Course Code
HIST 0095
Course Type
Tutorials
Subject Credit
Course Availability

The crumbling of a mighty empire which had proclaimed itself universal, and supreme even in spiritual matters, has provided a rewarding theme for historians and moralists for centuries; nonetheless, recent years have seen a great increase in scholarly interest in the sub- and post-Roman world. The sparse and intriguing written sources have been supplemented with insights from archaeology, material culture, and a range of other disciplines. As a result students can discover much more about the huge changes (and remarkable continuities) of this extraordinary period than was possible a generation ago; but because of the comparative paucity of the sources they can engage in the scholarly debate for themselves at a depth that is difficult in other eras.

Sample Topics

  • Migration and Invasion; Labels and Frontiers
  • Living in the Ruins? Western Successor States
  • The world of Justinian
  • ‘Sitting crowned upon the grave’: the Western Church
  • Economic change
  • The Inheritance of Rome: Culture and Literacy
  • Saints, monks and missionaries
  • The Challenge of Islam