all esteemed professors at Princeton) make a great case for this era as the source from which our modern culture sprung. During that time, Constantinople and Baghdad came into being, and paganism took hold of people's imaginations so strongly that it's still with us today. "Much of what was created in that period still runs in our veins," they say, such as the codification of Roman law, the Jewish Talmud, the basic structure and doctrine of the Christian church, and the birth of Islam. There are learned essays on topics such as Islam, the Christian triumph, and sacred landscapes; habitat, war, and violence; and empire building; as well as a timely piece on barbarians and ethnicity. But these essays, fine though they are, make up but a small fraction of the volume. The lion's share belongs to the alphabetical guide, an A-to-Z encyclopedia of more than 500 entries on items such as almsgiving, angels, bathing, circus factions, contraception, eunuchs, dendrites, Huns, monks, prayer, and pornography. With erudition and clarity, these editors redefine late antiquity, and provide a remarkable source of information for students, sages, history buffs, and antiquity enthusiasts. --Stephanie Gold | ||
Product Description The first book of its kind, this richly informative and comprehensive guide to the world of late antiquity offers the latest scholarship to the researcher along with great reading pleasure to the browser. In eleven comprehensive essays and in over 500 encyclopedic entries, an international cast of experts provides essential information and fresh perspectives on the history and culture of an era marked by the rise of two world religions, unprecedented political upheavals that remade the map of the known world, and the creation of art of enduring glory. By extending the commonly accepted chronological and territorial boundaries of the period--to encompass Roman, Byzantine, Sassanian, and early Islamic cultures, from the middle of the third century to the end of the eighth--this guide makes new connections and permits revealing comparisons. Consult the article on "Angels" and discover their meaning in Islamic as well as classical and Judeo-Christian traditions. Refer to "Children," "Concubinage," and "Divorce" for a fascinating interweaving of information on the family. Read the essay on "Barbarians and Ethnicity" and see how a topic as current as the construction of identity played out in earlier times, from the Greeks and Romans to the Turks, Huns, and Saxons. Turn to "Empire Building" to learn how the empire of Constantine was supported by architecture and ceremony. Or follow your own path through the broad range of entries on politics, manufacturing and commerce, the arts, philosophy, religion, geography, ethnicity, and domestic life. Each entry introduces readers to another facet of the postclassical world: historic figures and places, institutions, burial customs, food, money, public life, and amusements. A splendid selection of illustrations enhances the portrait. The intriguing era of late antiquity emerges completely and clearly, viewed in a new light, in a guide that will be relished by scholars and general readers alike. | ||
Reviews | ||
Not quite what it seems This is an odd book that gives the appearance of being a general reference, but in fact it is just a collection of essays in two parts: longer articles such as "Religious Communities" and "War and Violence", and an alphabetic section of short articles on a wide variety of topics. This second part is maddeningly arbitrary: three columns on the Himyar tribe, for example, but no entry for the Alans. Entries for people are particularly spotty, with the emphasis on religious rather than secular figures. Anyone looking for a late-antique version of the Oxford Classical Dictionary will be disappointed. Nonetheless there is a wealth of information here, covering a wide variety of subjects. The scope includes the growth of Islam, which is well represented in both sections. NOTE: The long essays in this book have been published separately as Interpreting Late Antiquity: Essays on the Postclassical World. | ||
Don't Overlook This One This is a massive history text well worth the price tag put on it. First, the scholars who assembled this work are first rate - Peter Brown (Princeton University and author of "Augustine of Hippo"), Oleg Grabar (Islamic scholar at Princeton) and Bowersock (Ancient Historian also at Princeton) - these three men alone have gathered a storehouse of contributors that takes up 5 pages in the back of the book. So the research for this text is overwhelming. Second, the period that is covered is, I believe and agree with the authors, a crucial period in world history (from the middle of the third century to the end of the eighth century). Therefore, the range or scope of what is covered is quite broad. This period in history saw the rise of the Islamic religion, the growth of the Christian religion, a shift in power throughout Europe from Roman Rule to various rules of Barbarian