Introduction for Chapter 7

7. Late Antiquity, 250–600

>In what ways was late antiquity a period marked both by continuity and change? Chapter 7 examines the period in which the Western Roman Empire slowly disintegrated and ultimately collapsed. The two main agents of continuity in late antiquity were the Christian Church and the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire. Missionaries and church officials spread Christianity within and far beyond the borders of the Roman Empire, bringing with them the Latin language and institutions based on Roman models. The Byzantine Empire preserved and transmitted much of ancient Greco-Roman law, philosophy, and institutions. The main agents of change in late antiquity were groups the Romans labeled barbarians migrating into the Roman Empire. The barbarians brought different social, political, and economic structures with them, but as they encountered Roman culture and became Christian, their ways were also transformed.

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Life in Late Antiquity. In this sixth-century ivory carving, a procession of people carry relics of a saint to a Christian church under construction. (akg-images/Newscom.)

>How did Diocletian and Constantine try to reform the empire?

>How did the Christian Church become a major force in Europe?

>What were the key characteristics of barbarian society?

>What were some of the causes and consequences of the barbarian migrations?

>How did the church convert barbarian peoples to Christianity?

>How did the Byzantine Empire preserve the legacy of Rome?

ca. 293 429
– Diocletian establishes the tetrarchy – Vandals begin their conquest of North Africa
313 476
– Edict of Milan, allowing practice of all religions in the Roman Empire – Odoacer deposes the last Roman emperor in the West
325 ca. 481–511
– Council of Nicaea – Reign of Clovis
354–430 493
– Life of Saint Augustine – Theoderic establishes an Ostrogothic state in Italy
378 527–565
– Visigoths defeat the Roman army at Adrianople – Reign of Justinian
380 529
– Theodosius makes Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire – The Rule of Saint Benedict
410 535–572
– Visigoths sack Rome – Byzantines reconquer and rule Italy
597
– Pope Gregory I sends missionaries to Britain
Table 7.1: > CHAPTER CHRONOLOGY