Cities and the meanings of late antiquity / by Mark Humphries.
Material type:
TextSeries: Brill research perspectives. Ancient historyPublisher: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2019]Description: 112 pages ; 24 cmContent type: text Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volumeISBN: 9004422609; 9789004422605Subject(s): Cities and towns, Ancient | Cities and towns, Medieval | Cities and towns, Ancient | Cities and towns, MedievalDDC classification: 307.760937 LOC classification: HT114 | .H86 2019Summary: The last half century has seen an explosion in the study of late antiquity, which has characterised the period between the third and seventh centuries not as one of catastrophic collapse and 'decline and fall', but rather as one of dynamic and positive transformation. Yet research on cities in this period has provoked challenges to this positive picture of late antiquity. This study surveys the nature of this debate, examining problems associated with the sources historians use to examine late antique urbanism, and the discourses and methodological approaches they have constructed from them. It aims to set out the difficulties and opportunities presented by the study of cities in late antiquity in terms of transformations of politics, the economy, and religion, and to show that this period witnessed very real upheaval and dislocation alongside continuity and innovation in cities around the Mediterranean.
| Item type | Current library | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Books
|
The BIAA David H. French Library Shelf 42 - Main Room | H2k HUMPH 32473 | Not for loan | BOOKS-000000025351 |
Includes bibliographical references.
The last half century has seen an explosion in the study of late antiquity, which has characterised the period between the third and seventh centuries not as one of catastrophic collapse and 'decline and fall', but rather as one of dynamic and positive transformation. Yet research on cities in this period has provoked challenges to this positive picture of late antiquity. This study surveys the nature of this debate, examining problems associated with the sources historians use to examine late antique urbanism, and the discourses and methodological approaches they have constructed from them. It aims to set out the difficulties and opportunities presented by the study of cities in late antiquity in terms of transformations of politics, the economy, and religion, and to show that this period witnessed very real upheaval and dislocation alongside continuity and innovation in cities around the Mediterranean.