peoples, Byzantine, Turks, Saxons, and many more. So the cultural landscape went through many changes which still has a strong impact on us today. The sections are separated by some really great illustrations and photos. Many of the illustrations are art works from the period, or pics of artifacts, relics, etc. These help to strengthen the overall 'feel' of the work. The book itself is formatted as follows: The first section of the book consists of essays ranging from How history is done to philosophical traditions, religious communities, military histories, landscape, building and developing people/nations to how civilizations lived. These essays are written by top notch scholars from Henry Chadwick (a prolific medieval scholar) to Patrick Geary, Director of the Medieval Institute at Notre Dame University). The second part of the book is a type of encyclopedic/Dictionary formatting. This section is arranged alphabetically by topic/people/places/issues/etc. In this section detail is not wasted, from how languages developed to how people used medicine during this period. Quite exhaustive. Overall, this is a great reference tool for every student of medieval history (or even world history in general). It is as complete as it can be for what it covers and how it covers the material present. I have referred to this book many times over the past five years in my research. I recommend this text! | ||
Oh well! Great Illustrations but unfortunetly the text is not its equal. For the amount of money that it cost me, I was disappointed. You are better off buying Peter Brown's "The World of Late Antiquity" which is light years away from this. | ||
A useful historical guide The book 'Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World', edited by G.W. Bowerstock, Peter Brown, and Oleg Grabar, is a wonderful collection of essays and encyclopedic articles on the period on a fascinating period of transition and change in the history of the West. This is a period often overlooked and neglected, for it is a period of confusion and uneasy description; the Roman Empire has fallen, but the medieval world has yet to rise. Literature from this historical period is rare, both in terms of history and literary output; the medieval world looms large over late antiquity due to the rise of literature that is more easily accessible to those in the modern world. The first section of the book consists of interesting essays, as listed below: Remaking the Past, by Averil Cameron To give but one example, in the article 'Sacred Landscapes', Caseau traces the development away from public sacred spaces such as temples to the god to a resacralisation of Christian spaces, which had originally grown up in house-church environments with communal meals short on exclusively sacred spaces, particularly in light of early Christian apologists who saw distinct paganism in the sacralisation of space. The remaining two-thirds of the book consists of an encyclopedia of late antiquity, including articles on places, events, people, and ideas. This is a wonderful reference, and, sitting next to my Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages, a much-valued collection and much-used book. Sometimes called 'The Dark Ages', in fact the historical period between the classical Roman Imperial times and the Medieval period was a period of transition and disarray, but was far from the uncultured, unlettered and uninspiring period it sometimes seems. This volume will help historians and others reclaim a little more of their own past. | ||
Part Brilliant, Part Dull Late Antiquity is a series of eleven essays covering an array of topics related to Europe and the Middle East from 250 to 800 C.E. Like every collection from a variety of authors, it represents a mixed bag. At its best, like Beatrice Caseau's "Sacred Landscapes," it is eye-opening and provocative. (Caseau describes for us how pagan temples became Christianized, or how Christian holy sites were transformed into Muslim sites - a question that likely would never occur to the lay reader, but once asked demands answering.) Not every article is as enticing however. For example, Henry Chadwick misses a great opportunity with "Philosophical Tradition and the Self." Rather than relate to us just how individuals in late antiquity viewed the self, Chadwick chooses to desribe debates between late antiquity writers; only professors hopelessly lost in academia could possibly care about Iamblichus' criticisms of Porphyry. The final half of the book is taken up with an encyclopedia, whose entries are . . . eclectic. The Emperor Maurice is absent, for example, but Ephrem (a Syrian deacon and hymnist) receives nearly two columns of treatment. Nor is there an entry for Arianism, but the Donatists get an extensive write-up. There is much to enjoy and learn from in Late Antiquity. The articles by Cameron, Caseau, Geary, Shaw, and Lim alone make a trip to the local library well worthwhile. Whether the book is a must for the lay reader's library is more difficult to say. | ||