Motions of Late Antiquity: Essays on Religion, Politics, and Society in Honour of Peter Brown

by Jamie Kreiner (Editor), Helmut Reimitz (Editor)

Overview

When did Late Antiquity actually end? Peter Brown, who has done so much to define the field, once replied: 'always later than you think'. This book takes stock of this insight and, in continual conversation with Peter Brown's work, applies it to ever wider social and geopolitical horizons. The essays of this volume demonstrate that Late Antiquity is not just a period in which the late Roman world grew into the three successor cultures of the Roman Empire—the Latin West, Byzantium, and the Islamic world—but also a set of hermeneutical tools for exploring historical transformation. A late antique view considers both the profound plurality of past societies and the surprising instances when a culture coheres out of those differences. The studies here follow those motions of fracture and alignment, and they show how working along the lines of a single but deeply textured vision of Late Antiquity makes it possible to integrate different fields such as Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic studies, and to start a new conversation between ancient and medieval history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9782503549118
Publisher:	Brepols Publishers
Publication date:	05/10/2016
Series:	Cultural Encounters in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages , #20
Pages:	353
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.00(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements vii

Motions of Late Antiquity: An Introduction Jamie Kreiner Helmut Reimitz 1

"There Is a World Elsewhere': The World of Late Antiquity Ian Wood 17

The Transformation of the Roman World Revisited Walter Pohl 45

The Manichaean Body and Society Philippa Townsend 63

Social Interactions in a Rural Monastery: Scholars, Peasants, Monks, and More in the Life of Hypatius Jaclyn Maxwell 89

Persuading the Powerful in Post-Roman Iberia: King Euric, Local Powers, and the Formation of a State Paradig Damián Fernández 107

Discourses of Religious Violence and Christian Charity: The Christianization of Syria in Jacob of Sarug's On the Fall of the Idols Daniel L. Schwartz 129

Philoxenos of Mabbug: A Cappadocian Theologian on the Banks of the Euphrates? David A. Michelson 151

The Equality of Empires: Procopius on Adoption and Guardianship across Imperial Borders Michael Maas 175

Life on Schedule: Monks and the Agricultural Cycle in Late Antique Egypt Ariel López 187

Gregory's Kings, the Theatre of the 'Modern', and the Endurance of Romanitas Philip Rousseau 209

The Dark Side of Holiness: Barsauma the 'Roasted' and the Invention of a Jewish Jerusalem Volker Menze 231

Christian Identity in Seventh-Century Byzantium: The Case of Anastasius of Sinai Yannis Papadogiannakis 249

Nationes quam plures conquiri: Amandus of Maastricht, Compulsory Baptism, and 'Christian Universal Mission' in Seventh-Century Gaul Stefan Esders 269

The Life of Simeon of the Olives: A Christian Puzzle from Islamic Syria Jack Tannous 309

Revisiting the Carolingian Renaissance Janet L. Nelson 331

Peter Robert Lamont Brown: Publications, Professional Memberships, and Recognition 347

Editorial Reviews

"Each of the essays in this volume demonstrates the impact of Brown's work, and often also of his teaching, while taking his insights into new territories. It is a warm and affectionate volume that vividly displays the debts of Brown's students and friends to his generous and influential presence, and to his long list of publications spanning five decades and two continents. [...] As the papers here demonstrate very well, the direction of [Brown's] own historical imagination has constantly evolved in his own publications, and the essays here amply testify to its extraordinary fruitfulness and impact." —Averil Cameron, Keble College (Oxford), The Medieval Review 17.01.17

From the Publisher