The Roman city in late antiquity underwent dramatic changes in urban identity, economic activity, and socio-religious functions. Ancient city centres lost much of their dominance to the necropolis around the saint’s tomb that developed into a centre of pilgrimage and religious settlements. While the cult of the saints transformed urban geography, it also redefined the identity of citizens. In…
It has been a recurrent shortcoming in the historiography of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages to dismiss the importance of citizenship after Caracalla’s edict, but especially after the fall of Rome. This tendency comes from the implicit assumption that citizenship in this period referred either to the vestiges of an outdated Roman citizenship or to a Christian spiritual model of civic…
East and West in the Roman Empire of the Fourth Century examines the (dis)unity of the Roman Empire in the fourth century from different angles, in order to offer a broad perspective on the topic and avoid an overvaluation of the political division of the empire in 395. After a methodological key-paper on the concepts of unity, the other contributors elaborate on these notions from various geo…
In Early Christians Adapting to the Roman Empire: Mutual Recognition Niko Huttunen challenges the interpretation of early Christian texts as anti-imperial documents. He presents examples of the positive relationship between early Christians and the Roman society. With the concept of “recognition” Huttunen describes a situation in which the parties can come to terms with each other without f…
This volume presents the proceedings of the seventh workshop of the international thematic network 'Impact of Empire', which concentrates on the history of the Roman Empire and brings together ancient historians, archaeologists, classicists and specialists on Roman law from some 30 European and North American universities. The seventh volume focuses on the impact that crises had on the developm…
This volume presents the proceedings of the seventh workshop of the international thematic network 'Impact of Empire', which concentrates on the history of the Roman Empire and brings together ancient historians, archaeologists, classicists and specialists on Roman law from some 30 European and North American universities. The seventh volume focuses on the impact that crises had on the developm…
A millennium and a half after the end of the period of its unquestioned dominance, Rome remains a significant presence in western culture. This book explores what the empire meant to its subjects. The idea of Rome has long outlived the physical empire that gave it form, and now holds sway over vastly more people and a far greater geographical area than the Romans ever ruled. It continues to sha…